{"id":9610,"date":"2022-03-29T12:10:11","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T10:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=1383"},"modified":"2022-03-29T12:27:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T10:27:21","slug":"drew-pritchard-how-i-became-an-antiques-dealer","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/drew-pritchard-how-i-became-an-antiques-dealer\/","title":{"rendered":"Drew Pritchard: How I became an antiques dealer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Drew Pritchard\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 29 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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My career as an antiques dealer began in the late 1980s, with \u00a3200 in my pocket, a battered old VW Beetle, and no clue about the business. The antiques world was shrouded in secrecy: it was highly competitive and dealers wouldn\u2019t reveal a single thing.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t afford a premises of my own, so my first site was next to Dad\u2019s office in my parents\u2019 garden, with an ad in the local newspaper: \u2018WANTED! Stained glass windows, fireplaces, doors, flooring, architectural salvage\u2019 (it cost me an astronomical \u00a315 a week\u2026).<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been working with stained glass so it seemed a logical place to start. I bought top lights (the square leaded panes from Victorian windows) for just \u00a32 each. As local houses were being demolished to make way for a major \u2018A\u2019 road, I\u2019d found a niche that no one else was interested in.<\/p>\n

Some weeks, I\u2019d pick up 70 or so, along with fireplaces<\/a>, doors and windows if they were good. Every few weeks I\u2019d ring up Carl, the dealer I worked with, and say, \u2018I\u2019ve got 200 windows\u2019. He\u2019d give me \u00a34 each \u2013 fantastic business! I was making about \u00a3600 profit a week, but after a while, it really did feel like hard work, so Carl said, \u2018Drew, I\u2019ll do you a favour. Take the stock you have for me to Newark antiques fair<\/a>. Ask \u00a310 for those windows and more for the really good ones. That\u2019s all I do.\u2019<\/p>\n

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A Regency Cast Iron Register Grate for sale via Drew\u2019s website<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

You might also like<\/strong> antiques fairs and auctions around the UK this month<\/a><\/p>\n

So I put about 40 windows in the back of a truck with a load of architectural salvage and drove to Newark with a couple of mates, where we found ourselves in the middle of a field in the early hours of the morning, with no idea what we were doing.<\/p>\n

Straightaway this big American guy came over and asked, \u2018How much are your windows?\u2019 I replied, \u2018Those are \u00a310 each and these are \u00a315 each,\u2019 just like Carl had told me to. Without hesitating he said, \u2018Yup, I\u2019ll take all of those, what else have you got?\u2019 From this one deal I made about \u00a35,000 and it was still only 5.30am. A moment later, a German buyer wanted to buy all my architectural carvings and old wooden panelling, which I\u2019d picked up from a demolition site for next to nothing.<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> how to thrift furniture for your home<\/a><\/p>\n

Next thing, a Japanese fella and his interpreter jumped into the back of our van. He asked me how much the church windows were \u2013 I said \u00a33,000 and he said, \u2018OK\u2019. By 6.30 that morning, I had about \u00a39,000 in my hands \u2013 more money than I\u2019d ever had in my life. Then I did something that was pure instinct: I went around the fair to buy more stock and sold it all. In that moment, I became a proper dealer.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve definitely learnt the hard way \u2013 I\u2019ve bought too cheap, sold for less, trusted the wrong people. But a few years on, we were the biggest architectural salvage dealers<\/a> in North Wales and we had a concession in Liberty. The reality of dealing and having a specific aesthetic is like being naked and walking around saying, \u2018This is what I\u2019ve got and I think it\u2019s the best!\u2019 But if you\u2019re bold enough to try, it\u2019s hugely rewarding, always interesting and you learn something new every day.<\/p>\n

Drew\u2019s top tips for new antiques dealers<\/h2>\n