Timeless Tools and Treasures

Last week we were selling at a tailgating event and noticed a disturbing (and annoying) behavior by some shoppers. Several tags were ripped off items and then the shoppers wanted to buy them and demanded to know the price. Now, since I am the one who purchased these items, researched current market values, and placed the tags on them, I remember what price was attached. So, no advantage to the buyer who thought he might get a deal from an unsuspecting seller. However, it was extremely inconvenient to know that an item was sold, but not have the stock number. The tags I put on items show the results of my research: name of maker, date range, shipping weight, price, and most important, my stock number. Without this, I cannot remove the correct item from the online store, or the corresponding photos from my computer without taking inventory of the remaining like items. My time is better spent photographing, researching and listing for sale new items!

Otherwise, the event was fun as usual. It was raining, which is not a problem for us as we have a good tent and attached a sidewall to the van to create a nice, dry oasis which drew so many customers, it was standing room only! It was our best sale day ever at this event and I also bought some very interesting items which will be added to the online store in the next few days.

Here are a couple of my favorites: A beautiful, heavy metric caliper and a mainspring winder

I am very pleased to announce that my new online store is open – see http://www.TimelessToolsandTreasures.com  I have listed 200 or so items – but there are lots more available. I will continue to list a few items on one previous outlet – that pervasive bloated e-commerce site we all know, but I’m tired of helping to support it. There’s nothing like having control of your own business! I have managed a diverse group of retail stores over the years: chain fabric store, rural general store, motorcycle parts and accessories, and yarn and weaving supply. Retail can be fun and rewarding, but you have to be able to make business decisions based on current conditions, not because of policies established by people who are out of touch with reality.

I look forward to meeting some of you at our summer shows – see the rest of the web site for details.