As we make the transition from actual to virtual, and look forward to the cost savings that jettisoning the albatross that has become our gallery space will engender, we will continue to have the frequent non-buyer/tire kicker. One would assume that, with the anonymity and shield from reaction/retribution that is the common feature of all online activity, newly emboldened buyers and browsers will in increasing numbers be kickers of tires and rattlers of chains. Interestingly, we have found that we as frequently experience this in our bricks and mortar as ever happens on the internet. The why of this is hard to imagine. I suspect though, that, face to face, people might not be bolder, but are more driven out of nervousness to say something, appropriate or not. ‘What’s your best price?’ is a not unusual gallery query, and nothing to which we take offense. I have never done what a colleague suggested, and offer the rejoinder ‘200% of retail is what’s best for me.’ We generally assume that ‘What’s your best price?’ is an honest question from a good faith buyer, and our standard rejoinder, equally sincere, is ‘We try to price our prices fairly, but if you have something in mind (or in the alternative ‘if you have a budget’) we’re happy to hear it.’ About 90% of the time, the conversation ends right there, and we know that we have ferreted out a tire kicker. Happy to let them browse, of course, but we know that a purchase is as very far distance from that which would be idiomatically described as in the offing.
However, what we have found, when the one out of ten that does offer a price in response does so, we have someone sincerely interested in making a purchase. Also, and this is very interesting, we have never, ever had anyone offer us something a fraction of what our price actually is. The why of this is likewise unknown. I remember very, very well when we started out and were participating in our very first big name antiques fair, the dealer whose stand we took over told us sourly that the fair was a Mecca for buyers who came at the 11th hour, only to offer, his term, low ball prices. This was a fair we did for nearly 10 years, and made some phenomenal sales, and nothing of the sort ever occurred.
This sounds ridiculously self serving, but it has occurred to both Keith and me that, although our material is not to everyone’s taste, it is likewise not in everyone’s budget. In fact, it is in very few people’s budget, and that’s not our design. We don’t seek to be exclusive or particularly high toned. Basically, we offer what appeals to us, pieces about which we have an interest and can represent with a degree of passion, and that passion, while not necessarily infectious, is more likely to find kindred spirits than offering material strictly because we think we can make a buck.
And I suppose that’s why, when someone does offer us a price, it is generally within reason, and that reasonableness almost invariably allows for some kind of compromise that will result in a sale.