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| Portobello Road |
I almost wrote 'Nervous Nellie' when the form asked my name,
as I registered as a buyer at an antique auction house
along with experienced antique dealers
What had I gotten myself into?
The nice man gave me my numbered card to raise during the auction
(could I exchange it for my favorite number 9, please?)
(elderly lady behind me smiles and says her mom always asked for a 3)
This was really the last frontier of buying cool vintage stuff for me
It showed my absolute dedication :)
and I was sooooo nervous
Would I be able to understand their accent
as numbers flew out of their mouths?
Dare I remove a stray hair tickling my cheek
in fear of accidentally buying something?
Would my American accent 'out' me as a foreigner,
my shaky voice indicate my inexperience,
or would I accidentally double the price?
Here's how it worked:
I went a few days before the auction to view what was going to auction
I marked on my paper the items I was interested in (2 paintings)
The sheet indicated the opening bid
On that particular day, there were loads of furniture, artwork, and kitchen goodies
all at
incredibly affordable prices/opening bids
Basically wholesale antiques!
The day of the auction I found about 70 people in the room
The auctioneer was very easy to understand and spoke slowly (yay!)
They went through the items only by number, so I'm glad I went on preview day to view the goods
Typically only about 2 or 3 people were bidding on a particular item
The highest bidder paid for the item and took it home that day
(delivery available)
Because most of the bidders were dealers,
they would drop out from a bidding war early
as they didn't have the emotional tie to items
and needed to make a profit
I got my two paintings at half the price I would have paid at an antique fair
with no embarrassing mishaps
- plus a story to go with it and conquering the fear of auctions :)
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| Ardingly Antiques & Collection Fair |
But if you must know,
my happy happy place for vintiquing
held only twice a year
It is HUGE and jam-packed with vendors from all over Europe
It is open two days in a row, but only go the first day when it is full of vendors
Everything you could imagine is there
It is so freaky-good that I get giddy
each time I step foot among the treasures yet to be discovered
I have found London to be too expensive,
but nearby Surrey has some other great finds:
I've found car boot and jumble sales have great deals
but rarely provide good loot
The most bizarre thing I've seen in my foraging?
A container of human glass eyeballs from Victorian times(!)
My recent brocante obsession?
Kitchen scales and kitchen containers
Do you have any tips to share?
Your obsession?
- all photos by me -
More info: Ewbank AuctionsRelated post: Buying Vintage In England 
