Well, it’s good news and bad news.
The bad news:
We contacted three of the larger auction houses to ask them – “Would you be interested in selling this furniture (see attached) on my behalf?”
We attached photos of three items, each with two separate descriptions taken from insurance valuers’ reports.
The piece illustrated is variously described as…
“A Louis XV fruitwood buffet, altered at a later date, with a recess, and three drawers and a pair of cupboard doors, carved with leaves and flutes, with restorations.”
And,
“A
n early 19th century Provincial French oak dresser, the rectangular top over three drawers, alcove shelf and two cupboards, variously with mirror shaped panels, leaf and flowering vine carving and supported cabriole legs, 50.5″ wide.”
One replied after three days ” I have passed this to our furniture specialist and we will respond with a valuation in due course”. They didn’t.
The other two failed to reply at all.
It could be that our items failed to reach the auctioneers’ minimum standards, although even allowing for the optimism of insurance valuations we understand that each of the three items is worth a few bob. Even so, whatever happened to courtesy and the common sense of keeping potential customers on side?
So it seems to be bad news for the shareholders, unless these companies are making so much money that the world is their lobster – and if that is so, what we read in the press suggests that the journalists are either very confused or pursuing some strange agenda in concert.
And bad news for potential vendors, whose time may be wasted, and who may suffer grave disappointment; very rare to enjoy being rejected.
And bad news for Where To Sell – because it’s embarrassing if we list potential buyers who fail to reply to emails. And nowadays grown-up email systems (and their operators) should be able to distinguish between spam and the obviously genuine.
The good news. . .is that it shows that Where To Sell has something to offer. If the potential purchaser takes steps to use our platform to show that they are really keen, the likelihood is that they will be pleased to hear from you and will respond accordingly.
And if they don’t reply, please let us know.
