With the lifetime gift tax exemption scheduled to drop from $5 million to $1 million on Jan. 1, 2013, collectors are scuffling to pass on as much tax-free wealth as possible to their children and heirs. But be careful. When it comes to gifting collections, both collectors and appraisers need to move cautiously. Read More +
Tag Archives: behind the gavel
How managing your antiques inventory can cut your taxes
Wayne Jordan says to avoid overpaying or underpaying your taxes, you need to control and track your antiques shop inventory. Since the IRS doesn’t accept Victorian rockers or Depression glass as payment for tax bills, here’s a look at how inventory and taxes are related. Read More +
Antique shop rents should be based on location, traffic
Why do shows and shops tell dealers they are selling space when they are really selling traffic? Antique malls (and antique shows) that rent space based solely on booth size are cheating themselves and their dealers. Read More +
Why the time is right to open an antiques shop
Despite all the gloomy predictions for the antiques trade, this is the place to be says columnist Wayne Jordan. He explains why now is the time to open a brick and mortar antiques shop: Shop owners benefit from low rents, high gas prices and more flexibility than “big box” retailers. Read More +
Why half your new customers can’t find your antiques retail website: It’s not showing up on their smartphones
With one half of local Internet searches done on a smartphone, it’s time for dealers to check if their shop’s website is mobile compatible. Columnist Wayne Jordan says that luckily, the cost to optimize your site is far less than you paid to create it in the first place. Read More +
Small business advice gathered over 90 years helps antiques dealers
Columnist Wayne Jordan recently had a nice chat with Chip Averwater, author of “Retail Truths, The Unconventional Wisdom of Retailing.” A retail “truth” is something that can only be discovered through experience. You can’t learn these truths in business school. Here are 10 of Jordan’s favorite retail “truths” and how they might help you improve your antiques business. Read More +
Buy lower, sell higher with proper online auction/live auction bidding strategy
You can always win an auction if you must. All you have to do is outbid the competition. But, winning doesn’t always mean paying a higher price. Outbidding the competition is as much about strategy as it is about price. Read More +
Want your antiques inventory to sell itself? Share the story behind your business
What makes some antiques so valuable? It’s the quality of the story attached to the object. Collectors love to tell stories about the items they have collected.
The better the story, the higher the items value to a collector. Stories create value (don’t confuse value with price; value is a personal issue; price is the intersection of supply and demand). Consistently and enthusiastically shared stories will help your business. Read More +
How using Google Places can get your antiques business listed in local Internet searches
“I’ve never been lost,” said Daniel Boone; “But I was once perplexed for a few days.” It’s said that Boone was a master at staying found. Making his way through the wilderness with nothing more than an incomplete map, a compass, and his own sensibilities, he blazed a trail that thousands would follow from Virginia to Kentucky.
10 tips on how to succeed as an estate executor
Personal property is the "800 pound gorilla" of an estate. Dealing with personal property issues consumes most of an executor’s time and causes most of the aggravation. These 10 tips on how to sort through an estate’s personal property can turn a stressful undertaking into a manageable process.
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