Talking Point: Every Collector Add a Collector

David Krashes

People who have a pastime or a hobby that they care passionately about typically like to talk about it and share it with others. That’s what we’re betting on. We’re betting that we can encourage enthusiastic collectors of antiques to go out and get others involved by sharing their enthusiasm.

The slogan, EVERY COLLECTOR ADD A COLLECTOR, is the beginning of an initiative by collectors and the professionals in the antiques trade to interest more people in collecting antiques. We feel that too many people are overlooking the joy they could get from collecting. I’m a collector and I know how much pleasure I have had finding things, learning about them and meeting the dealers and auctioneers who sell them. So let’s apply the old adage, “the best marketing is by word of mouth.” Collectors who are enthusiastic about their collections and collecting in general should be able to do the best job of telling others about the fun they are missing.

Here is what we hope: Dealers will talk to some of their best customers, give them a small flyer the trade will furnish, and hope their best customers will understand that they in turn should talk to “others” about the joy of collecting. The “others” might include their own children, good friends or just people they have met and know. The flyer will give suggestions about how best to do this. If collectors find people who are interested, they can, if they wish, mentor them, helping them to get started and giving them advice as they go along.

Can it work? Yes. Will it work? Who knows? I have had direct experience with two organizations that have used “every member get a member” programs, which have succeeded tremendously well. With 32,000 members, the American Society for Metals in the late 1970s used the every-member-get-a-member approach and membership grew to 54,000 in two years. The trade association to which my business belonged took its membership from approximately 180 to more than 500 in three years. Enthusiastic word-of-mouth by members did the job. It can be done.

In antiquing, the problem is there is no single organization to urge collectors on, and there is no way to get numerical results. We will have to rely on people’s impressions over the years. Look at it this way: if 25% of the professionals in the trade – dealers, auctioneers, show promoters, publishers – can each get just a few of their best customers involved, and if each of those customers actually recruits a new collector, there should be noticeable “new faces” at trade shows in the very near future. We want those potential new collectors at the antique shows and auctions, and we want them to be able to find moderately-priced goods, things they can afford, can buy and love.

The program can succeed and be a real benefit, but many things have to fall into place. The trade and collectors must work together. Everybody in the trade must contribute, and may have to rethink how they do business and what investment of effort they are willing to make to keep the business profitable and enjoyable in the future. Most of all, collectors have to encourage others to try collecting!

Editor's Note

Here at NE Antiques Journal, we’re totally in synch with David’s scheme. Our mission has always been to bring new buyers to the antiques business, to infect them with enthusiasm, and to give them the basic knowledge that leads to the confidence to start buying. We encourage all dealers to encourage each of their collectors to add a collector; we encourage every antiques enthusiast to infect a friend.

But we’re going to do more than offer encouragement. We’re going to follow David Krashes’ advice, and do something practical. We’re going to give a year’s subscription free to every new collector that you bring with you to Antiques Week in New Hampshire. Here’s how we propose to do it. In this issue you will find an “Every Collector Add a Collector” subscription card. Fill it in, including the name of the show to which you took your friend, and mail it to us, or fill in the form on our Website and email it to us. We’ll be happy to give him or her a one-year subscription to the New England Antiques Journal.

John Fiske
Editor-in-Chief