Back in 2006 I set up at the Pier Show. And I didn’t sell anything. Not. One. Thing. But when ‘The Bee’ (Antiques and the Arts Weekly) came to interview me, I told them that the show was great. And so were my sales.

Click any of the pics to see the full video

Why did I lie? Because nobody gets on a sinking ship. And really, would you want to hear how I had dropped $3000 to set up at a show and didn’t sell anything? No. Of course you wouldn’t. And neither do the other dealers. Folks love to hear of your successes. Your triumphs. Your scores. So that’s what I’ll tell you about. (Even though the Keno Brothers had declared it trash on local NYC television.)


Click any of the pics to see the full video


Click any of the pics to see the full video

Back to the Pier Show. I had a fully stocked booth, no customers and plenty of time. So I walked around the show. As I chatted with a fellow dealer about how great I was doing, he shared a lead with me. A dealer in Tarrytown had recently purchased a huge lot of antique frames and was looking to sell. The Monday after the Pier Show, I boarded a Metro-North train and headed straight to that dealers shop. I negotiated a deal for the entire lot of frames and then looked around to see what else I could buy - a series of nine paintings of the planets, a few sculptures and an incredible double sided brass and oak easel. Smitten with the easel, I brought it back to my West Village apartment on the train and the subway. Don’t judge. I had just spent mad loot after losing $3000. Remember? Fast forward a few months and a producer from a local TV show reached out to me about a segment they were doing with the Keno Brothers and would I want to be on it? Um, YES PLEASE! And so I brought the easel on the show sure that it would receive rave reviews only to be told that it was utterly worthless. Um, WHAT?


Click any of the pics to see the full video


Click any of the pics to see the full video


Click any of the pics to see the full video

My phone began to ring with colleagues telling me that the Bros didn’t know what they were talking about. And so I did what any dealer worth her salt would do. I sold it at an antique show a couple months later for three times what I had paid. Because, sometimes ya gotta fake it till ya make it. ;-) hkv

Click any of the pics to see the full video