GOING, GOING, GONE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 6, 4 August 1939, Page 15

|GOING, GOING, GONE

An Interview With an. Auctioneer

HIS is a summary of a talk given by the man who knows the serendipidist’s shop in. London, as announced in-our issue of July 21. When he talked from 2YA on July 27 he explained the meaning of this unusual word and talked about-the profession of auctioneering, to which the serendipidist was partly responsible for leading him. Q: What induced you.to become an auctioneer? j A: I think the war was partly responsible. I wanted to do something quite different from what I had been doing. One day I bid for an article and. found it was a piece of old Waterford glass. It was that purchase that made me think that in some ways I knew a little more than the fellow who sold the glassware to me. Q: By that you mean that you could have got a better price for your customer? A: Exactly, and a better commission for myself. But I was further influenced. in my decision to take on auctioneering as a job of work by a small thing that also happened to me during the war. I was walking down Wastborne Grove way one day when I saw a sign over a little shop on which was painted "Ye Olde Serendipidy Shoppe." I. went into the shop and found that it was full of anything and everything. The old. man in charge explained what was meant by the word, and in brief it means a. dealer in everything. When I was in the shop a man walked in and wanted a ferrule for the end of his walking stick. It-wag supplied and fitted at once. Another~came in who wanted his key chain Jengthened. In a few minutes the customer walked out with a lengthened key chain. Q: A regular dealet in bits and pieces. But how did this influence your decision to become an auctioneer? A: It gave me the idea of knowing where to lay hands on things that people wanted. Q: Some strange things must come your way at times? A: That’s so. And we have some. amusing sales now and again. I refer to those when we dispose of» unclaimed goods found by the police or left in railway carriages, and so on. This. appeals to the speculative instinct of the buyers. It’s as good as a play to watch them opening their purchases. Of course, the contents are all in the lucky bag as you might say. One’ day a lady opened her purchase and found a nice silk nightdress and three pair of new silk stockings. Another might only get some dirty underclothing that was destined for the destructor. pene eee Q: Doubtless many humorous episodes come your way?

A: I remember once. conducting @ sale at..a private house. I noticed @ mother and daughter viewing the rooms during the previous day, and they were much taken with a chair. At the sale it looked as if the bidding for this article would never stop, until I recognised that the two final bidders. were ‘the mother and.the daughter, each against the other. They had become separated in the crowd, The chair was put up again and sold within reasonable limits. Q: I don’t suppose there is much romance in your business, though? A: You never made a bigger mistake in. your life. One day I had a lady come in who wished to see me privately. Her husband had Jeft her and she wanted to get back to her relations in Sydney. She required £30 and wanted me to sell a very fine ring for her. Q: Was she genuine? A: I verified all the facts. On the second day I got in touch with a bachelor who was always’ out for a good spec. He offered me £40. I took it. He said that he was off to Sydney that day and would give it to his'sister for a birthday present when he got there. But the sister never got it. Q: . Bad luck for the sister? A: Better luck for the customer. He and the original owner of the ring met on the boat going across. He fell in love with her and eventually they were married. » Q: Do you find many ids for old furniture.in.New Zealand? ‘ K: There are more dlals you would think. One day a very old woman came in and told ‘me she was sending down some furniture for me to sell for her. It arrived on a lorry and the poor old soul asked me to sell it as quickly as possible as she must have £3 in three days. I was so sorry for her that I gave her the £3 in advance. She had no sooner gone than a customer came in, saw the dusty worn furniture and asked me to send one chair to each of two daughters and she would take the rest herself. When I said it was worth £50 the customer said, "And quite a good bargain, too," and wrote a cheque for the amount. Her delight was nothing ‘compared. to the joy of the old soul who came in to see me a day or two afterwards and find out if I had managed to get back my £3. To see her face when I gave her the balance was wonderful. I would willingly have given her £50 for the genuine old Paisley shawl she had wrapped round her shoulders. But I hadn’t the heart. It was part of her. Q: I take it you have no regrets for deciding. to wield the mpetionsas’e hammer? ’ A: None whatever.