John Tuttle recently discussed dealer mark-ups in antiques -- I wish I
could find the part of the business he is talking about!

We have been dealing in mechanical musical instruments for some 30
years now.  Over all that time we have been lucky to average a margin
of 20%, which has to cover the immense amount of "wanted" advertising
we do, as well as all our other costs of doing business, moving things
around the country, phone, time, etc.  Luckily we have a very high
volume of business, I think because we do try to keep our prices (and
therefore our margins) low.

With all of the collector magazines and groups nowadays, and the
Internet, I think margins will continue to narrow as both buyers and
sellers gain more information on real market prices rather than the
ridiculously high asking prices I often see on some of these things.

Martin Roenigk
www.mechantiques.com
mroenigk@aol.com

 [ Thanks, Marty.  The competition of the free market is certainly
 [ the best assurance of fair prices.  -- Robbie