24: Furniture Market Crisis? Giving Thrifting & Second Hand a Second Life

Intro:
Hey, you’re drinking house coffee – unfiltered conversations brewed at the intersection of real estate life and coffee shop service. We’re Maggie and Rich – local business owners and friends sharing stories and welcoming you to pull up a chair with us. The door’s always open. Let us pour you a cup.

Maggie:
Have you ever found a song

Rich:
That is that you just you can’t believe it exists?

Maggie:
Yes all the time.

Rich:
It’s like the perfect song to capture a feeling or some thing going on in your

Maggie:
Life. Yes. Okay.

Rich:
I found that song the other day. Wow. We’re just I kind of knew it existed. But like okay, it was the right moment for me to Grab onto it it just it hit me. I

Maggie:
Want to know

Rich:
At the right time. All right. Well last week was a little gnarly at work. Okay, and one of those weeks where like call out every day just and things just things just lots of things

Maggie:
Call out things going wrong people called out sick or

Rich:
Yeah. Yeah call ins if you will call ins, you know or people want to leave early or just like it seem like every day there was something okay on top of just different things going on. I don’t want to get into it. Yes, sick of time and you know these things they come they come and go. Okay. It’s it’s the life of a small business especially food service business. So, okay. Anyway point is it was Thursday and things were particularly gnarly by the end of the day and then on the playlist that plays in the shop. There’s a few different playlists, but on this particular day the song This song by The Decemberists came on now, I’ve heard it before and every time I’ve heard it, I’ve said what a good song.

Maggie:
Can I guess

Rich:
What a cool song. Yeah. I’m trying to think if there you would if you would have any reason to know it is

Maggie:
It called severed?

Rich:
No.

Maggie:
Is it called?

Rich:
I think it’s an obscure one. I don’t think you’re

Maggie:
Okay. It’s just

Rich:
It’s called once in my life.

Maggie:
Okay,

Rich:
And the lyrics are oh for once in my for once in my life could just something go right

Maggie:
Gotcha

Rich:
And it’s such a simple song.

Maggie:
Mm-hmm

Rich:
Because he just kind of repeats that and then there’s this little like chorus Bridge thing where it’s just like I’ve been waiting all my life. All my life and then and then and just repeats that like several times and but it’s the way it’s sung. It’s so it’s it’s my new anthem. I do.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
I’ve been listening to that on repeat in the car on the way to work and

Maggie:
It’s

Rich:
Just one and now I’ve been listening to it so much. It’s like in my head, you know. Yeah, I’m seeing in my head all the time. And it’s just one of those songs. Like I can’t believe this song exists. It’s just the perfect song. Yeah for so many things that I that happened. Yeah. So that’s what I’ve been listening to

Maggie:
That it that reminds me of a song. That really struck a chord with me. Earlier this summer. and I had just been listening to it over and over and over again and I’m blanking on who the artist is. But the song is called material boy.

Rich:
Like a play on the Like Material Girl,

Maggie:
Yes,

Rich:
But

Maggie:
It’s not like doesn’t have the same tune or anything. but it just it just talks about like a life that like he used to have and like how he’s changed and that he has a different life now. and the lyrics Just are like just the complete like just pierced through me. I was like, oh my gosh, this is me. So yeah,

Rich:
I have to check that. I

Maggie:
Have to check it out. Oh

Rich:
You been listening to Maggie?

Maggie:
Okay. I have been listening to a podcast.

Rich:
Oh, shout out to your other podcast recommendation because now Christine’s on it scamanda.

Maggie:
I know she’s detecting me she texted me last night. It said she was listening to the finale

Rich:
So funny

Maggie:
Which you know, I I feel like I’m a lot like Christine and the fact that I don’t like gory things. Yeah,

Rich:
But I

Maggie:
Like so like scamanda if we talked about last week is a true crime, but it’s not like a gory murder crime. It’s like a

Rich:
Just human interest.

Maggie:
Yeah

Rich:
So much

Maggie:
So depends on the type of crime, I guess. You

Rich:
Also I was listening back to the last podcast and you did a great job of sharing about that podcast without spoiling anything.

Maggie:
Okay. Good

Rich:
Job good

Maggie:
You were listening to

Rich:
Not this command. No, I was listening to when you described it in the podcast and that’s what got Christina onto it. But then I was like how she did a great job not spoiling anything.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
What happens?

Maggie:
Yes, do you have do you have to listen to it?

Rich:
Yeah that good. I don’t know if I will but I heard a bit of it. I looked more into the story. But anyway cool job you’re talking about a different part.

Maggie:
So of a podcast I’ve been listening to is called Strike Force 5 and it’s

Rich:
Haven’t heard

Maggie:
It’s kind of silly and it’s hosted by five late night TV show hosts. So this podcast is hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Rich:
No,

Maggie:
Jimmy Fallon.

Rich:
No,

Maggie:
Stephen Colbert.

Rich:
Oh

Maggie:
Seth Meyers. And John Oliver,

Rich:
Oh my gosh and one podcast.

Maggie:
It’s one podcast

Rich:
Five talking each.

Maggie:
Each week is hosted by a different host.

Rich:
Okay, it’s not like a round table where they’re all together.

Maggie:
No it is

Rich:
It is it okay to take turns

Maggie:
Hosting? Yes. They’re all on every episode and they each take turns being the host of that week.

Rich:
The world is already

Maggie:
And oh, I just listen to the episode where they have David Letterman. Oh it is like I like I was just like laughing and smiling the entire episode. It was so good. I think David Letterman is hilarious. I watched every episode of my next guest needs no introduction the Netflix series. He had it’s like so fascinating to me. He does great job with his interviews and stuff. I

Rich:
Can’t believe that exists again. So same kind of thing.

Maggie:
It’s so good. So the point of this podcast is these hosts are raising money through sponsorships. They have really high-end celebrity sponsors and that’s paying their staff while they’re on strike.

Rich:
Wow, that’s why it’s called straight. Wow, that whole thing. Did what a concept that whole thing is nuts.

Maggie:
Yes, so I when I listen to the first episode, I almost stopped listening to the entire show because it was really silly and really like it was like a bunch of bros just like goofing off an interrupting each other and like just being dumb. Yeah,

Rich:
But

Maggie:
Like when you get through to the if you can break through the first episode and just kind of get past all like the stupid sound effects and like the interrupting and like the bad jokes when you get into the next few episodes, they’re actually really funny and you learn really like what I like about this show is that like you’re learning things about like behind the scenes?

Rich:
Yeah.

Maggie:
Of their late-night shows and like they’re almost spilling like Secrets without sharing names and like talking about like their first experiences and they’re this experiences and then like the episode with David Letterman was just like gold.

Rich:
Yeah, cuz he’s like, he’s like they’re

Maggie:
They he’s

Rich:
Like the earlier generation. Yeah, I mean and they’re all kind of in the state.

Maggie:
They all all five of those guys credit like their success to him,

Rich:
Right?

Maggie:
So like it’s just and David Letterman is like He’s like kind of. He’s I don’t know. He I don’t know if it’s like an act or whatever but he seems like the type of guy who’s just like, please you’re giving me way too much credit, like don’t

Rich:
Yeah, I’m

Maggie:
Not that good.

Rich:
Yeah, I mean, I don’t know either but that’s man that sounds like it’s worth.

Maggie:
Definitely. I like horse listening to

Rich:
Things you didn’t expect the writer strike to bring you.

Maggie:
I know I know. Do you know what the writer strike is about? It’s okay if you don’t because I I kind of had to Like research it.

Rich:
Well, I mean It’s like streaming. profits are extreme, but not really passing down to

Maggie:
There’s that

Rich:
Writers and production.

Maggie:
So it’s it’s for the Screen Actors Guild and The Writers Guild of America. I think that’s what it’s called. Yeah, and they are fighting for better compensation and working conditions. and there as they’re facing like Their Workforce being transformed by streaming services, but also they’re being threatened by artificial intelligence.

Rich:
Oh my gosh, so

Maggie:
That is what

Rich:
Dragon robots. Yeah. I knew it

Maggie:
So we can talk about that in another episode because I know you’re really fired up about AI but that is I you know when I researched it a little more like, okay. a lot of people’s jobs are kind of being threatened by Ai and you want to be able to like You know nip it in the bud. So to speak before becomes like an even bigger issue. Yeah down the road.

Rich:
I’m team anti-ai.

Maggie:
Hmm interesting I use I use AI sometimes in my you know in my work but not like I’m not creating fake photos. I’m just helping it. I’m asking AI to help me come up with like good descriptions and stuff, but

Rich:
I mean good is subjective I guess but I’ve never read an AI caption or anything that I liked.

Maggie:
Spoiler alert Including our podcast for the first 20 episodes. I used AI to help write our descriptions.

Rich:
I said what I said. But that’s an episode for another day

Maggie:
Another day. So this episode

Rich:
I do a little bit about that.

Maggie:
Okay. So yeah, I admitted it. We’re an episode 24 today.

Rich:
It’s time for us. Yeah when you’re having fun,

Maggie:
Yeah. I hear that

Rich:
We teased it in the last week that we’ll talk about we would probably talk about thrifting. Yes and related things today.

Maggie:
Yes. I’m I think we will pumped about that

Rich:
Because we’ve noticed that I don’t know in our own lives and your life in my life and your life and in your business.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Even your business model is sort of wrapped around like the notion of thrifting and being more. Environmentally conscious. Yes,

Maggie:
And

Rich:
Things like that. So so there’s that Personal Touch to it. I mean I buy things for Less. Yeah, I go to Marshalls and or it’s been a while since I’ve actually shopped it thrift store probably but like Well, I think it’s you know, we said before, you know redecorating storied we went for older. Like Facebook Marketplace. Yeah, would you call that’s thrifting right Facebook Marketplace. Yeah, that’s all in that. Um, so yeah, that’s that’s on the document as we were looking into it found some other interesting corollaries.

Maggie:
Yes,

Rich:
I felt like um

Maggie:
Well, I think this. What what happened was? last week it was a little bit too early to talk about it because we were still it was still like Digesting it but last week I had the opportunity to meet the creators of cheap old houses. And

Rich:
You were telling me about that

Maggie:
It was. Such an amazing experience. They were the guest speakers at the Preservation Hall merit awards for the historical Albany Foundation side note if you have an old home and you are renovating it and you need period pieces to match the things in your home check out the historic Albany Foundation Warehouse which has old like it’s literally a warehouse full of old house supplies. You name it? They probably have something there because like those things are tough to match. So anyways, they they started cheap old houses as a way to like bring attention to Old sad houses that were on the market that they want that like had character. And they wanted people to save them. So they would just find the lowest things online and just like post. The house the price the location and just it’s just it’s literally just an Instagram account full of houses that are less than $100,000 that are old character and just need somebody to buy them and Revitalize them and love them. So. As you know, I I purchased a old house into that poop a chicken Cooper a chicken. I just sorry I just with the garage. And 2014 that was the house was built in 1910. And we joke about the house and you know how say that we say houses? They have good bones, but our house had osteoporosis. And that’s the joke that we me and Brandon have about our house because we we thought our house thought it was slowly dying and sneaking into the ground and we were like, nope. We’re not gonna let you die. And we pull it up out of the grave and like gave it new bones so

Rich:
Touching

Maggie:
So obviously I gravitate towards. people like cheap old houses and like I I just really love what they are going for in terms of like. They’re not pushing new. They’re pushing like save save what’s out there and keep keep the character and they have an HGTV show where they help people with that exactly like buying a cheap old house and like fixing it up. So anyway that I went I was invited to this whole experience by my best friend Allison. Who I met at Pottery Barn. so I met I started working at Pottery Barn in at Crossgates Mall here in the Albany area. in 2000 12 as like a way to like I was really into interior decorating and I there’s the service that just Pottery Barn called Design Studio specialist where you go to people’s homes and you help them buy furniture. So I met Allison, we both worked full-time jobs and Pottery Barn was our part-time job our fun part-time job at night. And so we would often be scheduled at the same time closing the shop together from like 6 to 10 or 5 to 10 or whatever. my very first memory of Allison was her meticulously explaining to me how to stuff pillows and I remember thinking like wow, this chick’s really passionate about how to stop pillows and we just we still joke about that to this day because she was like really specific and really like, you know, so When I moved on from Pottery Barn to work for this local Builder Allison, and I remained really good friends, and she actually ended up. Climbing up in the ranks. So to speak to be a manager there up until this past year. They had to shut their doors at the mall and they relocated and when they shut their doors, they let everybody go and they’re they started new with new employees.

Rich:
Where’s the new one?

Maggie:
It’s in Stuyvesant Plaza.

Rich:
Williams-Sonoma

Maggie:
Pottery Barn

Rich:
Pottery Barn.

Maggie:
Yep

Rich:
Mood and I was in Plaza.

Maggie:
Yep.

Rich:
I don’t know

Maggie:
West Elm Pottery Barn kids and Pottery Barn adults all closed at Crossgates Mall. And then

Rich:
West Elm wasn’t Stuyvesant Plaza. Did you

Maggie:
Say West

Rich:
Town you did? Oh, I mean, where’s

Maggie:
William Sonoma Pottery Barn kids and Pottery Barn adults Pottery Barn the brand.

Rich:
Yes.

Maggie:
Well, we’re all in Crossgates and then they all closed one by one. and then Pottery Barn and West Elm opened up in

Rich:
Williamson

Maggie:
In No West Elm.

Rich:
Are they together?

Maggie:
Oh, I’m sorry. I have a I’m I miss remembering what film used to be in Stuyvesant Plaza.

Rich:
Yeah,

Maggie:
And Pottery Barn is now in the

Rich:
Wherewest on

Maggie:
Where West Elm was.

Rich:
Yes.

Maggie:
That’s why there’s that confusion.

Rich:
We did a pop-up in West Palm in West Elm in 2018 more than one. Yeah because they were doing this like local They’re doing this

Maggie:
Story did a pop

Rich:
Up. Yes, like local businesses were doing pop-ups in West Elm because they were trying to you know have a local flavor to things and so we did probably one or probably two coffee and donut. S out there we were living in Albany

Maggie:
That

Rich:
She’s doing Papa’s wherever

Maggie:
They really good.

Rich:
Yeah, before we met I’m not sure or else you just weren’t. Yeah, you weren’t there if you don’t remember it, but

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Bring it all together.

Maggie:
I know wow past lives so long story short.

Rich:
Allison lost her job

Maggie:
And place in the mall close. so she’s the reason why we were go I was at the cheap old houses preservation merit awards. Yeah ceremony at for the historic Albany Foundation. Her husband Charlie’s on the board of the historic Albany foundation. And

Rich:
I realize

Maggie:
It’s really cool. and Allison was telling me about this article that we are discussing today, which is The title it’s a it’s a CNN business article titled Furniture companies in a rut as fewer people by Big Ticket items and the article. mainly focuses on Pottery Barn West Elm and Williams-Sonoma

Rich:
True

Maggie:
So I thought it was really fitting to talk about it today and I have a question mark in my notes saying furniture market crash because like people are always talking about the housing market crash. So I’m like, is there a furniture market crash too? Because we’re Allison and I were talking about like, okay. What is it? That is make Pottery Barn. Is was such a huge staple. For people it was not out of the question. It’s still not out of the question for some people but It was not out of the ordinary to have a customer drop 20 grand on one single. Order at our store. It was not out of the question

Rich:
And that would cover like a room or a house.

Maggie:
It would cover Furniture like would probably cover like a sectional with some occasional pieces, maybe lamps rugs dining table and dining chairs. Would be about 20 grand.

Rich:
No friggin way, dude. Are you kidding me?

Maggie:
No, no, see I’m not kidding.

Rich:
Wow, see Pottery. Barn is the kind of store that I’ve literally never shopped in. Although I’ve probably walked through it.

Maggie:
Yeah, so

Rich:
It’s hard for me to gauge, you know how people relate to stuff like that, but that’s because this is different lifestyle.

Maggie:
It’s a different lifestyle. I used to save the Pottery Barn catalogs and like make collages of things pretty vision boards

Rich:
Ask. So you say pretty mood boards.

Maggie:
Yeah, like I did like I used to sit there and just Look at Pottery Barn catalogs because they were just so inspiring and the spaces were so beautiful and I always before I worked there I had always wanted to work there. So it was I don’t know. I’ve always been attracted to like beautiful spaces and things so I guess so but not the price tag because I could I could never afford Pottery Barn stuff. and anyways The I guess the point is is like people aren’t buying furniture like they used to that’s literally the first line of this article and the author of it is Samantha deluya and this is from CNN. And this was just published in September of this year 2023. So this is pretty current and the basic premise of the article is is with like people when during the the furniture market actually had a pretty big boot had a boom early in the pandemic because people were staying home and people were buying furniture and I remember Alison talking to me about it because she was crazy busy at the store because there was so much of a backlog and so much of a Delay on things because so many people were buying things. and like what would normally be a six week or eight week lead time was turning into like a six-month lead time because of like the backlog of all the furniture and now they’re there’s becoming a shift in the furniture market because people aren’t spending as much money. In fact, the article says that The the two retailers they had a massive sales slump compared to last year. They had a 19% drop in their second quarter revenue. And what’s this other part of it saying William Sonoma which owns West Elman Pottery Barn reported a 20% Revenue decline for West Elm and a 10% decline for Pottery Barn and Wayfair. And which is an online furniture retailer. So it’s second quarter Revenue decline. 3.44% and lazy boy reported 20% drop in sales in August. So what does this tell us rich? well

Rich:
I mean I could tell us a few things. the article Yeah, you have to take inflation into account, right? Okay. I think the point is that like people shit spending is Shifting across the board. I think all retail is experiencing this at this time. and this article just came out and September, I think third quarter like ends right there September, you know, that’s where you get all these reports and things that’s why Always companies are probably reporting their their quarterly gotcha things and that’s why this articles like this are gonna bring up right about then when was that other one about housing market has again same thing in the first quarter, so Just people reflecting on that but like this talks about mortgages mortgage rates turning to 20 year highs and luxury housing market. remaining challenging

Maggie:
Are you talking about this year CNN article here though? Yeah, okay.

Rich:
So just like Well, you have to I guess I guess you have to talk about what’s the correlation between people who buy furniture. and People having homes or buying homes, like this is linking home buying with Furniture buying that’s what this are. Yes doing, but I mean, you know, how many people do I I’m at the age where I guess I know as many people owning homes and buying homes as I do renting like we’re technically still renting a house that we could buy if we wanted to but up until Oliver was about to be born we were renting and Didn’t necessarily have a plan for buying at the time. Although we were kind of kind of talking about it,

Maggie:
Right,

Rich:
You know, so like but we still need Furniture he has renters. So it’s just like I don’t know the correlation between By furniture and buying homes per se surely. There are other people who buy furniture so Maybe it’s the luxury furniture or the new furniture or that kind of concept that people are just steering away from spending more for things. Maybe this is it this is what I wanted to be.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
People are moving away from spending more for things that they can spend less for and still get a good value especially looking at a good value.

Maggie:
Right?

Rich:
I mean Facebook Marketplace seems like it’s Blowing up.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Or just has has been done like an increasingly popular way of buying and selling stuff. So just I go there first for most things. I’m looking for business or personal Christine gets

Maggie:
All

Rich:
Of the kids stuff on Facebook. Craigslist even seems like it’s it’s on the way out, you know Facebook. Yeah,

Maggie:
It’s gonna replace so

Rich:
Taking over with with that platform, but I don’t know if that’s that’s my take. You’re closer to the the whole influencer. Community if you will of people who are Who are like? promoting vintage or promoting thrifting or upcycling. I don’t know what words

Maggie:
You know

Rich:
To use but

Maggie:
Like all those things are second-hand market

Rich:
And yeah it what a handy term.

Maggie:
I think

Rich:
Second hand Market. Yeah.

Maggie:
Second hand and thrifting Is having a second life.

Rich:
Oh, okay. Tell me more.

Maggie:
Well, you know. What I mean when I was younger, it used to be kind of like embarrassing to admit that you bought something secondhand. So

Rich:
True dude Salvation Army.

Maggie:
Yeah, like it was almost like oh you can’t afford it new so you go to buy it secondhand where that was the case most of my life. where I wanted to have I wanted to be one of the cool kids but I couldn’t afford cool kid clothes. So I went and chopped at places like Salvation Army and ever since I was like probably in high school. Well, no, I got a job at American Eagle my very first job simply so I could have the discount so I could buy cool kids clothes, but when I was in college, well

Rich:
Kid clothes exactly it that’s exactly yeah,

Maggie:
You know what I mean?

Rich:
I do. Would you rather have Walmart new clothes or or Salvation Army?

Maggie:
I’d rather have a second hand

Rich:
As a kid.

Maggie:
Okay, I would rather have second hand like okay. This is like we’re going back to like young Maggie. This isn’t now Maggie, but young Maggie would have rather had second hand American Eagle Abercrombie, like cool kid clothes then brand new Walmart

Rich:
Clothes.

Maggie:
I used to my brother’s girlfriend used to take me to the like Abercrombie outlets and we would like scour through all the clothes even like I would buy things with like holes like the reviews basically like the rejects of all the abercrombies and I would buy stuff there that had holes and like repair them or like, you know, it would be so kind of

Rich:
Yeah

Maggie:
Off like the seams but that’s that’s how much I wanted to have cool kid clothes

Rich:
Got you.

Maggie:
So I was I was I started at a young age and then when I went to college there was I went to SUNY Oswego and there was a thrift store right up the road from my apartment called oswego’s best kept secret and I would go there and and find clothes and shoes and stuff there too. That’s cool. So that’s it’s in my blood. It’s always

Rich:
Yeah

Maggie:
What I’ve done

Rich:
The second hand Vibe.

Maggie:
Yes,

Rich:
Or like value for Less.

Maggie:
Correct? Oh, yeah,

Rich:
No less style

Maggie:
My

Rich:
Just value

Maggie:
My college best friend Amy who you know. I used to spend a lot of time at her parents house. And her dad is a very she’s like just like her dad in terms of like personality type and he would always say only suckers play retail and that’s just remember him like you want to know why because only suckers pay retail and like we just like with laugh, but I was like, yeah, he’s right.

Rich:
The sage wisdom just

Maggie:
Yeah

Rich:
Sticks with you.

Maggie:
So yeah, I got a lot of really good advice from him like a sucker dude. So my point is I going back to this article of like the furniture market crash or whatever. We’re calling it. I think there’s also because secondhand is having a second life. I think people are looking for furniture. In cheaper ways. They’re willing to buy something used or secondhand not necessarily because I don’t think they’re motivation is environmental. I think their motivation is cost. Like you said, there’s less spending like a little bit of a recession in terms of like what people are buying and if they’re looking for a piece of furniture that maybe they’re going to try to find it online on Facebook Marketplace or at an estate sale for cheaper than they could buy it. brand new at Pottery Barn or Wayfair

Rich:
Yeah. There’s a few things more motivating than money.

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
You have a pretty strong set of values. To carry you carry, you beyond that.

Maggie:
I mean even I think the decision is not motivated by money even story does taking a chapter from that no pun intended by selling books.

Rich:
Yeah, I mean, that’s true. That’s true. So like the book thing is is all It’s all used. It’s like twofold one is one two volt right one. I can’t afford new books. Like I can’t afford to stock new books because you got to buy. In bulk you got to have a bunch at once. You got a hope you’re gonna sell that many and you got to have relationships with all these Publishers or vendors or whatever and that’s like that’s like a whole model and it’s already hard enough to sustain a Bookshop, you know, no Bookshop exists. That just sells books. These days I don’t think if you are shout out call me up. Let’s talk so. But I’m also less interested in new books and I don’t know why I’ve always been more just attracted to the used book store kind of vibe where you go in. You never know what you’re gonna find. You never know. What era it’s gonna be from or generally they’re in good shape if they’re in a store. so there’s just something about like cool old. Books or like they tell and and just because there’s more you get you get more than just the story in the book. You get the story of the book

Maggie:
Right

Rich:
That comes with it and you get to kind of write that story. If you don’t know

Maggie:
Say that again you get more than just the story.

Rich:
You don’t get just the story that’s in the book when you get a used book, right you get the story of the book because that particular copy imagine, you know, you pulling off shelf. It’s got a description inside Christmas 1825. Was these to do it used to give books at Christmas all the time and like I say that because I’ve seen enough of these where I’m like, they’re right, you know to Penny from and whatever there’s like a year. They might write Christmas blah. And so you get a descriptions like that where you’ll find letters in there or something and yeah plenty of books on the show and if I get those, but I just leave it. I’ll leave that stuff in there

Maggie:
And

Rich:
See again. You never know what you’re trying to get the whole story when you when you grab one of those. Um, if I’m what I’ll do is I’ll keep the whole book.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
If I’m not just gonna keep the letter. I’ll keep the

Maggie:
Yeah, I want the book The Letter gets sold with the book. Yeah

Rich:
Exactly or a bookmark. I’ll leave it on the page that it was in, you know,

Maggie:
That’s

Rich:
Calm because you get to like This is why I like thrifting. This is why I like cool. This is why I like old stuff. It’s like you don’t know what that thing’s been here. That thing is older than I am.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
You know some of these like like the clock radios.

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
Just to give just to give an illustration, right? I have a clock radio in the shop. It’s the one it’s only one that’s currently playing music. It’s actually not a radio. It’s just an old Boombox, but it’s GE. It’s from the 80s it. is it’s got But it was my aunt so that the personal connection to it as well. At least up that’s where I found it was in her her house. So point being it’s like there’s a whole of this there’s a whole history I can imagine when I look at that thing. And when I experience when I turn the knobs or turn it on or whatever and it’s like I can imagine that the use that people got out of this thing or didn’t if it just sat around

Maggie:
Right right

Rich:
As GE. So now I can like think about okay what there was an ERA where GE Electronics were we’re everywhere and all these different designs were coming out. So just get to like imagine how people at the past related to this thing and the same truth Books Okay bringing all that around to you go to a used bookstore. I mean, these are these are popular places. I don’t think they’re like Well, I don’t know. I don’t know often bookstores like that thrive in like high density shopping. areas, or like Cute little towns that have a lot of little retailers Boutique kind of places or vacation places anywhere you’re gonna have a lot of people with money to spend. You know, it’s yet to be seen how a bookstore like that’s gonna Fair. It’s coach. I’m still really in the developing stages. But all this is to point out like there’s something to the experience of getting old stuff in your hands and giving Second Life to something. I’m most of the old books. I own I’ve never even opened.

Maggie:
Yeah, you

Rich:
Know, I just it was a cool thing to pick up and it was a great value. for the price, so Books these days are not like they’re not they’re not like Furniture in the sense that they can be pretty impractical to just be hoarding like

Maggie:
Right but

Rich:
Furniture. It is generally gonna be picked up for a practical purpose or if it’s Furnishings. It could be they could be decor items as well. But still the the aesthetic value of having it around. So yeah, I don’t know is that is that different? Is that the same originally? It’s all one of the same. I

Maggie:
Think it’s interesting how it affects both of our businesses.

Rich:
Yeah.

Maggie:
How like you read use second hand books like you are literally. going out and searching for books you are you are a both a purchaser and a resource for secondhand books

Rich:
Budding buddy. Yes,

Maggie:
You have quite the inventory though.

Rich:
I know it’s crazy. So I was there yesterday last night Poland. I’m pulling what I call fluff or crap

Maggie:
Off

Rich:
The shelves.

Maggie:
Okay, and

Rich:
If you are the all right anyone listening to this if you’re the kind of person who reads John Grisham or Dean Koontz or Patricia? Cromwell if I’m getting there a Cornwell, I can’t remember Sydney Sheldon. Um, who else Dick Francis if any of these names are like your people, please Please talk to me because these are the kinds of books where these authors to me. It’s just like I call them the Walmart specials. It’s like

Maggie:
Or

Rich:
The dollar. They’re like the dollar store bin books, you know, they’re they’re the books that are ubiquitous or on every time I pick up a lot of books off of Facebook. or wherever There’s always a box of these kinds of books and I’m like, okay, that’s fine. Somebody loves them. Yeah, but it’s not the people coming into story. Like these are not the books I’m looking for. Like they just kind of come with the whole big pile of books that I end up getting but I’m I can’t believe how they’re in every house every old person’s library has a collection of all these kind of books, you know, and then I guess it gives me thinking like all right, why am I getting off on this doesn’t know what we’re talking about. Anyway, I was there last night. I was getting all those books on the Shelf because I’m trying to make room for the cool stuff, you know the stuff I think people are looking for. But if you do this, if you do like those authors,

Maggie:
You should make a dollar

Rich:
Bill and I think I’m going to I have so many of these I think I’m gonna do I’ve been having a couple ideas like one I might do like a book sale like a bag sale kind of thing. Yeah where it’s like your back has to contain two of the books from this table and they’re gonna be like all those Dean Coons and freaking Daniel Steel books, right? It’s like you need to have two of these books in your bag. Yeah. Which is one good. It’s gonna take up space in the back and you it’s like getting those things out of there.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Or they could just be on the yeah, I could come up with like a dollar shelf. Yeah, because I’d love for people to get them and like enjoy them or or whatever but they’re not gonna they’re not gonna move, you know, not a normal price of three night.

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
Hey.

Maggie:
Can’t get me going about something. No. I just thought it was really interesting that like both of our businesses have a second hand. I don’t want to say the flare to it. That’s a good word and with staging I make it a priority to purchase secondhand furniture um from a estate sales, so a little bit of my inventory is from Marketplace and but majority of my inventory is purchased from estate sales

Rich:
Straight out of other people’s homes

Maggie:
Straight at right into your homes and I use my best judgment if if the house Is gnarly as you say or gross, I’m not going to put that I’m not going to risk putting something like that in my inventory.

Rich:
Yeah,

Maggie:
I’ll I like to shop like stuff like if it’s Something’s Gonna Go in my estate sale stuff. I wanted to be reflective of like the quality of my business. So all nice stuff all like no stains no tears. No nothing like you know dings or anything like that and that also I think that when I’m staging a house with second hand furniture. It has a more homeier Vibe people when people walk into a home that stage and there’s an element of familiarity to it and it’s got a little bit of use on it. That is more homey than a clean sterile gray and white. Yeah picture. Of a room kind of overly modern. Oh, yeah so

Rich:
Fast,

Maggie:
Right. So I think that there is a little and there’s also A story in a history with all those items too, and you’re giving them New Life. By putting them in they get a chance to live multiple lives in different homes. And I like that about my furniture. I’m in the middle of staging a house right now. Immediately after we record I’m going back up to Saratoga. I was hired by an agent to do the hybrid staging we kind of talked about and the owners no longer live there, but the bulk of their belongings are there and in their garage and he’s he hired me to Stage the house mostly with accessories and I’m doing bedding and like a ton of accessories plants and and bar take barware and living like coffee table like the whole the whole thing. And I’ve actually they have a ton of stuff in there detached garage and he gave me the code to it and I started shopping the garage for the house. So I was pulling stuff out of the garage. There’s this massive cast iron Singer sewing machine. That I pulled out from the back of the garage and I brought it back into the house and I’m gonna set it up in a craft room and I found like a globe I found a lamp. I found a trunk. I found a computer monitor like a bunch of other random little things and sprinkling them throughout the home and kind of I like being able to use the owner stuff because I think it’s reflective of like it’s personality. So

Rich:
That’s cool. Yeah one.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
I wonder if I’d like to see an owner’s face when they see their own stuff. Scattered throughout the house in a way that they maybe never would have envisioned but you just it’s their stuff. But with your touch

Maggie:
I think about that

Rich:
Be fun. So like get people’s reactions,

Maggie:
I think about that too. And unfortunately when they’re not my clients and I’m not selling the home. I don’t get to see their reaction.

Rich:
Right

Maggie:
And that’s the case with this home is I was hired by their agent and the agent like it. Yeah, so that’s a good sign. but Yeah,

Rich:
Just something thrown out there, I

Maggie:
Know I would love to know so yeah, it’s it’s giving giving things a second life giving secondhand a second life

Rich:
Maybe that’s the title

Maggie:
Me and I feel

Rich:
Like if you ask your AI friend with the title should be.

Maggie:
Oh, no, maybe I will but I think the answer to our question is, you know, like for why is why are we seeing a shift in this furniture market? Some of it might be due to a shift in spending because of the pandemic, but I think a lot of it. I think has to do with second hand Influence in the market. I mean I can’t tell you how many new accounts have popped up that I started following that are all thrifted accounts like come Thrift with me and then you’re like following them around in a thrift store. Or you’re looking how at how they repurpose something. I follow a lot of repurposing accounts. Um a beautiful mess. I’ll see Larson I learned from her that there’s a huge vintage rug Market on Etsy like she sources pretty much all of her rugs on Etsy. And I thought wow that’s really cool. I never knew that I can instead of buying a brand new. Rug that is made from plastic, basically. why not buy a secondhand rug that’s made from natural fibers like wool and cotton that like You know stand the test of time and so that’s something and lighting fixtures. She’s in the middle of renovating her a new home and she’s buying lighting fixtures old vintage fixtures on Etsy. So And when you think about it, you might think like oh, wow, these things are so expensive. But when you compare it to what you would pay for something brand new, you’re actually getting a good deal and you’re actually giving something a second life. So I just want to encourage our listener that if like you’re in the market for something. To maybe try second hand first. Look look on Facebook Marketplace. Look on Etsy. Look on estate sales.net for local estate sales in your area. And if you think of the cost of something should be really cheap at an estate sale or on Marketplace. Just think about okay when you compare it to what it would cost brand new you’re actually saving a lot of money and it’s in if it’s indecent condition. You also get the satisfaction of giving that piece of furniture a second life. Keeping it out of the landfill.

Rich:
Well the landfill I’ve been surprised I because I know you’re into a state sales and I’ve been to estate sales. Not really the way you have and not lately, but I always had the sense of like things would be mad expensive. how

Maggie:
To stay sales

Rich:
But Typically, it’s a lot. Less expensive.

Maggie:
Yeah, and I

Rich:
Would have thought for certain things that have come my way and in the last couple months.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
So do I just have the wrong read? What do you what do you find? Do you find that things are pretty

Maggie:
I I move generally I think there’s a perception for a state sales that everything should cost a dollar. And if you’re buying an

Rich:
Empty the opposite of the perception that I have is the okay. Well, that’s my perception is everything would cost. More than I would want to pay for it.

Maggie:
Yes,

Rich:
But then I’m finding it. That’s actually really affordable.

Maggie:
Yes, so Like I think people expect. Maybe this isn’t a conversation for another time.

Rich:
Maybe we need an episode on Maggie’s estate sale hacks.

Maggie:
I mean I have so many I could share but like maybe they’re thinking garage. Like there is a difference between a garage sale and an estate sale

Rich:
Sure.

Maggie:
So maybe they’re expecting yard sale or garage sale prices at an estate sale, but Like you’re not going to get something for a dollar at an estate sale. You have to You know go in there expecting to spend a little bit of money, but you’re not going to spend the same amount of money as if you were purchasing something at Pottery Barn, you know, you kind of have to compare it to what you would spend. At those retailers and then think like okay. I’m actually getting a good deal. Even though it’s not a dollar.

Rich:
Well, I don’t know. I don’t know who you’re talking to. I don’t know anyone would go to estate sale expect things which I mean but again, I’m out of the thing but like okay the chairs the blue chairs. Yeah, this is so was a 75 Dollars.

Maggie:
Oh, yeah. So quick in contacts like I you were looking for chairs for story

Rich:
And

Maggie:
We were going back and forth about like what if and I found them I found two of them at an estate sale, but they weren’t pictured together. They were in different room. Yes, so I sent that to you and Christine

Rich:
Price.

Maggie:
There was no price. They weren’t priced like on the estate sales app. There’s rarely prices. You have to go to this. That’s how they get people to the sale

Rich:
Okay, so

Maggie:
I think Christina asked what would be a fair price.

Rich:
Did she go that

Maggie:
She went to pick them up? Yeah. And I said to Christine I think of I think it would be reasonable to get both those chairs for a hundred bucks. Total 50 bucks a chair. I think that’s that’s a fair price it was there a pollstered with some canning. They were a mat they were in they looked like they were in pretty good condition. So I was like expect to pay a hundred bucks for both of those and she

Rich:
Was less.

Maggie:
She’s spent 75. Yeah both

Rich:
75. I think I think Shiro 75 and then and then I replied like each

Maggie:
Which

Rich:
Is what I would have expected. This is the point I’m making,

Maggie:
Okay.

Rich:
I saw this two chairs and I was like, oh those would easily be going for 75 dollars. Each.

Maggie:
Mm-hmm, right

Rich:
And then she’s like no both chairs for 75 dollars. I was like what he was talking about.

Maggie:
That’s a good deal.

Rich:
That’s what I’m that’s what that’s what exactly I’m trying to say is like I would have expected those shares cars turned around dollars each at this estate sale.

Maggie:
Yeah, look

Rich:
Nice. They’re vintage. They’re trendy and then you got both for the one price. I’m like, so

Maggie:
Now that was at a local antique shop easily would have been 75 bucks each

Rich:
So many yeah. Yeah. Yeah,

Maggie:
And that’s a good point.

Rich:
Because that’s exactly it. So this is what I’m saying is like I think it staysails are probably more affordable. Than my perception. Yeah, but it’s not a garage sale. It’s not. Yeah, so you’re gonna you’re gonna pay 75 dollars for

Maggie:
Yeah

Rich:
For a couple minutes chairs, but hey, why not? All right. Well, I don’t know there’s it’s quite a phenomenon. It’s quite a phenomenon.

Maggie:
I would love to talk about this more.

Rich:
I know it’s it’s fun to talk about. I guess I guess we’re gonna wrap it there I do.

Maggie:
We got places to be.

Rich:
That’s true. That’s true. Well next time we’re talking about. The rise of the robots

Maggie:
The rise of the robots AI

Rich:
Right? The second hand thing it’s always in the back of our minds. So yeah,

Maggie:
We’ll definitely revisit.

Rich:
It’ll come back to us. But

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
We’re gonna talk about AI next week and there’s a lot of layers today. So we’re gonna do a little reading up on in the meantime. We got the we got the writer strike as we were talking about. we’ve got You go on Google and it’s all you want to enhance your search with AI and I’m all heck no. But I’m gonna try it out and see what happens

Maggie:
Right? You

Rich:
Got stupid Chad gbt right in captions for you these days and paying people to do that for you. I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense to me and then you got it’s all about optimization.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Whatever, dude. Then you got Maggie out here doing podcast description.

Maggie:
I don’t do that anymore. I changed I changed the way I do that but

Rich:
I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t really actually read most of us. I’m not I’m not complaining about them. But I just I’m the kind of guy. It’s my second hand nature, right? I’m the kind of guy who I’m like give me the analog not that I’m out here. It’s been a vinyls. Alright, I’m not that. I’m not that dedicated to the cause, but I But I am a little bit more tactile hands on I’m like show me the human originality. and you know, it comes with any finish it comes with inefficiency, but that’s how you learn something, you know.

Maggie:
Yeah,

Rich:
Call me old school.

Maggie:
Yeah.

Rich:
Well, I want to learn myself

Maggie:
You that.

Rich:
Then we learn myself thing or two this week, but I we’ll see how I feel a week from now. Yeah.

Maggie:
Please submit your feedback and questions about or experience like actually would be really cool. If if our audience could express their experience with AI if they have any at our email House Coffee podcast at gmail.com. If you would like your story shared, we’d love to share it.

Rich:
Team AI or

Maggie:
Yeah, are you team AI our team human eye. Yeah.

Rich:
All right y’all. Thank you.

Maggie:
Later.