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Where does one begin, I suppose with a bit of background, I am not a dealer, however my collection is a working collection and I do buy and sell to grow it. Neither do I have any links with the well-known Dealers, other than on a client basis; I am just a keen and dedicated Collector. In the early 1990’s I suffered from that horrible expression of business, that of downsizing. I am a retired Bank Manager, who from the very early days of Lilliput Lane admired the pieces as illustrating the many style of UK Architecture, which is truly part of our heritage and as Collectors we are lucky to have them in miniature in our homes. From my youth I was always interested in building, my late grandfather being a Master Builder, I quickly acquired a copy of Banister Fletcher’s History of Architecture. However I was unable to explore the interest fully at that time due to large mortgage and young family etc, we have all been there!

I will illustrate my personal thoughts on the Secondary Market, with its benefits and pitfalls. At the end of the day it must be remembered that there is ONLY ONE REASON FOR COLLECTING, be it stamps, cigarette cards, cottages whatever. It must be to like, want and enjoy the object, appreciate the workmanship, the beauty and have no eye whatsoever to the intrinsic value or the investment potential. If I offered my Collection, I would expect to lose between 50-75% of my initial outlay on today's prices. It is no different to the Stock Market where the wealth warning appears, prices may go up, but they can fall as well, be warned.

We all started, seeing the piece in a retailers that fired our imagination, for whatever reason, it shouted at you come and buy me. The next step was to join the Collectors Club, along comes Gulliver’s World, with the mention of retiring pieces, you like something you see which results in a series of searching questions, where do I get it? How much is it? You don’t know how lucky you Collector are now; it is all out there on a plate just log into your favourite website. Whilst it has given me the opportunity to find pieces I never expected to get at a sensible price, the enjoyment of the hunt, the search and the reeling in of a piece has gone. It is a sad world when you just turn on a machine, hit a few keys and find the piece you are looking for.

We have found ourselves on the slippery slope to becoming a keen collector, the drug takes further effect, a gradual deterioration to the dedicated and finally obsessive collector, and we’ve all been there even the moaners!

By now we are starting to realise that there is a secondary market and the implication, however it is important to understand that there are always two sides to a Coin. Just to digress briefly, we Lilliput Lane Collectors are fortunate in that there are only a limited number of retired pieces available, well that is apart from the Campanula and Bridge House in Winter sagas. Take for example the known rarities: - Cliburn 64, Old Mine 200, Drapers 360. With the passage of nearly 20 years since retirement, how many have been lost or broken, damaged etc. possibly 25-35% this is my guess. We are not generally faced with the situation of Charles 1 coin collector, who specialises in half crowns (2/6) of the Oxford Provincial Mint. He pays £1000 for a rare almost mint specimen some 5 years ago, when the Auction catalogue describes it as a very rare and desirable coin, with only two or three specimens known. Recently a builder was working on a Tudor Mansion, when hidden in the wall is a pot containing some 20 specimens of the rare coin described above. What happens the price fall to say £200, a very significant loss. This brings to light haunting memories of Campanula, which was supposed to have been destroyed after a cancelled dinner. However collectors must be particularly wary about Cliburn, which appeared in another alter ego as Old School House, doctored Old School House have been reported appearing as Cliburn, fortunately the versions help here as well as the Special Cliburn label. This is not the case with the experiences of some collectors with a wall, on a recent rarity. Whilst the situation described with the Coin above is true, the actual coin description has been changed so as to avoid any embarrassment, if that particular collector is involved in Lilliput Collecting. We can only hope that there are no stockrooms out there with half a dozen Old Mine or Drapers, what a find that would be!

The dedicated Lilliput Collector then proceeds to trawl the Local Shops looking for retired pieces, the following weekend a bit further a field, and then the holiday is hijacked. We have all done it sometimes you get lucky, having done that you then had three options available for you to grow your Collections: -

How did you find the person you are looking for, with the piece you require, at the price you are prepared to pay? (A number of price guides now exist, in those days it was only one, I will say no more than, it is a suggested price, no cast in stone, but for the wise to interpret and the fool to follow blindly). The prospective vendor and purchaser could then advertise in the Local Press hoping that the right person will read it and be in the right place at the right time, can be costly and very hit and miss. Contact made no joy but you ask “do you know anybody else? Have you got a phone number?” Over a passage of a few years you can build up a useful data base of telephone numbers, then comes the thorny subject of price, negotiation, who covers shipping and insurance etc. Do you risk buying the piece without viewing; has it been damaged at some time and restored? Is it the right version, do you want a particular back stamp, are you looking for a particular paint version, remember that Lilliput Lane have changed their paint formulation on at least two occasions. Do you want a light or heavy version, reflecting the change from Crystacal to Amorphite in 1985, but remember that David Tate had been experimenting with various compositions between 1982 and 1985. Oh no I have just stepped into a mine field in Bosnia or Angola, we are fortunate, we don’t lose our lives or a leg, maybe we get the wrong piece, or lose some money and perhaps a dented ego. Remember, whatever your chosen hobby, there is always somebody out there, who will know more about your chosen interest.

These people act very much in the same manner as a Stockbroker or a Currency dealer, with there being a differential between buying and selling to cover overheads and expenses! Without knowing it, we naive Collectors become involved in profit margins, stock turnover, gearing, vat etc: - the list is believe you me endless For example imagine how much is involved in running your own house, double it add 100% for your profit margin and you are about there. Having mentioned these items briefly there are many benefits to both vendor and purchaser alike.

The vendor gets a fixed price and his money up front, he does not have the trouble of finding somebody to purchase his cherished piece, and he is not faced with the problem of accepting a cheque, clearing it through the Banking system.

Turning to the purchaser, they find the cottage they are looking for at a price which is set, there are no expenses involved in location. In fact most Dealers operate a free search system whereby the purchaser provides a list of items required and will generally be offered the first available piece, if he is at the top of the list.

The next issue I will examine is the differential between the vendor and purchaser price.

Vendor sale cottage at £200

Purchaser buys at £350

If the dealer is registered for VAT HM Customs and Excise steal approximately £60, then the dealer has operating cost: - I could list them but we all know what they are. At the end of the day the Dealer may end up with net profit of £20 i.e. 10% of his outlay, a very small return for such a large capital outlay. I hope the little sum above will put the differential into perspective, the dealers are not ripping off the Collector, far from it, they provide a quality service with value for money! Gone are the worries to the Collector outlined in section 1.

The role of the Auctioneer is very similar to that of the dealer, by broking a deal between a vendor and purchaser, both of whom are in control, there are however dangers on both sides, which I will attempt to outline below but there are of course numerous advantages. The Auctioneer makes his profit from buyer and seller premiums, catalogue sales etc.

The benefit to the vendor is obvious, if there are two or three people after a particular item; it may well realise double book price, the bad news here is for the purchaser, he may well never get his money back! Often it is the purchaser who will benefit as Auctions are a trade environment and prices are maybe 50% lower than from a Dealer. The advent of the Online Auction sites is probably responsible for killing off Gary Don’s Auction which was at a separate venue to the Fair. It has also been responsible for a far greater variety of pieces coming to the market at more affordable prices.

Before I conclude my thought on the Secondary Market which incidentally were put together in 1995, but have been modified slightly to reflect e-commerce, we must remember that Lilliput Lane operate a data base where Collectors can record duplicates, which they have for sale. The Collectors Club will seek to introduce buyer and sellers, leaving the door open for a trade to take place along the path indicated in No 1 above. Prior to the web, most dealers produced newsletters, where both buyers and sellers could advertise for pieces at a minimal cost. In the late 1990’s a swap and sell magazine was introduced and ran for 7 issues, before falling by the wayside due I would imagine the greater usage of the net. Some five years ago a Collect It magazine was introduced where again buyer and sellers can advertise for a fee. It has carried articles from time to time on Lilliput Lane, however there have been inaccuracies.

Whilst Lilliput Lane is not involved in the secondary market other than mentioned in the previous paragraph, they remain very much responsible for it, by virtue of it’s retirement program. However I strongly believe that the takeover in 1994 by ENESCO was a retrograde step and has damaged the long-term prospect for the Collector. They have been responsible for a substantial raft of new introductions and retirements, which has very much taken the heat out of the market in respect of potential for those pieces introduced after 1995. The company will have to tread a very fine line, because Collectors will give up if they are priced beyond reach, not so much by individual item cost but volumes. We Collectors only have a limited budget, as well as limited space for display and indeed storage of packaging.

This has had a most substantial impact on prices, by driving them down, however it is interesting to note that the unusual and early items continue to make good money. However we must remember that there are only a limited number of retired pieces out there, with pieces being broken or damaged every day, I would imagine that the number coming for sale over the next 5 to 7 years will dwindle and prices will again become firmer. However I do not believe that the prices seen in the mid to late 1990’s will ever return, leaving a large number of Collectors out there with “Egg on their faces,“ believing that Lilliput Lane had a good investment potential.

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