ANOTHER VIEW
Steuben dealer, Lon Knickerbocker of Dansville, New York presents another interesting view from the inside.
Well I’ve listened and listened and I can no longer leave it alone. I have been a collector of Steuben for nearly 40 years, starting in my teens. I have dealt for nearly as long, and full time for 15 years.

E-bay and the copy cats came along and initially impacted the business from a profit standpoint in a positive way, dealers loved it. Now e-bay is affecting profits in a negative way. There are few serious dealers who bother with the e-bays of the world at all anymore. Most Steuben, like any quality collectible is not sold on e-bay, it is now sold private, as this is the best way for the high end dealer to profit. I do one show held twice a year, the Harrisburg Pa. show. I take only a small amount of Steuben because I can’t keep it in stock. I have attended 6 auctions already this year with multiple pieces of Steuben in them and prices are through the roof, doesn’t matter, low end, middle and high end. For those wanting to buy Steuben cheap, the cheapest place to buy Steuben is at the Carder Steuben club auction. In checking my records, only 3 of my top 10 Steuben buyers are in the club and one just joined at my urging. Of the top 15 categories I sell the only one I can think of that does well on e-bay is high end Nippon and that’s because it goes to Japan. Most serious collectors I know do not bother with e-bay, they don’t bother with the Miami shows or other shows like that. I will use dealer and friend Kevin McNamara as an example .Kevin has great things in many categories and often tells me I’m his biggest customer at the Baltimore show, which proves my point. In my opinion e-bay is dead, shows like Miami are dying because only the promoters are making money and dealers who do this for a living do not bother. I think everyone who thinks the business is down should actually go to Brimfield, Madison- Bouckville or a couple auctions other than Early’s, or Julia’s with Steuben listed and tell me if they think Steuben prices are down. I recently picked up two more Steuben collectors as customers, one from Florida and one from Pa., neither are in the club. I live this everyday and quite frankly I don’t get some of the reactions out there. Steuben like any quality item has a huge market and dealers who know how and where to sell do not have to slash prices and give things away

Lon