Man with a Van: My Story

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In those days, he believes, the antiques trade was like “the mafia”, a closed shop shrouded in secrecy to outsiders. Drew’s success has done much to lift the veil: it’s also created a generation of amateur wheeler-dealers who scour car boots with trolleys. Never has other people’s junk been worth so much. Some people, remarked Drew modestly, are now doing “Drew Pritchard better than me”.

Having simplified his life, Pritchard has big plans in the pipeline. There’s a house in Bath that he is currently restoring, which will take him away from his beloved north Wales. I was just utterly fascinated with it, and it’s never left me,” he told Quest. “It’s not something I can explain why, I just had to be around this old stuff all the time."It covers an overview of what the business is all about, what you’ll need, how to buy, sell and also etiquette: how to do things the right way.

He's known to millions of viewers around the world as the star of Salvage Hunters. And, for Drew Pritchard, digging out treasures has been with him since childhood. Reading Pritchard’s book opened my eyes to how much work is needed to do well. Even when you’ve been in the business for decades. “That’s the reality. It’s flat out,” says Pritchard. You can be a dabbler. “But it’s like dabbling in brain surgery. Saying, ‘I do a bit of brain surgery at the weekend’ is fine, but you’re never going to be good at it.” Too many would-be dealers today, he finds, look up the value of an item and think that’s what they should be asking for it. Not realising that there is a chain of dealers through which an item’s value will rise, each making a modest 20 per cent profit, until it reaches the London showroom which has the expensive clientele but also the costly overheads.A Volvo estate is part of any antique dealer’s essential kit. When Pritchard was starting out in the 1980s it was that or, if you were slightly posher, a Mercedes estate, but today’s Volvos are better, he says. In this engaging and informative narrative, clearly structured into practical themes, Drew reveals what it takes to start with nothing but an obsession and a dream. He shows you how to create the opportunities, establish a network, get the best out of auctions and fairs, spot the fakes, develop your eye, build a reputation, buy and sell and yes, make a profit. I want that kid on a housing estate in East Anglia to know they can do it. If you work really hard, listen, read, structure your day, all of these different things, things that I’ve found.” Drew told Quest: “I was just utterly fascinated with it and it’s never left me. It’s not something I can explain why, I just had to be around this old stuff all the time."