The SE8 business from Joshua Harvey and Kane Dobrin offers guitars, synths, vinyl, hi-fi, cameras, effects, film and vintage electronics for sale
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It’s a cold winter’s day when I visit The Shop in Deptford and Joshua Harvey is in need of the coffee he’s sipping from a mug that celebrates tinned seafood giant John West’s Alaska Salmon.
It’s been an early morning out scouring a car boot sale for stock and he’s still warming up.
Step into the space he operates jointly with fellow owner Kane Dobrin and it’s easy to see why such worm-catching activities are necessary.
Their railway arch in Resolution Way is piled high with stuff – a carefully selected horde of audio visual tech, music, instruments and curiosities – displayed to encourage a rummage.
The thing that’s really filling the space, however is unmistakeable. It’s excitement – the thrill of finding those bargains and then passing them on.
“It’s when you’ve gone to a boot sale, it’s early in the morning and you’re getting out of your car – you’re hopeful,” said Kane.
“You never know what might show up. It works as a business – we buy stuff for less than it’s worth, going to markets every week.
“You have to pick your area, learn everything about the products in it and be able to spot them quickly.
“When the trader tells you the price you have to be able to say yes or no quickly, taking no time to think.”
the thrill of the chase
Joshua added: “Some of the most exciting times of my life have been finding things at boot sales or markets that are rare or valuable and really shouldn’t be there.
“But you have to watch your margins and learn everything so you can make those decisions quickly.
“You need to know that if it’s a Mini DV camera it’s probably broken, that if it’s a tape deck the belt has probably gone.
“This morning I got a rare Sony Walkman Pro – it was standard issue for BBC reporters.
“It’s funny how much good stuff does come on the circuit but you need to be there at the crack of dawn.
“You have to be the first person to see it and that can mean going round with a torch while it’s still dark.
“You also need to be prepared. Never walk through a market without a tenner in your pocket to put down as a deposit, just in case.”
The Shop is in some respects a permanent manifestation of a business the pair have been engaged in for years.
“This sort of thing was in my family a bit,” said Joshua.
“They’re car people and so, growing up in the Midlands, I was surrounded by loads and loads of stuff. You just get into it.
“I met Kane while he was at university and a lot of what we do is based on our common interests.”
opening The Shop in Deptford
Trading initially at the markets and boot sales of Brighton before moving on to Brixton and Portobello Road, their business grew from sheds and living rooms to storage units with The Shop a natural progression.
“A lot of our stuff would suffer on the market – especially the instruments and hi-fi equipment,” said Kane.
“We always thought that if we could put it in the right context and space, then people would dig it.
“There’s a shortage of places where you can go and try things – you can go to a boot sale but often you won’t know if something works or not or how it feels.”
Joshua added: “This is the first time people have been able to come and see stuff when we’re not on a market stall. It’s a bit like having a warehouse except that people come in and stop you doing things.
“It’s awesome really – it’s so cool when someone comes in, finds something and then buys it.
“Most of the things on the shop floor, unless they’re extra special, have probably been with us for less than three months.
“We like to price things on the cheaper side to get them moving and into the right hands.
“If it’s something we’ve had forever, then it’s probably because we want to hang on to it. It’ll be rare, interesting or mean something to us.”
buying, selling, swapping
The Shop buys as well as sells and offers swaps and part-exchange.
While the definition of its stock is somewhat open-ended, customers will broadly find creative technologies related to capturing or generating audio, images and video.
“We like functional stuff that’s high quality and made with the user in mind,” said Joshua.
“There’s a rule of thumb with objects, that, the fewer jobs they do, the better they’re going to be at them – computers, for example, do everything but they’re pretty terrible at it.
“We chose to be in Deptford partly because there are lots of creative people here and we wanted to be close to them.
“We don’t list items online and you probably have a 50-50 chance of a response if you message us – really people have to come and see what we’ve got.”
There’s an element of sustainability to the business too.
By keeping such products in circulation, The Shop is reducing demand for new ones to be manufactured when older tech could do the job just as well, if not better, than modern equivalents.
“We used to just sell film cameras,” said Kane.
“They were in fashion but now customers are looking at older digital models again too.
“Social media has really helped with that because now so many people are posting images and everyone is looking for their own way to do that.
“With music technology, people have always wanted the old stuff.”
Joshua added: “It really led the way – as soon as much of it was invented, people wanted that specific sound and the tools to make it.
“Quality stuff holds its value – there’s always a bunch of weirdos who come out of the woodwork for it.”
key details: The Shop in Deptford
The Shop is open from 10am-6pm Tuesday-Sunday in Resolution Way, Deptford.
The owners can be contacted via email to infor@the-shop.xyz or by calling 07919 874 626.
Find out more about the business on Instagram
Read more: Awe London to open its doors at 8 Harbord Square
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