Okay, so for those who don't know I make my living by buying and reselling other peoples "stuff" after I buy it and make it my "stuff". I'm sort of a lower level, hillbilly, solo version of the American Pickers. I thought some people might be interested in how this works and some of the things I find humorous about doing this.
First, I'm more likely to run into people who think their "stuff" is worth way more than it is. Not the other way around, sure I find a few who think their Great-Great-Grandfdads Civil War sword isn't worth as much as that cool Chinese made one down at the corner wholesale store. But I'm more likely to run into folks who think that Grandmas sewing machine is going put them on easy street.
The internet is to blame for some of that. So are the upteen antiques shows on TV these days. Let's look at the internet problem first. The most common mistake I find people making is that they have an item, they look their item up on Ebay, they find that some dealer is asking $100 dollars for a similar item and *presto* their item is worth $100. Well....no, it probably isn't.
A dealer can ASK a thousand dollar for a cow patty but they ain't never getting it (unless it looks just like Elvis). Here is what to do. Find your item and pay very close attention to condition. If yours has a dent look for one with a dent (condition is everything) search the item and THEN run the search again under advanced search and completed listings. This is going to show you what people have actually been willing to pay for "your" item. In other words it's actual current market value. Those that sold will be in green those that didn't will be in red (including that $100 one).
I have done this with numerous people and have to watch as their dreams of a new BMW turn into a McDonald's dollar menu trip.
Some other things I run into. Just because your item sort of looks like the one on the Antiques Roadshow does not mean that it's worth the $300,000 that one was worth. There have been copies and reproductions made of any and everything of value since people realized that there was a buck to be made by fooling people. I assume that was a long, long time ago.
People WILL lie to you!!!!!!!!! People have lied to me so many times I don't even pay attention to it anymore. I've been lied to by doctors, lawyers, judges, preachers, cops, little old women...LITTLE OLD WOMEN are the worst!!!!! Look, just because I maybe don't look like I know much about your turn of the century pottery piece that was actually made in 1974 doesn't mean that I don't (looks can be deceiving).
Just because it's old DOES NOT mean it's valuable. Things are valuable for one reason and one reason only. People with money are willing to spend some of that money to BUY it. If no one wants it then it is worthless, no matter how old it is.
I can't pay retail! You aren't going to get retail. Not from me, not from anybody with any sense. If you want to rent a storefront, stock the item, and wait three years for the right buyer, yeah, maybe you'll get close to retail. But I ain't paying retail, heck I ain't even going to sell it for anything close to retail.
Book price is about 40 to 60 percent above actual current market value, usually. That's just the way it is. Case in point. Just this week a friend called me and asked me the value of a certain rare silver dollar he had the chance to buy. Well, book price was $1000 to $1500. BUT, one had just sold on EBAY for the whooping total of $76. The seller was asking closer to the book than the market value. I told him to run away, quickly.
I could go on, and on, and on, but.
If anybody has any questions. OR anything they want to sellfeel free......
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