WKBN

Local television station 27, WKBN invited Brian Orfin and myself to appraise antiques and collectibles brought in by the morning shows hosts.  If your super bored this is your chance to see our clips.  Click on the links below and with any luck you will be dazzled by our ability to assess the values of Beanie Babies.

http://www.wkbn.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3956736
http://www.wkbn.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3956743
http://www.wkbn.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=0

Mahoning Valley Home and Garden Show

Bring your antiques and collectibles out for a free appraisal at the Mahoning Valley Home and Garden Show.  Appraisals will be given live on stage from 1:00 to 3:00 this Saturday and Sunday, February 16-17.

The home and garden show is being held at the Eastwood Expo Center in Niles, Ohio.

Fostoria American Pedestal Cake Stand

For many years glass and china ruled in the "smalls" category of the antiques and collectibles business.  Many people feel that that is no longer true, they complain about the poor sales of glassware and how its just not worth toting around anymore.  Unfortunately for them its not a matter of glassware not selling, its a matter of the sellers did not keep up with the times.

Dealers, appraisers and collectors sometimes forget that the antiques and collectibles business is in fact a business.  A business that like any other is effected by supply and demand.  Take a common collectible glass like Fostoria's American Pattern.  Fostoria American has been around since the 1930's.  The problem with the value in today's market is simple, Supply and Demand.  The largest collectors from the last 50 years are now approaching their "golden years" and are divesting themselves of their collections.  There are still avid collectors of the glassware but the availability of American glass has outpaced the demand.  When 500 people are selling and 400 are buying the prices will drop.

Conversely, when demand is high and supply is low the exact opposite is true. Anyone with a boxful of scrap sterling silver will tell you that they could not believe how much they received for their metal.  In recent month's investors have created so much excess demand for precious metals that prices have skyrocketed.  Two years ago you could buy scrap silver for $5-7 per troy ounce, today it is over $30 per ounce.

 

One thing for sure about the antiques and collectibles business is it is always changing and if you don't pay attention you will loose out. Spare time should be spent scouring the internet to find the next collectible sensation.  Oh yeah, this excellent condition ROUND cake stand is worth $50-60. At one time it sold for more than $200!!

TWINKIES VALUE THROUGH THE ROOF!! Obama to blame!

THE DAILY BLOG

 

News Flash!

 

 

Twinkie the Kid Found Dead!

President has hand in demise.



Twinkie the Kids twin brother Billy.  Former gunfighter. Saddened

by the loss of his brother.  "All he ever wanted was to spread his cream filled joy

to everyone in America." 

Washington....

Twinkie the kid was found dead this morning, presumably at the hands of our President Obama.  Obama care and......
.....were found to blame.

Conservatives were quick to blame the president for the demise of the world famous cream filled cake stating......
.......and his wife Michelle and her healthy kids crap, really pushed him into it."

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney stated, "I could have saved Twinkie the Kid by simply......
.......on day ONE!

Profiteers abound.  Local antiques and collectible dealers are buying up the remaining cupcakes at a near record pace.  One dealer who would only refer to himself using his eBay handle "Dream Cream" commented "that at over $100 per box....
......he would fill himself with cream"



Ridicules, why in the world would people react with such stupidity over a box of cupcakes, that ironically enough, are absolutely horrible for you.  The announcement of the demise of the Hostess brand has created a new business, selling boxes of Twinkies on eBay for astronomical prices. 

Asking prices for a box of Twinkies is as high as $8,000! As a society are we really this stupid?  The answer is yes.  It seems that anytime something tragic, such as the death of a high profile celebrity, or the demise of a tasty treat, the American public goes crazy. For those of you that absolutely cannot live without one, I am sure that someone will either buy out the Twinkie brand or will come up with something equally as tasty. 

In any event, if your a seller and have access to Twinkies go out and buy them immediately.  Even though Twinkies can survive a nuclear holocaust the timeline for selling them at a premium price will be short lived.  If you a buyer of Twinkies online, your an idiot and should be locked away in some Russian managed asylum.

By the way, the chocolate filled Twinkies (ughh) sell for even more and some very interesting photo's come up when you google twinkie. 

Dog plays with antique toy!

DOG




DOG TOY






OTHER DOG






NOT A DOG TOY!




Notice how not a dog toy is missing its wooden feet. It seems that what we humans deem to be dog chewable and what small dog deems as chewable are not in agreement.

Summary:
Don't leave $200 schuco windup human toys were non human inhabitants can get to them.

For sale...cute boston terrier. $200 OBO

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Online Auction Time!

I've been an auctioneer for over eight years and live auctions have always been my forte. But times are changing. This is actually the third time that I've had an all online auction, but it's the first with collectibles only.

So, if any of you have a strong desire to purchase a Longaberger basket or a Christmas Barbie the go to ;

Www.auctionzip.com
44512 zip code
And follow the bouncing ball to my auction listing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Best of craigslist

i could use some paint, indoor, outdoor both. most colors would work. have any lying around?? would trade for black walnuts, red raspberries. call 222-xxxx
Location: salem

I regularly check Craigslist. I do it because you never know what will turn up. This is a classic Craigslist posting...I suspect that the author lacks teeth, is married to his sister and his truck has yellow license plates.

Doesn't it make you wonder what the non-working colors are? Is he (she) an artist painting a mural on the kitchen wall? And how about the offer for a trade, mm mmmm good.

Anyways, if tins got a bunch a ol paint liyun aroundt gimme a holler.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Garage sale stamp collection

Sometimes it just make you wonder what people are really thinking. We arrived at this particular garage sale 3 hours after it opened. Sitting gon the floor in a box was a stamp collection for $10.00 or best offer. I

I spent about 30 seconds looking through it and decided that the $10 asking price was more than fair and I told the owners that I would take it.



As it turns out there is over $300 worth of unused / uncancelled postage in the box. So this Christmas I will be licking and sticking what amounts to free postage for me. Don't ignore old stamps, sometimes they are still useable.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I Was Walking Down The Street One Day...

This evening I decided to take the dogs for a walk around the block.  They were their usual uncooperative selves, sniffing, peeing and pooping with reckless abandon.  But, as luck would have it it was trash day and my dogs love to look at trash cans...so do I.

As the walk progressed I couldn't help noticing a particularly interesting pile of trash.  Stacked high and scattered across the devil strip (tree lawn in everywhere but N.E. Ohio) was an incredible offering of interesting trash.  I nonchalantly peered into the receptacles as the two dogs did their thing.  After some delicate maneuvering of some interesting smelling items with what appeared to be a bunch of wiggling yellow worms all over it when I discovered these albums.

You ever heard "One man's trash is another man's treasure."?  Well, here is my treasure.  Approximately 400 vintage 78 rpm Victrola records.  I quickly took the dogs home, threw them into the car and drove directly to the treasure trove.  Five minutes later I was at home.  It took a some time to take off all of the little worms (the dogs seemed to really like them, they must have tasted good) and after a quick analysis, I determined that my walk with the dogs was going to be profitable. 

Assuming that there are no rare classics involved I should be able to turn them over for around $100.  Not bad for an evening walk...and the little dogs got a special treat too!!

Update

The tire is fixed, $158.00 at Sears.

I didn't get to drink the Crown Royal.  It seems that people actually collect the bottles.  Off to Ebay.  Hopefully to bring enough money to pay for the tire.

I purchased this really cool 1960's bamboo bar today at a garage sale.  After purchasing it I manhandled it onto the back of my trailer, towed it 30 miles, flipped it upside down and over the railing of the trailer and then found the bonus...a full bottle of Crown Royal. 

I really don't drink very much (less than 6 nights a week) but finding an unexpected bonus like this can lead to good things.  Now I know that it isn't a diamond ring, but my usual fare comes in a box that costs less than $15.00 and contains approximately 8 bottles of this size.

Hopefully, this stuff is still good.  I'm going to test it out on the dogs first, just in case.

Sears, Can You Fix This?

I decided to go to an auction in Pennsylvania today and ran into a little problem.  It seems that bolts and tires don't mix together very well.  As I was driving along I80 a slight clicking sound was emanating from my truck.  I suspected that one of the tires on my trailer was making the noise, wrongo, it was my rear truck tire, a rear truck tire with a 3" bolt stuck in it.

Fortunately, I'm cheap.  So cheap that I am the guy that everyone bitches about on the highways.  I've found out that my gas mileage is 20% higher when I drive 55, so I do.  In this case it was a double blessing, I got the gas mileage and when the tire blew I didn't end upside down in the median. 

Well, I missed the auction.  Thank you AAA for your prompt service. 

Clover Knitting Needle Case

What knitter wouldn't want to have one of these babies laying around waiting to be used. Storing the needles properly is an important thing. At over 18" long this would keep even the most particular knitters satisfied. The mid section can be readied for use by gentle grabbing it with both hands and wiggling it open. One open the hollow shaft is revealed for storing your needles. The head can be popped off to reveal even more storage.

  Its handsome design makes it perfect for displaying for your family and friends, can't all of you imagine how proud the owner would be to have this standing tall in their knitting bag. I tried to determine if there were any alternative uses for it, after all re purposing is a great way to add saleability to an item.

Here a few of my ideas (most of them do make it necessary to stick it into some type of hole);

1. Use it to plug up those pesky chipmunk holes. Its just about the right size and would prevent them from destroying your bushes.

2. Flower planting, use the pointed end to open up the ground for planting. One push and the annuals could go in.

3. It could be used as a toy, after all it does look like a rocket ship.

Any other suggestions? Send them to me, I promise I'll post them and give you full credit for them.

International Harvester Watch Fob

I've taken a little time off from blogging because I just plain needed a break. It seems like I've been on the run almost constantly for the last few months and the blog was the thing that suffered.

  But, I'm back... It seemed like a really good buy. Forty five watch fobs for just a few dollars. Perfect for Ebay, I thought that making money on these would be easy. Afterall they were inexpensive, easy to list, easy to ship and pretty cool looking. How could I go wrong?

The primary problem is very simple, I hate listing things on Ebay. I continually purchase things like this thinking, "I'll put them on, everyone will love them and I'll make loads of money." It usually doesn't work out this way. What really happens is I buy the items, throw them into my storage barn and then promptly forget about them. The next step, because I've forgotten about them, they accidentally end up in a big box and ultimately get sold at a local junk auction. Instead of making money, I loose.

The moral of the story, don't buy it unless you are able to follow through on the sale. I too often end up loosing money due to my inability to follow through on the selling end of the business. I'm working on it, but old habits die hard.

Aunt Shirley and Uncle Joe

Aunt Shirley and Uncle Joe are both in nursing care, unfortunately in two different homes, this is a summary of today's telephone conversations.

5:40am
UJ Dave, call me when you get a chance

7:45
AS. Dave call me.

8:00
Me. Called Joe, Joe said he had not spoken to AS

8:10
Me. Called AS, she said that she had not spoken to UJ.

9:00
UJ. Called to say that he could not remember AS's number. Asked me to tell her to call him.

9:10
Me. Called AS and asked her to call UJ.

9:15
9:16
9:20
10:30
11:00
11:10
12:00 pm
12:30
1:00
2:00
AS. Tried to call UJ

2:02
AS. Called me to tell me that UJ was not answering his phone.

2:10
Me. Called UJ to tell himAS was trying to call him. He said OK.

2:15
Me. Called AS to tell her that UJ was in his room.

2:20
2:25
3:00
3:15
3:30
AS. Tried to call UJ

3:35
AS called me to tell me UJ would not answer his phone. Asked me to call UJ to tell him to call her.

3:40
Me. Called UJ to tell him to call Shirley. Said he could not. Told me to have her call him.

3:45
Me. Called AS to tell her to call UJ.

3:50
AS. Called ...

As of 8:49 this evening each of them have called me over a dozen times each. They have not spoken to each other. I'm on my way to the nursing home to dial the phone for them.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hankies

In the category of "What????" and "Why????" are hankies. I can say that outside of the 80 plus year old's, that I have never seen anyone use one of these. The very idea of carrying a snot laden rag around in my pocket all day, just seems a little gross. After all who can ever forget Grandma taking her stiff and crunchy hanky out of her pocket book, spitting on it, and then using the now moist rag to wipe cookie crumbs off of your face.

So, who in the world is buying them now? I'm just not sure. All I know is that they do. Pretty, flowery, feminine type hankies sell for a couple of dollars to a couple of hundred dollars. Men's hankies sell for quite a bit less, but still do sell. Unused, or at least clean hankies are normally the way to go. I just can't imagine selling Aunt Millies used crusty hankie for very much, but then again you never really know.

Sell them on EBay or Etsy. I normally sell mine across the auction block. It usually doesn't maximize your cash, but then again I'm a little lazy and the auction can be the quickest and easiest way to sell. The hanky with the dog on it sold for $175 on ebay!

Rookwood Vase

Rookwood production pieces like this one used to bring strong prices. A vase like this one would have sold in the $250-300 range just a few short month's ago. Right now I would suggest Stashing items like this. The tough economy, high shipping costs and just plain lack of enthusiasm from buyers has resulted in a drastic drop in value on items like this.

We recently sold this piece for $125.oo, less than 1/2 of its previous selling price. Hold off if you can, if not be careful when buying. You can still make money, even in a down market if you adjust your purchase prices to the appropriate levels.

Mountain Lions

I really didn't do too much this weekend, so I spent a few minutes looking back at old photo's of treasures past. This one popped up and I thought it was pretty cool so here we go.


This mounted mountain lion showed up a a local auction several years ago. I was immediately interested in it because cool looking, unusual items often sell very well. The problem with this mount is (was) you have to be very careful about selling certain types of animals. I'm really not sure about why, after all they are already dead, but the department of wildlife frowns on the selling of certain mounts. Their frowning comes with high fines, jail terms and public embarrassment.

So, before bidding on it I did some research. This particular type of taxidermy it is legal to sell. I ended up purchasing it for around $100. The question now became what do I do with it. Initially I attempted selling it at the antique mall. I priced it at $450, I chose this price after some Internet research showed other dealers asking $1,500 or more for similar mounts. The antique mall that I have space in has a price point of $8.00 so needless to say, it didn't sell.

Being a consummate daredevil I decided to try the auction route. This may seem like a crazy concept to some of you but, buying at one auction and then selling at another can be a very effective method in money making. Auction goers tend to become "groupies" for one particular auctioneer (or auction company), and will ignore all other auction companies. It seems silly to me because I try to go to every auction I can, but then I really don't care because it enables me to make more money.

The other auctioneer in this case was a whopping 40 miles from where I initially purchased the lion. The result of this gamble, a profit of $800 after commissions. That's right $800. The lion was advertised the same at each auction, the difference being the stuffed animal buyers went to one auction and would not go the other.

Insane? Sure, but then again, who cares. Your goal as a dealer is to make a living for yourself. Paying attention at all auctions to see who buys what, and where they buy it at can really payoff for you.

Marked Woman, or How I Ruined Raggedy Ann...

Priced to Sell!

Recently, we held a very successful household tag sale. Most of the time I try to lead the sellers to the auction route, in this case we determined that the most effective means would be having a tag sale. It was a lot of work but the payoff was worth it. Over the course of 3 days we sold over 90% of the items in the house, but it was not without incident.

Chastised, threatened, humiliated over a $1.00 figurine. I made the fateful error of using an erasable marker on a Raggedy Ann figurine. I was unaware at the time of marking this item that the removable marker could not be removed. It seems that removable markers, while not permanent, become permanent when not used properly. Bisque figurines apparently constitute improper use. Raggedy Ann was bisque.

Enter in one of our tag sale patron's, who we will simply call that Whiny B*#ch.

Whiny B*#ch was very upset because of my inappropriate use of an "erasable" marker. I tried explaining that although unfortunate we would make every attempt to remove the now unremovable markings from the front of the doll. Whiny B*#ch followed Stephanie (my wife) from room to room while she looked for anything that might lead to the restoring Raggedy Ann to her original pristine condition. It was to no avail. Raggedy's pristine appearance, just like her lost virginity could never be returned. Water, soap and scrubbies did not work. We even tried contacting the erasable marker company, their response almost equaled the Whiny B*#ch's, "They were meant for use on dry erase boards only!". Oops.

Whiny B*#ch left in complete and utter disgust. She was last seen slamming her car door shut while nervously lighting a cigarette. She sped off wheels squealing in an apparent display of disgust.



Embarrassed and not knowing what to do, I purchased the figurine myself. I plan on carrying her with me everywhere with me to remind me that not all markers are created equally. I'm now a dollar poorer, and I will forever be reminded of the day that I took a clean ceramic dolls beautiful finish and ruined it. I will spend the rest of my days taking care of her, with the hope, that someday we will be able to unring the bell.





Meeting Gus!


Favorite Movie TARZAN



Smelling the Roses

Greater Youngstown Home and Garden Show

This weekend we will be conducting an antiques and collectibles appraisal show at the Greater Youngstown Home and Garden Show. The event is held at the Austintown Plaza in the Austintown Expo Center. We will be conducting the show 1:00 to 3:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday, March 17 and 18.