Antique Secrets

Some pickers have items for sale in display cases in antique malls. This is a profitable way to sell your items. One of the main problems I have seen is when you are moving through a store, and see a locked case, and you find one or more items you may have interest in. But, you can’t see the price! Dealers need to put a very visible price on every item in the case! As a collector, and a picker, I usually just keep moving, never to return, because it is just too big of a pain to ring for the shopkeeper to bring a key. Then they stand there watching you look at one or many items. I hate it when you can tell there is a price sticker ON THE BOTTOM of the piece, but you can’t see it. Books are usually the biggest problem, as the seller prices it in pencil on the inside front cover. Books should have a bookmark type if tag, plainly marked with the price out the top. Everything should have a visible price on it. In a large mall especially, people zoom through the store, glancing only, scanning the case. Here’s the secret: You usually have one or two seconds, to tell them about everything you are selling! These malls are frequented by antique pickers and book scouts too, all moving fast when they are there.

Another of our secrets, and a very nice touch, and a way to add value to your items, and a WAY TO KEEP CUSTOMERS IN FRONT OF YOUR CASE, is to print a small card. Include historical information, descriptions, dates, etc on the card, with an obvious price on the card. If you need to reduce the price, don’t show it on sale with a cheaper marked down price. This is a way of telling the customer, “Something is wrong with the item, and I just found out about it, so now it’s cheaper.” Always print a new label.

I went to an estate sale put on by a savvy dealer. He did something I have never seen before or by anyone else. He attaches a piece of blue painter’s tape on each item, and puts his white price sticker on the blue tape. First of all, every item is plainly marked, and your eyes readily find the well marked price. He personally is an antique picker, dealer and collector himself, and knows how important it is to protect the item, with the painter’s tape. It is easy to remove, and will not mark or deface the finish, or cover, etc.

When I wrote my first edition of: Antique Secrets How the Pickers Find Treasure in Another Man’s Trash (ISBN 0-87341-722-4). I went to a local large antique mall store, and showed it to the owner. I asked if they could sell some copies there. She looked through the book and started to get a little belligerent with me! She said “I do not want any of my people or customers even knowing about this stuff!” I asked her if she wanted a copy, and she was too mad, and walked away. The book has been reprinted by the publisher as Picker’s Bible: How To Pick Antiques Like the Pros ISBN 978-1-4402-3039-4

I thought maybe I might take a copy back in there and show her… Nah!

Create an antique picker’s shopping list.

Here’s one of our favorite secrets: Write down your goals! Make a list of all the things you hope you will find as you are out picking. Once you have wants that are written, something magical happens in your subconscious. Your eyes and ears are programmed and piqued.

For example, I needed a box stapler, to assemble boxes for shipping products on ebay. The stapler is one of those big units with handles that you crunch a large copper colored staple to fasten heavy cardboard. I tried a few fastener places, and asked if they had a used one, because I was not about to pay $200 for a new one. I put it on my “shopping list” I was out and about one day, and actually had a load of stuff I was shipping UPS (The reason I needed a stapler!). I saw a pawn shop. I usually do not go int pawn shops regularly. I do enjoy the show: “Pawn Stars” however! In the back of my mind, I thought, “they usually carry all sorts of tools” Let’s see what they might have. I walked in and because I had it on my list, and knew exactly what it looked like, within five minutes, I found my box stapler! It was $59.00. When talking about the stapler to the pawn shop owner, he said it was the only one he had ever seen. He said if I wanted it, I could have it for $10.00! “Oh, OK, sure!”

Five Minutes, $10.00, better than what I wanted. Put ANYTHING you want on your written shopping list!

Please comment on our blog. If you comment, the blog will be better. Someone else will comment too. We will hear about some amazing picks, and tips and hopefully secrets that will help us. The more stories the better for everyone.

I am sure that any who may be reading this will all be in various locations anyway. It’s not as if you are hurting your chances by diluting your own area.

PLEASE leave your stories, tips and secrets of the trade. It will help everyone. Photos, and videos are welcome.

A few years ago, way before American Pickers, before Pawn Stars, and even before Antiques Roadshow, I saw a special on TV about millionaires. There seemed to be a common thread among many of the millionaires they interviewed. They were millionaires, not because they were lucky. They worked hard, and they were FRUGAL and THRIFTY! Before they were millionaires, they lived like they were rich, because they had stuff like the rich, but did not pay a rich man’s price for it. They would buy second-hand. They would buy items on sale. They looked for closeouts, and had great stuff they paid very little for. When you are living in the world of pickers, you are a millionaire in embryo. You find valuable items you pay very little for. Pickers enjoy finding things to resell and pickers find great deals on things they use, have, keep, and consume. WARNING! It will sort of change you and ruin you and destroy you in a way. You will discover that you will have a very difficult time paying retail or list price for anything, ever again. I actually get kind of nauseous thinking I need to go to a regular store and buy anything that is especially expensive. I usually always shop three or four places, like I am some sort of purchasing agent, looking for the rock bottom price on something.

Back to our millionaire comparison. If you want to be a millionaire all you need to do is spend $500,000 on items, at half price. Or, only $250,000 on items that are 75% off. Or, a hundred grand on “ten cents on the dollar” products.

Picking for a profit is just the half of it. Picking for items for yourself and your family at a deep discount can be much better than asking for, and getting a raise at work. You will improve your lifestyle, and lift your standard of living. You can stretch and increase the value of your dollars. So much of the news is loaded with the decreasing value of the dollar. Here is a way to reverse that. Buying for pennies on the dollar, is better than Wall Street!

Recently I bought a $750 Glass Fusing Kiln from a Craigslist ad. He was in Montana, I was in Utah. We both drove half-way and met in Idaho Falls, Idaho. I had already talked him down from $1000, so I figured I paid for my gas, He hadn’t sold it as soon as he hoped, and was willing to pay his own gas to get my cash.

Craigslist sells $Millions of product constantly. If you are a Power Seller on ebay, like I am, You will still do well to sell on Craigslist. You save commissions, and listing fees. You can ask for and receive cash, and save PayPal fees. You can sell Large items, that are difficult to package and ship.

You can also buy and sell and resell hidden treasures if you look often and know your products. Someone has even produced an ebook on how to do it. Let us know what you think about it!
Click Here!

I have bought many items directly from the tenants who have had storage units. I have even sold from a storage unit in the past. The TV shows showing the glamor of the Storage Auctions, are (I’ve heard) all scripted. Still, many people watch, and dream about finding the dream pick from an auction like this one day. I know there are better ways to do it, than I have done before. If anyone has any good tips, I’d like to hear from you.

I am also planning on researching more myself like I have found on these information resources I list below. Many of these and other ebooks have a wealth of information. Let me know what you think:

Click Here!

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Click Here!