Featured Finds Thread

They don't try that one, but do try to tell me they're selling gold for just above melt weight. Doesn't help me - I sell mass-produced gold for UNDER melt most of the time. That's all it's good for anyway.

 

The miner portrait is not in a frame, it is an actual wooden plate. I liked the image of the miners lamp hanging from the corner.

 

do u need one ?

 

Just heard this last weekend at a garage sale. And bets are they are quoting an asking (not sold) price.

At this last sale I thought, they are going to be stuck with everything at the end of the day.

 

Usually if I say this it will always be a sold price online. Also not always an eBay price. Remember that other online shops exist. Usually if I can’t find a sold price ( which is rare, but sometimes items are rare not to have others selling them) I say, “This is what I can find it for online. I will sell it for a little less than that price If you can find it anywhere else for less. Remember that shipping is not included with my price and if you buy a few things from my shop you will get a better price always.” Obviously selling it for the lowest price you can find it for online is the best move in my book. I usually take off a chunk of money from the bottom price if it is something that sits in store for too long, but if the same person keeps asking about it the price stays firm unless they are willing to have a fair bargain.
With the history of being on both sides as the buyer and the seller you can relate and level with them. If they just want to resell then the price is higher. It just depends on the situation. Hard to broadcast the same answer on every market encounter.

 

If someone with knowledge is quoting an Ebay or other online sold price, fair enough. It is useful info. But there are other factors, not just shipping.

With Ebay you can return an item for a full refund should you find something wrong with it after you receive it. That policy really benefits the buyer and adds some worth in the transaction. The item would be completely looked over with certain claims that Ebay backs up. That guarantee holds some monetary value to a buyer that a store or booth might not offer. (As a side note, I am a seller.)

My peeve is some homeowner at a garage sale trying to match asking prices on Ebay. There was a so-so drafting table a shopper was looking at last weekend, I overheard the homeowner say, "They are selling for over $300 on Ebay." Like Marko, take one quick look around, then I walk away. This would not be true in another situation more like you described, NickRobin. I do realize comparables sold prices might come into play when both parties are more knowledgeable.

 

I would not take returns. The whole point of returning something it if it was not as described in the listing or it came to your house broken through poor packaging. Having it in your hands at the sale, you know exactly what your getting and if it breaks after you buy it because of something you have done then it is not the sellers fault. When I mean not adding shipping, I mean if you where to try and find the same item online then it would still be more because you would have to have it sent to you, but because it is in the shop your in front of there is a benefit of convenience that is taken into consideration and that convenience makes it worth ( even just a small percentage) more than if you had to pay to have it brought to you.
If someone says “ they sell for 300$ all day” then I would say that is the value of the item and ask if I found it for a better price online if they would give me a better price depending on what I found online. Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If I can find it for less and he/she does not want to sell it at a competitive price, then I’m going to the lower price. I think that’s what everyone should do, but always keep convenience in mind when looking at the price as well. It can make or break a sale.

 

These are fun. From Rajasthan I think. And a bit of age.

 

Very cool, OBB. Did you get those at a sale?

 

I did! Car boot yesterday, five dollars or so.

 

I've heard of a well-tempered clavier, but that is one strategically positioned kithara.

Did anyone? Ever? That's a question we don't ask around here.

 

Need doesn't have much to do with it.

On Ebay, btw, if you sell stuff and take Paypal (all Americans have to) you take returns. It doesn't matter what you say.

 

Taking returns is also mandatory in UK law.

 

well then I apologize for that !!
I guess I'm still learning the rules here......

 

One of my best finds yet I think... No good pics at this point, but - somehow stumbled across this guys little brother:

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/3106262_974-intaglio-cut-glass-lidded-urn

The one I found is signed by Fritsche and is a couple inches shorter but engraved in the same theme, mine is missing the lid...and is a bit cloudy on the inside - I think someone used it as a vase :/- gonna see if some gentle cleaning takes the cloudy out...hopefully. Crappy pic for now:

 

Try using slightly warmed isopropyl alcohol. You can swish it around in it and let it sit on the cloudy spots. After the glass is not cloudy you dump it out and let it dry. Multiple washes to get all the angles. Afterwards anything left over should evaporate better than water.
You can find pure isopropyl at your local pipe shop as they use it on cloudy glass pipes.
Hope this helps.

 

find pure isopropyl at your local pipe shop

I can get it at my pharmacy too..

 

I can only get 91% at my pharmacy? ..I assume almost as effective? I'll give it a go.

 

Is this a 'find'? [not my pic] Just bought it for $12. 101 x 61 inches, so about 12 cents per linear inch. I think it's a Navajo "pound rug." It's in rough shape, but the repairs speak to me (yes, that is cotton selvage on the bottom edge, and the patches are commercial yarns), with tightly hand twisted wool wefts and thick fuzzy warps, natural wool, which make it a 'pound rug' sold by the pound to early traders. My guess early 20th C. 'transitional variant'; repairs might be 'original repairs' based on the selvage fabric in the 40s or so. Appraisal worthy?

 

I know nothing about your rug @Dawnno but I do know that @Taupou will.