Marjorie Suddard wrote:
Slightly off topic, but do you all like that show? We watched the first few episodes at the Suddard house, but decided it wasn't for us.
Margie
The show drives my wife crazy for the same reasons. My wife is the person who finds a Bachelder decorative tile for 13 bucks at a yard sale, then turns and sells it for $375. Lately she found a piece of pottery in an old rustic lodge and traded for it with ten bucks and a glass vase. Research shows the thing is worth over $700.
The joy of that kind of thing is in the finding, not going to some guy's barn where the stuff is already found. Plus we get to enjoy the object while we own it.
NYG95GA
SuperDork
7/14/10 6:23 p.m.
For 3 years in the early 80s I lived with a couple of pickers, so I feel like I can speak to the subject with some authority.
The trick to the whole game is not so much the price, but the piece. Some folks have gold and don't know it, others have what they think is gold, but won't bring anything on the market.
The guys I lived with could spot the good stuff when nobody else could, except for the buyer at the flea market with a big roll of cash and an eye for what would sell in his shop.
I watched these guys turn a crummy looking, spindly legged table they bought for 3 into 300. Primative pine was "hot" at the time.. now it might go for 30. If you go to the markets every week, you keep your finger on the pulse of what will move. It's a very grassroots lifestyle.
The guys on American Pickers take the thing to a much higher level.. I'd hate to see their gas bill..
