Confessions of Collectors Group

Comment

Comment by Terri Weaver - So Dear 2 My Heart on September 3, 2009 at 11:53pm

Oh, Laura! I feel your pain! Auctions are one of those addictive places were life can go from "roses to ruin" in just a few seconds. And when you're talking about antiques, not only do you feel robbed of your purchase, but, if you are a dealer, of what "might have been" in potential sales. I had a similar experience when I'd stumbled upon a little out of the way auction in a little no-where town...bid on and won a fabulous box of good, old jewelry and at a price I'd thought had gone the way of "regular-regular" gasoline. In a little purple haze of happiness over my "secure" purchase, I lingered on over the next 30 or so lots, to see if any other pieces shook loose. Then, all warm and fuzzy, went to pay for and collect my treasures. I presented my bid paddle, thinking..."This has got to be the luckiest bidder number I've ever had...I'll have to remember it and ask for it at the next auction I attend (when you're a collector/dealer, sometimes things like that just make all the difference...right along with my little troll doll and rabbits foot). I paid for my lot cheerfully and as I waited for them to bring my precious box, I just imagined all of the other pieces contained inside I hadn't even had a chance to discover yet. Then, what I can only describe as...ahem..."acute disappointment" set in as the box they carried to me DID NOT contain MY jewelry! There, attached to the other half of my jewelry lot ticket...was a hog castrator. I can safely say that "much scrambling ensued" as auction personnel quickly attempted to correct their error, without success. The bidder for the hog castrator provided sketchy, illegible handwriting when obtaining his bidder paddle, so they were never able to track him down. Nor did he ever come forward to correct their mistake...surprise. I've always tried to picture his farm...with a hog lot rife with well-endowed, blingged-up he-pigs. It at least helps to laugh when you want to cry.

Thanks for sharing...and I certainly do "feel your pain."

Best to you!
Terri
So Dear 2 My Heart

Comment by Vintage Patina on September 3, 2009 at 4:34pm

I'm still mad....
Last January I attended an auction in Louisiana. I bid and won a milk crate filled with auction catalogs for only $8.00. Well, when I went to pick them up in the storage area they were gone. I still dream about those 20+ catalogs from Sothebys etc...

Laura
http://xrl.us/VintagePatina

Comment by ElsiesAttic on April 9, 2009 at 1:07am

I love this site, there are sooooo many great people here. It has been a blast meeting new "Vinties"

Comment by Terri Weaver - So Dear 2 My Heart on April 8, 2009 at 4:59pm

Lora, as always, your comments never fail to brighten my day! See you back over in The Vintage Village! (of which I am a darned proud member!)

Terri :?)

Comment by ElsiesAttic on April 8, 2009 at 4:28pm

Hey Girl! Great Group! I love reading everything you write!

Lora :)

Comment by Terri Weaver - So Dear 2 My Heart on February 5, 2009 at 5:55pm

Craig, welcome to the Couch and thanks for your tale!!

I've had several of those experiences throughout my life...where you feel good about making a bit on a piece, then desperately wishing you could snatch the words back when realization dawns. We had a pair of twin brass beds (this is before 1980 when reproduction knocked the bottom out of the market). These beds were in lovely opposing "harp" shapes. My folks had gotten them for a pittance because the only brass evident on them was hidden beneath the cuff style finials. Dad made extra money on the side breaking these old dinosaurs down, buffing them and reassembling them for several dealers in our area of SW Michigan. When this set was completed, they spent about a year in my sister and my room. They had an offer of $250 for the pair from a dealer, which they gladly took as a 500% return on their $50 investment. Later, the dealer that bought them told them he'd sold them to another dealer friend for $500. The next time we ran into that friend, he'd already sold them for $800. We started chasing the trail and when all was said and done, the final owner had paid $2,500 for them! Still happy with their tidy profit, they could only sit and ask, "What If?" I think we do that a lot of time as Antique Dealers...and about half of us go crazy for it. LOL

Comment by C. Dianne Zweig Editor's Desk on February 5, 2009 at 5:26pm

Thanks Craig...glad you found your way, Dianne

Comment by Craig Phillips / B & C Emporium on February 5, 2009 at 5:24pm

Okay I will start this run, a quite few years ago before mission arts and crafts stuff was really hot I had a out of state dealer in the wharehouse and he was picking a load, and he asked me how much this plain old oak arm chair was, the seat was shot and was in nice old varnish, I shot him a price of $35. he asked how much? a second time, I said $35. he said he would take it. After he paid me for it he said did you know this was a Gustave Stickley chair, I said nope! show me what is special about this chair, so he showed me the lable, the joints and told me what its value should have been, he asked if I wanted more money now, I said no I shot you the price, I have made money on this come back another time. which he did but never got the deal like this one. It was one of the early Harvey Eliss Designed ones about 1904-5 would have went real well with the set of 8 that just went thru here after christmas.

Craig Phillips
B & C Emporium
Original and reproduction hardware
for furniture and homes
http://www.b-c-e.biz