How To Be An Antique Picker
(Page 5 of 9)
July/August 1971
By the Mother Earth News editors
Occasionally, someone will try to do a private sale without the help of professional managers, and if you find one of these your chances of picking up something you can sell at a profit are pretty good. Again, get there as soon as the sale is scheduled to start, because you're not the only one trying to buy bargains.
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Auctions will be your best source of resalable antiques. They're also the most dangerous. Nowhere else is it as easy to spend good money on worthless junk that you don't want or need. Believe me, I know.
Essentially, there are two kinds of auctions: (1) farm or household auctions and (2) auction house auctions. Forget the second kind. They always sound good, but I never can get a good buy at one.
To find out where and when auctions are being held, check the local papers in the areas you intend to cover. Most auctions are held on Saturday or Sunday and are usually advertised on Wednesday. Occasionally you'll find a mid-week auction, and these have the most potential for good buys because the crowds are smaller (lots of people work during the day, remember?)
Deciding on which auction to attend will probably be a matter of chance at first. Try to attend auctions held by all the auctioneers in your area. Once you get to know the auctioneers, you'll know which auctions are most likely to be worthwhile.
By trial and error (mostly error) I've formulated a set of successful auction buying rules and techniques which I will herewith set down, absolutely free for nothing without cost or obligation and out of the pure noble goodness of my generous heart.
Make it a point to get to the auction at least a half-hour before the auction is scheduled to start. This gives you a chance to carefully look over all items before the sale begins. Make note of the things in which you're interested and decide the top price you'll pay for each item. Since this is probably the most important rule of successful auction buying I will say it again.
Decide beforehand what you will pay for an item and stick to it. It can be disasterously easy to get caught up in the excitement of bidding and pay far more than an item is worth. I once watched two ladies—both antique dealers—run a dimestore ceramic rabbit up to eleven dollars. Even though the audience had begun laughing, they kept right on bidding. So watch out!
Never make the mistake of buying something you don't really need or want just because it's cheap. Of course, if the item is really outrageously inexpensive, you can probably sell it to someone at a profit. But be careful. I remember the time I bought a monstrous old chicken brooder for 10 cents. The brooder was certainly cheap enough . . . but at the time I lived in town, didn't keep chickens, didn't intend to keep chickens, didn't know anybody who did keep chickens and didn't even particularly like chicken.
Then there was the five piece set of horsehair parlor furniture for a dollar which I later found was home to a good many mice. Or the horse-drawn farm wagon which I bought for a mere three dollars and which I had to tow home behind my car at five miles an hour. For 30 miles. Not to mention the 50 cent sheep . . . but that's another story.
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