Would You Buy This or Not (September 12, 2009.)

While delivering a load of merchandise to my mom's shop in Colorado, we decided to drop in on one of Jack's semi-annual auctions at the Montrose fairgrounds.  I used to go to events held by Jack's Auction service in the early 80s, and thought it would be instructive to see what things go for.  And if we could get a few bargains, all the better. 

In the following, where I say "sold", we did buy it; if I say "no sale", someone else bought it.

Find of the day:

New round-glass china cabinet

price - $75

sold

It wasn't getting any bids because it wasn't antique.  We jumped in because it was stalled at thirty-five bucks.  This is for us; since we got it at 25% of retail we wouldn't try to resell it.

Thing that interested us least:

Kitschy folding chairs

price - sold for a buck

no sale

There were some dead spots in the offerings.  At one point the auctioneer moved to a row of really awful stuff.  All the buyers wandered off to see what the second auctioneer was offering - almost all the buyers, that is.  The ones that stayed got big lots of questionable hand tools for $2.50 a lot.  Had I been prepared, I would have been that person.

Other things we did or did not buy:

Longhorns

sold for $65

no sale

I bought a pair not quite this nice a few weeks before for $10.  I think I'll put it in my mom's shop though.  The return will be better there.

Ordinary jug

sold for $20

no sale

I would be the seller here, except that stoneware takes up a lot of space when we haul a load of merchandise out west.

Coffee jar (reproduction?)

sold for $12

no sale

I seemed to recall coffee jars going for twenty or thirty bucks.  If so, I might be a seller.  The wild card here is this ornate piece might be a reproduction, enough so that all the dealers knew it and did not bid.

Butter churns

sold for $65 each

no sale

Okay, I'm keeping my eyes open for these.

Bottles

sold for an unknown amount

no sale

These were set in a location where almost all the bidders were gone when it sold.  We did not stick around.  There were a couple of round-bottom sodas (something I already have about 20 of), but there were also a couple Celebrated Horseradish bottles from Denver I wouldn't have minded having.

Bass guitar

sold for an unknown amount

There were two auctioneers going, and we had to choose where we would be at any one time.  Silvertone made acoustic guitars that are very desireable now, but I'm not sure about the electric products.  When I checked it the strings were way too tight.  I loosened them up.  You're welcome.

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Whenches I get for a buck

That's about what they sold for.

Elks club trophy

sold for $275

no sale

This is big Elks country.  The lodge in my home town is #492 (which puts its start well back into the 1800s).  With that many Elks about, something like this will get snapped up just so it can be returned to the club, where it belongs.

Carved Andean gourd

sold for $5.

This is fairly nice, but I have one that is perfetly amazing - almost a museum piece.  It spoiled me on the genre.

Old lock assemblies

sold for unknown amount

no sale

I wish I'd been paying closer attention, because I see - and buy - a lot of these.

Cowboy belt buckles

sold for $20 to $35 bucks

no sale

I remember seeing these as a kid.  Every young farmer/rancher kid had one.  They were desireable then, and as a result they appear to be desireable now.

Two-person crosscut saw

sold fdor $7.50

sold

We bought this not so much because it was old, but because it is in perfect working condition.  There are a lot of places in the mountains where it's impractical to pack in a chainsaw and gas.  These cut plenty fast, and are a lot lighter.  I'm thinking about donating it to the local trail group.

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Glass fishing net floats

sold for $30

no sale

I'm too cheap to buy them, and even though I could buy them for far less elsewhere, they're difficult to transport.

Decent lamp

sold for $5

sold

I was hauling some things out to the truck, and when I came back Janie was holding this.  She got it as a lot, with a couple of other items thrown in.

Wood bowl

sold for $5

sold

Everyone avoided in because it was cracked.  I always buy cool things that are "damaged".  This is how I come to own cool things.

Lariat

sold fdr $7.50

sold

Our coffee room has a western/mountain theme.  As frivolous as that may seem, it's nice to start the morning surrounded by reminders of home.

Stevens beverage bottles with coke sixpack

sold for $5

sold

The pop bottles are great, and we'll sell them for about five bucks each, but I really like the carrier, because I can fill it with real 6 1/2 oz. Coke bottles.  This is absolutely for resale.

brass scrap

sold for $2.50

sold

I didn't expect to be picking up scrap in Colorado to haul back to Minnesota, but the opportunity presented itself.

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Stein

sold for $5

sold

This was one of Janie's purchases.  It was one of several, and all the others appeared to be highschool art projects.

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Purple insulator

sold for $15

sold

I haven't had a "black" insulator for some time.  These sit in the sun for decades and turn such a deep purple, they are referred to by collectors as "black".

And, something that might turn out to be the real find of the day:

eBay selling tutorial

price - $2.50

sold

This was actually at the Second Chance store, a thrift shop that supports the local humane society.  I've been putting off learning how to sell things on eBay, but with the economy being the way it is, I've found it adviseable to start a few plans B and C.

Would You Buy This or Not is a weekly feature in its 4th season.  If you'd like to read some other episodes, just Google, "would you buy this or not" (don't forget the quotes).