Picking treasures for a living?

[duffytrash]

dont worry about it mr perfect...i dont really have to set up at shows any more or use ebay...if i find a rare gem i make phone calls and sell to collectors...if i go to flea mkts i rarely sell marbles as the general public haint got a clue..i dont like those antique malls...the prices are too high...to prove i point which i dont have to do to you...this morning i sold 4 rare vitro marbles for 100$...i had about 50 cents in em....all i did was call my friend in texas...theres still some meat on the bone for him..im glad i dont have to deal with you where i set up at...dont worry bout my business...its just fine...plastic bags make condensation on the boxes and i ve seen em ruined that way too....one thing you can be sure of, you dont have to tell me how to sell marbles...lolol...thats a joke!!the way you price marbles in a case is 25$ lines 10$ lines etc...the way you spoke of is amatureish and you would be laughed off the showroom floor...and also when i go to flea mkts i dont take tons of crap to sell...mostly high end items and a couple tables...ive sold out lotsa times ...to the other vendors before daylight before the gates even open...

 

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[bazinga]

dont worry about it mr perfect...i dont really have to set up at shows any more or use ebay...if i find a rare gem i make phone calls and sell to collectors...if i go to flea mkts i rarely sell marbles as the general public haint got a clue..i dont like those antique malls...the prices are too high...to prove i point which i dont have to do to you...this morning i sold 4 rare vitro marbles for 100$...i had about 50 cents in em....all i did was call my friend in texas...theres still some meat on the bone for him..im glad i dont have to deal with you where i set up at...dont worry bout my business...its just fine...plastic bags make condensation on the boxes and i ve seen em ruined that way too....one thing you can be sure of, you dont have to tell me how to sell marbles...lolol...thats a joke!!the way you price marbles in a case is 25$ lines 10$ lines etc...the way you spoke of is amatureish and you would be laughed off the showroom floor...and also when i go to flea mkts i dont take tons of crap to sell...mostly high end items and a couple tables...ive sold out lotsa times ...to the other vendors before daylight before the gates even open...

I was simply offering up potential solutions for pricing since you were the one having issues with glue.

I'm not sure how you would "deal" with me where you set up. I would just be another non-customer walking right by your booth. There would be nothing to deal with at all.

Oh darn, marble dealers would laugh at me. How ever will I go on?

As for the general public "haint" got a clue, well it's because the general public just doesn't care. It's an extremely niche market, unlike other antiques / collectibles that can be used by the general public for display purposes. An old marble has no real use.

 

[duffytrash]

when are you gonna get that i dont need your advice....any answer to this post will be considerd harrassment and you will be reported...you seem to rub a lot of people the wrong way....i suggest you leave me alone....you have no clue about me or my ways and i hope you dont take me lightly

 

[jerseyben]

it must be hard for you baz...living in a world where everybody else is far far less perfect than you....oh by the way i used some of your sunlight today....

Take it easy duffy... You provoked him first. He isnt harassing you in any way, just offering advice.

 

[diggummup]

Take it easy duffy... You provoked him first.

Agreed, reply number 16. just saying.


I don't know about marble shows, but personally I like to see a price on something for the most part. It gives me an idea of where the seller's head is at, so to speak. If I don't see any prices, I may ask if i'm really interested in something. That doesn't happen too often though at antique shows/fairs/malls, but occasionally i'll find something a dealer isn't too sure of, value wise. I'm usually there just to get an idea what's being offered for sale, and scope out the ridiculous prices being asked for most items. I haven't found a dealer yet that will sell and leave any meat on the bone. To the contrary, they are usually trying to gnaw your arm off. The exception being the rare occasion when they don't know the true value of something. I won't pay retail, i'm not in it to collect, i'm in it to make an eventual profit, period.

 

[GibH]

I'm with Bazinga on this one. I prefer to see prices for a myriad of reasons. As he said, if I ask about one item and it's priced too high I won't even bother with anything else.

 

[austin]

Used to be partners in an antique store. We had some really nice items and a lot of stuff. There are so many flea markets here, but the best was Dealer Day(every Wednesday at the Mission Open Air Mkt.). We would load up a lot of "stuff" and use this as a way to get rid of things we didn't need or want. Worked great. Might still be doing it, but had to get back to work in education. Flea markets are fun, but you will probably never get rich. The drawbacks: getting up early, too hot or too cold, people don't want to pay what an item is worth, tarps, chairs, tables and inventory costs, invariably the people next to you are selling either, candles, dope pipes or just plain junk and you always have to watch for thieves. The only person that was getting rich was this guy who had a pet monkey. The monkey had a little uniform and if you held out a quarter he came over, took it and walked over to give it to the guy who just sat on his butt while the animal worked. If you held out a dollar bill, the monkey came and took it, walked over and gave it to the guy , picked up a monkey picture and came and handed it to you. This guy cleaned up. Kids especially, but old, young, near death, just everybody. All spent money on the monkey. My partner was an ex-SPUR ball girl and ex-Silver Dancer. She was hot, but I tried to trade her for the monkey and got damm close. Then I got the you'll never get to touch me again speech. And I didn't. But I always wondered if that poor creature(the monkey) who was so bright, ever knew how bad he was being screwed. We complain about minimum wage. All he got paid was a cage and some monkey chow.

 

[randazzo1]

That's why I wouldn't want to do it full time. 20-25 hours a week messing around after work and such would easily turn into 60-70 hours a week and take all the fun out of it. Now instead of it being a fun thing to do, it would become a necessity to put food on the table. Not fun anymore. IMHO

Jerseyben - picked them up at an estate sale in a random lot.

 

[duffytrash]

right on fellers....i wasnt lookin for advice and like i said its easy to sell most things.....im goin to the county fair flea mkt sat and i will mark prices on some things to see how it goes....never had much problems without prices and i can supervise my couple tables and i dont take lower yard sale type items....i apoligize to the other members if i seemed to geta little out of sorts...but if haint broke why fix it....i realize that in other parts of the county and the big cities things are different...around here you can still go to the neighbors and buy old stuff out of the barns and outbuildings....baz,,,next time i need your coaching ill ask for it...fair enough

 

[BaronH]

Good luck with your sales, Duffy. Hope you make a bundle. Maybe I will bug you sometime about some old marbles I ran across not long ago, the kid they belong to is now 95.

Sent from my Android using TreasureNet

 

[austin]

right on fellers....i wasnt lookin for advice and like i said its easy to sell most things.....im goin to the county fair flea mkt sat and i will mark prices on some things to see how it goes....never had much problems without prices and i can supervise my couple tables and i dont take lower yard sale type items....i apoligize to the other members if i seemed to geta little out of sorts...but if haint broke why fix it....i realize that in other parts of the county and the big cities things are different...around here you can still go to the neighbors and buy old stuff out of the barns and outbuildings....baz,,,next time i need your coaching ill ask for it...fair enough

Don't sweat the small stuff. As I posted above I used to do this stuff too. We tried pricing and not pricing. Both worked. Dealers buy from you quickly, but I sure got tired of hearing, "I'm a dealer from Dallas. I'll give you two bucks for that". And the general public is worse. The secret is have some shade, something to drink and a gorgeous partner to keep you from getting bored. Annette could sell marbles to a blind man with no hands while the only thing I know about marbles is they are round. Just do it your way, have fun and again, don't sweat the small stuff...

 

[bazinga]

No worries here duff. I was just offering up my advice/opinion and trying to get you see how things might like from the consumer side of things.