Estate sale preview pics, tons of glass, tools and antiques, eye candy anyone?

kali_is_my_copilot · Mar 11, 2015

This stuff looks pretty even if it's not worth anything, which is totally my downfall. I'm going mainly to (hopefully) pick the first uranium glass pieces for my small glass collection and so the hubby can look at tools. If anyone sees anything great here feel free to chime in! (Aaaaaand I just remembered that I have a dentist appointment at 8 on Friday so I'll be picking leftovers if I make it out at all that day, oh well lol).

http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sales/TX/San-Antonio/78218/832200

Kevo_DFX · Mar 11, 2015

I see a lot of vintage radio and phone stuff. A lot of that stuff, especially tools, old books, etc can be worth money. There were also several old 40's 50's plastic radios. Also look for vacuum tubes!

I saw a bin of ceramic doorknobs, they sell well.

Great old cameras.

If that is a Kinfolks knife, buy it if reasonable.

I'd kill to go to this sale.

Baltimore · Mar 11, 2015

Lots of stuff that looks valuable that I would probably impulse buy! Love those old radios. One random thing, in the picture with the old desktop computers, the keyboard on top of the tower on the right looks like an old dell "clicky keyboard" which is good for about $30 and I doubt anyone else will take it.

bdsawyer · Mar 11, 2015

Cancel the dentist appointment

But seriously there is some good stuff. The bins full of early phone parts and pieces would do very well. And if any of the old wall telephone boxes have the magnetos in them they will sell in the $30-50 range, especially the Stromberg Carlson 3, 4 or 5 bar mags. Im guessing the parts bins may be cheap, and you could make a nice profit if your husband wanted to go buy some stuff for you.
If you can tell, I am really itching for some good sales up here in the north. Been about 3 months since I bought anything at an estate sale.

Tallone · Mar 11, 2015

Take a close look at those cameras to see if any of them are of European (especially German) manufacture. I'd also look closely at those smoking pipes. Dunhill pipes (and some other brands) can be very valuable.

ARC · Mar 11, 2015

Picture #6...
Jug in back...

Picture #10...
Top shelf...
Brown Bakelite radio.

Picture #18...
3 paper wights... Only IF signed... or older.

Picture #19...
Pair of "slipwork" "dragon ware" vases... ONLY if NON repaired or NOT chipped.

Picture #23...
Top of cabinet... shell clock... ONLY if looks like GOOD quality.

Pic 28...
Coo clock... ONLY if GERMAN... and "bellows" still are in good shape... must CAREFULLY open back.
No breaks and repairs in wood etc.

Pic 30...
Again shell clock... POSS the back right one IF by name...
NEVER BUY CLOCKS WITH BATTERIES. Rule 1

Pic 31...
MULTIPLE ITEMS...
ALL KNIVES... Binoculars... IFFFF good name like Bausch and Lomb... or German. MUST test look through.
Grab the knives first heh ... they have best resale and collectability.
MAYBE harmonicas... if cheap.

Pic 33...
Check to see if leather flask is silver...
Must look around mouth / neck and bottom.

Pic 35...
Jewelry appears to be fake... cannot tell from pic...
Check it all quickly... magnet helps speed it up... DONT LET THEM OR ANYONE ELSE SEE YOU USE MAGNETS> Explain later.
Turquoise looks "too good"... BUT suppose it is real... Heh... BUCKS !

Pic 40...
Iridescent "frog"... far left item with holes in top.

Pic 41...
The green dish with clear designs... This is called "cut to clear".

POSSS ALLLLLLLLL 42-46...
IF CHEAP BUY ALL !!!

There are other items that "lurk"...
IF you want to "know why" I choose the things I did and NOT others... just ask about Item and I will tell ya why OR... maybe etc.

mammoth29 · Mar 11, 2015

ARRC said:
Pic 30...
Again shell clock... POSS the back right one IF by name...
NEVER BUY CLOCKS WITH BATTERIES. Rule 1

2 Vintage Seth Thomas Sunburst Clocks Model E618 and E620 Both RARE | eBay

I paid $5 for both... Sold them for $250... Both had batteries.... 8-)

In pic #36 it looks like there is an old cast iron kiddie bank. Those can be worth quite a bit if they still work and all the parts are there.

ARC · Mar 11, 2015

Well done.
Welp... all the battery stuff... you buy

I will leave it all for you. heh

OldSowBreath · Mar 11, 2015

The organ grinder bank, if an original.

The coffee mill, grinder

Ditto on the pipes, if Dunhill or similar.

Ditto on cameras, if German.

trdhrdr007 · Mar 11, 2015

I don't know if I'd get too excited. Anytime I've seen an ad for antique dealer or collectors everything has been at moon prices.

Tallone · Mar 11, 2015

mammoth29 said:
In pic #36 it looks like there is an old cast iron kiddie bank. Those can be worth quite a bit if they still work and all the parts are there.

A word of caution about the bank. Original cast iron mechanical banks often sell for crazy big money BUT there are tons of reproductions out there. I have yet to find an original but I have seen a couple of dozen repros in the last few years. I'm always suspicious of mechanical banks, especially when the paint is in as good condition as this one. The repros have some value but not enough to get me excited.

bdsawyer · Mar 11, 2015

That organ grinder bank is definitely a repro, you can tell the poor casting from the photograph.

diggummup · Mar 11, 2015

Lots of good things to pick through at this sale. The price is what's gonna be most important. At sales like these there will be high prices on most known items. However, these are the types of sales where there is too much variety for them to know the actual value of everything, usually. Knowledge is key on sales of this type of sale. Find out what types of items they don't hold to a "higher" value, that's where you will do good at. Think out of the box.

kali_is_my_copilot · Mar 12, 2015

It would appear that most of you had as much fun looking through those pictures as I did! Unfortunately it's an emergency dental appt and they could barely squeeze me in as it is or I would definitely reschedule lol. I love all the different things y'all have spotted because 1. it's fascinating to see what everyone's eye is drawn to and 2. some of the things mentioned will almost certainly still be there Friday afternoon and I would never have looked twice at them if it weren't for you guys. As far as pricing goes, several things make me pretty optimistic about it being reasonable-to-excellent (for us buyers anyway).

It's in a nice 40's or 50's ranch style house with a nice sprawling floor plan so lots of room for treasures. I don't have to have been there to know this because I grew up right up the road from this neighborhood and know it very well. It's a transitional area bordered on one side by a much nicer/older Deco-era neighborhood and on the other by military housing; sales around here tend to be fun and also lucrative because people who live there didn't have the money or inclination to buy ostentatiously but still had good taste & well-funded hobbies. A majority of those houses are still owned by the original occupants or their families (which is pretty unusual in this town).

I also went to the website of the company running the sale since I couldn't think of who these guys were and they're a neat couple who are fun to talk to and buy from. They know that they don't know much about most of this stuff, try their best to provide clients with good returns and empty houses, and won't have a lot of set prices at a sale as packed as this. Also if you can logically demonstrate that a price is unrealistically high on something they're likely to adjust it for you accordingly.

ARC · Mar 12, 2015

It appears that whoever owned the property was an AVID flea marketer as well as antique buyer...
Sometimes being later to this type of sale can be better as prices may "shy away" many buyers...
When you show up later the people running the estate see the "lingering" things that you may be interested in as "deal able" ...
meaning they are willing to give better deals to move the items.

ARC · Mar 12, 2015

Here are 2 general rules of mine... if ya care...
Personally I do not like any "sale" that advertises using two things...
UNLESS it is an auction...
#1.. Pictures...
#2. Phone Number.

NOW... this only applies IF you have a choice... of sales.

kali_is_my_copilot · Mar 12, 2015

I totally agree with you ARRC, the best sales I've been to were poorly advertised with few/no pics and/or private or family-run affairs. However those are depressingly infrequent here. So in between those feasts it's either sales like this or famine, anyway I don't know about you but I start to get stir-crazy if I make it over a week without hitting at least one or two sales. Looking at the same old sh*t at the thrifts and on eBay gets old really fast.