I guess this Shawnee pie bird must be quite rare $960+ish rare!

[inspectorgadget]

Doing my typical research I was looking at sold listings for pie birds on the bay & came across this set of Shawnee pie birds that sold for $984.98 + about $9 shipping. One of them is only worth about $25 (the duck) it was a Pillsbury promotional thing in the 40's or 50's. The rooster however must be quite rare to bring this auction up to almost $1000.. About $960-$965 is how much extra someone is paying for this rooster. Pix & links..
2 Vintage Shawnee Pie Bird Rooster and Duck | eBay

Huge difference when the same duck is pared with this other one..Sold for $20 + $13 shipping
Set of 2 Vintage Pie Birds | eBay

Examples that the duck is only a $25ish item
Vintage Shawnee Pillsbury Pink Pie Bird Open Mouth Vent 5 1 2" Tall | eBayVintage 1940 50 Pillsbury Shawnee Morton Pie Bird | eBay

Imagine how easy it would to be to pass right over that little rooster picking anywhere! Heck many of ya probably didn't even know what a pie bird was! I've only known about them for a few years now I must admit!

 

[mojjax]

Thanks for the ''heads up'' I have a crow one - it's not worth much more than $10 -$25 paid a quarter for it . I can see how I could not see those beauties on a table full of crap . Come Spring , I'll be on the lookout .

 

[Red James Cash]

Just start reading antique books.Read websites.You'll get the hang of it.Dont rely on the words of anybody in an antique shop.
1,theyre in it for the money,2,theyll say they can get it on ebay cheaper.Usually lies.I brought in a set of glasses once to a shop.I knew what they were worth 65 bucks apiece.The women in the shop said she would give me 5 bucks apiece for them,she said she could get them on ebay for that.I refused,got home and looked them up on ebay,35 bucks apiece on ebay which is a fair price from an antique shop if they are honest.

 

[inspectorgadget]

Just start reading antique books.Read websites.You'll get the hang of it.Dont rely on the words of anybody in an antique shop.
1,theyre in it for the money,2,theyll say they can get it on ebay cheaper.Usually lies.I brought in a set of glasses once to a shop.I knew what they were worth 65 bucks apiece.The women in the shop said she would give me 5 bucks apiece for them,she said she could get them on ebay for that.I refused,got home and looked them up on ebay,35 bucks apiece on ebay which is a fair price from an antique shop if they are honest.

Um what are you talking about? You lost me at "Just start reading antique books.Read websites.You'll get the hang of it.Dont rely on the words of anybody in an antique shop." What does glasses & antique shops have to do with the eBay value pie birds? I'm lost, if you were trying to make some point I'm sorry but I don't understand it!

 

[Red James Cash]

I'm talking about looking at tables and knowing whats what.I go to yard sales and spend maybe 3 minutes looking at a table,depending how cluttered it is.I have gone to thrift stores and bought something for a few bucks,walked down the street to an antique dealer and tripled,quadrupled,my money,free big lunch in 5 minutes chinese buffet with drinks for free.Its all in what you know.Thats where reading antique books and websites comes in handy.Dont buy thinking its worth something,buy knowing its worth something.You did good though

 

[cheese]

Yeah inspectorgadget, you'll get the hang of it some day. Until then, grasshopper, you gotta study hard!

 

[Red James Cash]

Bingo cheese

 

[inspectorgadget]

I'm talking about looking at tables and knowing whats what.I go to yard sales and spend maybe 3 minutes looking at a table,depending how cluttered it is.I have gone to thrift stores and bought something for a few bucks,walked down the street to an antique dealer and tripled,quadrupled,my money,free big lunch in 5 minutes chinese buffet with drinks for free.Its all in what you know.Thats where reading antique books and websites comes in handy.Dont buy thinking its worth something,buy knowing its worth something.You did good though

I did good?? Did good at what exactly? Searching sold items on eBay? I was just looking up some Shawnee pieces that I have & chose to have it list highest price first & those pie birds came up as the highest priced Shawnee pieces sold on eBay in months. I do own & have sold pie birds before but not in a long time & BTW none of the links I listed are my actual item(s)! I just wanted to share with others to watch out for that Rooster pie bird as it's obviously very valuable! Mojjax understood my post perfectly, I think you did not!

I've been buying & reselling on eBay for over 10 years (no other job) just buy & selling, I have 23K+ feedback's & sales well in excess of 100K every single year. The best tool for learning is eBay not antique books! Books are good for some things like depression glass patterns or any glass patterns but over all antique books are either too specific or to broad. Books also get outdated as fast as new computers do as where eBay is never outdated thus is much more accurate.

I don't believe anyone can walk up to a table of stuff & guaranteed pick out each & every item of value from that table. I've grabbed items that much more experienced people have passed right over thinking it was nothing special & once it might not have been anything special but times change yet old timers thinking does not expand with the times! I still miss a thing or two here & there, everybody does because NOBODY knows it all! Plus the market fluctuates so much now days that affects many but not all items values!

Yeah inspectorgadget, you'll get the hang of it some day. Until then, grasshopper, you gotta study hard!

Learning never stops in this business. 10+ years & I'm not even close yet!

 

[Baltimore]

Yeah inspectorgadget, you'll get the hang of it some day. Until then, grasshopper, you gotta study hard!

It must be sarcasm o'clock, lols

 

[inspectorgadget]

Yeah inspectorgadget, you'll get the hang of it some day. Until then, grasshopper, you gotta study hard!

Bingo cheese

You just quoted + liked his sarcastic comment? ROTFL, Um you do realize he was making fun of your comment don't ya SMH!

Cheese is being sarcastic but Red I think you are completely lost! I just gave a tip for others here. Seems the first responder (mojjax & I think cheese) get it. You have turned it into something completely different than what it is.. Keep studying ...LOL.. OK, Ill do just that!

 

[inspectorgadget]

It must be sarcasm o'clock, lols

I think Cheese's response was sarcasm but I think Red is/was being serious! I'm confused? Maybe Red has been drinking this evening?

BTW this post took me to hero status!! lol.

 

[Red James Cash]

Well excuse me for trying to be nice to you mr inspector,ebay is a joke.I dont care what you sold on ebay,half the time who do you have for buyers,mostly suckers that dont know a cow from their butt.

I don't believe anyone can walk up to a table of stuff & guaranteed pick out each & every item of value from that table.

Number one,not every table has something on it worth a fart.Thats where experience comes in.Try it you might like it.Youve been doing it for over 10,Ive been doing it for 30,and not on ebay.

P.S. Excuse me if I read your post fast and thought that you were starting out and bought the birds online or at a yard sale.I'll be sure never to try to never give encouragement and try to help anybody again.

 

[jamey]

thank you inspectorgadget.im really glad you take the time out to empower us,and have been thinking about trying ebay,i sold one thing there and got a positive remark.i just like to know how you keep up with how much you have to pay on taxes on the stuff you buy and sell,you pay on the profit right?

 

[inspectorgadget]

Well excuse me for trying to be nice to you mr inspector,ebay is a joke.I dont care what you sold on ebay,half the time who do you have for buyers,mostly suckers that dont know a cow from their butt.

Number one,not every table has something on it worth a fart.Thats where experience comes in.Try it you might like it.Youve been doing it for over 10,Ive been doing it for 30,and not on ebay.

This proves my point, you have been at it for 30 years (stuck in your ways the same as most of the 30 years in the business people are), no real surprise there & I have no problem with that nor anyway you choose to do business! But Saying eBay is a joke is a huge joke in & of its self & BTW I HATE eBay, I HATE PayPal even more! No where else tho could I have made the type of living I have made the past 10 years than on eBay. I have sold in every way locally but the real money is on eBay I GUARANTEE you that! I buy a lot off eBay as well & only when I'm getting a killer deal (which can be quite often cause many people don't know how to list things correctly) & I turn right around & get 4 times my money by just listing the item correctly! Local sales are a silver mine at best & usually just a copper mine but eBay is a gold mine thus there is no comparison on which way is better to actually make the most money.

Most buyers on eBay are suckers?? People on eBay don't know a cow from a butt? If this were the case Id be & a whole lot of others on here would be rich people selling cheap butts for expensive cow prices, but it's simply not true. It's an auction just the same as the auction around the corner from you & if half of eBay people are suckers then so are half of the ones at auction houses including me since that's where I get 90% of my stuff at or is there a double standard here? People pay what they are willing to pay, at that place, at that particular time & that's all an auction is, be it onsite or online it just so happens online for several days gets way more traffic than what onsite for a few hours gets, it's not rocket science! What proof other than your off the wall way of thinking are half of my buyers stupid suckers? Just cause you say so? Nobody makes them type in a dollar amount their not willing to pay! Would be like me walking away from an auction & saying they ripped me off cause I chose to pay too much...lol Again just genius thinking there!

You sound like someone who will swear the antique shop on the bumpy back road, on the bad side of town, on the wrong side of the tracks that's been there for 30 years will do better business in the next few years than the guy on the right side of the tracks, in the good part of town, on main street with an antique mall with multiple sellers will do! No logic there what so ever! Traffic drives sales & NO where can you get the traffic you can get on eBay NO WHERE! If you don't believe eBay is the market setter you my friend are the one with LOTS & LOTS & LOTS to learn! You think you got it all figured out when I promise you don't! You have made what you do work for you, that's it & good for you but this isn't the 90's anymore things have changed & you have obviously been left in the dust. Saying your way is the better way is dumb dumb dumb it might be better for you but you & I are not alike. Not to mention flea markets are now garbage places anywhere near me so that route has gone by the way side, this ain't the old days anymore, the train left the station years ago & you weren't on it!

Maybe you're just butt hurt because you sold that same Rooster recently (your way) for $20 & now you see its quite valuable & now your trying to kill the messenger or something? Do ya need a Valium or what? Something is bothering ya big time or is this whole argument an attempt to cover that you didn't actually read & couldn't comprehend what this thread was about to begin with & yet replied with comments that made no since & didn't apply to anything in the thread to begin with?

 

[Red James Cash]

Yawn,you done yet?I just believe in being honest man and dont pray on suckers or fools for material gain.Bye Bye
Youre dismissed.

 

[inspectorgadget]

thank you inspectorgadget.im really glad you take the time out to empower us,and have been thinking about trying ebay,i sold one thing there and got a positive remark.i just like to know how you keep up with how much you have to pay on taxes on the stuff you buy and sell,you pay on the profit right?

We do have an accountant & my partner is an Excel spread sheet master! Half of what we buy we use our tax ID on & half we do not (many of those are onsite estate auctions where sales tax isn't collected anyhow. Paying the extra 7% sales tax on purchases often saves us money if we sell it anywhere other than eBay unless we fudge some numbers which we try not to do much! Taxes are only paid on profit yes but you gotta be able to prove what you paid & your costs to offset those numbers! I'm no accountant but we just take our records & receipts to the accountant every week. He works out what is best for us to do including telling us tips, tricks & what not.

 

[inspectorgadget]

Yawn,you done yet?I just believe in being honest man and dont pray on suckers or fools for material gain.Bye Bye
Youre dismissed.

Yup & yet you KEEP commenting on MY post...lol. Dismissed LMAO! No one else agrees with you!

Cheese made a sarcastic reply & you agreed with him & even liked his post that he wasn't even being serious about. Talk about being CLUELESS you proved how clueless you are by agreeing with his sarcasm, talk about dumb! Now who's the one who has been dismissed? Class for getting schooled on the net is out my friend you can go home now!

 

[Red James Cash]

Experience is where its at thats why I agreed with him.You can only get so many suckers for so long.Enjoy it while it last,until the TAX man comes to see you.,that is,ooooo and thats going to hurt.Fudge some numbers,what does that mean,ohhhh I know,so does the NSA,National Security Agency in case you dont know.Watch out for the insults,against the rules you know.It could get you banned,just a friendly reminder from somebody whose intent was to help you out in the beginning.As for schooling,youre an amateur,you couldnt school a dead gold fish.Hopefully you can sleep at night and look at yourself in the mirror in the morning after taking people that dont know any better for a ride.I'm done with you buddy have fun now,until the audit that is.Dont bother replying,I'm laughing to much to answer you.

 

[inspectorgadget]

This RED fellow is claiming he was TRYING TO HELP ME GIVE T-NET MEMBERS A HEADS UP on an item? Trying to help me?? Seriously? lol! He couldn't even comprehend the post & what it was really about let alone help me do anything not to mention something I wasn't trying to do in the first place! I already know his reading comprehension isn't very good at all (just see his post in "the Luckiest guy I know right now" thread). He wrote some garbage there then stated he was to lazy to fix it because he misunderstood the OP's post the first time he read it... You Red sir are a big JOKE!

Maybe you should tell me I did good for something I didn't do nor try to do again one more time, come on man, just for some more fun & laughs tonight! Or how about some more of that good ole advise as to how I can go from making what I make now to only 50% or 25% or even less than that by not selling to "suckers" on eBay, you're just filled with brilliant info sir & I sure do like reading it!

 

[jamey]

thanks inspector,i have stuff i bought from people that just have to much stuff that they just want to get rid of and would love to sit back at home and sell but think it would be a pain to hire accountants and get a reciept at every yard sale with the description of item bought, how far i drove to get it,tires i bought for the gas guzzler,i admire you ebay guys.i think i would just like to be the guy ya come too for inventory.