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Pops1532 01-03-2013 16:51:42 98.227.131.18 Report to Moderator

Judging by some of the responses I've read I suspect some of you don't go to many auctions. I used to go to at least three auctions a week. I still go to allot but not nearly that many anymore. I think some of you have very unrealistic expectations. There's an old saying...there's no friends at an auction. That may be a slight exaggeration, but when the good stuff is on the block things can get very competitive. Friends or not. TF, I've paid the loader operator too, but never before the sale. That's actually a good idea. Especially if you're far from home and have a long drive ahead of you. The same guys that you're paying to get ahead of wouldn't think twice about cutting you off to get ahead of you in line to load up. I collect gas pump globes. In my early collecting years I made the mistake on depending on a couple of "experts" at a sale. Both guys were heavily into antique cars and dabbled in petroliana (fancy word for gas station collectibles). Anyway, there was a gas pump globe at the sale that I wanted but didn't know the value of. I asked one of the guys. He and the other "expert" looked at it then talked it over and agreed it was a reproduction. I didn't bid. It sold for $135 which was a huge amount for a repro at that time. Why would someone pay that much for a repro? Sometime later I asked a real expert about it. Turns out it was a fairly rare globe worth about $400 at the time. Lesson learned......don't go to an auction uneducated about the things you want to buy. [Reply]   [No Email]