do you have lots of competition while searching flea markets / thrift shops, etc?

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Yeah, whatever.
You're right.





Oh,

I'm counting this as a victory.

 

[Senator Jack]

Hey, I'm being priced right out of my neighborhood because of all the rich trust fund kids that are moving in. Having that sort of jack, they can pay way above the market value and do. Too bad for the rest of us, right? Well, that's the free market for you: put up or get out. You can't have it both ways.

 

[RedPop4]

You do that, dear.
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

You do that, dear.
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

::ignores condescending tone::

 

[warbird]

Write a book, most likely.

Ask no quarter and give no quarter. I'm good with that. Let's see if the rest of you are.

She managed to call me 2 things I've never been called before. I'm impressed. A leech and an anti-capitalist. You are indeed right Pop, she doesn't know me at all. I've even had a senator threaten to throw me out of their 3rd story office window he was so mad. I told him to try it, even he didn't call me either of those things.

Oh and by the way, I wasn't asking for anyone to give me a handout. I have a few hats, could I use a couple more yep. If I had a hat I couldn't use and someone on FL could, and I thought it worthy for a fellow FL brother, I'd sell it to them for a low price and be glad it went to a good chap. I wouldn't say, you need a hat like this. Tell you what, I'll post it on ebay, you run along and bid on it.

I'm all for capitalism, I'm also all for taking care of those who you have direct contact with whenever possible.

Pop is as capitalist as it gets. And he won't like me telling this story, but I will anyway. After Katrina, Pop was looking to see who he could help. And even though he was needin' when he got some financial assistance, he didn't go out and spend it right away on something he wanted to make his property whole again. He bought his best friend a new suit, because he lost his house and everything in it and his job. Pop said he needed clothes to go find a new job. That whole time he'd lost things himself, but he said we'll be ok. That's the kind of person he is and that's where he comes from. Take care of those who you come to care about.

 

[warbird]

::ignores condescending tone::

Gee I thought he was talking to Senator Jack

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Gee I thought he was talking to Senator Jack

No...he wasn't! lol

Oh boo, I didn't call you a leech, I said that AYN RAND would have called you a leech. I read a lot of Rand in my day and that was supposed to be a joke. And I didn't call you an anti-capitalist, I said that people refraining from bidding for theoretical other people is counter to economics. Of course you know that.

I WAS TRYING TO BE LIGHT HEARTED AND I FAILED. Apologies.

 

[Senator Jack]

If it helps, I'm an anti-capitalist.

 

[warbird]

No...he wasn't! lol

Oh boo, I didn't call you a leech, I said that AYN RAND would have called you a leech. I read a lot of Rand in my day and that was supposed to be a joke. And I didn't call you an anti-capitalist, I said that people refraining from bidding for theoretical other people is counter to economics. Of course you know that.

I WAS TRYING TO BE LIGHT HEARTED AND I FAILED. Apologies.

No need for apologies lovely lady. I shall stop there before I get myself deleted. :cheers1: [bad]

 

[RedPop4]

lol lol lol

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

No need for apologies lovely lady. I shall stop there before I get myself deleted. :cheers1: [bad]

A wise choice!lol

 

[Twitch]

Hey Senator Jack the real estate loan establishments will not finance a property for more than its value after appraisal.[huh]

 

[Senator Jack]

Buy? What a pipedream. I'm talking about renting. In order to get larger commissions, the real estate agents in my neighborhood have persuaded all the owners to jack up their rents. Not even a decade ago, a one-bedroom was $600. Now it's $1200, and that's for a basement!

 

[PA Dancer]

I have found that when searching flea markets, thrift stores , etc

I keep seeing the same people looking for the same items? one time a person even took the item I was looking at when I set it down to look at something else, then when I told him I was going to buy it, he said you should have held onto it in your hand!

I keep seeing the same guy everywhere I go because he is also looking for the same type of collectables I collect

last Sunday I went to the local swap meet earlier than usual 6:30 - 7:00 am to try and get something, and the same guys I always see trying to look for the same type of stuff were already there

they buy stuff for resale , because I know they are vendors at shows.

with all the competition it gets frustrating trying to find some nice collectables.

I learned that you must be there very early in the morning to compete with these horders, if you go at 9am or later they will get it before you ever see it.

also NEVER put something down ALWAYS hang onto it until you pay for it, or the next person may try to snatch it from you

they are just like a bunch of vultures, I also noticed they all know each other, because I see them huddle together at the swap meets.

There is no competition here in Northeast PA.
Over the past few weeks I have found some really nice finds, and I haven't paid over a dollar for anything.
I have walked around a flea market, eyed something up, then told the seller I would come back after I thought about. After an hour, I can pretty much guarantee that something will still be there.

The only competition I ever had is sales in PA that may get closer to the NJ/NY border. A guy I recently met who has an antique store here said that the dealers in NY will come here, buy his stuff, then bring it back to NY and sell it at a much higher price.

If anyone ever visits NEPA on a Sunday and needs a flea market escort, I will gladly show you around.
: )

 

[Edward]

Maybe we read things differently, Feraud, we're all human, and we see or receive information in our own manner, I guess. It saddens me to say, that my memory is such that I couldn't point you to specific posts or threads. But I HAVE seen it written. We have strongly opinionated types over on the cigar board, too, who will trash cigars they don't like or consider cheap. I've seen guys on this board, who've said, straight out that "wool hats are crap" without any qualification being made. Same as the guys who say "xxxxxx cigars are total dog rockets!!!!!" without any type of perspective offered as to why.

I've not really experienced it on this board as of yet - but I've only been around a little while. ISTM that this sort of thinking, though, is endemic to human behaviour. I see it all the time on guitar boards - "Your cheap imitation is crap, only a Gibson is good enough", "solid state amps are crap, buy tubes." And so on.

I understand, quite well in fact, that certain hat materials are better than others. I agree with you on that assessment. $40, though, is slowly becoming an below-average price on a fur felt on OFAS, though. Just a year ago, I got a nice Borsalino San Remo for $23. That will never happen again. My disposable income and spousal negativity to hats, don't allow me to try and win hats that will go where hats are selling these days.

I understand what you mean here, the price of real vintage stuff is always being driven up. I think in part that's down to eBay, at least eBay as part of a wider globalisation. Whereas once upon a time you could find stuff for cheap in a local charity shop, nowadays the owner wants something for it, and so it goes on eBay, and you end up bidding against all comers all over the world. About half my eBay purchases, I think, have come from outside the UK. The price can certainly be driven up by such a wide market. On the other hand, I've also seen it work in the other direction. In particular, when it comes to Rocky Horror memorabilia, there are some books and bits that pre-internet went for two fortunes. Now that the US market is accessible, online and so easily too via eBay, a lot more of these items are available and the value has plummeted as they are no longer so rare (fortunately I've never been caught out by it myself).

We can't all be collectors, buying stuff that doesn't even fit, like so many here do, and drive prices out of others reach. So we do what we can with the resources (time included) that we have.

I'd never be one myself to collect hats that I couldn't also wear (even if paradoxically I might be scared to wear out a good vintage hat on many occasions), but I know that's the thing that collecting can become obssessive... I do wonder, though, whether we will see a reversal in this at all. I guess it depends on how many folks see buying vintage hats as a cheaper shortcut to the highest quality than going new. Sacriligeous as it may be to some on here, for me the real reason to buy vintage is if the item is not available new at all, or much cheaper than new. Money no issue, in the main I would rather new, perfect reproduction than used. YMMV, naturally. I wonder how many other folks feel this way - will it be the case that a lot of people drop out of the vintage hat market once the prices rise to the point that they think "might as well buy a new one" - thus leading to a drop in demand, and a drop in price, or will it be the case that the value will simply keep going up and up, as with vintage guitars? Who knows - the former hopefully, the latter probably!

On the subject of wool and FUR, FWIW..... ISTM that a lot of folks miss that it's just as possible to have a bad fur hat as a good wool one, IMO. The materials are only part of the final product - the milliner's skills are equally if not more important.

It's a real problem. Reading the eBay sellers boards - over the Baroness's shoulder - gives me the impression that eBay sellers feel a sense of entitlement. They think that because they are in business they should have first dibs on anything nice. And they get really angry when they don't get a good price for their stuff - even if they do market it lying on the floor. The buyers, apparently, are at fault for wanting a low price for the goods.

Oh yes, we've all seen the sellers who:

- drastically overprice an item, and keep putting it up for sale over and over at the same inflated price, wondering why it won't sell

- put up a "no reserve" auction and then get bitter when it doesn't sell for what they wanted

- put a reserve of GBP100 on an item..... and then start the bidding at a penny.

All crazy. I can see the point of a reserve, and wanting to catch people's eye with a low start price, but still..... I guess theyr'e all dreaming of a bidding war. i've seen those break out and folks pay out several times the new price for something - which they could have found simply by googling it. Madness.

I don't have the time to go "thrifting" or to flea markets, and I haven't done my map work to find the good spots anyway since I don't.

But I do see the same thing here with Loungers on eBay. I watch items that are within what I want to spend or can afford to spend. Then the prices of hats, I'm talking about hats, jump through the roof as the snipers (I do this too, sometimes ) come in and drive the price. I admit I'm cheap, but still. I see loungers all over eBay driving up prices, leaving the rest of us to scrounge.

I think the eBay policy on here is a sensible one. I guess what already happens will be the same in any collector's market - I've seen it happen with specific motocycle pins that there are maybe six people looking for, a small number of people pushing the price up because they all want the same rare thing. Great if you're a seller.....

It's incredible just how big an impact eBay has had on these things. I have over the years bought a lot of stuff in charity (goodwill?) shops and "vintage" stores (over here, "vintage" has become the default term for a second hand clothes shop that is not run by and to raise money for a charity). Charity shops especially have been hit hard by eBay as people instead of donating now think they can make their fortune selling on eBay. It is still possible to find a bargain on eBay, though as the number of dealers goes up, I find a lot of it can be pricier than it used to be, plus you turn up an awful lot of irrelevant stuff in any search, and counterfeits. Still, the thrill of the chase and all that, eh?

 

[epr25]

I have this around me. I see the same people all the time. The thing that bothers me is that they buy the stuff and don't care about it. They just know that it's hot now on Ebay and they can make a buck. I love the owner of the vintage clothing store here. If she spots someone like that she won't help them and more then likely not sell to them. She was telling me that a lady and her husband came in and were looking for 50's circle skirts and Pucci. She knew immediatley by thier appearence. She said at the time the lady was asking for the skirts she was standing right next to a rack of them. Duh! At least have a clue!

People around here get mean. It takes the fun out it for me. We travel around to smaller areas where the same people aren't there.

 

[Starius]

I hate to see too much bashing on the sellers here because I have one foot in that world. I sometimes setup at flea markets, but two of my good friends have been setting up at flea markets and collectable shows for years. We often go to auctions to pick up new inventory. For one of them, this is his sole income and he's gearing up to start selling on ebay soon, because he does need the added source or revenue. His life depends on the whims of his buyers.

So in the world of dealers from my experience, there are good ones and bad ones, just like anything else in life. I know that at most of these things, dealers often trade and make deals with each other before most of the public even gets there. This is how it should be, they're all trying to make deals that can profit them. Occasionally, I have seen bad blood develop between dealers due to a deal going sour in some way. Bad situations. (But since they've never affected me personally, I usually find them humorous)

At any rate, some of my friends here buy things off ebay to sell locally, and pick things up locally to sell on ebay. Its their job, it's what they do. Compared to the casual flea-market go-er who is just looking to just spend a few dollars here and there, I can understand how some dealer activity might look cut-throat in nature. But its not always the case, its just their survival.

Now, I'm not going to justify all of them... cause let me tell you, I've met some jerks in my day. But these people are jerks because they're jerks, not because they're dealers.

 

[Foofoogal]

When I get time to read this thread I will but just want to say I have always found my best buys at believe it or not antique stores.
I feel a dealer should do their homework and value is so relative. I will always tell an estate family member if they have something of value and have only had 2 things taken back in the house as they need to get rid of stuff usually.
In the business the joke is there wouldn't be a business if dealers didn't buy from dealers.
I love the history and one big reason I got into the business is a long time ago a postcard dealer ripped me off big time when my honey and I desperately needed money.
My biggest problem is falling in love and then not wanting to sell it. Ask my honey.lol

 

[PA Dancer]

I have this around me. I see the same people all the time. The thing that bothers me is that they buy the stuff and don't care about it. They just know that it's hot now on Ebay and they can make a buck.

Yeah, I have mixed feelings on this.
Ya can't blame anyone for wanting to make a few bucks, but some of the ebay prices are a little outrageous. I no longer shop on ebay for anything. I'm all about the barter and trade system now.

 

[Edward]

So in the world of dealers from my experience, there are good ones and bad ones, just like anything else in life.

A good point that shouldn't be forgotten! Where possible, I do always try to stick to buying from dealers who know their stuff and keep their prices reasonable - it's so much nicer to deal with someone who has a genuine enthusiasm (often I learn a lot from these folks too) for their stock, rather than just seeing it as product. you usually find better prices and nicer stuff from dealers like the former too, IMO.