Rules/Etiquette question

[MiddenMonster]

I was browsing local estate sales for odd tools and such, and came upon a second week in January estate sale in my town that featured a lot of old coins and some paper currency among the hundreds of other pictures. I thought about posting a link to it, but wasn't sure if it was appropriate in light of the sale being local to Fort Worth, not all the pictures shown being coins, and whether or not it amounted to pimping someone else's stable here. Anyone know the rules regarding something like this?

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Go ahead and post it...👍

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Rules? Etiquette? you gotta be kidding but seriously, if you buy : bad idea to publicize it before you score !​

 

[MiddenMonster]

Go ahead and post it...👍

Thanks. Not sure what these coins may be worth, or even the denominations of some of the 19th century coins, but here's the link. And if any readers are into sportsman things like fishing and hunting they get an extra bonus:

HIGH-END HUNTING FISHING KITCHEN COINS LALIQUE TOOLS Hobby Model Vehicles CAMERA QUALITY!

Just note that they won't post the address until 7:00 the morning of the sale. I won't be after the coins, but if anyone does plan on checking this out my experience is that people who are into collecting anything tend to line up an hour or so before it opens.

 

[galenrog]

The likelihood of coins and currency at that sale being priced at three to five times actual value is extremely high. I base my opinion on the professionally managed sales I have been to.

Time for more coffee.

 

[dognose]

The likelihood of coins and currency at that sale being priced at three to five times actual value is extremely high. I base my opinion on the professionally managed sales I have been to.

Time for more coffee.

I agree, the bidders often get into a frenzy and the actual value of an item is often surpassed.
Or its the idea of "I am not leaving here empty handed."

 

[MiddenMonster]

I save coins, and don't really collect them but I agree with you about pricing. I frequently see basic claw hammers going for $10 at these sales. When I point out that's almost as much as a new claw hammer and that they should be closer to $2-$3, I'm told that those are "garage sale" prices. I then point out that you can find a good claw hammer at several "garage sales" every week, so why would someone buy one for $10? By talking to a lot of the people doing estate sales I've also found out that a lot of estate sale companies price the items in anticipation of the last day, when items (at least in my city) are marked down 75%. Thing is, if I don't find anything I'm willing to pay for the day I'm there, I don't go back on the last day. But if you're a coin collector it might be worth it to go back and see if some sucker didn't pay the inflated price in the previous days. I'm also guessing that when they price coins they aren't really doing due diligence in grading them, and will tend to grade them higher than what they really are.

One of the hottest items I see listed are McIntosh audio components. The people wanting those are usually at the front of the line, and when the sale starts they head straight to the components, pull off the price tag and go pay for it. Stuff like that is probably on eBay within hours, but I'm guessing people buying coins are doing so more because they want them for their collection. But you never know; I've seen a lot of stuff that is priced very well from the beginning. After all, the point of the sale is to get rid of the stuff that the heirs don't want, and if it is still there when the sale ends the estate sale company didn't do their job in my opinion.

 

[jeff of pa]

As Long as Your Not Advertising for Yourself I see No Issue

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I agree, the bidders often get into a frenzy and the actual value of an item is often surpassed.
Or its the idea of "I am not leaving here empty handed."

Yep, sometimes I would go to artifact auctions in Missouri, usually it was farmers who farmed land along the Missouri River. They had amazing collections, and would sell collections when they were going into nursing homes or retirement homes, and no family was interested in having.

Sometimes I would watch biders who were determined to have an artifact and money was no object. Points that should be $50-$60 back then (80s-90s) would be bid up to several hundred very quickly.

 

[GirlWithWolf]

What about hunting equipment? Since that stuff isn’t something collectors would probably get in a bidding war over, would it be quite a bit under value? I need another knife but even a used Randall like the one I want (pic 86) is over $700.

 

[MiddenMonster]

What about hunting equipment? Since that stuff isn’t something collectors would probably get in a bidding war over, would it be quite a bit under value? I need another knife but even a used Randall like the one I want (pic 86) is over $700.

It can be hit or miss on any category of item, but with smart phones I think they tend to research any item they think might be remotely collectible. As others have said, coins are probably overpriced, and my experience has been that guns, knives and especially fishing flies and lures tend to be way up there. And as has also been pointed out, any knapped weapons points or artifacts can be priced sky high. In the end, there isn't really a way to tell what prices are unless there is a readable price tag in the pictures. You pretty much have to go to the sale and hope for the best. But if you're into such things and have the link I posted still up, you can click in the field in the upper left corner and put your zip code in to see what is near you, and can change the distance from you and the number of days in the future to search. Some sales are regional, or even national though there is nothing I can think of that would cause me to travel across the country to look at. And as with any kind of treasure hunting, you can always get lucky and stumble on to something really cool, and maybe even worth something.