There's a used bookstore I drop into maybe once a month or so to see if they have anything of interest. I was in there a couple of weeks back and purchased an autobiography by a well known mountaineer/adventurer for the princely sum of $12.95.
When I got the book home, I realised that this was a first edition. Not only that, I could see that the book had also been signed by the author.
I checked signatures by this guy on the internet (amazing what you can find on there) and they were absolutely identical. I further checked what this first edition signed book was going for: the listed sale price was a whopping $2750 USD.
I was just wondering if any other hangout members have had the good fortune to accidentally acquire something far more valuable than you were expecting.
Does fortuitously meeting the lady later to become my wife count?
Actually we have a thrift store painting that we paid $3 for, but turned down an offer of either $150 or* $300, because we weren't/aren't done enjoying it just yet.
* - I think it's the former, but my wife thinks it's the latter. Where I think the $300 came from is me figuring that since the guy's initial offer was $150, a better estimate of the value could be arrived at by doubling the figure. In any event I expect it'll eventually all be academic .... $5 in a yard sale when we move from our own place into whatever type of accommodation comes next. 
I was on a field job in W. Kansas. I had my cheapy travel guitar in the jobsite trailer. A farmer dropped in to see how the project was going. When he saw my guitar he asked if I would interested in an old “junker” and amp he had in his barn. Of course I said sure bring it by. The next day he comes a knocking. He carry’s in a smelly Fender tweed case with a 56 Fender Telecaster in it and an old “no name” tube amp. 300.00 and both were mine. After returning home, I sold the amp for 300.00. So the the original tweed case and a 56 tele cost me zero. … the case smelled like a chicken coup. I had to leave it in garage for months to air out before bringing it in the house. Brad (this was about year 1998)
Edited by - rinemb on 11/12/2024 17:51:45
I recently bid on a Berkel meat slicer at a local on-line auction. I was very surprised when I won the bid with $85.00. I figured that price for a professional grade meat slicer probably meant it was not working properly. Got it home and discovered that with a small repair it worked just fine. Looked up prices and saw that used slicers of this model were advertised for in the neighborhood of $5,000. It may take me a while to find a buyer, but I figure I should be able to get $3,000 fairly easily.
Edited by - 1965 on 11/13/2024 06:27:18
My lovely bride and I bought our first house, many years ago, after living several years with particle board furniture and pretty much everything else from goodwill. We paid fair market price for the house. The sellers were out of state siblings of the homeowner, a widower, with one child overseas. She was elderly and going in a nursing home. Her child had no interest in her stuff. The sellers had no interest in her stuff. They had planned a garage sale, but ran out of time. Just two day before the closing, they contacted us and asked if we had any interest in the contents of the house. We said yes, and they said good, because it’s all ours. Long story short, we got rid of all our cheap junk, and moved into a completely furnished house, and I’m talking stocked linen closets, fridge, complete
quote:
Originally posted by RamblinMan3There's a used bookstore I drop into maybe once a month or so to see if they have anything of interest. I was in there a couple of weeks back and purchased an autobiography by a well known mountaineer/adventurer for the princely sum of $12.95.
When I got the book home, I realised that this was a first edition. Not only that, I could see that the book had also been signed by the author.
I checked signatures by this guy on the internet (amazing what you can find on there) and they were absolutely identical. I further checked what this first edition signed book was going for: the listed sale price was a whopping $2750 USD.
I was just wondering if any other hangout members have had the good fortune to accidentally acquire something far more valuable than you were expecting.
I did something similar with a book about a sailing voyage. Not quite in the same league as yours though, I bought it in a second hand book stall for £5 and sold it after I read it for £120 - still a nice return though.
Which mountaineer are you reading about?
quote:
Originally posted by 1965I recently bid on a Berkel meat slicer at a local on-line auction. I was very surprised when I won the bid with $85.00. I figured that price for a professional grade meat slicer probably meant it was not working properly. Got it home and discovered that with a small repair it worked just fine. Looked up prices and saw that used slicers of this model were advertised for in the neighborhood of $5,000. It may take me a while to find a buyer, but I figure I should be able to get $3,000 fairly easily.
I bought a Berkel from a retiring butcher for my home use. It was a fantastic piece of kit, but both absolutely massive and a real pain in the bum to clean for my paltry couple of pounds of bacon every four months. They say the two happiest days of owning a boat are the day you buy oit and the day you sell it - I found that this also applies to commercial meat slicers in domestic applications. I also got a lot more for it than I paid for it, but not quite the delta you are looking at with yours - that was a good/clever find you had there.
quote:
Originally posted by Wet Spanielquote:
Originally posted by 1965I recently bid on a Berkel meat slicer at a local on-line auction. I was very surprised when I won the bid with $85.00. I figured that price for a professional grade meat slicer probably meant it was not working properly. Got it home and discovered that with a small repair it worked just fine. Looked up prices and saw that used slicers of this model were advertised for in the neighborhood of $5,000. It may take me a while to find a buyer, but I figure I should be able to get $3,000 fairly easily.
I bought a Berkel from a retiring butcher for my home use. It was a fantastic piece of kit, but both absolutely massive and a real pain in the bum to clean for my paltry couple of pounds of bacon every four months. They say the two happiest days of owning a boat are the day you buy oit and the day you sell it - I found that this also applies to commercial meat slicers in domestic applications. I also got a lot more for it than I paid for it, but not quite the delta you are looking at with yours - that was a good/clever find you had there.
While this one, being a newer model, does seem to be easier to clean, I totally agree on the massiveness aspect. I bought it solely relying on photos and was a bit taken aback by its size and weight when I picked it up. It surely weighs over 100 lbs. Total overkill for anything I had planned for it.
I was working on a project in Raleigh, NC and one day after finishing work I dropped by an antique mall to browse around. The first booth I came to had a sheath knife stamped with a marking I had heard of but did not know much about ......a stamp of a Kris (knife) and stamp "WScagel Handmade". I collect pocket knives, but did have a few sheath knives, and this one I had heard of before but had seen only a few. The price tag on it was $165.00, so I took it to the counter and told the clerk that I would take it when he informed me everything in the booth was 20% off. So with tax I paid about $139.00. When I got home I called a friend who collect sheath knives and I thought might have owned a Scagel. He told me that they were worth about $10,000 ...... but "you can't buy one for that". I did a lot of research on them and a few years later I was asking a Scagel expert at a knife show about them and he said one like mine had just sold for $24,000.
A year and a half ago I took it, along with another item to the Antique Roadshow in Raleigh and showed it to one of the appraisers. I knew that I knew more about it than him, but he was fairly knowledgeable. He said that it was worth about $20,000, but would put an auction estimate on it of between $15,000 and $20,000. I was ok with that ....but would not sell it for that!
Edited by - BanjoLink on 11/14/2024 08:51:36
When I was still in high school I bought a 1951 Gibson J-50 guitar for $50. When I got it I didn't know when it was made, and Gibson serial numbers were kind of a mystery then because of a fire they had at some point. I eventually did find someone who could tell me how old it was. I still have the guitar. It's not my everyday player anymore, but it's worth way more than $50. :-)
quote:
Originally posted by Wet Spanielquote:
Originally posted by RamblinMan3There's a used bookstore I drop into maybe once a month or so to see if they have anything of interest. I was in there a couple of weeks back and purchased an autobiography by a well known mountaineer/adventurer for the princely sum of $12.95.
When I got the book home, I realised that this was a first edition. Not only that, I could see that the book had also been signed by the author.
I checked signatures by this guy on the internet (amazing what you can find on there) and they were absolutely identical. I further checked what this first edition signed book was going for: the listed sale price was a whopping $2750 USD.
I was just wondering if any other hangout members have had the good fortune to accidentally acquire something far more valuable than you were expecting.I did something similar with a book about a sailing voyage. Not quite in the same league as yours though, I bought it in a second hand book stall for £5 and sold it after I read it for £120 - still a nice return though.
Which mountaineer are you reading about?
Sir Edmund Hillary - the first summiter of Everest
quote:
Originally posted by RamblinMan3Sir Edmund Hillary - the first summiter of Everest
Thanks - one of New Zeland's finest!
I went to an anivetsery party.
Becose i was ..board....
N...found..Liz....
quote:
Originally posted by STUD figmo AlI went to an anivetsery party.
Becose i was ..board....
N...found..Liz....
Great find Al!
quote:
Originally posted by BanjoLinkI was working on a project in Raleigh, NC and one day after finishing work I dropped by an antique mall to browse around. The first booth I came to had a sheath knife stamped with a marking I had heard of but did not know much about ......a stamp of a Kris (knife) and stamp "WScagel Handmade". I collect pocket knives, but did have a few sheath knives, and this one I had heard of before but had seen only a few. The price tag on it was $165.00, so I took it to the counter and told the clerk that I would take it when he informed me everything in the booth was 20% off. So with tax I paid about $139.00. When I got home I called a friend who collect sheath knives and I thought might have owned a Scagel. He told me that they were worth about $10,000 ...... but "you can't buy one for that". I did a lot of research on them and a few years later I was asking a Scagel expert at a knife show about them and he said one like mine had just sold for $24,000.
A year and a half ago I took it, along with another item to the Antique Roadshow in Raleigh and showed it to one of the appraisers. I knew that I knew more about it than him, but he was fairly knowledgeable. He said that it was worth about $20,000, but would put an auction estimate on it of between $15,000 and $20,000. I was ok with that ....but would not sell it for that!
Talk about the right place at the right time ....combined with a little bit of 'know how' - that was one hell of a find John!
quote:
Originally posted by Wet Spanielquote:
Originally posted by BanjoLinkI was working on a project in Raleigh, NC and one day after finishing work I dropped by an antique mall to browse around. The first booth I came to had a sheath knife stamped with a marking I had heard of but did not know much about ......a stamp of a Kris (knife) and stamp "WScagel Handmade". I collect pocket knives, but did have a few sheath knives, and this one I had heard of before but had seen only a few. The price tag on it was $165.00, so I took it to the counter and told the clerk that I would take it when he informed me everything in the booth was 20% off. So with tax I paid about $139.00. When I got home I called a friend who collect sheath knives and I thought might have owned a Scagel. He told me that they were worth about $10,000 ...... but "you can't buy one for that". I did a lot of research on them and a few years later I was asking a Scagel expert at a knife show about them and he said one like mine had just sold for $24,000.
A year and a half ago I took it, along with another item to the Antique Roadshow in Raleigh and showed it to one of the appraisers. I knew that I knew more about it than him, but he was fairly knowledgeable. He said that it was worth about $20,000, but would put an auction estimate on it of between $15,000 and $20,000. I was ok with that ....but would not sell it for that!Talk about the right place at the right time ....combined with a little bit of 'know how' - that was one hell of a find John!
Got that right. That was before Google and other information resources, so a little knowledge was golden. I also found a 1930 Martin OM18 (first year of production for 14 fret guitar) in 1975 for $200. It was a good deal, but not much less than it should have cost. I sold it a couple of years ago for a pretty healthy sum.
We have many islands between Port Clyde and the open ocean.
One time when out hauling traps with Gramp he mentioned how a fellow used to tow a dory behind his lobster boat and row into a certain cove between 2 islands where he set a couple of lobster traps and did very well out of them.
"We could do that,but I just don't want to bother taking the dory with us for just a handful of traps."
The next day I went back to the island cove and set 5 traps out of my Dynamite Payson skiff.
3 days later I hauled my traps and went there,first.
I ended up with 38 "Ground keepers" weighing an average of nearly 3 pounds,each.The cove hadn't had a trap set in it for 20 years.
Over the summer those 5 traps caught nearly 800 pounds.
That was treasure to me.
Dynamite Payson -- You got you a helluva good wooden skiff, Steve.
And a good haul o' spiders!
I also towed a 3' urchin drag with that 17' Payson Skiff.
Someone had leaned it against their barn for about 10 years and snapped the ribs on the Port side.
I bought it for $100 and had a local guy 'glas her.Very safe for winter dragging across the river and down to Allen Island.
Made a good piece of change with that little boat.
Nice high freeboard.
My uncle Bud Watts was good friends with Dynamite.
