Posted By:
jay behrensI have a personal websted that is dedicated to Wild West and Indian cards. Every few months someone will contact me about some cards they found or bought and want to know what they are worth. I've gotten to the point where I will not give estimates of value anymore without getting paid first. All but one has ended up using my knowledge to sell the cards to someone else instead of me. What I do now is charge $50 for the valuation and if I end up buying the cards, that money will refunded.
I don't mind helping people out, but when my hard earned knowledge is being used to make other people money, then I stop sharing. Making offers is also no win situation. The most recent group offered is the perfect example. I got offered a group of N36s (large A&G Indian cards and very rare). The person said his wife bought them for $10 at a garage sale and wanted to know what they were worth and what I would pay for them. The group included a Sitting Bull and offer well over $1k for the 6 cards. The husband agreed to the deal, but the wife got $$$ in her eyes and then found out Antiques Roadshow was coming to town and wanted to wait for them. I told her that my offer was a one time deal. If she went to AR, I would only offer the low end of their estimate. She went to AR and was told they were worth $600-800. She ended up consigning them to an auction house I've never heard of that does not specialize in cards or Native AMerican itmes, so it will be interesting to see if I can get them for even. Now I'm hoping to land this group for under $600. This lady's greed is going to cost her over $1k, but I really can't feel sorry for her. I willing to bet that if I had offered only $100, they would have sold the cards without a second thought, but then I couldn't sleep well doing that.
Jay
I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home, I would be arrested. So, I go to baseball games and fit right in.