Interesting story there Bill...
I have never had a problem with pickers, especially as my dad was one and I started buying, selling and trading gas and oil items in Aug 1965......
What I do have a problem with, is the "want to be" pickers....
If one has to continuously drop the price on an item... They either don't know the value of the item(s) and or they don't know the "clientele" they are trying to sell to ......or both...
Too often here, I see both of these factors... I see too many "want to be" try to sell marginal items here and then these marginal are priced way too high and the price is continuously dropped....
Also, find a mentor... It DOES NOT HAVE TO BE ONE IN THE HOBBY... In fact most of the time... Those in the hobby have NO IDEA about value... They know what they would want to pay for an item, but they have no idea about the item's true value... If you are going to be a true picker, find an Appraiser that will work with you... Myself, I was lucky... My dad had worked with a few different appraisers for years and they "took me under their wing" for awhile....
I very rarely give values, for a couple of different reasons...
#1; is because I haven't kept up on most items... At one time, and I still have one that has not been updated in way too long, I kept a 3 ring binder full of results from auctions... Even now even though I don't keep up on it, I "subscribe" to 3-4 auction sites.... Among them Mathews, Worth-point, Live Auctioneers and a couple others that I get info on occasionally.
#2 is because most members, notably new members, don't want the value of an item(s)... They want to know what someone would pay for the item(s) in question.. When they get an actual value; too often they grumble, cry and throw a hissy fit that any self respecting 2 year old would give a 3 out of 10....
Also, I don't come to Old Gas and ask what something is worth. As I occasionally sell items on Old Gas, I want my potential customer base to realize that I have an idea of the worth of the items I am selling.... If one has to ask, "what is this worth" and then turns around and offers it For Sale on Old Gas it tells me they have no idea what they are doing!....
We are all adults here and as such, no can tell anyone what to do... What we can do is offer advise....
My advise to all "new" pickers: research, research, research... Know your "product" and just as importantly know those you are trying to sell too... This site is dedicated to the Collecting of Gas and Oil related items... The members here are educated in what to look for. They know for the most part what items are selling for (again different than value). They themselves have Collections.
So to bring before them; Marginal items, common items and "non-original" items. One is destroying their credibility as a knowledgeable seller of items..... Or at least that (these) is/are my opinion(s).
Opinions based on 50 years in this hobby... Some will read and reflect on what my opinions are, some will reject them off-hand with a "what does he know"? To those, do what you will... I wonder if you will have 4+ decades of Collecting, buying, selling and trading in the hobby or will you be driven away because you didn't understand and never could sell to those considered; "Hard-core Collectors?
