Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion buy sell or hold???

since it seems ive been completely priced out of the market for petroliana should I continue by trying to buy poorer quality items sell my collection or simply tuck it away and hope the rocket ride of the last 5-10 years continues?

buy sell or hold single choice
	buy
	sell
	hold
Votes accepted starting: Mon Feb 20 2017 12:35 PM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

Tom,
Depends upon your goals.

Is your goal to make a profit from this stuff? If so, then maybe you should hold unless you think we haven't hit the ceiling yet. If you think we have and that's the only reason you still have this stuff, then sell.

Do you collect simply because you like this stuff and enjoy the hunt? If so, then why stop? Just buy what little you can to stay within your budget and don't worry about future value.

I try to avoid buying lower-quality stuff unless that's the look I'm going for. If I wanted a barn-hanger sign, I'd find something rough and rusty. otherwise I try to buy the best quality I can find. It looks nicer and is more likely to hold its value.

BrianH

Tom, good luck whichever way you decide!

In my opinion the "rocket ride" as too prices, started well over 40 years ago...

As you know, I have a very long history in this Petro Hobby.. For me; when a Seller started asking more than $15 for a pristine white over orange Oilzum Can with "Oswald" looking out; pricing had started it's "rocket ride".. LOL

A lot depends on your age,being 82 I have sold some of my better signs.Do not think I have much "long term" left!!

My opinion Tom, sell now for top dollar while people are paying theses stupid prices, the market has changed but the ones paying inflated prices for ***** are the new breed of wanna be pickers who will be gone in a few years and things will get back into perspective.
And I don't mean everybody spending big $ on ***** these days are "pickers" but a good guess would be over 75% are.

If your passion is collecting and you enjoy it then keep your collection. I hit it hard buying and looking for items to add to my collection and when I do sell I hope the market is still good, I don't collect hoping to get rich on it someday only because I love it so much.

I say hold on to it as long as you possibly can.
I honestly regret selling most everything I did during the last 15 years.
I find nothing comes close to it today in uniqueness & quality,let alone the price I paid for it back then.
Today it seems all I see to replace it with is just too bland,expensive and common as well as overseas re-popped ***** to copy what we all had access.
Everything that came to market during those past years had so much more character to it too.
I really believe we were blessed in so many ways with this stuff here in this country during the last 15-30 years.
I want all my stuff back..

You guys have been at this much longer than I, and collecting one company I don't know that I can help. I can relate to being priced out. When I started if I found it I bought almost regardless of condition,now if I can upgrade one or two items a year I'm tickled and content. Don't have it all and maybe never will but what I have is not for sale. Never was about the money for me.

Didn't vote because I didn't have the "do what you want to do" , vote button. I think you already know.

I voted to hold. It only my opinion but the stuff I buy is for my collection. The only time I sell is when I have a better duplicate and am trying to purchase something else. I'm going to continue to hold whether the price goes up or down as I enjoy looking at my stuff every time I walk through the garage and don't look at it as an investment. Someday my son is going to have to make a hard decision but I hope that's a long way off.

Tom,
I voted to hold. I started collecting about 15 years ago. Probably three fourths of my signs all hold the memory of the hunt. For example, I have a fairly "roached" Exide Batterry Dealer sign. I will always remember the hot summer afternoon and running across it at Canton, Texas Trade Days. I talked with the owner for 20 minutes are so about collecting and eventually nogotiated the deal. It was heavy and seemed like It took forever to get to the car. I washed and cleaned it when I got home and could not believe how well it cleaned up. I will never forget all of that. It is the hunt!!!

Yes, wish I had most of the stuff that I have sold over the years, BUT. Have many things that I would not have been able to have if I did not. Life comes 1st, then the other stuff. Keep the things you like no matter what, you will always enjoy them. Tough call though when you have no one that wants them and age is creeping up along with any health problems. There is only so much space in that last room you are in, and the coffin is tighter yet.

I was feeling the same way a few years ago. I decided I wasn't ready to leave the hobby. I sold off a bunch of stuff and added the proceeds to my collecting budget and bought better signs and globes. I sold globes that I didn't think I'd ever part with. Turns out I didn't have any real regrets because I used the proceeds to buy nicer stuff.
My advice is to sell off the the lesser quality items, and use the money to buy a few better pieces.

Not a fair question. Each of us have different incomes, different needs. Do you make $150,000 a year and don't have any children or do you make $50,000 a year and have three teenagers ready to go to college?
Also, no mention as to what your collection is, do you collect smalls like pens & pencils or do you collect signs?
As far as prices going sky high, I agree this has happened with signs and globes, but pumps have gone up in price mostly based on inflation, unless of course you are looking for a Roman. Most pumps from the 50s are still selling for just a little more than were in 10 years ago.
The best suggestion I have read from up above is sell off average items, use the money to buy better quality items.

Jack Sim

I think you should sell. PM me with what you have... Ha ha ha ha. Just kidding.

Like others have said, it depends on your goals. Are you building a collection to enjoy, are you doing it for money now, or are you doing it for an investment down the road, do you buy and sell to pay for your hobby, do you have unlimited money? It all depends. Many variables.