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It seems to me there are a lot of people who have gotten and are getting into the sign and pump market that think they are going to get rich buying and selling pumps & Petroliana signs.
The problem I think is they have no idea what they are doing.
They buy a sign or pump at auction either on line or in person and just bid until they own it.
Then they just mark it up and try to sell it?? No matter what the price?
They post it on Craig's List or Facebook with no idea of the market values.
I see more with signs than pumps, I guess because pumps are harder to move, etc.
I had a Wayne 276 (boat anchor in my opinion) that was fair to not great condition that I HAD to take with some other pumps.
A guy offered to buy it from me for $500. SOLD!
He took it to a swap meet here in Wisconsin.
The first day he was asking $1500
Two days later $800
The last day he sold it for $500!
I saw it on Craigs list the next week for $1500. Then a few weeks later $1000, then $800, then $600, then $500!
Then it went away.
It seems like everyday someone asks "how much is this worth?" AFTER they buy it!
Too many people watching fake shows like Pickers? Or seeing inflated prices on Ebay etc.?
Just my opinion......






Last edited by Old Racer; Fri May 31 2019 05:31 AM.

Email :john@barnquiltshop.com

"The Fun Is In The Hunt"
Web site: www.barquiltshop.com/
Please use For Sale forums to sell

Please - NO offers to Buy or Sell in this forum category

Statements such as, "I'm thinking about selling this." are considered an offer to sell.
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Every auction I go to everyone bidding thinks they’re American pickers!!

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John, I agree 110%. It's as if they think we run our sites to do this service for free? We sell a lot of pumps and our profit margin is very small, compared to what it was 20 years ago, before the TV shows made everyone an expert. Even with restorations, in the end, I'm probably working for $5.00 an hour?? It keeps me from chasing women and out of bars!!! LOL! I get calls everyday from folks wanting values on pumps....that they are trying to purchase....looking for what they can resell for? Usually, they try to explain what the unit looks like, over the phone? Once I tell them that I'd need pictures to just understand what they are asking....they can't understand why? A guy called yesterday. He asked me about a "Sunoco" pump that I had apparently restored for one of his friends? The owner is ill, not doing well, as stated by the caller. This "friend" wants to buy it from him. He explained that he was friends with the owner but was looking to get a deal? He asked what it was worth....again, he referred to my web site where I was supposed to stop what I was doing, and observe the sold pump, in the pictures?? Thereby, I could give him an accurate value? I told him to use my prices on the available pumps as his reference and be fair. He said that he wasn't planning on paying retail, if he could get it at a better price? If this is how a "friends" treat "friends" then why should we consider that they would not try to use us? Just my opinion as well. Paul www.severngaspumps.com

Last edited by gasmansgp; Fri May 31 2019 07:14 AM.
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Paul you were paying yourself $5 an hour? I think I better give myself a raise.
People ask me all the time how many hours it takes to restore a pump. I tell them if I kept track of the hours I wouldn't do this. 🙃


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Originally Posted by Old Racer

They post it on Craig's List or Facebook with no idea of the market values.


The same happens on OldGas from time to time also.

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That is the way it is today people looking for a quick buck with NO work involved

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I agree wholeheartedly.


Email :john@barnquiltshop.com

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Originally Posted by Old Racer
Paul you were paying yourself $5 an hour? I think I better give myself a raise.
People ask me all the time how many hours it takes to restore a pump. I tell them if I kept track of the hours I wouldn't do this. 🙃
John, You might have read too much into my statement? I never get paid....the company does....but the $5.00 dollar an hour labor fee is probably what I'm worth!!! LOL! In my case, I use this as therapy? Paul

Last edited by gasmansgp; Fri May 31 2019 04:16 PM.
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huskybob hit it pretty good. Go to the for sale section of this site and look at how much an item has dropped in price in just a few days.
There must have been visions of big profits when the item was first offered. Some by as much as 50%.
All those reading this that are in a hurry to sell something for less than what you paid for it-- raise your hand.


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If your not in this hobby because it is a hobby, and your first objective is to make a ton of money, than you most likely are going to be surprised. I think the sign market is out of control and fear that a number of dealers are going to find that they got in when they should have gotten out.

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I 100% agree!


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I collect, I never sell, This is my hobby for the past 50 years, The pickers ruined our hobby.


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It's not just this hobby,as I collect other items too that are not Oil & Gas related.
Seems there's an abundance of clueless "Carpet Baggers" in every hobby.
They're here for a good time,not a long time.


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Originally Posted by gascollector56
I collect, I never sell, This is my hobby for the past 50 years, The pickers ruined our hobby.


Wanted early tin litho signage.
petro, farm, auto, etc.
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So exactly how did pickers ruin the hobby for you?

I take it you were never a picker. So you would have bought at auctions or swap meets.
Who is the guy selling at the swap meet that your buying all your stuff from for 50 years, maybe a picker.
Sure would be a slow hobby if we had no pickers and we all collected for 50 years never selling anything.
If your making money at picking these days your working hard at it.
If your not making money, well I guess you won’t be a picker long simple as that.
I was picking collecting 45 years ago but couldn’t afford to keep it all, I guess you could, so I had to sell some to go buy more.
Sooner or later it all goes down the road, either before we go 6 feet under or after.


Wanted early tin litho signage.
petro, farm, auto, etc.
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There will always be new people looking to make money on items that go up high in price and are sought after. Once things come back down to earth...the same people move on to the next hot thing.

I’m sure there are plenty of people who have made good money buying and selling things in this hobby, especially in the last 5 years.

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i have been buying,selling& collecting scene 1984.i made a rule don't ask if its for sale if you don't see two!!!!!!!!!!!!!! charley

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Originally Posted by minuteman
So exactly how did pickers ruin the hobby for you?

I take it you were never a picker. So you would have bought at auctions or swap meets.
Who is the guy selling at the swap meet that your buying all your stuff from for 50 years, maybe a picker.
Sure would be a slow hobby if we had no pickers and we all collected for 50 years never selling anything.
If your making money at picking these days your working hard at it.
If your not making money, well I guess you won’t be a picker long simple as that.
I was picking collecting 45 years ago but couldn’t afford to keep it all, I guess you could, so I had to sell some to go buy more.
Sooner or later it all goes down the road, either before we go 6 feet under or after.


Very well said. I’ve never had a problem with the people in any hobby doing the dirty work getting theirs. Without them, there’d be slim pickings for the rest of us. That and, like you say, no one would waste their time doing it. The only time I can see someone finding issue with this kinda thing is when someone buys something on eBay or elsewhere for a good price, that a collector who was going to keep the item could have gotten for that good price, but then the item pops up on FB or elsewhere for top, top retail. I see it constantly over on FB but that just means if someone wants that item that they need to be quicker to that item than the other person. I find little joy in getting all worked up about a hobby that is supposed to bring you enjoyment, not anger.

Additionally, people are constantly learning and constantly altering their collecting habits as tastes change and new things catch their eye. Could anyone imagine having the same tastes at 50 that you had at 18? Now that’s funny. Unless you are swimming in money or like the exact same thing your entire life (and let’s face it, most have a hard enough time liking their wives that long :D), you part with items to use that money for something new or different. Heck, I’ve seen people part with things to pay for unexpected taxes on their life, be it medical bills, vet bills, home repairs, whatever. I think that’s great that that is something someone can fall back on.

Now, I’m not sure how anyone can expect every person to know every value of every item in the hobby. That seems a tad unreasonable. I’m also not sure who it is hurting when an unknowledgeable seller prices an item higher than it should be priced? If it’s too high, people won’t buy it. The community sorts itself out. I can’t imagine being new to the hobby, believing your doing your due diligence in checking auction results for a price point on your pump or sign and unknowingly using Mecum or Barrett or other such auctions with filthy rich, clueless buyers throwing 20k at a restored 3k pump so it can go with the 250k car they just bought to price your stuff. There’s so many intricacies to pay attention to in this hobby it’s practically a full-time job in itself. I don’t fault anyone for not being able to donate that kinda time to something they do purely for enjoyment. And, hell, prices change on a near-daily basis. Two years ago did anyone think a Penntroleum quart would triple in price? I’m not paying $1250 for one, but someone did. Sure, I thought the seller was a bit of a nutter for the price but I was proven wrong. Did anyone think a Hot Rod two gallon would see $2500 in a FB auction? wink Or maybe it’s someone’s I don’t want to sell it price but, for the right number, they will let the item go. There’s people out there that want an item bad enough to meet that number. Good for both of them, I say.

With all that said, I’m sure there are outliers to the equation that I am not addressing, there’s a bad seed in every bunch. But, at the end of the day, we’re not taking any of this with us to the “next life”, were only sharing a temporary ownership in the larger goal of preserving history. A hobby should bring you joy, excitement and, if you’re lucky enough, camaraderie with fellow collectors. Smile, help others and let live.

Last edited by RedHat; Sat Jun 01 2019 06:17 PM.

Looking for Michelin items + NJ oil company related items (Mohawk, Guardian, Whiz, etc) + animal-related petroliana + Gargoyle/Shell/Sinclair items
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Well said Redhat and well said minuteman.

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Here's my problem with it all. This guy buys and sells it, the next buys and sells it, and so on and so on. And they all want to retire from the sale. And all it does is drive up prices! I buy what I want. Some of it does get sold sometimes. Sometimes for a small profit sometimes for a loss just to help out the other guy. And believe me, it's not cuz I have money. Far from it. I just like helping out a friend some times if I know it's something they want or I think they can make something on it. It would be cool if there was some sort of power in the universe that kept people from ever selling anything for more than 10% above what they paid for it. I don't know, I just hate seeing the hobby perverted by the all mighty dollar. In the end, what is any of it really worth?


Steve Coppens
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Really want a Sunoco National pump ad glass!!
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I'm new here, but not to certain vintage/antique stuff: my expertise is with West Virginia made china and art glass, which I both collect and occasionally sell, largely to fund my own hobby of collecting. I'm grateful for pickers and dealers, they expand my search for stuff exponentially. So I don't mind a profit, heck it's almost always less than the expense and time I alone would spend searching. Based on my knowledge, I stumble across many items I know others are searching for and would never find in my exact time and location, so I'll buy it to resell and it finds a good home. It funds my hobby and helps others find what they want. The market shakes out pricing over time ,and, frankly, I'm willing to "over pay" occasionally for just the right piece I'm searching for. It evens out, and even helps the serious long term collector at times by pricing out a less serious novice. Obviously, having buckets of money allows you to always get what you want, but those folks seldom hang in there long nor enjoy the quest, unless their heart is really in it. Just my 2 cents.

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I have been collecting for nearly 20 years. I restored a Martin & Schwartz 80 mainly because I wanted to and also working with my hands on a project always gave me relief from a stressful day. I bought my first sign to match my pump...and it took off from there.

We probably have all experienced both the riches and the bust of the hobby. I have picked up treasures that I later learned had great value. I have also overspent. But I always was involved because I loved it.

I am reading a book about the Osage Indians in the 1900s whose reservation sat over the then largest oil fields in the world. Sinclair, Marland, Getty, Phillips and other oil barrons attended oil lease auctions there in Oklahoma along with “want-to-get-rich” wildcatters. Sone knew what they were doing and others lost their shirts. Some had oil in their blood and others only saw dollar signs. I have “sort of” been both from time to time.

I don’t think of myself as an “Oil Barron”/petroliana expert but neither do I think of myself as a “Wildcatter”/for profit only. But from time to time I probably have been a little bit of both. Some of our membership really are the Oil Barrons of our hobby. I feel privileged to be able to dialogue with them. And we have seen the Wildcatters out there trying to make a profit...and in the words of Sonny and Cher “the beat goes on”.

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LOL whistle

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LOOKING-4:WELDING SIGNS,Charter/Finance/PulOil/Trulite/TruTest-Oils,True's gas CORALINE/RAINBOW, Gardner 70 items of Yakima wa., Wa/Or/Id Chief items
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