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SHES ALREADY THE 10th OF THE MONTH.
ITS STORY TIME.

This month we will be presented with 'stories' from the KYSOILMAN himself 'REX'
>>LET-R-EAT REX tell us some good tales!

((who wants to go next month? let me know))




[This message has been edited by tom 2 tone (edited 02-09-2005).]

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On Line Auctions, My Story

I guess that most of us have had experiences with on line auctions like Ebay and other auction houses that use Bid Spotter. Here is what happened to me during a time that I had health issues and couldn’t get to the live auction.

I signed on with Bid Spotter hoping to get a globe that I had been wanting for quite a while. When the globe came up I started bidding.
Everything was going well. I got a flash on my screen “congratulations Rex, you won”. I thought GREAT, I got what I wanted and at a very reasonable price. I could hear some muttering in the background. The next item hadn’t come up. I then got a flash on my screen saying “Sorry Rex, it was a tie bid and they gave the item to the person in the audience”. Then they went to the next item. Boy I was ****** , but there was nothing that I could do about it.

Later, I talked to a person that was working the auction and his reply was “What do you want us to do? Stop the whole auction”. I said, “of course, a tie bid gets opened to the two people that are tied”. His reply was “That takes too long”. I was mad but there was nothing that I could do. Later, when I found out that the person that won the globe sold it for $300.00 more than the high bid, it burned me more.

Several months later, I was able to buy the same globe in better condition at a reasonable price. However, I was still upset at the way that I was treated.



It wasn’t too much later, that Kruse had his auction at his annual Auburn show. And of course, there was a globe there that I just had to have. I wanted to go to the auction; I had a Doctor’s appointment that day. So I placed a bid of $750.00 on the globe that I wanted with Bid Spotter. When I got home, I went to the site and saw that the globe sold for $325.00. Damn, I was happy. So I contacted Kruse about shipping the globe. They informed me that I didn’t win the globe and they couldn’t find any references to the bid that I left. They said that I must not have registered with Kruse, which of course I did, or I would not have been able to place a preliminary bid. I had email confirmations from Bid Spotter that I was registered. Also I had Email confirmations from Kruse that I was an accepted bidder. Then the old run a round started with “we’ll call you back; we’ll look into it”. I was really ****** . I told them that if I didn’t get that globe I would place ads in all of the petroleum magazines and on Oldgas .com stating how poorly they run their business. Bid Spotter told me that if I do that I would be sued for liable. The guy that I was dealing with obviously was a real jerk. Well, it happened again, I didn’t get the globe that I was the high bidder on. That is twice with Bid Spotter.

A few weeks after the Kruse auction, I called my friend Bobby Harper, who is a fellow Kentucky collector. We talked for a while and finally he was telling me that he went to the Auburn auction and bought a few signs. I asked him if he knew who got the Tresler Comet globe that I had placed my bid on. I couldn’t believe what he said. “Well Rex, I bought that globe”. I said, “your kidding” Bobby replied “You know that I don’t collect globes but this one was selling so low, I bid on it and won it for $325.00”. I then related my story about how I left a bid of $775.00 on that globe and that it never got placed. Bobby said, “Well Rex, if you want this globe you can have it. I only bought it because of the price”. I said, “great, I’ll pay you the $775.00 that I bid”. Bobby said,” Oh no, just pay me what I paid for it”. We argued for a while, but I let him win. The next day I went and picked up my globe and paid Bobby Harper just what he bought it for, $325.00.

Now, I always knew Bobby was a real special person, but to sell me the globe for $450.00 less than I was willing to pay him, just because it was the right thing to do, was extraordinary. He is a real man.

Do the right thing, you will be happier in the long run.



Rex Benson

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GREAT STORIES, REX. I CAN ALMOST GET THAT WARM AND FUZZY FEELING FROM YOUR BURNS AND ULTIMATE SCORES AS AN END RESULT! WITH TIME ALL GOOD THINGS WILL COME TOGETHER.....DOUBLE TROUBLE TURNS INTO DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE DOUBLE YOUR FUN!

DOC @ TAG/WEST


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I'm glad you got that Tresler globe Rex. I've met Bobby Harper and he's a true southern gentleman.

Tell the story about the sign you tried buying but the seller wouldn't budge on his price, but Nita ended up buying it cheaper. LOL.


Wanted: Gas pump globes:Sinclair & affiliates, IL companies. Ripple bodies. Anything Sinclair, Stoll, Pierce, 4 Bros.


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Hubba likes Rex stories.

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Pegasus likes REX's stories too!!! Are you going to tell the one about the traveling oil & gas collector and the farmer's daughter?

Richard


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Back in the day

Back in the day when Jim Potts first started Oldgas.com, I registered as a collector of globes and other gas and oil stuff.

One day, I got an Email from a person who wrote to ask if I was interested in buying globes. The Email seemed strange but I went ahead and answered “yes that I collected globes and would be interested in buying any globes that he might have”.

A few days went by with no reply so I forgot about it. Then I received another Email asking how much I would pay for the globes. Again, this was a strange Email. The person didn’t mention what kind of globes or anything about them. He just asked what I would pay for them. It didn’t make sense.
Again, I Emailed back and said I was interested, what kind are they and how can I see them?
Several days went by again before I got a reply. This time he stated that the globes were Ashland and how much would I pay for them.
So again, I replied and told him that I need to see the globes. “Email me your phone number or call me and we will get together”.

Two days later I got a phone number and I called. The person that answer said yes that he had some globes for sale and wanted to know what I would pay. I said that I needed to see them and what kind they were, Capco or Glass bodies. He replied that the globes were in 13 unopened boxes and they weren’t sure what kind they were.
I was really DROOLING at this point. I asked him to open one of the boxes, which he did. He described the globe as saying Ashland and being plastic and what would I pay for them.
I told him that I was sure that they were worth at least $100 a globe and that I would have to see them. Remember, this was 1997 or 1998. He acted surprised and his reply was “are you sure that you would pay that much for these globes apiece?” I assured him that I would. We made arrangements to meet with him the next day. I found out that they were in Eastern Kentucky, back in the hills. It was a 6-hour round trip.

When I got there, the place was a house and their garage had been converted to a small grocery store. This appeared to be the place where everyone took care of his or her business. There wasn’t any other store around. It was really back in the hills. Looking at the place, I realized that I could have offered a lot less for the globes and they would have sold them. But the price that I offered was fair.

I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. There were 13 globes in sealed Cincinnati advertising products boxes that had never been opened with the exception of the one that he had opened at my request. Again, he said “are you sure that you will pay $100 apiece?’
I told him that I would have to open the boxes to make sure that none of them were broken. WOW, what a thrill. There were 5 Ashland A’s and 8 Ashland Flying Octane’s all in Capco bodies. Not the rarest globes but enough to get your heart pumping. Two of the Capco bodies had chips and I bought those for a less amount.

I asked him how he got them. He replied that an old Ashland distributor had died and his son had come home to settle the estate and found the boxes of globes in the barn. He also found 8 Ashland signs of various sizes and condition. The son brought the stuff to the local store to see if the man could find out what they were worth and to sell them.

The man at the store had no computer so his son used the school computer to search the word “Globe” and 3 names came up. Mine because of Oldgas.com. I was the only one that responded. The son had to wait to do his Emailing in class and he didn’t take computer class every day. Therefore the strange emails.

I was packing my truck up (TAHOE) when the Ashland distributor’s son came by to get the money for the globes and signs. I asked him if he had anything else. He said that there was some stuff lying around in the barn. I said, “let’s go look at it”. I could see when we got to the barn that there was an 8’ porcelain Firestone sign nailed backwards to cover up a missing board. The barn was empty except one corner. There were a dozen NOS porcelain bonnet shaped light shades there.

So I came home with 13 NOS Ashland globes in the box, 8 Ashland signs and 12 porcelain lampshades and one very nice Firestone sign. All for a very reasonable price.
The truck (TAHOE) was full and three of the signs were tied down to the top.
What a great day!!! I will never forget opening those globe boxes.
Thanks to Jim Potts, Mr. Oldgas.com

THANKS REX

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Rex,
Thats the kind of story we all wish we could tell.


Wanted: Gas pump globes:Sinclair & affiliates, IL companies. Ripple bodies. Anything Sinclair, Stoll, Pierce, 4 Bros.


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Very cool story!!!

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Rex, I have a question for you. What color light shades were they? I would like to keep track for myself what colors stations used. With most gas stations having two of the three primary colors in their signage (either red, green or blue) I'm sure to most people now-a-days it doesn't matter - and probably doesn't. But I, for myself, am courious. Thanks. Cool story by the way.



[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 02-17-2005).]

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Rex...what an AWESOME story...Pops...you said it..we all wish we could tell that one for sure. Way to go...everyone was Happy especially REX

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That's what being a "friend" is all about, huh Rex? What goes around usually comes around.
Glad you got COMET globe.
We all have dreams about falling into a "ASHLAND" deal like you found.
Bet a book of your stories would really sell.
Rod

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Thanks for those stories, Rex!
The Ashland story brought me back to the early days of oldgas.com and what this site is all about. Glad it worked out so well for you. Makes me feel like the rough days around here are worth it, so we can keep the good things happening.

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