A Pickers Secret To Getting First Shot At The Good Stuff

What a week for picking! Found some Craigslist pieces all at one place and learned something new to boot. Found and ad with someone not only selling a table and chair set, they had a credenza with it. If you have not learned this trick I will share it with you when it involves under valued possibilities you find on Craigslist.

We all know Craigslist can be a goldmine sometimes for pieces being under priced. Either the sellers don't know what they got or don't care and just want it gone. Either way if your like me I peruse the stuff on Craigslist pretty regularly in my down time and so do many other pickers. Well if something was posted 42 minutes ago and you want it so do 5 other people.

Now the trick to this is to get to be first in line to have the first yea or nea. How do you do that? Easy.....offer more if the stuff is what it is said to be. How does this work?

Find the ad and look at every picture as close as possible. This gives you the ability to do two things, not waste yours or the sellers time and also see the condition of the item. Then contact them in their preference of ways and offer them more then what they are asking. Hopefully everyone is responding at the asking price or even being stupid and low balling the seller.

Again use this technique wisely. Offer 25.00 to 50.00 more depending on the item. Do not waste your time if the under valuing is not that great. In the case of modest under value let your text of email say " I am more then willing to pay your asking price if the condition described is correct". Use this tool correctly and you will be in more doors before the other pickers on the better stuff.

And as the redneck picker says. "Keep your head on a swivels".

 

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Picking Bassett Mid Century Furniture - My Favorites

The history of Mid Century furniture is a period between 1945 - 1965. In that time span it became very popular and some company's put out some interesting pieces that just catch your eye. The idea behind mid century was to be pleasing to the eye and very functional. One company I love finding in estate sales and yard sales is Bassett.

At one time Bassett was one of the largest wood furniture makers in the world based in Virginia. As with most American furniture manufactures they are now a shell of themselves but had a hey day at one time. In fact many pieces they produced were influenced by some of the biggest mid century names you will see. People like Julian Goldklang who ended up starting Møbler and many others.

The first picture is  This is a coffee table from Bassett's Artisan collection. It was made in the 1960's

and has the Danish modern style with surfboard edges found in early Mobler pieces. The table is made of wood and has a walnut veneer on the top surface, has a magazine rack, and tapered legs. It is Jalk style without the Jalk price. That was Bassetts strength at one time.

Bassett's 'Mayan' Collection was made in the 60's. The start of the commercial jet age at that time inspired interest in exotic cultures and locales such as those in South America.

The 'Mayan' Collection, featured beautifully intricate Aztec like carvings on the drawer pulls. The collection featured this nine drawer dresser, an even larger, triple dresser, a high boy, night stands, and more. Made of solid wood with a walnut veneer, this dresser is a work of art and a favorite of mine to find if in good condition.

Some ads from of their line.

 

 

 

In the last ad you can see the coffee table from the first picture in this post. So remember to look for Bassett pieces in good condition and ad them to your home or resell them if you buy them at a good price. Have a good pickin day and check out my Ebay store from time to time.

Space The Final Picker Frontier

First off If your a hoarder not a re-seller ignore any advice here. Second if you pick only smalls it should never even be a worry about space. On the other hand if you pick mainly big stuff like we do space is a real issue if your smaller in the size of your budget and operation. First off is always budget. Me I started with no budget but found some help from an elderly neighbor. He lives alone in a bigger place and we were able to rent that unused area for less then half of what same size storage rooms would cost. This helps a lot on 2 fronts.

It is convenient to have stuff right next door to store and to show. having a small booth at a antique mall may work for some but we prefer Craigslist and EBay. To us we already have enough on our plate in finding, cleaning and refinishing and retailing this way. Having a space in a outlet mall would only cut into our time more and be a added expense that many times is lucky to break even. So we found some cracks to store furniture, show and sell it with out all that extra worry's.

In having limited space we have learn some lessons. The biggest lesson is every inch counts and if it is not selling fast enough blow it out. It is important being little to be smarter on what to buy and how much room is it going to occupy? I remember we used to buy sofa's because they were cheap. End up making 30.00 and taking a week to sell it. Waste of space and time. We learned in that small space I can put three chairs that will make double their money and have more drawing power. The more you offer the bigger the market of clients you will attract and when they see your other pieces may end up buying more..

Well have a great week end and as the Redneck Picker says "Keep your head on a swivel".