I admit, the previous blog post was inspired by something else online. I give credit when credit is due. As you may realize, I tend to be in my own little world over here on the Canadian prairies, and generally stick to relating my own stories, advice, opinions, etc.
A recent video posted by a vet of the "Storage Auction" business prompted/inspired me to do this particular posting.It just got me thinking, and realized that I had not done a posting on the topic myself, as to how it relates to the antiques biz.
Glendon Cameron (whose aptly named website www.storageauctionguru.com is garnering a substantial amount of traffic) posted this video. It is one of many he has done that I recommend watching, some of which I have found to be good for a grin or 3, and I am sure you will find others contain both entertainment and invaluable info, advice, insight, etc that I have not covered here. Also good to look through another "junk biz" vet's eyes and learn from their mistakes and experiences. He is from the Atlanta, Georgia, USA area, which tints his experiences with a major-USA-urban tone.
If you are a newbie to picking, you should start soaking up as much info from "junk biz" vets who are graciously offering up free info, advice, etc..and do not concentrate on just veteran antiques pickers, but pay attention to all sorts of "junk biz" people. Your education can be gleaned from all sorts of sources you would not expect. Heck, do a search on you tube for "old junk" or "picking antiques" and see what pops up. But, like your picking runs, be selective and use your gut instinct as to your choice of videos...there some absolute garbage you will need to sift through.
Just beware there are many folks out there, especially online, claiming to be long time pickers, storage auction buyers, dealers, etc, etc....and who in reality are far from being veterans. 2 years doing some garage sales on the weekends does not make you a vet in this business. Some of these self-proclaimed "vets" of the biz are not even really involved in, nor have they ever been involved in the "junk biz". Tech geeks trying to capitalize on the web's money making opportunities via advertising and such, do create these sorts of sites to try and suck you into their pages are abound. Many are set up solely to tempt you to click on advertising links, glean your email address to sell to spammers, etc, Many of these are even set up utilizing directly plagiarized, or even verbatim copies of someone else's writings and info. A few are even so bad they make no sense what-so-ever when you read them, perhaps have been created by someone who is not fluent in the very language the page is created in. Others are thinly veiled/modified/reworded info lifted from true "junk biz" veterans' blogs, sites, books, shows, etc. Copyright infringement galore happens online, so make sure the info you are getting is from the real source!
I can tell you ONE thing that will tip you off right away as to their legitimacy.
A "poser" will usually infer/tell you that the business is EASY.
Any vet worth his/her salt will tell you that it is NOT EASY.
If you want easy money, go buy a lottery ticket....and pray. That is your best option.
This is real life. There is no such thing as "easy money".
You will have to expend SOMETHING to get that money. That "something" could be your own money, or maybe some physical effort, mental effort, an idea, muscle, sweat, blood, etc.
Now, picking antiques (etc) is certainly not the same as buying storage units, but my advice is to widen your horizons. As you well know by my posting, I am as likely to pick up a pile of dirty, scrap copper pipe as I am a nice vintage porcelain Coca-Cola sign.
They are equal in one way, as far as I am concerned.
Both equal CASH to me.
And, quite frankly, the copper is actually far easier to sell...and likely will cost me nothing (as far as cash) to obtain, or very little, in comparison to the Coca-Cola sign. Heck, I might even get paid to take the "old junk" away.
That line of thinking will be expanded on, detailed, described, elaborated on (etc) in a chapter of one of the books I am (attempting) on writing.
Yep, that is correct, am still in the process of writing a book. Can't give away all my trade secrets in this blog!
A recent video posted by a vet of the "Storage Auction" business prompted/inspired me to do this particular posting.It just got me thinking, and realized that I had not done a posting on the topic myself, as to how it relates to the antiques biz.
Glendon Cameron (whose aptly named website www.storageauctionguru.com is garnering a substantial amount of traffic) posted this video. It is one of many he has done that I recommend watching, some of which I have found to be good for a grin or 3, and I am sure you will find others contain both entertainment and invaluable info, advice, insight, etc that I have not covered here. Also good to look through another "junk biz" vet's eyes and learn from their mistakes and experiences. He is from the Atlanta, Georgia, USA area, which tints his experiences with a major-USA-urban tone.
If you are a newbie to picking, you should start soaking up as much info from "junk biz" vets who are graciously offering up free info, advice, etc..and do not concentrate on just veteran antiques pickers, but pay attention to all sorts of "junk biz" people. Your education can be gleaned from all sorts of sources you would not expect. Heck, do a search on you tube for "old junk" or "picking antiques" and see what pops up. But, like your picking runs, be selective and use your gut instinct as to your choice of videos...there some absolute garbage you will need to sift through.
Just beware there are many folks out there, especially online, claiming to be long time pickers, storage auction buyers, dealers, etc, etc....and who in reality are far from being veterans. 2 years doing some garage sales on the weekends does not make you a vet in this business. Some of these self-proclaimed "vets" of the biz are not even really involved in, nor have they ever been involved in the "junk biz". Tech geeks trying to capitalize on the web's money making opportunities via advertising and such, do create these sorts of sites to try and suck you into their pages are abound. Many are set up solely to tempt you to click on advertising links, glean your email address to sell to spammers, etc, Many of these are even set up utilizing directly plagiarized, or even verbatim copies of someone else's writings and info. A few are even so bad they make no sense what-so-ever when you read them, perhaps have been created by someone who is not fluent in the very language the page is created in. Others are thinly veiled/modified/reworded info lifted from true "junk biz" veterans' blogs, sites, books, shows, etc. Copyright infringement galore happens online, so make sure the info you are getting is from the real source!
I can tell you ONE thing that will tip you off right away as to their legitimacy.
A "poser" will usually infer/tell you that the business is EASY.
Any vet worth his/her salt will tell you that it is NOT EASY.
If you want easy money, go buy a lottery ticket....and pray. That is your best option.
This is real life. There is no such thing as "easy money".
You will have to expend SOMETHING to get that money. That "something" could be your own money, or maybe some physical effort, mental effort, an idea, muscle, sweat, blood, etc.
Now, picking antiques (etc) is certainly not the same as buying storage units, but my advice is to widen your horizons. As you well know by my posting, I am as likely to pick up a pile of dirty, scrap copper pipe as I am a nice vintage porcelain Coca-Cola sign.
They are equal in one way, as far as I am concerned.
Both equal CASH to me.
And, quite frankly, the copper is actually far easier to sell...and likely will cost me nothing (as far as cash) to obtain, or very little, in comparison to the Coca-Cola sign. Heck, I might even get paid to take the "old junk" away.
That line of thinking will be expanded on, detailed, described, elaborated on (etc) in a chapter of one of the books I am (attempting) on writing.
Yep, that is correct, am still in the process of writing a book. Can't give away all my trade secrets in this blog!
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