Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. Most of the questions concern the value or worth of items, but sometimes, I get emails from readers who want to buy some of the items I find at auction.
Most times, I write about items that I do not buy. If the item interests me, I’ll write about it. If it’s an item pertaining to African American history (or art), I might buy it for keeps.
Other times, readers want to sell items on my blog, but I have to respectfully decline and refer them to a site like eBay, which likely has millions of dollars in liability insurance in case something goes wrong with a sale. I don’t, so I stay away from connecting buyers and sellers. Even Craigslist scares me.
Today’s questions are from readers who wanted to purchase items I blogged about, along with one reader who wanted to sell a collectible.
Question:
Anyway, could you put me in touch with Steve? I’d love to buy the octopus stool from him.
Answer:
I had written a blog past a year earlier about an auction-goer named Steve who had bought several sea sculptures and shells at auction. I had met Steve for the first time at a flea market the year before where he was selling a vintage Montgomery Ward Airline radio. I had a table farther up along the same row as his, and I could hear first Christmas music and then salsa drifting towards me from that radio. So I had to find out where those embracing sounds were coming from.
By the time I got this email, I suspect that Steve had already sold the octopus stool, lobster stool, Japanese koi fish and other items. In fact, I believe he had some Jersey shore boaters in mind when he bought them.
I suggest that the reader try eBay or check out some auction houses near him via auctionzip.com.
Question:
I just came across your page and saw some of the great items that you’ve recently purchased. I am very interested in purchasing one of your “Witt Industries galvanized trash cans.” If available, how much would you charge to sell me the trash can and ship it to me in Orlando, FL?
Answer:
This question came from someone in the prop department at Walt Disney in Orlando. I had written a blog post two years ago about decorating your home with unusual auction finds. The three galvanized steel trash cans made by Witt Industries were among them. The trash cans still had their labels from the company, which has been around since the late 1800s.
The trash cans sold for $90, but not to me. I did not buy them, so I wasn’t able to help him.
Question:
Are you selling this piece?
Answer:
The reader was referring to a butcher block table that I had written about. The table’s top was darkened from use and dusty from the elements, but I could see it as a lovely decorative piece in a kitchen. Interestingly, I recently came across a similar table at an auction house not far from the place where I saw the first table. The top on the second table had been used so often that it was not only dark but concaved.
I did not buy the butcher block table. It was such a large and interesting piece that I was compelled to write about it. Much like the time I wrote about a black pot for washing clothes that reminded me of my grandmother. Another reader had asked about buying that pot, which I did not purchase. Since then, I’ve seen others like it at auction.
Reply:
OHhh. Ok Thanks. I WANT IT!
Question:
I have 40 of these mini chests. I’m selling them for $50 a piece. I store them in a full-size Lane chest which I am selling for $150. Pls email me if you are interested in selling pics.
Answer:
These mini Lane cedar chests are very popular. I continue to get emails from folks who come across the blog post I first wrote about them three years ago. At the time, I wondered if furniture stores – which distributed them – also gave them out to black high school girls. Some apparently did, according to the emails I got from readers. One reader, a Southern like myself, admonished me for even interjecting race into who and who did not get the chests.
I’m not in the market for a chest, but I’m sure the reader can sell them on eBay. In fact, you can find many of them offered for sale on the auction site for $2 to $135. Most of the sold chests seemed to be in the $25 to $35 range.
