Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Poll: Value Questions moved to New Forum?

I think it could be helpful but a couple of things I would add is :

1. I would find a new moderator just to manage the new category. That way things would be less likely to spriral out of control.

2. It should be clearly understood it is not a category to try and attract buyers to the item in question. I can see that opening up a p.m. message fest with the possibility of people getting hacked off.

deep subject.. lol

I voted "leave it alone."

I also feel that adding a section for values will just push the hobby further into the realm of a for-profit business. There's already too much of that, and it's only encouraged by shows like Roadshow and Pickers. Because in real life we can't see a screen pop up that says "Paid 50, Value 100, Profit 50" immediately after buying something, people are turning to the forum for this info with increasing frequency.

At least now, in General Petro, most people ask "history, time period, and maybe value" because they either care, or are trying to look like they care, about the history and dates. With a forum dedicated just to values, there will be no shame.

I guess I'm just disgruntled with the recent increase in commercialization of the hobby. I know it's always been that way, but it's getting worse.

But, in the end, this is not a democracy. I think it's really up to Jim whether to do it or not.

Wes

I don't think a lot of these guys mind helping and answering questions about what's it worth, its just a lot of the common stuff that comes up all the time. Like they said go back and look at ebay under completed or the Matthews Auctions. Now something you don't see every day that's different. What get's me is they want to know what it is worth and they just use this sight and take it some where else to flip it. and don't even give us a chance to buy it. I think lot of these guys on here are in this hobby to make a buck. I'm just more of a guy that likes collecting gas& oil stuff for my own enjoyment and displaying it. I think these moderators have a full time jobs and this is just creating more work for them.

I think collectors buy a few things with an eye towards selling for a profit as a way to fund their personal collections. There has to be a certain amount of commercialization in our hobby or none of us would ever be able to buy anything. I have a very different view of shows like Pickers. Even though their values can often be off, the fact that they make the general public aware that people collect oil cans, signs, etc keeps allot of stuff from going to the scrap yard.

After some thought I won't be giving my opinion on value questions any more. You younger fellas have a wealth of infomation at your fingertips, e-bay, auction results the internet etc. Us older members did'nt have the information you younger members have,we learned the hard way. I just don't think you appreciate that we're trying to be helpful. Someone said in an earlier post that fair market value is all that matters, please explain how you determine this, It's basically how bad do you want it. This stuff is'nt on Walmart shelves. As far as a new forem I,m neutral, if you do it Jim your a glutton for punishment. I'm not going away because I'm not too old to learn. ;;;;;Ron

I agree Ron. It boils down to how bad you want something. One year at Peotone I paid nearly a grand for 3 rusty cans that most guys would kick out of the way to get to the shiny stuff but they were extremely rare cans that fell within the focus of my collection. I was happy to have the opportunity to buy them.

another small problem that I have seen more of recently is a post will go on for 2 pages with a poster trying to pin down the value of an item, when someone shoots a price they come back with "Oh good because I only paid $$ for it" If you start the post off with I just bought this for $$, how do you think I did, You'lll get a much better response

OILEASE55 wrote

Someone said in an earlier post that fair market value is all that matters, please explain how you determine this, It's basically how bad do you want it. This stuff is'nt on Walmart shelves.

Couldn't of said it better.

The buyer's thinking a buck, the seller's thinking a 100 bucks. Reverse the rolls played, reverse their thinking !!!

Market Value ? No such thing as far as I'm concerned. There's way to many variables involved.

Leave it be Jim, nothing but more trouble and work in my book....

oilease55, you are right....it is how bad you want it,however i can get caught up in the moment with that kind of thinking at a sale,auction,ebay or private sale,PRIOR TO BUYING!if i do not get a good idea of what the "market is doing" RIGHT HERE & RIGHT NOW"& do my due diligence, i might over pay,heck,I WILL OVER PAY,i no longer thumb through the books for value,i have used as a rough guide,however those prices are in la la land & are old,on anything i spend a red cent on i treat as a investment & watch current & past sales to base my decision on what i will spend on that item. I make sure that if i bail out of the investment, i will re-coop my money and some! Somebody said that's it's hard to determine market & there's a lot of variables ,i could not agree with you anymore ,your exactly right & that's probably why i miss out on a lot of pieces that i run across,i rarely get emotionally attached & get into the, "I HAVE TO HAVE IT" kind of thinking!I just try to be wise with my money that's all and meant absolutely no disrespect to you oilease55,when you do chime in ,i am all ears! i appreciate your input & everyone else that is here to better the hobby & help others!

note : the book i was referring to are the advertising books!

After reading all the comments I voted to leave as is.

I think maybe a better option would be to pin a post to the top of the General Discussion section with "suggested" guide lines for posting Items seeking value.
Many of the postings are from "Newbies", who found this site looking for an answer. Pinning a post at the top would place it in a very conspicuous location up front they would see.
I think there are suggested ideas already on the site, but many people don't take time to research a websites resources, they want a quick answer.

I would hate to see too many restrictions put on a new forum. I have seen several postings "I found this in my grandfathers garage, is it worth anything?" and it turns out to be a very rare piece with interesting discussion.

Adding a new forum would just add more workload for the moderators.
M2CW
Chuck

I voted to add a new forum so all those items would be in one location. The only requirement I would add is for the person who is posting. They should list what the item is in the topic heading. Moderators can just be sure the topic heading is correct and change it if necessary. Just my opinion but they have too much to do already. If it turns out the item becomes available for sale, it doesn't matter to me. Just leave it where it was originally posted.

Who responds and how they respond to the post is no different than any other category and membership rules get enforced. I must be the only sick one out here that occasionally enjoys the discussion between x's and y's. Different opinions, different styles of communicating, it will always be a part of this forum and it's my choice to read or not. The moderators do a great job of cutting off the discussion when it is going in the wrong direction. So, let the moderators do their job without any additional restrictions in the category.

Personally, I would like to see a separate forum for Prayers which is moderated by Tara. I just think it would be easier for all of us to go to one location - all the time.

Lastly, I miss the quick reference of the number of posts for each member. I know how to get the info but miss it being quickly available. Why? I like the fact I can see how many new people are coming into this addiction.

I just went back and reviewed this entire thread.The more I think about it,the more I agree with Nicole and Gaspedler regarding a rare piece that someone found.The value doesn't concern me because we would probably be guessing anyway,but at least we can enjoy seeing it and it may lead into some interesting follow-up disscussions.

Maybe Gaspedler's idea for "suggested"guide lines,if gently reminded to someone when necessary be the moderators,would work.I could live with that to get to see some more rare stuff.

Am I changing my vote?Not yet,but I'm sure thinking about it!!

I am new to this hobby and find the "what's is worth" threads very educational. I am so impressed by the wealth of knowledge on this site. Yes, there is a lot of info that can be found elsewhere online, but I am not well-versed enough to find it, or I don't believe it to be as trust-worthy. (There have been many times where I see comments about how people can't believe how much someone is overbidding on ebay.) I also understand the idea of paying what it is worth to you, but I don't want to feel like I'm being taken advantage of because I don't have years of experience. I have gone to the Peotone show several times but am hesitant to buy anything because I assume that the item is overpriced, otherwise someone would have bought it already! I want to continue to learn from this site and hope that those of you with the knowledge and experience don't become too upset by some newbies and let them ruin it for others.

Hey lv2xlr8: Welcome to the hobby and this site. I like your comments. I have been colecting for over 10 years and i still scratch my head sometimes,(OK, most of the time) trying to figure out a fair price. (either buying or selling) I come to this site and value everone's opinion, even if I don't agree with it. LOL. Feel free to ask questions.

Take a chance on buying something. if you like it buy it. Do some research on ebay and some of the past auction sites that are listed here on oldgas.