Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Whats the value of value questions?

As a memeber of this site day after day many value questions are asked in our value forum. In my opinion the value section has hurt the integerity of this site and the true purpose of this hobby...enjoy the history of items and have FUN! I am sure people will say well "just don't look at the value forum" well to be honest its pretty hard not to when almost every thread on the main page has something to do with value. Let sit back and think what is value? and who determines value. My definition of value is the amount of money a party is willing to exchange in retun for an item/service. How can we put a value on a item without any transaction whatsoever exisiting? Are past sales a good way to determine the true market value? In my opinion not really. Just becuase an item sells at auction for $XXX does it make that item worth that amount?....NO... the preception of peoples opinions change based on what they see the item sell for! I have spoke with many collectors and have met some great people in this hobby. I feel elimantion of the value forum would actually be more benifical to this site since most of us would have other things to talk about and contribute other knowedge to other sections. If this stuff was worth nothing how many people would be members? As COLLECTORS our goal is to preserve the history of service station related items, learn how items were used, and HAVE FUN!

Very nicely said! I agree.

Before we had the value section all the value questions showed up in the general section and some did not like that so the value section was added to resolve that issue. If the value section is removed those questions will not disappear but will go right back to the general section.

Too many are buying an item that they felt was a decent price, THEN asking what the item is worth! Like they need a pat on the back or trying to justify to the wife for buying it.
They need to do their home work Before buying the item.
If your buying an item to flip it, list it on ebay w/o a reserve.
Some are abusing the Value Forum.
Been a Dick all my life!

Thank you for your opinion.

It is a joy to live in a country and have available a website where varied opinions can be expressed by everyone involved in some aspect of the hobby of gas & oil merchandise.

As people will oft say, something is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. And based on a person's experience they will value different merchandise by what they have bought/sold/traded a piece for in the past or rely on the word of others, or a book someone wrote and stuck a value on the merchandise. Those savvy with a computer can access myriads of records of sales and determine average values and believe in those numbers. Everyone comes up with their own number in their minds, the trick is to find someone who agrees with that number.

Having a forum section devoted to determining value is extremely important in this modern age when access to local resources may be limited or non-existent. Just because an individual places a certain value range on an item doesn't mean that value is set in stone. Perhaps in their area no one collects that particular merchandise, or maybe every does and it commands higher prices. The value in having such a forum is that anyone can chime in with their own opinion to value and the reader of the thread can either agree or disagree with their valuations. And those who have experience in selling the merchandise can give real world results they have experienced.

The goal of any hobby is to promote the hobby AND expand the numbers of people who can participate in the hobby. Having a value section is not a detriment to the Oldgas site, in fact it helps draw people to the site, to join and share opinions, collections, recent acquisitions or help in determining the value of something they have no experience with at all.

From personal experience I can tell you that I have always enjoyed dealing with people who were not only knowledgeable but also willing to share their insights and experience with me in the many hobbies I have had over the years. Gas & Oil is no different, I enjoy the hobby, though I cannot afford to collect long term. Instead my enjoyment is found in finding and putting into hands of a collector merchandise they will add to their collection.

I am one person who loves to share my experience as well in this hobby, and part of that is giving my own opinion on the value of merchandise. Whether someone agrees or disagrees with my valuation isn't the point, the point is being willing to share knowledge & experience with those who don't have it. And as more people give input, a clearer vision appears that may help a burgeoning collector continue in the hobby!

So, though I do appreciate your opinion and am glad you can share it, I humbly disagree.

I'll try something new. I took the Value forum posts out of the center column featured topics on the Portal page. They will still show up on the right Portal page column of Recent Petro Posts. Avoid them by going to "Forum List" and viewing only the forum categories you like.

The demand for values by legitimate collectors is not going away.

Thank you Jim and input of others. I agree with DB 100 percent.

A quarter-pounder with cheese is a better value. ;;;;;;;Ron

Too many are buying an item that they felt was a decent price, THEN asking what the item is worth! Like they need a pat on the back or trying to justify to the wife for buying it.
They need to do their home work Before buying the item.
If your buying an item to flip it, list it on eBay w/o a reserve.
Some are abusing the Value Forum.

Dick, first , heavy emphasis on the word "Abuse ".

I too have seen this forum kind of slide in a way I hate to see it go . I joined here to learn and expand my knowlege of petro history, not see a bunch of whiney crybabies want their retirements paid for with a few underhanded purchaces .

Ed Shaver

I'm with Carolina 100% and appreciate this section of the site. Lets face it, many got into the hobby much earlier than some of us late bloomers and many became large collectors since then. So much so that they've been building collections for 20-30 years. For many who started collecting that long ago (or longer), some are now sitting on 100K collections while others have 1M collections because of the rise in interest in recent years.

With that being said, keep in mind that many of us (my self included) are somewhat new to the hobby and have only started collecting in recent times. Prices to get into a particular brand collection have been climbing steadily in value and for many, the costs for some of these items we would like to have are simply out of reach. I mean how many every day guys working 8-5 can drop 2.5K for a 30" sign? Seriously?

Sure...we want to collect a brand and yes we want the original porcelains to go with that brand, or perhaps a rare display piece to adorn the counter space, but sometimes a new collector doesn't know if he should offer 1K for a piece only to get laughed at from another collector who knows his pal down the way will give him 3K for it because it's simply rare?

Don't forget for a second that the guy who's had some cool things for 20 years knows all too well what their worth, and don't tell me that they don't take that to the bank when they turn it to another collector because they make profit when they trade something off or move it out to make space for another item coming in. Supply and demand is what drives the market and the hobby is going to grow with baby boomers and the next generation so instead of gripeing about it, realize that it's new collectors coming into the market that will help it grow and keep it alive.

If we didn't, the market would soften and we'd all be sitting on old scrap metal that the Chinese would buy up and melt down for the scrap metal it's printed on. Look at it in a different way and open an eye to help someone new get into the hobby because there are many in their 30's and 40's who'd love to own some of it, but don't want to get taken by someone who's simply here for the gain. Yes, there are those too, but that's part of a market and it's easy to spot those who are simply in it for the flip. Some of those people are still good people and some are simply not. I think they're easy to spot.

Anyways, I think the value section is great for both knowledge and opinions to be shared on the value of some items, and know all too well that there's often a sign or a can I want, but unfortunately I don't always know what something is worth to buy when I delve into a new product and seek the advice of others who may know more about it than I. Face it, nobody likes to learn from mistakes, and at least it's nice to limit those risks where it's easy to get buried in a particular piece. Without your knowledge of a rare items value, people like us would be reluctant to buy it, and the long term effect of that would be nothing but shrink!

This site has grown by leaps and bounds since it first started, and I hope you didn't think it was always going to stay some dark shady part of the internet when there's so much knowledge here about the products so many want to collect. It's called growth, and again...it's a good thing!

Out!

While I do like reading the value forum and have used it a COUPLE of times myself, I agree with DB and Ed that they key word here is "ABUSED".
When I entered this hobby 5-1/2 years ago I didn't ask value questions like we see over and over currently from the same people. For about the first year, I kind of laid low, read every post on here, and only asked questions that I felt helped contribute to a thread as a newbie. I went to shows, looked on Ebay and other auction sites to get ideas of what stuff sold for. I rarely ever bought an item the first time I seen one listed on Ebay. I watched several examples sell first, to get a better idea of what the item generally sold for before just jumping on it the first time I seen one.
We come from an instant gratification society now days....I think this is lending to the value "abuse" issue so many are tiring of. Buy it now, so no one else gets it, without doing the necessary homework first seems to be a prevalent problem. I would rather miss out on something while I was doing my homework than buy it with no clue and get burned. I have been questioning why a few of the abusers are "pickers", who are supposedly already buying low to sell for a profit. Don't call yourself a picker if you don't know what you're doing. Sell it, make a few bucks, and look for the next buy. I know everyone is worried about leaving a couple of bucks on the table, but if you're in the business to sell then sell, you're a picker, not a collector, right?
Darin

cant we all just get along ?...
What I find funny is some people that complain about the value section and pickers, email and call me all the time to see what I found.
SIMPLE... we all need each other, for what ever reason... xo

Darin, I agree with you 100%. I too like reading that forum also, but the best advice I got while asking a value in that forum...was to do your homework..check Mathews auctions, check Aumann, etc. to see what stuff sold for then make a judgement for myself. Wasn't the answer I was looking for at the time, but it changed the way I thought after that. Thanks oldgas veterans for the tough love, I needed it. JM2C

-Paul

I agree with you always lookin..... I know many items I buy at one point were found by a picker, and I know they have a hand in supplying new items to ALL collectible hobby markets. I don't think anyone can dispute that fact!
I personally have no problems at all with real pickers or the value section, was just pointing out my observation that the difference between real pickers and "fly-by-night TV watching pickers" is looking pretty evident to many members here, namely in the values section.

Another value forum complaint thread, must be that time of the month again.