Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Has anyone else noticed this?

Buyers send prices high. As long as there are buyers willing to pay those prices, the prices will stay there.

Randy true but real question is why are guys over paying? I seen the same sign swap hands 4 times at CTO and was between pickers/dealers. LOL
Housing market here is same... people are way over paying for homes still with interests rates up. My daughter went and looked at a house they really like and offered a little over and some offered $50K over.

John,
Now you are getting into psychology for which there are no real answers for. We all have different levels of risk and reward controls. It is not only for finances, but for all decision making. The whole thought process can get really twisted when it comes to money and selfishness.

I'll be honest with everyone, I think it's real big turn off for me & especially to those who collect as opposed to those who sell. Like Jarvis said, the real ? is why people are overpaying?.... if you're new or old to the hobby and looking to add maybe a newer piece you've been searching for... good luck finding whatever that may be for a reasonable price!!! It's hard to add to your collection when prices are crazy! for example... This particular sign sold for $18K + premium yesterday afternoon... just 2 years prior the same auction house sold it for $7K .... I understand supply n demand and all but really.... in 2 years who have thought it would command that type of money to acquire such an item. I understand the value of the quality, you can't deny that it's a beautiful sign & well preserved for it's age.... $7K for a beautiful sign such as that I would see as something expensive, but not ridiculously out of line......... but at $18K... most of the average people in the hobby will never get to even think about owning such overpaid items... I recently bought a 5' Mobilgas DSP sign and I paid a fair amount for it, more then I wanted but I didn't get dragged over the coals for it. I didn't buy it for resale, but because I like it & watching over the past 4 years how inflated things are getting I thought the time is now before the pricing is too far out of my reach in the near future.... almost felt pressured a bit, that's not right!!!
I have mixed feelings at time about how much time I'm going to continue to actively pursue collecting new / more items to what I already own. I may just go back to doing things the old fashion way and keep an eye out on the roads for new opportunities.. Garage / barn / estate sales.. perhaps a local non internet sanctioned auction... or searching for older abandoned buildings or ones with Advertising.... I always enjoy the searching, it's a fun option, not always promising, but can be rewarding at times.... definitely going to be a way of keeping more money in my wallet.

I couldn't agree more. I'm gonna go out on a limb & say that $18,000 is more than the average person can spend for an entire years' worth of collecting budget much less one sign. I still like to look & hope to find something reasonable, but even with common pump plates going for $500 I don't hold out much hope. I'm just glad I got what I have when I did.

Sometimes it's tempting to just give up & sell out, but I can't bring myself to part with them!

As with anything else, the marketers are making the money. Finding and advertising to the people with money whom like the stuff and see the returns. Just check out some of the auctions that people have run that the collectors have just had their stuff maybe 3-7 years. Just the old make a buck off the rich guy thing as it has been done for years on anything else.

People are out there that are paying millions of dollars for cars and there are enough people with that kind of money that the prices go that high at auctions. These same people have museum quality garage mahals for their high dollar cars. If they see something they like and want for their garage mahal, they're not going to care if the final price goes over the actual value, plus I think ego kicks in as well. End of the day, they want the sign and it's not at a price that will put a dent in their bank account. I'm sure there are other scenarios out there. Same thing is happening in the breweriana world.

Personally, I think the bubble will burst soon.
Not many folks left that actually have a life connection to slot machines, penny scales, candy machines, gas pumps, signs and etc. They are big, heavy, take up a lot of room and mostly don't function like they were designed to anymore because they are obsolete and become decorations. I turned 16 in 1987 and have very limited experience with 5 footer gas pumps much less a visible. I have experiences with juke boxes but I'm 53 now and the generations that follow don't seem to be interested in these things.
I also believe that the EV "revolution" has begun and eventually, there will be very few places to actually gas up a classic car. So there will probably be a bubble burst in the classic car segment when the Boomers and older Gen Xers die off.
Who knows tho??

I think everything depends on if we are “consumers” or “investors”. I always purchased a car for practical use…consumer. Through my life I have know folks who bought cars, fixed them up, and sold them for a profit…investors. A petroliana consumer loves the “hunt”, the “trophy “, and of course the “war stories” retold year after year. A petroliana investor buys low and sells high. Profit is the hunt, the trophy, and the war story all rolled up together. At one point I thought I wanted to be a petroliana investor but I found it very hard to let go of anything! I am hopelessly stuck in the world of petroliana consumerism.

All that being said I hardly think about petroliana inflation because my garage walls are full and my wife as drawn a line in the sand concerning me annexing any other part of the house. Plus as I get older my life situation changes. We all have something or will have something that will change our petroliana perspective. My wife has Alzheimer’s disease. In most cases my purchasing days are over. However…my garage is my refuge. Sometimes I sit in my garage in my lawn chair staring at the walls…my neighbors think I am crazy! I’m not. I am not worried about either the buying or the selling of my ragtag collection. I just enjoy the beauty of the porcelain sign process and the pleasant memories brought to me through the hobby.

I guess I better land this plane!
Steve

Lot of good points. its never been about making a living nor investing in pieces for resale for me personally. And so many things have changed in the short time I got started. Most important I guess is prices have soared. There is a lot of people in collecting that there is no limit to dollars they are willing to pay. Be it flee bay, Auction houses, Shows. I know what your saying ,there was a buzz going on prior to a show coming up that seems to have chilled somewhat.This site was a great site to see that 1st. hand. members would post stuff for sell, well the course of that seemed to be everything was presold and a show just seemed to be where it change hands. Something that hasn't been touched on is the age group of show goers is changing ,younger goers hasn't lived with this stuff and remember it in their daily lifes. I got to give COVID ITS DUE. Things may never be the same as it was, it changed the way we think ,act, and many spends. For me its about up grading what I have put together,being brand driven I might walk 10 shows and never find that one piece so its hard to stay the course. So I probably should just be paying attention..
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