Several years ago I was buying and selling mostly tools to bring in money and knew nothing about petroliana. I stumbled across a sign at a yard sale, and picked it up. It was a Sealed Power porcelain sign with diver. I believe it was in the neighborhood of 2' x 3' and the graphics resembled the flange signs you see occasionally. I got it for 25 bucks. Someone had come to the house to pick up something else I had on craigslist, and asked me if I would sell that sign. I said sure, and having no idea what I was doing, told him 130. Of course, he grabbed it, and I went the rest of the day pretty happy that I quadrupled my money. I have not seen one like it since. I now couldn't even begin to guess what that sign was worth. Would love to hear any other similar stories..if only to make myself feel better

Can't figure why you are kicking yourself for this? That was years ago, as stated. You have learned to not do that again plus you made more than you paid. Valuable lesson and one that probably, everyone on this site can relate to. In my humble opinion, you did pretty good. No body died and you woke up on the right side of the grass? All in all, you should feel real good about it! Paul www.severngaspumps.com

My writing skills must be slipping...these stories meant to be in fun. I'll have to add more happy faces next time

I'm going to send this to all my friends.

.............*NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE*.............
Due to the Recent Increase in pump prices, ALL Previous pump "Sales" done in the past 20 years are being considered NULL & VOID. You will be given 30 days to comply before legal auction will be enforced. Theft reports are being complied w/ photos & detailed description of each pump that was TAKEN from my storage yards & will be filed w/ local & state law enforcement agency's.
Please comply & lets keep this out of the court systems, Newspapers & TV Headlines.

Hoping I'll get something Back From The Past! LOL

Thanks for my first morning chuckle Dick.

lol....Now how long before somebody really tries it...

The worst deal I ever made.....I lost money. If you sold it for more than you paid, I wouldn't complain too much.

I always like the people who come up to you after you have sold whatever it is and , tell you you sold it to cheap . Most the time its just them poking the puppy i think because they did not get the chance to buy whatever it was . It seems.. In this new wave picker flipper world that TV has created , you see it more and more Everyone's a self proclaimed auction king or barter bandit in my area now . I forgot to mention certified as well .

My dumbest deal was probably buying about $3000 in Tokheim stock that in a couple years was worth about $15 when they went Chap. 11.

I like the people @ swapmeets & shows who come up to us after we bought something from them years ago & angrily say,"YOU STOLE THAT FROM ME! "...really?.......you helped me load it in my truck and bought me lunch afterwards.

Lol.. no doubt. The guy that bought my sign was actually a real nice guy and we've had several transactions since then. My dumb deals are on me... I'd never give someone a bad time after they paid my price.

I told Amistadi he should collect signs to go with his car collection, then proceeded to sell him his first signs, a Citgo, Mobil and Jenney. Look what he blossomed into. I should have kept those signs.

True that!

It wasn't a dumb deal, but last summer when I started collecting and picking, I found a really nice Texaco Valor motor oil can. I think it was a 1 gallon or a 2 gallon. It was in very good condition compared to the ones I see on ebay. I sold it for $50 which is about what it's worth, to a guy who was here on vacation. The next day he came up to me in an antique shop. He told me that he had been to a big Texaco collector's house. He showed the guy the can he bought off me a little earlier in the day and I guess the collector had never seen one before. He offered him $200 for it but the guy would not sell.

When you buy something theres always the guy that runs up to you and says you paid too much and when you sell it theres always a guy that says you sold it too cheap. When you sell it theres always the guy that says its too beat up- and on and on. When I get to kicking myself my wife usually reminds me that this is supposed to be fun. When I start feeling good about myself, my wife usually gets to kicking me. I try to remember to "Just roll with it" If you cant at least get your money back, just get what you can and get it out of your sight-- And remember to say to yourself "Next!" If its not a sure thing, -no brainer-then its a gamble and when you gamble you have to know that sometimes your gonna lose. When your new at anything , there is a lot of gambling involved. One thing I've learned is that when I dont know what I'm doing, hurrying is not a good idea.

I've made tons of great deals! But going back a few years when I first started buying, I paid $600 for 2 oval gargoyle signs.. At the time I was almost certain they were original, turns out they weren't haha. But since then I've certainly made up for it!

is this the sign?

boy that's real close but I'm pretty sure it was a complete rectangle.

That's easy. The first one. It got me into this mess

Dumbest deal is the deals i passed on, had a few that i wish were offered to me again...mm

Hands down my worse deal ever. Bought a gas station in 2008 right before real estate took a hit. I actually approached them to sell me the property when I heard the tenant was leaving. Carried it for 6yrs before closing in Jan. at a stiff discount. So much for my petro show case I initially envisioned.
So glad that's behind me now. How about a happier best deal ever thread?

I sold a Firestone sign that I thought was a duplicate I had. When I went to hang signs a few years later...well, I found out.

I don't understand...if you bought the property for a place to show off petro.... what difference does it make what the property was worth then, now, or tomorrow?

When the bank appraisal is less than the loan amount bad things go through their minds. Wasn't my only deal that unraveled. It does matter when it's worth today, far less than yesterday. If it wasn't my dumbest deal I'd be hanging there now. My plans never got off the ground.

Collecting on a budget and a globe came up for $900... I passed it on to a friend as I was short and today it's a $8000 globe. What sucks is I had the money... Just not in my collecting fund. That has never happened again! My wife might get mad for a day when I pull the money from checking but she gets over it. LOL

The wife will get over it a lot sooner then we forgive ourselves for missing an opportunity.

In 2000, I was going through a divorce and went to call at work and stumbled upon a rare Mopar convertible. I called a fellow collector and a long time friend (we grew up together). I passed the deal onto him with the promise that I would have first right to purchase if he ever decided to sell it. He agreed and asked me if I could look after buying it and shipping it to him. I said no problem. He said he would wire me the money the next day.

I went and bought the car the following day and called him as he had sent me some extra money. He told me the extra money was to cover the cost of transferring the car into my name and putting insurance on it. He said he had bought it for me and wanted me to go out and drive it and enjoy it. To help get my mind off of the tough situation I was going through.

I told him that because of the divorce I may not have the money to repay him back for several years. He said it didn't matter.

Still have the car and a greater appreciation of my friend!!

Dave,
That is the kind of friends we all need! Thanks for sharing.

Wow, thats a real friend! Here is a real dumb deal for yeah... I sold a real Indian motorcycle sign for $20... I dont have a picture anymore, but you get the point... hahaha!

Not petro related but one of the dumbest deals I made was when I bought about a hundred and fifty stainless steel bed pans at a state surplus auction. Each was wrapped in brown paper so I thought they were new. Not true, they were used and full. Talk about an undesired gift from the state.

Mine was ,I used a buy it now feature on Ebay for a auction. I listed it for 15 bucks and it sold instantly... Found out a few days later it was worth hundreds..Live and Learn. I never use buy it now.