Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Petroliana Collecting at a Peak?

Just opening this for discussion. It seems to me that pricing on petroliana has gone through the roof. I saw the same thing happen with muscle cars a few years back. People lost thousands. It seeems like this hobby is full of middle aged to older folks and has peaked, thanks to the Picker show and others. What's going to happen when the younger generation takes over and the shows have run their course? Just saying, let the buyer beware.

Heard that! I am 34, I work 56 hrs/week, have a Family, and can't afford to drop a couple grand on a pump. With no hope of Social Security, no more grand retirement plans, health insurance going through the roof, gas costing an arm & leg, I don't ever see myself purchasing anything more then modern plastic signs, even after the kids are done with school & I am suppose to "enjoy myself". Knock repop signs all you want, it is all I can afford.

I think the prices will drop in the upcoming years- There are a few of us young folk on this site(but how many other young people are "real" collectors and not in this hobby for the money). I believe these tv shows are a fad for the time and driving prices up(like the Jackson auctions). The question is "Will the younger generation have the money to buy petro items?" The only thing that drives prices is demand and if demand falls so will prices! The rare will be rare but the main thing we have to look at is DEMAND. Look at the real estate market-Low demand= Lower prices(bank's are more strict so there is restricted capital to buy homes). Demand sets the price. I buy what I enjoy and try to pay a fair price(for the time at least).

There are many points/questions to deal with here (good ones too!) and will only address a couple. Supply and demand (price changes) only works if you have collectors/owners who are selling. If you need/have/want to sell and the market is down then prices will be lower. But, if the owners don't want/have to sell then they won't and may not lower prices as those items will become less available, i.e. more scarce. They may just hang on to it. Supply (availability) will equally drive prices up and down

A good example is ebay. When I started selling on ebay, you could get $200-$225 for a #1 Texaco plane (they were scarce) all day long. That was in 97. Within 10 years there were so many #1 planes on ebay you were lucky to get $60. Now you are lucky if it sells. As the market expanded, people wanted and people started to sell. Now the market is saturated and prices dropped off. Also, interest in diecast has dropped also driving down the price.

Anyway, the economy will drive prices, scarcity...availability. It will be interesting to see where it goes. I know I have focused my buying on fewer and more specific items. Sorry for the ramble. Would like to hear others comment......

I hope this hobby is at its peak because its pricing itself out of the average market, just like muscle cars. What rogerpete says is 100% accurate except he forgot the lack of a pension and the 401K that is a question mark in general, because its based on the stock market and we all know what that can lead to......And we won't go into the job fiasco happening across the country.

I see cans on this site for several hundred dollars, signs even more, and forget the pumps. I cannot afford to even to imagine what it will be in the future. Junk farm pumps from the 1960's selling at auctions for $700, its almost pathetic. I called someone that had a bunch of Wayne blender pumps in a neighboring town, after talking to him, I couldn't believe it, 2k for a total restoration needed pump.

My one gas pump was gotten because we used it on the farm, up until the government said to remove the tank, which we did and used and above ground tank and pump; my uncle didn't want it and let me have it, and that was in 1988.

Maybe and hopefully this hobby will turn around and become a little more affordable, if not only a very select few will ever have a chance at owning a interesting piece of American history. And if that is the case, this hobby isn't close to peaking....

bob

You have some very good points Alex...If the collectors hold on to their items-supply will be limited which "should" bring prices up-but I think the problem we are facing is "Who will want this stuff and what price will they want to pay?" I think some of the older collectors like this stuff because they "remember it as a kid".What will the new generation want? I personally like early(pre-1940) service station items. I would like to hear what other people think!

Many a question that I have asked the last ten years. Money heavy older collectors now selling or not buying as much. Good stuff still high and going higher, repros making a difference though in some things. Just wish I had a big building again to display, work or store items. Money, taxes, health care, which will get you first.

Good luck to all and as told before, collect what you like even if it is junk to some one else. It is you that enjoy the stuff.

As far as the housing market goes & the population keeps multiplying, housing prices will escalate. Just not as fast as it did a few years ago. There is only so much land & the planet is not creating more, actually less land as global warming melts the ice packs.

The growing market is apartment rentals. Your are correct there will be more people and more of a demand for housing.

I blame Al Gore for inventing the internet or so he claims:) I have gotten myself DEEEEPPPPPP into pumps for the past few years and am searching the internet, ads, Ebay etc for unusual pumps and it seems whenever even a regular clockface such as a Bennett 150 comes up it still brings good money. One just sold unrestored in a Missouti auction to a onsite bidder for $1600 so I think all will be okay. I personally can't buy 9.5+ signs but that is where the safe money is at similarly in clockfaces, columns, duplexes etc. Just my 3.5 cents worth.

I think pricing peaked approximately 5 years ago for good signs/globes/cans and is now gradually climbing back up.

The majority of collectors are 50-75. In the next 10 years supply will exceed demand as more of the nice collections become available.

Good discussion....

Okoil: I would agree more with you if many collections become available in a short period of time. If not, I think the nicer pieces of a collection will still hold their value as they are not always available.
Example: There was a very nice example of a Texaco roofing cement sign shown on oldgas last night. People were discussing $4,000 to $8,000. You see that sign maybe once every two or three years. But if 15 of them showed up in similar condition and they tried to sell them at once, would they bring that? Probably not...maybe if there were more than 15 people wanting them. LOL. Now if 15 Fire Chief signs showed up???? Price wojuld probably plummet unless they were absolute mint......

With the population on the rise, demand will always exceed the supply. That is why the Repo's of Everything [pumps, signs, globes & Fantasy Items] are selling. ALL vendors of Repo items are doing well.

Dang Al Gore!

all signs are getting hard to find when I first started collecting up to about six years ago I would go on the weekend and look at signs at antique malls all day but now signs at any price are hard to find.I think it is about what people relate to like sinclair and dino that is what people remember about their child hood and that is a hot seller right now.