Wednesday, August 11, 2010

We're Just A Bunch of Whiney Babies


Remember the post I just did about the lady not calling me about the Hey-Wake furniture?  Well, everyone pretty much encouraged me to call the woman--WHICH I DID--and when I opened up my blog this morning I found the following comment from "Bob From Athens":

"Gee, if unfounded assumptions were exercise then some of you would be getting a pretty strenuous workout. Call her for pete's sake, how else are you going to really know what is going on? I just do not understand why people that like to jump to unfounded conclusions usually jump to the worst possible scenario, even insulting people that they have never met or even talked to, in this case the sister."

Thank you, Bob From Athens.  We stand chastised.

And here's what the Hey-Wake lady said:  She called her sister, who proceeded to do some research on the furniture.  The Hey-Wake lady also did some research.  The Hey-Wake lady is also going to go down to the antique mall (MY antique mall) and go back over the Hey-Wake reference book from 2004.  You know, the one with sky-high prices for Grade A #1 pieces, which hers are definitely not.

As nicely as I could, I cautioned her that the book prices #1 do not reflect today's economy, even if it IS Heywood Wakefield, and #2 the prices are for furniture that is in near perfect condition.  Near perfect furniture would not have 4 coats of varnish on the tabletop and clearly visible brushstrokes from ladling on said varnish.  Near perfect furniture would not have scratch marks on the chair and table legs.  Near perfect furniture would not include a chair that felt like it was going to send you to the floor any second.

I also told her that I'd done my own research AND had asked my knowledgeable mid-century fanatic friends what they thought a good offer might be.  I won't say what we offered her but it was extremely fair as far as I'm concerned. 

I hope they get alot of money for the pieces, I really do.  The Hey-Wake lady and her husband were very nice and (Bob) the only reason I mentioned the possibly greedy sister is because the H-W lady had told the antique mall owner that both her sister and brother were only interested in getting as much money as they could for their mother's belongings.  Their mother passed away two months ago.  There's more to this story but I think I'm just going to let it rest and move on to happier stuff.

Like the two pieces of Weller pottery I bought that I just found out are reproductions.  Yeah.  THAT makes me happy . . .

23 comments:

  1. That's a shame, especially when you offered a fair price. I see more and more things on ebay and the like at the moment for astronomical prices and the pieces are not worth what they are trying to sell for. I don't know if people are doing what this lady has and looked at a book, or whether the whole Mad Men thing has upped the price of mid-century stuff - I have to say I've never seen it but I'm sure it has, or whether people think everything 'vintage' is worth a lot.

    May I add I'm in the UK and this is happening over here too, I see some silly silly prices and guess what, they don't sell, mmm I wonder why!

    Having said all this they should get the best price they can but I suspect what you offered was probably it!

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  2. Smile and move on! Hate buying something that is NOT as advertised! Sorry you are just getting hit from all sides. Yep, Smile and move on!!

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  3. Funny, I was thinking of doing some posts featuring eBay auctions where the seller has things priced so high, they obviously haven't a clue, or delusions of grandeur or something...


    Geez, isn't this the second nastygram you've gotten? Lucky you!

    I got one sort of snide comment not too long ago when I was sharing what I thought were cool auction items on eBay. The person asked me if *I* had bid the price of one item up super high.

    For some reason, that bothered me.

    First of all, no, I don't usually post auction items I intend to bid on. That would be silly to encourage all my other mid-century friends to bid on the things I am trying to get deals on, right?

    Second, yes, I do spend a lot of time combing eBay auctions in countless ways, to find all these cool things.

    Third, it takes time and effort to do this, and sharing some of the cool things I am NOT bidding on takes time and effort to share.

    So perhaps I shouldn't have taken it personally, but hey, I have things happening in my life, and I am human too lol... Nothing like a little slap for your efforts.

    One parting shot: people like Bob from Athens are not happy either, otherwise they wouldn't be on peoples anonymous blogs, wagging their fingers at people they do not know.

    Bob was wagging his finger at you for being negative, WHILE MAKING A NEGATIVE ASSUMPTION ABOUT YOU!

    Oh the irony. ;) tee hee people make me lol...


    P.S. screw the heywake deal, yours will come your way, I have no doubt.

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  4. Annnd just as I thought: I see ol Bob doesn't even have a blog, s/he just trolls the internet.

    Hey Bob, come on over to my friends chat board. We eat lamers like you for lunch. =)

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  5. Hey Bob! Bite ALL OF US!!!

    Chris' assumptions were right on - and mine were too...a sister too clueless to do anything on her own, an antique store owner who goes by book prices when the material doesn't match the book and a money-grubbing sister.

    Maybe after they've held the furniture for six months waiting to get the ridiculous price they're asking they'll regret turning down Chris' offer.

    Oh and Bob - your comments were the EXACT SAME THING you bitched about so go find something to stuff, k?

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  6. Annnnd I want to know where 1950's atomic's friends chat board is!!

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  7. I sure got me some feisty friends, don't I?!!!

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  8. lol it's a lot of politics which is bound to piss everyone off eventually, and other stuff. We came from an eBay discussion board, so we are all eBayers in our way.

    Some of us got tired of the unfair moderation done by the eBay chat board moderators, and started our own board. The admin is a very experienced chat board moderator who has moderated some well-known chat boards in his day, and an all around great place with over a million posts, and you'd love it, if you have thick skin. ;)

    It sure is an education in patience. =) I have my very own trolls, even. =D Other boards have been started in protest of our board. A sure sign of success.

    In other words, drama, lots of drama. Not for the faint at heart.

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  9. see... if you like plain-old undesirables like HAEGER with little monetary value, you wouldn't have to worry about knock-offs & repro's!! (tee-hee!) - No, sorry. This whole scenario for both the H.W. and the Pottery both really suck! Go AWOL to the beach house for a while and kick back with a good bottle of tequila!!

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  10. I went through an estate recently. I was the first "dealer" (I don't consider myself a dealer since I just consign at the store I work at, but I got the phone call to come look) in the estate for clothes. They made me itemize what I wanted and put in a bid. They accepted the bid, which was fair, since I explained they could get more what I was taking away, but they would have to work for it. When I returned for the stuff, they told me there were a few other rooms (apartment/inlaw like quarters, really) that they hadn't gone through, did I want a look. I found 2 untouched apartments, filled with mid-century housewares, fiesta, linens, etc. In the cupboards I found more Roseville (they already had put all the other collectible pottery aside) and spent a couple hours. I put a bid on for what I wanted, and they never called me back. I basically inventoried and appraised the contents and didn't get anything but the original lot of clothes. I know they had other dealers scheduled to come in and I believe they let them give a higher bid. Also, the first time I went over I went over willing to buy and it wasn't until I got there that I found out they weren't going to let us buy then! If I wanted to go to an auction, I would have gone to an auction. Let them clean out their own cupboards!!!

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  11. Hmmm so this is how people are getting free educated estimates?

    I'd start walking into these places and offer them 5x less and tell them all they have is jink.

    Or offer them 10X the value, and go nuts, saying the stuff is super priceless.

    In other words, mess with their heads lol...

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  12. lol... Damn typos, I blame my keyboard, yeah, that's it =P

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  13. Is this what's called a chat room??? Go girlfriends! Vent vent vent!!!! Ah hates junk but ah loves me sum jink, you betcha.

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  14. Yeah, this is a sort of floating chat board. What's cool is, you can go away for a while, come back and jump right back in the conversation. =D

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  15. Win some, lose some. Hate to hear about the so called Weller pottery. Bummer.

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  16. I wonder why the seller didn't come up with their own asking price from the beginning. It seems odd that they would ask you to make an offer and then tell you they have to check on the book value. So frustrating! Maybe they will realize that there's no way they will sell the furniture at book value and accept your offer.

    Once, I went to an estate sale where the family had purchased that very book, and they priced their Hey-Wake at full book value. I went back on the last day of the sale and offered them amount that similar items were going for on Ebay. I printed out the ended auctions to show the real-life value of the furniture and took the printed pages with me when I returned to the sale. They accepted my offer. Hopefully, your sellers will come to the same realization that the prices in the book don't reflect real life prices.

    I'm sorry things haven't worked our better.

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  17. WOW, this Bob dude came out of nowhere, to belittle you. Why do I feel like this Bob guy has something to do with all the b.s. hoops you had to go through to track this HW seller down?

    What business is it of his what you discuss, how you discuss it, or where? Free country, Bob. Sorry the discussion miffed you. At least have the stones to follow up with either an e-mail or blog to identify YOURSELF if you feel that you have to insert your invective into the the discussion inquiry.

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  18. Ok, how did you do the cartoon? You are upset and I'm thinking how cool the cartoon is...see how shallow I am........

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  19. OK...Bob is a moron, which is not an unfounded assumption...he provided the proof himself! As for the Hey-Wake, it would seem to me that if the stuff is so fabulous, wouldn't the antique mall folks be clamouring to buy it??? This batch of Hey-Wake is not meant to be yours...at least not at the moment...but the Universe will bring the right stuff your way one of these days :-)

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  20. Ouch about the Weller. I bet Bob is saying, "Ouch", too, as well he should. He reads a blog exerpt and suddenly he a psychoanalyst.

    Liz

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  21. POST SOMETHING WOMAN! I AM BORED AND NO ONE IS BLOGGING!!

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