My experience duplicates that of C. Sam and Boomer. When assigned to a school in
Alabama for about two months, I spent the weekends raiding antique shops from
the Mississippi River to north Florida, Atlanta, etc. I came away wondering if Sherman went through last week, because trains were not to be found. (I did find long strings of real Railbox cars covered in kudzu, that I would think would be impossible to move unless you went in first with chain saws) When I first got back into three rail, I saw a Marx 3/16 set in an antique shop window in a town with a nearby large antique mall
(it also rarely having trains). Even before I was up to speed on the then prevalent
lower pricing, I knew it was grossly overpriced. The set was still in their window when
the shop closed several years later. (not fast learners?)
I've often wondered this about antique sellers. Why the heck do they price stuff in the stratosphere? When I used to haunt these shops, years ago, I would see the same stuff, year after year, priced so that no one with less than the DONALD'S money would even consider it. I've made offers on some things only to have them rejected. Heck, when I'm selling something, and someone makes me an offer, I figure, what the heck, I'll get some cash, and be rid of it. That's why I put it up for sale in the first place. These antique folks rely too much on "book prices" and not what the real world traffic is willing to pay. It would seem that they plan to retire on each and every sale.
