Topic: Buying badly damaged items

[yesvil]

Do you ever do it?

I couldn't resist this one for £1

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4741577311_f94586ca99_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4741579281_f1e945473e.jpg

The damage is bad but if it's up high and turned the right way round you'd never know.

[Paul S.]

thats easy for you to say..........but what if you are looking in through the window :ha:

[Anne]

If I was buying to sell on then I wouldn't, and I don't usually buy damaged things (except uncommon trinket set pieces for the reference website) but I bought a Davidson Primrose Pearline basket for a whole pound several years ago... it has a crack right through it, but as a perfect one would set me back a *lot* more than £1 I was happy to find it. One day it will split totally in two as the crack is spreading slowly, and then it'll be repaired with glass glue and all will be well again.

[Lustrousstone]

Yes if it's cheap and something I'm not prepared to afford at a perfect price or am unlikely to find again or for research purposes.

[Leni]

I collect Victorian Vaseline Uranium 'rustic' / 'thorn' vases, and it's rare (and expensive!) to find one without any damage.  However, the nature of the beasts means it's often difficult to see the damage - even when there's bits missing   

I like your piece and would certainly think it was worth buying for £1.  It looks great displayed the 'right' way round, as in your first picture!     

[Paul S.]

ignore my first offering  -  being flippant as usual - but here comes a more sensible paragraph...............
Leni comments that I collect Victorian Vaseline Uranium 'rustic' / 'thorn' vases, and it's rare (and expensive!) to find one without any damage.  However, the nature of the beasts means it's often difficult to see the damage - even when there's bits missing    - I would agree it must be almost impossible to find these particular pieces in perfect nick , unless you purchase from a more expensive source.   I had a pair from a b.s. for two quid, and they are a bit chipped, but for that money I would have been foolish to avoid them.     But think we would all pick up something that otherwise might cost an arm and a leg, even if it was a little knocked around - even perhaps if you only keep for a limited time and then move it on.     The truth may lay more in the fact that a lot of subscribers to the GMB 'deal' in their wares (whether on ebay or elsewhere) - and this fact may influence the sort of quality they are/are not prepared to purchase.   However, there are some people here who simply object to damage in whatever form in comes, which is great if you have that sort of depth of pocket.   I have a pair of Webb/Walsh pieces that I will show tonight hopefully, one of which was broken - but I would never have turned them down (especially as they only cost a quid)  

[Anik R]

I thought I'd put in my two pennies worth 

Generally, I am intolerant of any damage to my glass...  the smallest knick -- especially to the rim -- REALLY disturbs me.  It doesn't matter that it's not very visable -- the fact that it's there, and that fact that I know it's there, is enough to make me crazy. 

I know, it's a mental thing.  :pb:

[antiquerose123]

Being on a limited budget I can find things that I can afford.  Every now and then I DO treat myself to a higher priced piece (for me - I consider that to be anywhere from $50 - $150 for a single piece).  To date the most expensive *Single* piece I have bought myself was the Glass Figurine:  http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,19131.0.html  Yes, it was over a $100, but I thought well worth it.

Usually I try to stay in the $10 - $30 range.  I have bought several piece at one time that have cost me over a $100.....but that is far and few in between...LOL

Yes, I will buy a damaged item, as I like to still post the item, and it might be worthy research for the board....and if it is less than $10 (like $1, $4, or $6) then Yes, I will buy it.

I do not have an Ebay account ( :thud: whew  as I would put myself in the $ hole $ ) but I do see damaged items being sold on there -- and you just never know what someone is looking for, or can afford on Ebay too.

....and in reality -- I think there are so many collectors out there (look at Ebay popularity) that people are sometimes willing to buy a damaged item if it is something they really want, as they might not find one, or can afford the price if totally perfect...

Even on Antiques Roadshow --- Look at some of the prices realized for items with some damage, or missing a pieces.  I guess that is part of the reason I do not mind small damage, but if there is more damage -- and it IS Cheap -- I will buy just for Board research so that it might help others.

Sometimes I luck out here.........as the Board has helped me identify some good pieces of Glass that the seller had not realized what it was either -- I like those.  Like the Czech pieces I have found, they were *thought* and ID* but the antique seller as Only *Vintage Age Glass*. 

So they were cheap, and had no damage  :rah: and just lucked out  :rah:

[TxSilver]

Generally, I am intolerant of any damage to my glass...  the smallest knick -- especially to the rim -- REALLY disturbs me.  It doesn't matter that it's not very visable -- the fact that it's there, and that fact that I know it's there, is enough to make me crazy. 

Anik, if you think of glass as art that has had a previous life before entering yours, you may be able to forgive the little scars. When I think of good art glass, I think of the passion that went into making the glass. It wasn't just a machine made thing. The more the artist puts into the glass -- frills and adornments -- the more likely it is to have damage. I know a lot of people avoid buying glass with rigaree because of the dread of sharp points.

My thought is that I think we ought to let up on the glass and see it as used art instead of as objects. Chips and nicks bring down the price so that more people can afford it. Anybody who doesn't buy a piece of glass they like because it has history is missing out on a good deal. I'm definitely a glass lover.

[Paul S.]

Very well put, Anita. :sun:  I couldn't agree more.