I know what you mean! Given the chance I’d collect anything and everything but I must stick to just Mdina otherwise there will be no space left!
In regards to your desire to start up a business, I personally have a full time job and just do fairs throughout the year. Not vary many, usually 0-3 per month. I’ve often considered doing it full time but it’s difficult. Not in the sense that selling is hard, selling what I do it flies off the stall sometimes! But actually finding items for the right price or indeed finding them is the issue. More often than not my best buys tend to be actually at antiques fairs. Online there are too many people with the same idea and collectors willing to pay more because it’s to keep.its a struggle.
Selling on ebay is something I do for very rare items, they sometimes achieve a price I can only dream of. I had an IOW charger in the seaward pattern with a broken pontil, as rare as they can be. That sold for a smidge under 800 and I wouldn’t ever have gotten that at a fair. Online is good for rarities not so much for run of the mill stuff. Plus there is ebay and PayPal fees!
Anyway back to the subject at hand! That is indeed a coachbolt pontil for IOWSG, dating only to 1973. So you have one of the earliest examples of the pattern. You’re looking at between 100-150 for that, and I’d be looking for the higher range of that for something like you have.
If you happen to be at Ardingly, Detling or the Ickworth glass fair next month I shall be selling at all of them, should you wish to ask anything or potentially trade pieces for whatever you’d like to sell I’d be happy to give you a reasonable offer!
All the best.