Featured How Often Do You Regret Not Purchasing An Item?

Fairly often for me unfortunately ..... last instance was a miniature coal bucket which was an advertisement for a mine, complete with an old-time phone #. It was sold in a box lot full of other goodies for $20. I don't have any explanation on why I didn't bid it up higher.

Please share your regrets,
Joe

 

All the time. I still think about things I missed out on, because I wasn't willing to pay an extra 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 dollars, etc. Now, I try to do a formula:

If an item costs 1-5 dollars, I will buy it if I think it is worth 3-5 times its worth.

If an item costs over 5 dollars, I will buy it if I think it is worth 3-5 times its worth, minus 2. (so a 7 dollar item would have to be worth at least 15 for me to consider).

If an item costs 25 or over, it has to be worth 3-5 times its worth, minus 5.

I don't usually buy items over 25 dollars, so I use my gut for more expensive purchases.

 

@Barn Owl , I used to shoot for a "ten-times" factor.

If it was a sure thing sale, I'd wager 3-5x factor.

Oh sure Joe, there's PLENTY I regret not buying.

 

I used to, too, but then I felt like I was being too picky.

 

My worst one that got away got away because I was so determined not to spend money on something I didn't want. Seller had no solid info & photos were OK, not great. He mentioned there were marks he couldn't read & did not show. At the time I was buying a lot of Egyptian jewellery with color change sapphires. I knew: when people said a piece had marks they couldn't make out, marks were often Egyptian; people inexperienced with jewellery weren't always familiar with marks for gold filled; most people wouldn't know a color change sapphire if it kicked them in the shin; some jewellery with color change sapphires is gold filled & not Egyptian. This was a gold colored bracelet, each panel a dogwood type flower with a purple stone set in the center. Forget now, price was $120 or $150. Kept asking questions about stones & marks, getting replies but not answers. Seller ended the listing & wrote to ask whether I was seriously interested. By then I had decided to take the chance if it went back up again & told him yes, I was interested. Meanwhile, he trotted off to a jeweller, writing back that jeweller had declared it Tiffany & given him $7,500 for it on the spot. I mean-spiritedly replied that then it was no doubt worth at least twice as much.

 

If I buy it, I regret it. If I don't buy it, I regret it. Lots of regret over the years.

Just this Sunday there were two boxes of earrings on card I sorted through. Ended up picking out 15 pairs. A lot were hand made in the 50-60s by someone, but there were commercial ones mixed in. When I got home and looked at them closer, it turned out one pair was by Reja (clown/jester). Certainly worth the $1 I paid for it, but now I wonder what I left behind by not looking closer. At one dollar a pair I should have just asked what she'd take for both boxes.

 

Not often.......oh there have been times....where I bought something for more than I should have paid......and didn't go all in on something I should not have let get away..... but not often !

 

I've been buying since 1978.
I can think of only 4 things that I know I goofed up by not purchasing. I still think about them.

I can also think of 2 things that I have sold, without knowing what they were and really messed up by not knowing or investigating.

 

things that I have sold, without knowing what they were

ohh...i got a couple of those too !!!!

 

I console myself with things I got for a song, & I'm a lousy singer.

 

It happens. I've goofed my share, I assure you. I'm positive I sold a pair of 14k and diamond earrings as 14k and CZ once... (sigh) It happens.

 

I have goofed many times. Some when I was very new to reselling. Some when I thought the price was too high.

I can vividly remember going to a yard sale years ago. The lady was selling off her brothers collection of collectible cars (the small kind in their boxes) because he had passed away.

I looked as all the ones she had. This was and is not my thing and saw a cute "Good Humor" truck NIP. I know nothing of this category.

I passed because it was $10. I came home for lunch, took a look on my pc to see what it sells for and at that time it was $170 or so. I raced back to the sale which was near me and it was gone.

 

I can remember missed bargains, but when they came up I had no money. You can look at something and know it's a great bargain, but if you don't got the dough, you don't got the dough.

 

I didn't feel like spending $3 on a broke day, and didn't have my phone

BUT I WILL FIND ONE, I PROMISE YOU THAT!!!!

 

I regret not picking up something at least once a month in the Summer. I shop at a local picker’s flea market on Wednesday mornings. Often I see something while the dealer is setting up and if I don’t go for it when a I see it I miss it.

Also I shop with a friend. If I get there before her and see something she would like I remember where it is so I can tell her where to look. Too many times when we go back it is gone.

I need to just suck it up and grab the goodies when I see them!

 

My thoughts exactly...

 

Several times per year.

The most recent were a pair of giant Galle and Legras vases. High priced, yes, but worth a great deal more than the gavel price. I've never seen such vases before, and may very well never see their like again.

As Kronos said above, regrets if you buy it, regrets if you don't. Good thing these lose/loses are more than balanced out by the wins.

 

Yes, one thing: a necklace made of large fat iridescent pearls. I didn’t know what I was looking at in the moment but I have a strong suspicion now they had been actual biwa pearls from Lake Biwa. They often come to mind because I have yet to see anything like it again.

The randomly shaped pearls I see all the time referred to as biwa pearls don’t come close to the internal brilliance or shape these things had. Shockingly they had been affordable but I was too new to take a leap of faith and buy them.

 

Just last sunday, the first stall I stopped at, at a vide grenier was run by 2 women who seemed to be so well off, they were'nt bothered about money, just getting rid of stuff. I was asking prices and buying nice things at 1 or 2 euros a piece. Silver egg cup, 3 silver dishes, good quality china etc. I picked up a silver dish and one of them said "that's Hermes, silver, 2 euros" and it was exactly that. Now the regret. At the back of the stall, they had paintings and I could see 100 euro price tags on, so I did'nt look closely. When I walked past later on, they were all gone. I mentally kicked myself for not taking a closer look at their paintings and prints.

 

Not often and most regrets relate to not having the disposable income at the time. I used to be a very decisive buyer but the way the market has changed makes me second-guess things I'm buying for resale all the time now. Have passed by a lot of things I would have bought in a heartbeat in the past. Can't say I regret it since the decision was made with careful thought about whether or not I could sell it. Occasionally see things I passed by pop up in our group shop that were purchased by other dealers after I passed them by. Even then, I don't regret it since their criteria for buying might be different than mine at the time.