What we sell

Many Antique dealers will tell you that in order to be successful in this business you have to specialize. While I have expertise in a few areas, those areas are not where I make the majority of my sales. I tell everyone I buy junk and sell fine antiques and collectibles. I guess you could say I try to specialize in items that sell quickly. But I try to have something for everyone in my booths as you never know what the buying public will want next. The other day I was about to throw out an old blackboard but decided to power wash it off and place it at my booth. The first person who saw it bought it and I was readt to haul it to the dump. So even after many years in the business, I'm still surprised by what sells.

My favorite buys are Mantiques, Old toys, games, bicycles, new and old sports equipment, knives, Boy Scout items, military items, old radios, musical instruments, anything a boy would have owned from 1900-1999, fishing, hunting, trapping, fire/police related, marine items, framed art, metal signs, true vintage decorator items, books, old tools, cast iron pots, oil cans, cartoon figures, TV related items, lunch boxes, vintage clothing and very select pieces of glass and furniture.

While I tend to carry more "Mantique's" and collectibles I also buy and sell good used merchandise and anything we believe we can turnover for a quick profit. As an example I sold a nice boat anchor this week. Not old, but it sold! Do you know how expensive boat anchors are these days? I also sell items that are too heavy to ship to justify selling them on ebay.

So I like to buy it all and sell it all, quickly! But quite often I have to repair items before they will sell. This is especially true for furniture. Most people don't want a project and neither do I. They want pieces they can place went they get home. In fact many people buy with a specific location in mind. This article features a bench I was given for free in before and after pictures. It took about 4 solid hours to get it ready to sell. I sold it for $150.00 (a bargain)as these go for $350.00 and up.

The Red Barn

Guess who buys the most antiques from me? Antique dealers. Why? Because they have antique stores in busy locations with lots of customers. What they don't have is lots of time to look for good deals they can be sold for a profit. Now I can't say I never found a deal in a fine antique store, but they are rare. Many of my Deals are found at yard sales, flea markets and swap meets. As a picker, I then clean and repair these items and sell them for 20-50% less than full retail to turn over a quick profit. Now it doesn't always workout that way, but that's always the plan.

The Red Barn is where I sell the majority of my items. I try to make sure I add new items every week or so. The Red Barn is just that. A very big Red Barn with about 50 12x12 stalls. Each stall is independently rented. There are few limits as to what can be sold there although antiques and collectibles are the mainstay. There is no AC in the summer so the heat can be stifling. There is no heat in the winter so you have to dress warmly. But year round there are always bargains. The Red Barn is located on Route 3 in Oak Grove VA, very close to Colonial Beach VA. It is a great country drive if you are traveling near Fredericksburg VA or using the Route 301 Corridor to Maryland. The Red Barn summer hours are Friday & Saturdays 9-5 and Sundays 12-5. See the picture! Also Auctions are no longer held there.

Welcome to the new Blog!

Welcome to my first Blog. I started this blog to talk about my treasure hunting adventures. You may be familiar with the new show on the History Channel called American Pickers. Well I started picking as a boy in the 60's that turned into a passion for collecting. My early collections were rocks, matchbox cars, fossils, pocket knives and Boy Scout items, especially patches. My mom even helped me buy my first metal detector and we scoured many a beach and playground finding coins and jewelry. I still detect today also, mostly for relics or underwater treasures.

In the early years I concentrated my picking on what I was collecting at the time. In the early 90's I bought some toys that required some research prior to Ebay. I used a book back then entitled "How to Sell it". I took Polaroid pictures of the items, described them and sent them off via snail mail. Several buyers called me back and we worked out the sale on the phone. This helped me develop a customer list. I started picking up items for other collectors as well as items I thought someone might want. In 1996 I entered my first Antique/Collectibles show. With my items in stored banana boxes I borrowed a van and hauled them to the show. At the end of the weekend I was several hundred dollars in the black and hooked on finding more treasures to sell.

I enjoyed selling at three or four shows a year, all here in Virginia. Eventually the toll of packing, toting, setting up and breaking it all down in a weekend was too much back work for the reward. I continued to buy and sell on Ebay but left the show circuit. In 2006 I acquired a 12x12 stall at a pickers paradise the Red Barn in Oak Grove VA in Westmoreland County. We added another stall in 2007 and a third in 2009. Want to know more about the Red Barn? See my next blog about it.