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Like it or not, eBay is a fact of life for
the shot collector. In many respects it has brought a globalization to the
hobby, allowing, e.g., people in the Midwest to buy glass from collectors
on the West Coast.
But eBay is a two-edged sword. Collectors,
caught in a bidding frenzy, have on more than one occasion driven prices
of glass upward and upward. This being the case, what is a person of
modest means supposed to do? How can he or she compete with the “big guys”
when it comes to glass collecting on the Internet?
My aging Baby
Boomer memory may be mistaken, but I think that the following line comes
from the movie, “Cool Hand Luke”: “A man’s got to know his limitations.”
And if limitations like the mortgage payment and a child’s college
education mean you won’t be bidding on the SOTW anytime soon, hey,
that’s okay. You can still have a great time collecting. Here’s
how:
When the collecting bug first bit me,
I wanted to buy anything and everything in sight. But when I discovered
pre-pro.com and realized for the first time how many different types of
shots there were out there, I realized that I couldn’t have every glass I
saw. I had to develop a collecting policy. And the pre-pro databases showed
me how.
I used the database to survey the hundreds of different
glasses. I live in Illinois, and so I considered collecting only Illinois
glass. But I have always been interested in Chicago history, and when I
saw how many different Chicago shots there were, I decided to concentrate
on Chicago. I realize that I may never own a Rooster
Bitters, but I already have four different kinds of Sunny
Brooks. My goal is to collect all the variants; this would include Inspectors
with different numbers of panels. I want to eventually write an article
for pre-pro, setting forth my findings, with the hope that this additional
information could be entered into the pre-pro database. I’m having a great
time collecting not one but two of pre-pro’s ten most common glasses! (See
“the Ten Most Common
Pre-pro Glasses, numbers 7 and 9.) Who would have thought that was
possible?
Museums have collecting policies; you should, too. It
keeps you focused, and with luck, it keeps you from “impulse bidding” on
eBay. But I must confess to having setbacks every once in a while. Just
last week I saw a “Zahringers
Pure Stock” (Peoria, Illinois) for sale at a price that I thought was
absurdly low. After all, how could such a gorgeous glass go such a small
price? Within seconds I bid on it, and only after my bid was confirmed did
I think to check Robin’s eBay database. Well, there
were plenty of Zahringers that had
been offered on eBay in the past months, which indicated that this glass
was not as rare as I thought. Of course, my bid was the high bid, and I am
sure that I paid a premium price for a glass that isn’t even in my area of
collecting!
But I have tried to learn from my mistakes. Now I
research a glass before I bid. Only days ago a Pan
America Exposition, 1901, appeared on eBay. I thought that this one
was just too nifty for words and almost bid on it. But first I checked the
pre-pro eBay database and discovered that this glass had been listed
numerous times on eBay. Further research revealed that it was number 5 on
pre-pro’s list of ten most common glasses! All of a sudden the price did
not seem that great, and as it did not fit into my collecting policy, I
passed it by.
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the bidding gets absurdly high for the stuff I really want, I force
myself (with considerable self restraint) to just walk away from the
keyboard, unflustered, unconcerned, and disciplined. (Think of David
Carradine in that old “Kung Fu” TV show.) A few weeks ago there was
a Sunny Brook variant that I wanted; an Inspector with fourteen
panels. The
bidding opened at $9.00 (with a reserve!?) and finally closed at
$46.00! For a Sunny Brook! Forget
it. As Robin says, “another one will come around soon enough; that
is not the only one out there.” And of course he is right.
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Besides, I truly believe that the fun is in
the hunt. That Stein Bros. glass I wrote about last time will always be
one of my favorites, simply because of the memorable way it was
discovered. As I look at my collection of Chicago glass, each one has a
memory for me. A great, great memory. My collection has not cost me a lot
of money, but because of my narrow collecting policy, I believe that in
just a few months it has become a valuable collection in its own way. I
already have several pieces that are not listed in pre-pro’s
database.
Let’s face it; eBay is here to stay. But it isn’t the
only way to buy glass. For example, you can have lots of fun going to
antique shows and flea markets. Sure, you are going to find more than your
fair share of overpriced dogs. But even if you come back empty-handed, it
is still a grand way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I went to an
“advertising collectible” show last weekend, armed with a printout of my
computer file that lists all the glasses in my collection, my copies of Historic Shot Glasses and
Old Advertising Spirits Glasses, and Robin’s price guidelines that are
on the pre-pro web site. (See “Values of Shot
Glasses".) I found nothing worth buying, unless you think a Hayner
priced at $35.00 is a bargain. But that is okay--maybe next time I will
find that Label-Under-Glass for $20!
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