Antique Bottle Market?

[nhpicker]

I have noticed as of the past 12-18 months that antique bottle just are not getting what they used to get. Have any noticed the same. It seems that bottles that used to get $20-$40 hardly get $10 now? Even the pontil stuff seems to have lost its value? My only guess is that the bad economy has drivin a lot of collectors away. I think so many people are unemployed that it has taken a huge bite out of the demand for these old bottles. I would love to know what you all think about this. I used to make some decent money selling what I dug or bought at a deal from flea-markets, yard sales, etc...now it is like pulling teeth trying to get what you want for pretty much any old bottle. Your thoughts?

 

[saratogadriver]

With that green pickle in the post before yours making $11K, I can't agree. Not totally. What I'm seeing with inks is that the more common pontils, which were selling for more before, have faded a bit. But the really good stuff, the touchstone inks that every collector wants, are still cooking just fine. Sell a lochman's locomotive ink or a cobalt harrisons, and you'll see what I mean no doubt.

Also, with specific areas of bottle collecting, I think individual collectors drive the bus to some extent. Get two people filling in their bitters collection, for example, and you see some crazy prices as they try to get that piece they don't have. Once they've bought their piece, usually the bottom falls out of the 3rd or 4th one to show up.

I don't think the economy helps any though. I keep thinking that, some day, the pickers will run out of new exciting stuff to put to market. Then something comes up on ebay and I go "wow".

Jim G

 

[GuntherHess]

High end stuff is always high , the rich dont suffer much in a down economy.
The low to mid stuff is down from 5 years ago.
Just my opinion.
I see much less bottles for sale out in the wild. It seems like all the johnny come lately ebay get rich quick video watchers have resulted in the coutryside being scowered for any bottle that looks like it might have value to throw on fleabay. Most are Fletchers castoria and lydia Pinkhams of course.[]

 

[baltbottles]

It's weird I've only ever had two good scores with bottles at an antique shop. The first time I got a call from the shop owner about a bottle he thought I'd like. $300 later I was the owner of my first Baltimore torpedo soda. The bottle still proudly sits on my shelf today. That bottle made me serious about collecting early Baltimore sodas and lead me to where I am today.

The second good score was a local shop that had been closed for many years and one day I saw the front door open and I stopped in and to my surpprise met the new owner who had just recently bought the shop. While taking a look through the store I saw a shelf full of bottles all unpriced. I asked about them and he told me he had many boxes of bottles in the basement that came with the shop. There were quite a few decent bottles on the shelf and after a bit of talking he let me look through the stuff downstairs. Lots of local beers and meds. Along with some saratogas and a few bitters and common flasks. It was probably about 500 bottles. We struck a deal and I bought the whole collection for $1500. At the time I was collecting any local bottles and kept all the Baltimore stuff and I quickly made my money back off the rest of the collection. later when I decided to just collect early Baltimore stuff I sold all of the bottles except one Wm. Russell stoneware bottle which I still have with the rest of my Baltimore stoneware bottles.

Its funny those were my first two early Baltimore bottles and still two of my favorites.

Chris

 

[jays emporium]

It seems that bottles that used to get $20-$40 hardly get $10 now?

That part may be true and is probably because of the economy. However, bottles that used to bring $100. are still selling for $100. Two examples of common but desirable bottles that I watch regularly on ebay are Warner's Tippecanoe and Drake's Plantation Bitters in common amber. For the last 5 years those have been $90. - $120. bottles. So I would agree that the cheaper more common bottles have taken a hit but the mid-price to expensive bottles have held their own and the really rare stuff has gone up a lot.
It's all a matter of supply and demand and the supply of cheaper bottles is greater than the demand right now.

 

[sandchip]

I found a smaller size Royal Pepsin Stomach Bitters in the creek when I was about 15. It was worth about $65.00 then, and 35 years later, it's worth about the same thing. What's bad is that I took it to a club meeting, and this slickster told me he'd give me what he had in his wallet for it. Not willing to gamble, I passed. He pulled out 2 Benjamins, but looking back, he probably had one of those billfolds with two bill compartments, with the other having a couple of ones. Who knows?

 

[nhpicker]

ORIGINAL: GuntherHess

High end stuff is always high , the rich dont suffer much in a down economy.
The low to mid stuff is down from 5 years ago.
Just my opinion.
I see much less bottles for sale out in the wild. It seems like all the johnny come lately ebay get rich quick video watchers have resulted in the coutryside being scowered for any bottle that looks like it might have value to throw on fleabay. Most are Fletchers castoria and lydia Pinkhams of course.[]

I am going to have to agree with you Matt. Most of the stuff I sell is dug. I will tumble the good ones of course, before I sell them. Most of the stuff you dig is common, to slightly uncommon, to scarce at best. I am not saying that I have never dug a "rare" example. I have. But you don't dig them every day. I am lucky if I dig a "rare" bottle once a year. It just seems like those bottles like the Cobalt Stafford Master inks, local druggists, Ayer's Hair Vigor's (like the one I recently dug), and the other desireable, yet not scarce bottles are just getting half the money they brought about 3 years ago....or even 2 years ago.

I follow ebay very closely and have seen the decline. On the flip side, some categories have taken off. A good example is those colored cone inks. I used to collect them. When I saw that craze hit on ebay for them I got in early and really made some great money. It's funny how the antique bottle market acts. If you watch it closely you can make some good money. If you don't you can lose your shirt.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[Lordbud]

"High end stuff is always high , the rich don't suffer much in a down economy. The low to mid stuff is down from 5 years ago"

I agree with this. The low-mid bottles are down generally and mostly very uneven. A scarce Western hutch will go for a bargain, then the next example of the same hutch will bring closer to value on ebay. I check ebay daily, usually twice and for the given local collector of bottles and go-withs many fair bargains are to be found.

And try to figure out what I call "poorly listed" bottles or go-withs that don't come up in one's average search parameters when checking ebay. Some sellers have no clue whatsoever as to how to attract a potential buyer on ebay with their descriptions. I go through "all categories" now, and then narrow down the search parameters as I go.

Takes about twice the time I used to spend on ebay, but the poorly listed item you might be looking for is worth it when you end up paying minimum bid.

 

[Poison_Us]

At the moment, I find that bottles are selling for about 60% of their historical highs for the past 1-2 years. Some less, others hold closer to value.
I have also found some historically cheap bottles have gained in popularity. I don't know if it's because of many new collectors coming onto the scene or what.