What's the going rate on 1,000 skillets?

BenjaminO

Member
I've been in communication with someone who has "somewhere between 600-650 Griswolds and 300-350 Wagners, no names, etc. skillets. There is a 13 and a couple 14's in the griswold lot."
I was just wondering what approximate value of such a collection is. They've given me a price but I was wondering what you all think a fair counter offer might be. Freight shipping included in price. I'll follow up with any more information I get, but for now we have to assume that the condition and rarity of everything in the lot is "average".
Thanks for any input,
Benjamin
 
Reference point: At 4# @ total scrap value would be about $150. Delivered. Sight unseen is scary to me.

Hilditch
 
Benjamin, there was a thread on here back in February with a link to an eBay sale for 626 Griswold skillets with a starting bid of $38,650. A lot of members posted saying that was a ridiculous price, and the seller ran the auction 3 times with no success. I was able to find the seller, who lived 1 1/2 hours from me, and was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to "pick" his collection. He had 2 other rooms full of Wagner, Lodge, Favorite, Wapak, unmarked, and Gatemarked, totaling around 3000 pieces. I ended up buying 61 pieces from him when all was said and done. He wasn't very willing to offer good deals on most of the Griswold pieces, so I mostly bought others. In the picture, most of the skillets look in pretty decent shape. In person, there were a lot of cracked, rusty/pitted, too-dirty-to-know pieces.I'll admit that i gambled on many that had a lot of crud buildup. When all were cleaned, I ended up with 9 cracked pans (nice fully marked Victor, block Favorite Piqua, Arc Wagner, etc.). I was pretty disappointed, but still did pretty well with what I got for the price.
I believe that many of the pans became cracked by the way they were stored and handled. He had moved these from another area in piles, and I believe the weight of the stacks may have caused the cracks. I guess I'm saying that I would caution you to buy such a large quantity sight unseen.
http://imgur.com/fZm1ppR
 
Thanks for the reference, the lot I'm pursuing is a lot more reasonably priced. Understandably it would be a gamble, but I'm having fun toying with the idea. I'll see what they have to say about my counter offer and what more I can find out about the quality of the hoard.
 
Benjamin, I just had a thought. Patience. If you pull the trigger too fast the gun may still be pointed at your foot.

Hilditch
 
Thank you Hilditch for the quaint metaphor. I'm not in any hurry and the seller will probably get tired of my questions before a deal can be made.
Benjamin
 
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