As a true collector, we all know that one man's trash is another man's treasure. I personally wouldn't pay more than 15 or 16 million for this Kadinsky. 

The pre-auction estimate for this impressionist painting by the famous Russian artist, is expected to be 20-$30,000,000. 

This brightly colored 1909 oil depicts pilgrims and a swordsman in the old city of Kyiv.

 

You never know when a casual connection will become a great resource. My lovely wifey Adele had me pick up some vintage makeup cases from a Craigslist ad in Burnaby. When I entered this ladies home, it was filled with cool collectables and antiques. She has everything from militaria to an actual Tiffany lamp! One of the things she had was this cool functioning wood and brass Ship's wheel, made in Canada. I was able to get it for $40. We'll probably keep this as part of our floathome motif. 

I was able to help this lady identify and value a couple of old lamps, and we built up a rapport, she is going to give me first shot on all her stuff when she sells. So, keep your eyes open, talk to people and enjoy collecting. Everyone loves to talk about their collection. 

Where do they find the time and the money and the space and the sympathetic ear and the knowledge and the inclination and...well, you get the idea

/http://pinterest.com/collectorsquest/cq-digs-collectors/ 

I can't afford to collect!
     I know, times are tight and you don't have the extra moolah to add that First issue of Sports Illustrated to your collection of First Issue magazines; after all it's on Ebay for $400. (it is actually). Well I'm going to show how with a little bit of work you can find the seed money to start your collection, add to it, and always have some money in reserve!! Magic. No, just a little organization. 
Step 1. Organize your crap. Every one of us has stuff lying around that we don't need or want. Put it to good use. Hold a garage sale, put it on Craigslist, take it to an auction or take it to a flea market. Do you really need 780 paperback books? Does that old leather jacket still fit? Why do you have a fish serving platter? You really do have stuff that other people will pay for. I had a bunch of old mismatched silverware and some old hand mixers and rolling pins that I had inherited from somewhere. Following my own advice, instead of sending it to Sally Ann (though they get their fair share of stuff too), I listed it on Ebay. I realized nearly $200 from people trying to finish their silverware set and others collecting antique hand mixers. Yes, people do collect them.

Step 2. Start a separate bank account. Unless you are extremely well disciplined and organized, it's important to keep your "fun" money away from the mortgage money. You won't feel guilty spending your found cash if you're not cutting into the grocery money. PUT ALL YOUR FOUND MONEY IN THE ACCOUNT! Ok, your garage sale money goes in, that's obvious. But the little bits you get, like the Costco refund cheque you weren't expecting, the $20 birthday gift, the $10 lotto win; drop this into the account too, it all adds up quickly.

Step 3. Start a Paypal account and tie it into your new collectors account. It's simple, you can have a Paypal account set up within minutes. The reason for this is twofold. First, it's extremely well accepted anywhere in the world. If you want to pay for something on Ebay or any other auction site Paypal is generally accepted. The transactions are secure and insured. When you go to sell your old leather jacket on Ebay, you allow customers to use any form of payment they like through their Paypal account which increases their likelihood of buying your product. They can use their Mastercard, attached to their Paypal account to buy your jacket. Not likely you have a Mastercard machine sitting in your living room. You can also use Paypal to transfer cash into and out of your account. It's a great way to keep track of your spending. If you want to buy that first issue Sport's Illustrated off of Ebay, they take Paypal.

There you go, go buy something!

OMG, see how easy it is to start a collection. The nice part is, this was an inexpensive buy. I can keep one of each, have a way cool shelf display and sell the others for a tidy profit!

I had a great find this week, I was able to pick up about 25 very old and collectable books on Natural History. If you weren't aware, this is one of the more popular subjects and the books are always desirable. 

I've just listed this 1799 edition on ebay 


http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140830880340&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:CA:1123#ht_500wt_1081
I will be adding several more this week, so if you want to see how the process works (beginners only), feel free to check back often. This is a case of buying extremely well. If I sell one of these books, I will double my money. There is a potential here of many hundreds of dollars. 

Since my car got pranged up on Wednesday, it looks like I'm going to have to hunt down another car next weekend. That means that some lucky reader can have my 2 tickets to Antiques Roadshow on Saturday. If you are interested, leave me an email. First one to ask gets them.

Good day today. Not only did I get to go to archery and maybe take up a new sport, on the way back we stopped at the Abbotsford Bibles for Mission Thrift store. Here's the find.....

Big Deal... A Book

Ahh yes, a book you say. But look closely. Firstly, I paid $1.50 for it. Secondly, it's a true first edition of Thor Hyerdahl's epic journey "Kontiki". The current value of this book (check it out on Ebay) is $150 to $200. One on Ebay is currently listed for $198. Now that's a good mark up! 

Holy Red Tape! 
Well, our wonderful plans of bringing some collectable items across the border when we go to Seattle for the Antiques Roadshow for appraisal seem to be near impossible. After doing due diligence and making the call to Canada Border Services, it looks like there is no practical way to bring these items across. Unless I decide to go and get an official appraisal (hello! that's why I'm going) by an official appraiser that will prove that these are Canadian based objects and that they were purchased in Canada and that I have all the official documentation including appraised price, and then a letter from the official owners that show a picture of the item and proof that I am allowed to take them, then I would probably spend many uncomfortable hours and probably lose the items by our friends at the border. So... I still have tickets, I have no idea what I'm going to do but I will keep you all up to date. Any suggestions, let me know