"Is It Broken?" - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club – You Buy It.

Mechanical Artillery Bank - Thanks to www.toyzine.com

This may seem strange to you but I was just browsing the “ I Antique On Line ” site and came across a gentleman's listing on the "I Wanna Buy" section for a bell yoke. Believe it or not he was willing to pay a fair amount of money for it. You could tell that he was very eager to purchase this part of the bell because more than likely the original yoke had been broken. This got me thinking about how this could help us?

Once I began to think about this I discovered that we may be able to make a lot of money by helping others complete an item that they own that is missing a part. How often have you run across that rare and unusual piece but part of it was broken or missing? This has happened to me more than I would like to think but my attitude has changed. I used to only feel pain because I thought that I had just missed a treasure by a fraction. But no longer is that my feeling. Now I wonder how cheaply I buy that damaged piece.

You see there are two outcomes that can come your way if you buy a rare or unusual item that is damaged for a pittance. First, if you find the person that needs a part on the item that you purchase to complete the item he has. The price that he has to pay for your part may not be relevant to him because your part might increase the value of his item by ten to twenty times. Let's take a mechanical bank as an example. You buy a very rare bank that has some damage for $50 when everyone else thinks it should be thrown away. You, however, know that if it were perfect, its value could be from $3500 to $9500 and to a person needing a part on your bank that isn't broken to make his complete, that fifty dollars could become a thousand very quickly. You may even reverse this situation. Maybe you could find the broken part to fix your bank and then it would be the one that was worth big money. Either way you could come out smelling like a rose.

Where else might we put this to use? How about toys that need a wheel or fire trucks that need a ladder? Both these items could bring top dollar if there is a need for them. Just recently I found a tin toy that was in the shape of a building that had attached signs to it. This was about a $5000 toy I found out as I began to research it. But guess what? When I went to eBay to check the value for this toy, one of the first items listed was one of the small signs that attached to the roof. Are you ready for this? The asking price started at $500. If you were fortune enough to find a horribly damaged item like this but the sign was intact you might be able to be purchase it for under $10.

Some things that people will be looking for to complete their items: cookie jar tops, churn tops, lamp shades, tureen tops, pedestal bases, musical instrument parts and the list could go on and on forever. Yes the value of an item can be reduced to almost nothing when it is damaged but if there are still parts that aren't damaged that can be used to complete another item, those parts can have great value.

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the Daryle Lamberts Antique and Collectible Club . Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.