# American Pickers Dialogue: "I Bought This Sign For $400. I'm Gonna Sell It For...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-pickers-dialogue-i-bought-this-sign-for-400-im-gonna-sell-it-for/613216 "2012-02-18T02:00:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-pickers-dialogue-i-bought-this-sign-for-400-im-gonna-sell-it-for/613216/41 "2012-02-20T10:55:04Z")
Has anyone mentioned yet the possible times when the pickers may break even or even lose money when they sell ? That 100% or more profit helps to offset the times when they sell something at break-even or at a loss. I have owned retail businesses in the past, and one cost of doing business is the items that are slow to sell or do not sell. You sometimes have to sell at a loss just to get rid of some things. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-pickers-dialogue-i-bought-this-sign-for-400-im-gonna-sell-it-for/613216/42 "2012-02-20T15:04:40Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > So those guys turned a $450 profit on a sign. Now go learn the difference between gross profit and net profit. What does it cost them to drive all over the country? What’s the mortgage on their shops (that have three, right)? How much do they pay their employees? How much is their insurance (building, health, car)? How much does it cost to heat the place? How much is tax on all their properties? etc etc etc etc Then think about how much of that $450 they’re actually putting in their pockets. I’d be willing to bet it’s probably closer to $50-$150 split between them. They only have two shops, one in LeClaire, IA and the new one in Nashville. I’ve been to the one in Iowa and it is very, very tiny and it looks like it was an old auto repair shop. I’d be surprised if their overhead at that place is very high. But I may be wrong as LeClaire is right on the Mississippi River and the shop is only about a block or so from the river. Also, it seemed like pretty much all the actual antique items were marked as not for sale and all they seemed to want to sell were the t-shirts and souvenirs. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-pickers-dialogue-i-bought-this-sign-for-400-im-gonna-sell-it-for/613216/43 "2012-02-20T15:09:55Z")
If you want the sign because it is what you are collecting and you’ve seen the show, you still have to pay the asking price unless you know they don’t have another collector of that type sign on their customer list. If you know you are the only collector of that item, you might have some bargaining power having seen the show. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-pickers-dialogue-i-bought-this-sign-for-400-im-gonna-sell-it-for/613216/44 "2012-02-20T15:14:09Z")
Remember, there is a period of time between the time they buy something, and the time that purchase is aired on TV. Probably several months. More likely than not, it’s sold by then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-pickers-dialogue-i-bought-this-sign-for-400-im-gonna-sell-it-for/613216.md?page=2)