# Anyone else love American Pickers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-love-american-pickers/563188 "2010-12-06T19:52:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-love-american-pickers/563188/41 "2010-12-10T20:36:48Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Do you really think if it was not televised, that they would have done that? > > HOw many antique/flea market/junk/resale dealers do you know that long after the sale, months after your garage sale is over, drive back to your house and give you some more money? How many of these hoarders (that’s what they are) do you think are listing these items for sale or having yard sales? Answer: none. Most of the items that are “picked” would most likely have been hauled to the dump when the property is cleared after a death or court ordered cleanup. I’m not saying that they don’t take advantage of some people. But those people have the option of not selling or asking for more money. If you watched on a regular basis, you would see it happen quite often. The whole point of that kind of business is to buy low (wholesale) and sell high (retail). ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-love-american-pickers/563188/42 "2010-12-11T17:52:53Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > Most of the items that are “picked” would most likely have been hauled to the dump when the property is cleared after a death or court ordered cleanup. Not true. IF it were true, then the pickers, and everybody else, would not buy anything from people who are alive, and instead just go to dead people’s houses. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-love-american-pickers/563188/43 "2010-12-11T19:10:11Z")
“Pickers” is just a shortened form of “cherry pickers” which describes exactly what they are doing…going in and finding the most valuable items and relieving the owners of them, leaving the original collectors with, well, junk. Seems a little creepy to me considering the obvious poverty of some of their suppliers. And yeah, if the cameras weren’t rolling there’s no way they’d pay some of the prices they do, and there’s certainly no way they’d go back and give somebody _more_ money. And I suspect that PR considerations are at least part of the reason we get value “estimates” instead of actual sale prices. This show really rubs me the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-love-american-pickers/563188/44 "2010-12-12T15:02:02Z")
I guess we’re going to have 2 different schools of thought here. At most sites I can see the owner dying and the family letting the stuff sit or getting rid of it any way they can. They aren’t interested and driven to get fair prices for the items. Also the lanky guy especially looks for pieces of rusty old junk, if they weren’t put back into circulation they would turn to dust because the owner will _never_ get around to dealing with all that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-love-american-pickers/563188/45 "2010-12-12T15:34:11Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Oh, I would have to kill Chumlee. He is way too stupid to live. No way. Chumlee just wants you to think that. > [@Susanann](#): > > Do you really think if it was not televised, that they would have done that? > > HOw many antique/flea market/junk/resale dealers do you know that long after the sale, months after your garage sale is over, drive back to your house and give you some more money? Several actually. It’s a great way to build rapport, establish yourself as an honest buyer and buy more shit, not just from the guy who may have more banners, but from his hoarding friends as well. Reputation is everything in picking (with knowledge of the goods and a good buyers list a tie for second). They bought themselves a bit of good reputation there, which will cause sellers to spread the word, invite them over, and let their guard down when haggling. It’s actually a fairly common technique in the antiques and collectibles market. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-love-american-pickers/563188.md?page=2)