Hi Don!

Thanks for that story.... I was looking into antiques at one stage, I agree with you, it looks like it could be lucrative! I think it's about education, and knowing what something is really worth....

I can tell a little story here about "the one that got away"....

I was browsing through a thrift store (or opp shop) and saw an old sewing machine.... I don't know the first thing about sewing or sewing machines, but this looked like an antique! It was quite nice too -- very ornate, quite different from appliances today. It was hand-cranked -- no electricity required. I jotted down some details, and went home to my computer to see what I could find out about it on the internet....

I remember finding out that this model was made in the 1930s. They wanted $50 for it, and I figured it could be worth $200 or more....

I decided I should get it! Then I made a mistake.... I was relatively new at "chatteling" -- and a person I was with talked me out of it! They had some pessimistic views.... and I listened. What a mistake.

Well.... a couple weeks later I was looking through an antique shop. And I saw an old sewing machine, almost the same model as the one I had passed over.... And it was selling for $550! Even if I sold it for half of that, I would have made a profit.... (I was planning actually to sell it to an antique shop, rather than directly to the public....)

I hurried back to the thrift shop -- but it was already gone....

Oh well, I'll know better next time.... Listen to my own instincts, and don't let others (especially when they have NO experience) talk me out of it!

You can do this "large scale" too.... Kirk Kerkorian is one of the USA's richest people (I think he's in the top 20), worth something like 6 or 7 BILLION. If you read his history, he got his start in CHATTEL....

He started out as a teenager, buying and selling AUTOMOBILES. He then did some work as a pilot (he worked as a civilian pilot for the British air force in WWII). After that, he went back into chattel, this time trading second-hand PLANES. Trading planes eventually turned him into a millionaire.... And from there, he went into buying and selling COMPANIES. And now.... he's one of the richest people you can find. He owns MGM, for example. So that's an idea of where chatteling COULD take you if you really wanted to do it seriously, and had the stomach for some BIG deals.... :)

But doing the big deals takes some guts!

- Dien Rice