"You MUST sell that to me!"

[willysmb44]

Have any of you ever had this happen?

You have something on display or post a photo of it, and someone declares you must sell it to them. It's like you have no option to say no, as in their minds, it's going to happen.

Happened to me twice. Once, I was displaying my Mauldin collection at a big public display that was advertised to the public, soon after Mauldin passed away. I won't name names, but a rep for a well-known (and insanely rich) person came to the display with the intention of leaving with it, under instructions from his boss to not leave without the entire collection.

Nope, I said, no amount of money. I'd spent years collecting and many of the items, I'd never find again at any price.

But... I have to buy it, he said. Don't care was my reply. I wonder if the guy got fired when he came back empty.

Yes, I know someone will reply I should have said a Billion dollars. But that would have been silly. I just didn't want to sell, and I still wouldn't. Sometimes, it's not about the money and rich people don't get that.

Then, there was the time I had someone demand to buy my 1944 Willys Jeep. Wouldn't accept 'no', either. Thing was, I would have sold it for a Billion as I could have gotten a restored one if he'd have pried open his wallet wide enough. No, he had to have it, but at a bargain price. Wouldn't leave me along about it either (this was at an airshow several years ago). I threatened to call a cop, it got so insane. I think that guy was nuts, even the other spectators were saying, "Look the guy said NO, so leave him alone!"

I bring this up because a pal posted a photo of something non-military-related on a forum that someone emailed him saying that it was closely connected to a family member, and he simply had to sell it to him. The guy made a good offer, too, but my pal doesn't want to sell. The other guy won't take no for an answer, either.

Has this happened to any of you?

[uniformcollector]

This can definitely be annoying! At times I will offer something if I see a nice item, but always understand if it isn't for sale. A few years ago I purchased a lot of items from a very well-known WWII veteran and was contacted by a member of the forum asking if I would sell one of the pieces for a display. I politely responded that I wasn't interested in selling, but would keep them in mind should something change. They responded saying that if I didn't sell them the piece, I was clearly not "history-conscious" for not doing so. That always stuck with me. Sometimes people can get very aggressive when they see something they want.

[willysmb44]

This can definitely be annoying! At times I will offer something if I see a nice item, but always understand if it isn't for sale.

Yeah, I've seen some things here and PM'd the owner asking if they're interesting it selling it either now or in the future if they wanna get rid of it later. I don't think that's the same as what you or I are talking about.

 

A few years ago I purchased a lot of items from a very well-known WWII veteran and was contacted by a member of the forum asking if I would sell one of the pieces for a display. I politely responded that I wasn't interested in selling, but would keep them in mind should something change. They responded saying that if I didn't sell them the piece, I was clearly not "history-conscious" for not doing so.

Man, that's just stupid. There's no other word for it.

Some people can't differentiate between 'need' and 'want'. You can want something so bad that it feels like a need. But it's still a want.

[P-59A]

I have a dislike for pushy people. It happens at the swap meet all the time in another form. I have an item in hand and have come to an agreed price. Johnny come late walks up and wants to know how much. I tell him I just bought it as I am pulling out my wallet. Johnny asks the seller how much. The seller looks at me and I tell Johnny its none of his business. Johnny offers an insane amount trying to screw the deal. I hate Johnny, I really do. I have sellers at the swap meet who hold things back until I have a look. One day I walk up to the seller and he tells me to look in the van. I am standing at the sliding door looking at the items and I look down to see Johnny's head peeping in under my arm. I tell Johnny to stand back and wait till after am done. Johnny try's to shove his way past me. I check Johnny's move and he gets in my face. I ask him if he is gonna stand up or stand down. He backs off still flapping his gums. I pick up the things I like and leave the dregs to Johnny. I really hate all the Johnny's of the world. The kick is this, I'm a big guy 5'9" 240lbs. I work construction, concrete is my main stay, I bounced bar for 14 years. The nerve of little Johnny pip squeek is beyond compare. I just don't get it. He has to have a screw loose.

[manayunkman]

I have a million of these stories.

 

People who feel for one reason or another that they are entitled.

[John Conway]

People like that are a good reminder that a hobby can become a manifestation of a neurosis. There are many people who play the game to their advantage in such a way that it's truly mental. As a collector for over 50 years I've seen some truly stunning things perpetrated by very deceptively packaged Sociopaths. Many of these guys are quite artful in their assault on veterans and their families and often have amazing collections that were NOT built on the premise of preserving history or having fun or even making a profit! It's something deeper for them. The aftermath of their work can often feed the public's perception of collectors in a bad way as their antics often creep beyond collector circles.

[rmoore456]

There is a line between who is being more stupid. I had an acquaintance who would always ask me about a helmet I had. At the time they were selling for about $600. He would ask about it and each time would up his offer. He finally crossed the line at $2000 and I told him to come over with cash. He was there within 2 hours and left with the helmet.

 

Ry

[manayunkman]

I especially like the folks who will talk about you behind your back when you don't sell them what they want.

[Kurt Barickman]

I too have seen many horrible things done by collectors, dealers, veteran families even. I too admit that I did some things that I look back on and am not proud of. I really like this stuff as I am almost 57 and started when I was 10 but I have come to realize the last several years that at the end of the day, it is all just ¨stuff." Interesting stuff to be sure but just material things. Nothing to cause harm to other people and lose your dignity over. Case in point, was out in rural Minnesota last weekend and stopped at a town museum that is rarely open. So I go in and the place is totally open, lights on and nobody there. I walk around for a few minutes and see a handful of WWII German items thrown in a case and among these I spy a Close Combat Clasp, WWII Iron Cross cased and a few other less valuable items and this case has no back on it?? I reach in and handle the items and put them back in the case and walk out. I walk out tell my wife of this issue and remark that thirty years ago I just might have stuffed those items worth several hundred dollars in my pocket and walked out but anymore my ability to sleep at night is more important than this stuff.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Kurt

[willysmb44]

I especially like the folks who will talk about you behind your back when you don't sell them what they want.

Yep, I think many of us have heard that at one time or another.

I walk out tell my wife of this issue and remark that thirty years ago I just might have stuffed those items worth several hundred dollars in my pocket and walked out but anymore my ability to sleep at night is more important than this stuff.

I have seen random items in the open at museums that apparently have no security cameras, countless times. I would have never walked off with anything but I wonder how often stuff in those cases does "grow legs" and leave without the museum being the wiser.

[Hookemhorns88]

Several years ago I was in Gillette, Wyoming on business. I walk into a gun/pawn shop and hanging above a doorway by a thumbtack is a Luftwaffe garrison hat. I ask the lady behind the counter if it was for sale? She hemmed and hawed around and finally said "no". She said that it is from Nazi Germany and she "likes" it. So I tell her that if she ever wants to sell it then please let me know. She agreed.

 

So I am telling my buddies from the area about the hat and they said that the reason that she would not sell it to me is that I was not a local. So I asked them to give it a couple of weeks and for them to then ask to buy it. About a month later they ask about it she said "no" because she suspected that the boy from Texas put them up to it!

 

Since I knew that she was intrigued with having something from Nazi Germany I would seek a trade with her. A few months later I am back up there on business and take a Nazi armband in there to do a trade. She is about to pull the trigger but finally says "no". Again I request first rights of refusal and she agrees.

 

A few months pass and I am back up there again with a huge wad of cash. Certainly she will not pass up cash! I walk in and she immediately recognizes me. I say that I am here to buy the hat! She tells me that it is gone. I then remind her about our "agreement". She remembers and concurs. She said that someone stole it! She then laments to me that she should have indeed sold it to me when she had the chance. Being a bit perturbed at the moment I agreed with her only to remind her that I still have my money but she does not have a hat!!

 

Fast forward about 15 years. I am up there again on business and have time to go to this same shop. Mind you it has been 15+ years since I have been in that shop. I walk in and I see a WW2 era helmet and liner sitting on the counter on a stand. I pick it up to have a better look without saying a word to her. She immediately says that it is not for sale!

 

I put it down and quietly leave.

[willysmb44]

Oh, the "that's not for sale" store. I never understood that.

I remember a 'store' on the road between Tallahassee and Panama City, Florida (where state road 20 meets 231 southbound, if memory serves). The place had all kinds of neat stuff (both military and other) and I swear, nothing seemed to be for sale. It was like a personal collection shaped as a store.

The entire session had the following repeated several times by myself and a pal of mine:

"Hey, how much you looking for on this?"

"Oh, that? Hmmm.... I wanna keep that, it's not for sale."

This went on and on, to where when we left, my pal asked, "Hey, I'm just curious, was anything here ever for sale?" You can imagine the look we got. Seriously, my friend started just picking up random stuff, curious if he could get a price on anything. Those (mostly staged) scenes in the "American Pickers" show where they troll through stuff and the owner isn't selling always remind me of that day.

A few years later, I drove past the site of the place and you couldn't even tell there'd been a building there. I guess he sold something after all.