Texas woman scored ancient Roman bust for $34.99 at Goodwill

[O Donna]

https://www.star-telegram.com/latest-news/wc2nfh/picture261085607/alternates/FREE_1140/Screenshot%20(1283)_fitted.png

Texas woman scored ancient Roman bust for $34.99 at Goodwill

Published: May 6, 2022 at 9:18 a.m. ET

Laura Young, the savvy shopper with the good eye, told The Art Newspaper that she spotted the marble bust of a man with curly hair and a beard on the floor, under a table, at her local Goodwill. It looked “pretty dirty, pretty old,” she said. She bought it for less than $40, thinking someone might want to buy it from her for a garden statue or something. It weighed a hefty 52 pounds, and she asked a Goodwill employee to help her carry it to her car, where she buckled it in with a seatbelt to keep it safe during the ride home.

Source (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/texas-woman-scored-ancient-roman-bust-for-34-99-at-goodwill-11651843092)

..........................

The reason I posted this is how I am continually astounded by what drives market value of everything in society at large.

Everything from fiat currency, bitcoin, Non-fungible token, all forms of art, the list goes on...

(Experts could patiently explain it all and I'd still be astounded)

A famous artist could do a single sweeping brush stroke on canvas give it a name and its 'value' assessed something insane. Or

That same artist could have painted a 'masterpiece' secretly never signing their name to it leaving it at a garage sale where it would sale for the value of the frame and canvas.

Or how about selling water in a creative bottle with a trending rappers name affixed? It could even be the very same generic bottled water sold at Walmart but sold for 3x more.

True supply vs. demand? Not buying it. Smoke and mirrors the more likely driving force.

I think the Monopoly game needs a major upgrade to keep up. :facepalm:

Our consumer world is crazy.

[JackMcThorn]

A general rule of thumb outside of supply v. demand is:

The value of something is subject to what a person is willing to pay for it and has nothing to do with any asking price.

A good example is the typical auction. Some items sell far below a 'perceived value' and some items sell for quite a lot over a 'perceived value' and in both cases the so called valuation experts will be wrong in their wholesale valuations of particular items. It doesn't matter if the auctioned item is a collectable, a painting, or an automobile. In order to get a good price one has to have some discipline at an auction, know their products and restoration processes, and have the monetary resources required.

I mention restoration processes as there is usually contention regarding professional and original specifications for restoration. On depreciating items such as classic automobiles: one must take a much harder look at the restoration process and the dealer's/owner's reputation. [I am not talking about wholesale car auctions for the consumer.] Some levels of restoration that diminish originality in the components usually lose points in competitive auto shows, and therefore lose value.

Whenever possible, offer to pay what you think is fair. If the sale closes, then that is what the object value was actually at the time of sale. This does not mean you could resell it at that price, btw.

[Brigantia]

I have to say that I dream of a find like that when I go around the car boot sale... my best find was a factory-sealed and sought after tarot deck, bought for 50p and sold for £50.

[O Donna]

A general rule of thumb outside of supply v. demand is:

The value of something is subject to what a person is willing to pay for it and has nothing to do with any asking price.

A good example is the typical auction. Some items sell far below a 'perceived value' and some items sell for quite a lot over a 'perceived value' and in both cases the so called valuation experts will be wrong in their wholesale valuations of particular items. It doesn't matter if the auctioned item is a collectable, a painting, or an automobile. In order to get a good price one has to have some discipline at an auction, know their products and restoration processes, and have the monetary resources required.

I mention restoration processes as there is usually contention regarding professional and original specifications for restoration. On depreciating items such as classic automobiles: one must take a much harder look at the restoration process and the dealer's/owner's reputation. [I am not talking about wholesale car auctions for the consumer.] Some levels of restoration that diminish originality in the components usually lose points in competitive auto shows, and therefore lose value.

Whenever possible, offer to pay what you think is fair. If the sale closes, then that is what the object value was actually at the time of sale. This does not mean you could resell it at that price, btw.

I like that saying....

Your money is no good here.

https://i0.wp.com/arnoldzwicky.s3.amazonaws.com/BizarroNoGood.jpg

The above meme could be used in a number of dimensions creatively speaking.

Thanks JackMcThorn and Brigantia, thanks for broadening the scope of the OP. It's an interesting subject matter then I initially thought when posting.

[cannawizard]

that woman did score a nice find, kudos to her~ :sherlock:

"True supply vs. demand? Not buying it. Smoke and mirrors the more likely driving force."

--indeed. zooming out and watching it all play out, makes one wonder the elaborate steps put into motion long ago to make such systems 'flourish', "tis easier to trick people, than to tell them they have been tricked"~

:moon: cheers :sun:

[Sue (Ayt)]

I remember browsing a yard sale once, and there were several old blue folders of penny collections for sale, marked 15cents apiece. No one seemed the least bit interested, although inside each folder there were about 50 pennies on display! My kids bought the whole stack. We had a good laugh over that.

[Did You See Them]

My first thought was .. how did it get there ?
Was it a souvenir brought "home" by a US soldier, or taken by a fleeing paperclip Nazi scientist !
I'm not a collector of anything in particular but I like what I like.
I once bought an empty Salvador Dali wine bottle for £4 to use as an ornament but a year later sold it on ebay to an american buyer for over a £100. I'd grown bored of it as a dust harbourer.
I still have a film prop Luftwaffe jacket made by Angel's of Islington that was used in "The Battle of Britain" film and various other 60's war films. I contacted them to verify it's labels and use (which they did ) but was then told it was still their property and they wanted it back !
I would have happily given them it but their attitude stank and I hung up on them. I'd been given it in the early 80's by a well known film director from his collection. I never got to even tell them how it came in to my possession as they went immediately for the jugular making out I was some kind of criminal for having it. Hence why I hung up.
Still living in the back of my wardrobe.