Nice Antique Stove Cheap...

Im keeping my eyes open for a local base burner bargain or a Bit Burner bargain local to me and all im finding are a ton of folks who seemingly know nothing about what they are selling
http://providence.craigslist.org/atq/3681679137.html (what are these folks smokin" )
http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/for/3669284097.html (i can buy this totally refurbished and warrantied from Chubby stove owner for that price)


anyways, Im seeing coal stoves listed as wood, antiques that are 20 years old and 20 year old stoves that are truly antiques Is their any rhyme or reason to this or do you guys weed through miles of posting on CL or whatever
to find these bargains i keep hearing about?

totally frustrated so im sharing my frustration in the coffee shop this morning

As a used car salesman once told me "There is an a$$ for every seat". Do you wish for a world where everybody is an expert at Anthracite heating and stoves? I like to keep it a secret - more coal for us and makes it possible for us to find that 100 year old treasure that I searched 2 years for and read through 10,000 ads. Panning for gold takes time. If you want instant gratification I can lead you to a $15000 Wehrle 100 - do you want the phone number - your search would be over.

No one said it would be easy. Like CoalNewbie I searched and searched. Had a couple of good leads and false starts but chance favors the prepared. If you are serious about finding a good baseburner you have to pay your dues unless you want to drop $3000 to $5000 or more on a passing fancy.

You can buy, sell swap and trade you way into ownership as well. If you are serious you will do what needs to be done and you will appreciate it all the more when you have the Base Burner.

And yes Doug a lot people out there are bleepin' idiots when it comes to the value the place on their stuff. Most have NO CLUE and worse DON'T CARE either. They saw a similar unit for sale at "x" price so they feel their unit is worth that much or close to it as well. If it makes you feel better send that person with the $600 Chubby the prices for a used Chubby from Larry. Probably won't change their minds though.

The best buys almost always come from the poorly written ads with no or poor pictures.

The stoves you are looking for were the most expensive when they were new so naturally there will be more of the cheaper ordinary kind.

Sometimes sellers with outlandish prices need some time with no responses to be more realistic. I have seen prices of multi thousands that I would not have as a gift.

franco b wrote:The best buys almost always come from the poorly written ads with no or poor pictures.

The stoves you are looking for were the most expensive when they were new so naturally there will be more of the cheaper ordinary kind.

Sometimes sellers with outlandish prices need some time with no responses to be more realistic. I have seen prices of multi thousands that I would not have as a gift.

thats a good tip "the bargains are in the no photo, misrepresented ads", just found a beauty of a baseburner they called a woodstove (no mention of coal) I will let you know how it goes...

Doug

Also search the words "Pot Belly". Seen lots of Parlor and Base Burners listed as Pot Belly's by people.

ONEDOLLAR wrote:Doug

Also search the words "Pot Belly". Seen lots of Parlor and Base Burners listed as Pot Belly's by people.

I think your totally right... some people think they can compare their old cannon type rust bucket to a Glenwood Base burner because they are both antiques, and then some others thing their rare Glenwood base burner is a typical tall pot belly \

Im on the hunt!

I'm in the old stove business and I have seen it all. One day I'll see a stove that I sell restored and guaranteed for $2800, for sale for $4000. The next day I will see the same stove for $50. The strange thing is they are both in the same condition. Some folks watch" Antiques Road Show" and think the stove in the cellar is the Mona Lisa. Others see it as junk. I always offer a fair price that is OK for the seller and OK for me. Sometimes they are offended and sometimes overjoyed. I can't figure it out.
Buyers are just as strange. Some want the world for free, others have a grasp of what it takes to properly do the work.

I myself have been searching for a *small* coal cook stove to put in the basement in case of Armageddon....or if the power goes out for any length of time.

Just taking back franco's last word about gift: before I found/bought the Golden Bride, I saw an ad. in a Provincial antique sales site advertising a big antique stove, looking like a Kalamazoo base burner. The stove was looking not so bad on the photos. so we went to have a live look at it. Hum , the stove was almost falling down and maybe??? un-restorable, having so many broken parts and many missing other ones, overfired firepot...but a so big and certainly very heavy stove to move...
""Gift Price"": $6,000.00, but Canadian money
I forgot the gift
A few months later, the stove was sold...but at how much???? So the lesson: there is always someone wanting to buy what someone wants to sell!

I went to look at a nice baseheater stove about a year ago, the asking price was $2000. Not terrible if it was in good shape.
In the photos, it looked great, the nickel was all there and reasonably shiny, all pieces attached..

But in person.. well, it was pretty much a parts stove.. I think someone had dropped the stove on a corner when it was off the base.
there was a a big hole in the baseheater box, under the ashpan area.. the pieces were gone, and they had some good curves and compound curved and ornate casting in them too..

I told the guy it was just good for a decoration, that because of the broken and missing pieces that if someone burned wood or coal in it, it would be dangerous. I did offer $500 for it, as is.. I told him it was a gamble on my part that I could find a similar make and model stove for parts to repair it..

I never heard back from the guy..

DCrane: since you work in real estate, and access to many old homes, maybe put a note in a local realtor magazine, that you can 'dispose of' those unsighlty old hunks of iron in the basement of the newly listed houses??

Greg L

I posted these photos a few years back when I was looking to buy a house in my price range of $60,000 or less. These are pictures from one of the homes.