The Rare Cycle Car American Pickers Was Willing To Buy For Thousands
Normally on "American Pickers," Mike Wolfe is the one who takes charge. He may have Frank Fritz or his brother, Robbie Wolfe, by his side, but he typically handles most of the negotiations. It makes sense, seeing how the items end up in his shop, so he's the one who needs to decide how much money he can afford to spend in order to turn a profit. A lot of the time, he makes some fairly manageable purchases, usually under $100, that he can make some modest money on. Then there are the times when Wolfe goes all-in on a sale, being more than happy to spend thousands to make thousands more.
That was the case with the Season 11 episode, "Enter the Negotiator." The pickers find themselves face-to-face with a vintage cycle car worth a ton of money, but the rub, in this case, is that Wolfe isn't there in person to handle the negotiation. As such, he leaves that in the capable hands of Fritz and Dave Ohrt. The cycle car may have cost Wolfe a bunch of dough, but he should've been able to turn a nice profit on it.
The pickers spend $35,000 on the cycle car
During this particular excursion, Fritz and Ohrt stumble upon an old cycle car, which is a lightweight vehicle that was popular during the 1910s and '20s. They're hard to come by these days, and as such, they're naturally worth quite a bit of money. The seller seemingly knows this, and when it comes time to open the negotiation, he starts it at $37,500.
Before throwing down that kind of cash, the pickers first have to get in touch with Mike Wolfe to see how much he's comfortable spending on it. Wolfe tells them not to go higher than $35,000 since he believes he'd only be able to get around $40,000 for the car. After some more back and forth, they eventually land on precisely $35,000, and to just be a nice guy, the seller agrees that if Wolfe isn't happy with the car, he can return it for a full refund.
That's not the kind of deal you often see on "American Pickers," but everyone seems ecstatic. It's easily one of the most expensive purchases ever made on the show, but if Wolfe actually got $40,000 for it, it was all worth it.