The Vintage Sign On American Pickers That Fetched Double The Original Offer
The mark of a great picker is someone who can look past all of the junk in someone's garage to find the treasure. Plenty of untrained eyes have probably glossed over valuables over the years, but if you know what you're looking for, you can stumble upon real gold. This is demonstrated in every episode of "American Pickers" when Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz go around someone's property to see what they can find.
A lot of the time, the items they find are too dusty or rusted to be worth anything of substantial value, but if they're willing to dig a little bit, they can come across some items worth some big bucks. As such, it certainly makes sense for them to spend a little extra time rooting around just in case something valuable is hiding right around the corner. That's precisely what happened during Season 20's "Space Invaders Smackdown" when the gang found a sign worth some big bucks.
It's a good thing the seller held out
The scene in question from "Space Invaders Smackdown" starts off like so many on "American Pickers." Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz drive up to an old garage where they meet the seller in question. He has an abundance of items, many of which look like they've seen better days, but Wolfe and Fritz know better than to give up that easily. After some digging, Wolfe uncovers a vintage sign for United Service Motors.
Wolfe clearly knows something is up because he asks the seller if he's ever gotten an offer on it before. He says he was offered $300 many years ago, but Wolfe knows something most people don't. This sign has value, so he goes above and beyond and says he'll pay $1,600. The seller wants a little bit more than that, so Wolfe goes up to $1,700, and they have a deal.
The quest at that point then centers on finding a bracket so that the sign can be adequately displayed. The guys do a bit more digging, and sure enough, there's a bracket in that garage, as well. It's all in a day's work for the guys, who got out of there with a great-looking sign for their trouble.