Stained Glass Coke Advertising

[coke_and_stuff]

I about hit the floor when the property of Coca Cola band picture was posted. Thats a KILLER find. I would VERY carefully use dawn soap on it. Its mild enough to cut the dirt and grease but gentle enough not to hurt it. I would not polish the brass but thats just me. Again KILLER find congrats and if you decide to sell I wish you all the luck for top $$.

Joey

[Gumbo]

WOW-Congrats! What a great find.

[halehouse]

Wow.  All I can say is wow.
What kind of building was it?  It is amazing that this shade is not broken.

[davethebirdman]

In my humbble opinion if you were looking to sell it I'd clean it up best as you can and get it as quickly as possible on Ebay to grab that Christmas rush.

If its a keeper I would have a professional restorer have a look at it. Its cost you nothing so far
so the investment in having it corretcly cleaned would be well worth it.

Whatever, that was an excellent find well done and the very best of luck.

Dave

It was found in a residential dwelling that a good friend of mine had just purchased.  He has been in the process of gutting out the interior, and we came across it while looking at some structural issues along one side of the house.  It was buried deep underneath a staircase behind a bunch of old clothes and other junk.

He said to me "You keep it, you have a bunch of that old Coke crap."  I have known this guy forever (1st grade - over 33 years).  I had him come by last night for beers and showed him this posts.  All he kept saying was "Lucky you found it, that ugly thing would have ended up in the dumpster."  I was afraid to ask him what else he had thrown out, but he said that this was "the only pile of old lady stuff that I came across in the house".

I am still not sure if I am going to keep it or not.  If I do, I would be sharing any cash w/ Rob, as it was in his house.  He insists that I keep it, because as he said, "It was heading for the dumpster" but that wouldn't be right if I was to sell it.  We have been buddies far too long.

Is now the best time to try and sell it if I wanted to get rid of it?  Is Ebay the best place to auction it off, or is there somewhere else that it would get a better audiance from serious collectors?

I will post more pictures as the cleaning progresses.

[jasmine64too]

If you put it on ebay, I would have it pick up only. That way shipping wouldnt be a headache or nerve wracking. I'd be so worried it would be broken during shipping.

[halehouse]

I would very carefully clean it as best I could, then, if needed have a professional clean it to get it looking its best.  I would take my time and not worry about selling during Christmas. I don't think the holiday buying would factor in that much differently when it comes to this.  I wouldn't go through eBay. I would contact an auction house such as Morphy Auctions who specializes in advertising auctions.  They run the Metz auctions now. After cleaning the shade I would contact someone like Gary Metz through Morphy to see what their advice would be. Of course you would still have to get it to them to auction.  I think I still have my catalogs from previous auctions when they where in Roanoke. I will look to see if any sold in the past.

Auction Site Link

[TomFromJersey]

Halehouse's advise in contacting an auctioneer is very solid, they advertise heavily in all the antique trade papers and send out info directly to collectors. I wouldn't try to sell it on e-bay. Alan Petretti is the foremost authority on Coke items, and he runs auctions twice a year. You can call him directly at 201-488-4536.
   Hope this helps
        Tom

[collecture]

First off - unbelievable find - congratulations!!
I am with Dave on having it professionally cleaned if you are going to keep it.
If you are going to sell it on eBay, I would get it on as quick as you can. I would do just what Joey said and clean it with a mild detergent and that's it. Many collectors prefer items as original as possible, so polishing the brass or anything might actually hurt the value. Make sure you have plenty of pictures that are clear and be sure to note any and all damage. Do your research on the item and have a good description with lots of search words. I would not limit yourself to pickup only as this cuts out a large market. Instead, list it with mandatory shipping insurance. Buy NEW boxes for packaging - wrap it in bubble wrap, then submerge it in a box of packing peanuts with at least two inches clearance on each side and then submerge that box inside another box of packing peanuts with three inches of clearnce on each side. With shipping, don't offer any ground shipping - too much handling. Use Priority or Expedited shipping. Anybody that is going to pay $5000 for a vintage lampshade will not balk at $100 in shipping expense. Lastly, if you do not have a lot of selling feedback on eBay - consider taking it to one of the "isoldit" on eBay locations as they might have a better reputation; however, Halehouse has probably posted the best advice if you are going the auction route.

[halehouse]

Oh, I have a bunch of past Pettretti auction (Nostalgia Publications) catalogs too with prices realized. Does he still do that auction? For whatever reason I stopped getting the catalogs and haven't seen any more in a while. I'll have to check them to see if there are any shades that sold.