American Pickers is depressing

[slapass]

Why do people have all of this shitty crap? The they spend all day buying three pieces. The old guy should dump it all. It is amazing. They have buildings filled with crap and they look broke as hell.

Then a guy has 500,000 square feet just to store his shit. That is over 2 million a year in rent etc to store all of this shit and he won't sell it. They are all so nuts.

[lazycash]

Originally Posted by slapass

Why do people have all of this shitty crap? The they spend all day buying three pieces. The old guy should dump it all. It is amazing. They have buildings filled with crap and they look broke as hell.

Then a guy has 500,000 square feet just to store his shit. That is over 2 million a year in rent etc to store all of this shit and he won't sell it. They are all so nuts.

2 million a year in rent? Most of the shows are just old collectors living on land and buildings they own outright.

[L-Pink]

The two guys drive hundreds of miles, dicker around for hours, buy $200 worth of shit, get in their Mercedes van and drive away. WTF?

[lazycash]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

The two guys drive hundreds of miles, dicker around for hours, buy $200 worth of shit, get in their Mercedes van and drive away. WTF?

...and get paid bank by History channel.

[Harmon]

Mike and Frank kick ass

[Fat Panda]

yup stupid fucking show

i bet they ass pack in the back of that van

[2013]

I like daniel

[slapass]

Originally Posted by lazycash

2 million a year in rent? Most of the shows are just old collectors living on land and buildings they own outright.

$4/ sq. ft. Is pretty cheap. It was one guy but lots of the guys have commercial space or warehouses that they are storing all of this junk. The Pickers pick $500-$1000 for the best stuff so the whole place is $5000 tops and they could get that every yr in rent for the second house or whatever. It is just crazy as hell.

[davethedope]

Loved that fuckin show when it was on netflix last year

[dyna mo]

the one guy, that's a vintage levis nut, does he ever score any vintage levis?

[baddog]

Stop judging a book by its cover. I have been places with the parking lots filled with pickups, and every person in there could by and sell most on this board.

[lazycash]

Originally Posted by slapass

$4/ sq. ft. Is pretty cheap. It was one guy but lots of the guys have commercial space or warehouses that they are storing all of this junk. The Pickers pick $500-$1000 for the best stuff so the whole place is $5000 tops and they could get that every yr in rent for the second house or whatever. It is just crazy as hell.

Most of the time its a barn out back or the garage and its just stuff they've accumulated over their life, you're way over analyzing it. Get out of the city and explore farm country and you'll find its not that crazy.

[slapass]

Originally Posted by lazycash

Most of the time its a barn out back or the garage and its just stuff they've accumulated over their life, you're way over analyzing it. Get out of the city and explore farm country and you'll find its not that crazy.

You might not know many farmers. Space is money. Land, barns, etc is how they make their living. The guys who do well can tell if a farm is making money the minute they get on the property. Does the guy own every car he has ever had? Old equipment all over the place? Land not being used?

It is a business just like any other one.

[Supz]

I wonder how everyone looks homeless but has tons of money to buy junk.

[lazycash]

Originally Posted by slapass

You might not know many farmers. Space is money. Land, barns, etc is how they make their living. The guys who do well can tell if a farm is making money the minute they get on the property. Does the guy own every car he has ever had? Old equipment all over the place? Land not being used?

It is a business just like any other one.

Lol, watch the show a little more, again you're way over analyzing it. If you think the show is boring and sucks, I get that, but most of the collectors they pick from are seniors who don't work and don't need the money. They've accumulated years of collections and are simply now willing to part with some of it because they realize they are going to die holding it and wouldn't mind someone else enjoying what they've spent their life collecting.

[xNetworx]

That show always bored me

[baddog]

Originally Posted by slapass

You might not know many farmers. Space is money. Land, barns, etc is how they make their living. The guys who do well can tell if a farm is making money the minute they get on the property. Does the guy own every car he has ever had? Old equipment all over the place? Land not being used?

It is a business just like any other one.

You just described my best friend
















Oh, FYI, not all farms are used for farming these days.

[dillfly2000]

Try watching "Canadian Pickers", it gets even worse.

You can literally see one on the pickers ghost talking the other guys lines as he reads the cue cards.

[kane]

Originally Posted by slapass

You might not know many farmers. Space is money. Land, barns, etc is how they make their living. The guys who do well can tell if a farm is making money the minute they get on the property. Does the guy own every car he has ever had? Old equipment all over the place? Land not being used?

It is a business just like any other one.

Like others have said, I think you are over thinking it. I have seen a number of episodes of the show and most of the people they meet seem to be either living on land that has often been in their family for a very long time. I grew up in a small redneck/country town and there were tons of big farms all around town that had nothing going on them. At some point the farm might have been used for something, but those days are long past and now it is just a bunch of land, but those that own it don't want to sell it.

[kane]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

The two guys drive hundreds of miles, dicker around for hours, buy $200 worth of shit, get in their Mercedes van and drive away. WTF?

I get the feeling we only see a small number of the deals they make or we only see them when they take the bigger trips.

[AllAboutCams]

2 of the gayest guys on tv

[blackmonsters]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

The two guys drive hundreds of miles, dicker around for hours, buy $200 worth of shit, get in their Mercedes van and drive away. WTF?

Sounds like a typical trip to Venice Beach to me.

[keysync]

There was an episode where they bought some stuff from a guy I actually know.
They showed them buying about $2,000 worth of stuff and then left.
He told me they spent all day and filled the van with stuff and spent a shit ton of money at his place.
Definitely edited down he said.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by slapass

You might not know many farmers. Space is money. Land, barns, etc is how they make their living. The guys who do well can tell if a farm is making money the minute they get on the property. Does the guy own every car he has ever had? Old equipment all over the place? Land not being used?

It is a business just like any other one.

I know lots of farmers, my family is full of them. My grandpa owns a bunch of land and a bunch of barns. The barns are full of garbage that he has collected over the years. The land is paid for. The government pays him rent for some of the land for crops. Other parts of the land he rents to other people. Nobody wants to rent his barns.

[PR_Glen]

Originally Posted by Sly

I know lots of farmers, my family is full of them. My grandpa owns a bunch of land and a bunch of barns. The barns are full of garbage that he has collected over the years. The land is paid for. The government pays him rent for some of the land for crops. Other parts of the land he rents to other people. Nobody wants to rent his barns.

does he have any anvils? if so i'll ride out there for a pick up ;)

[Sly]

Originally Posted by PR_Glen

does he have any anvils? if so i'll ride out there for a pick up ;)

LOL, he just might. He loves auctions. I will ask him if he has any blacksmith stuff.

[slapass]

Originally Posted by baddog

You just described my best friend
















Oh, FYI, not all farms are used for farming these days.

Yep, that is the most depressing looking stuff. Your friend might be a great guy but I could not live that way or even live close to people who live that way. I have no clue why watching stuff that had/has value slowly rust away is fun or interesting. Fix it, sell it, get rid of it but just leaving like that does not fit my midwest values at all.

[The Porn Nerd]

The glorification of garbage picking is really disturbing.
Like Pawn Stars, too - fucking degenerate gamblers in Vegas selling off whatever they can for games, hookers and blow. Then they spend ten minutes 'negotiating' for a twenty dollar item. Nuts.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by slapass

Yep, that is the most depressing looking stuff. Your friend might be a great guy but I could not live that way or even live close to people who live that way. I have no clue why watching stuff that had/has value slowly rust away is fun or interesting. Fix it, sell it, get rid of it but just leaving like that does not fit my midwest values at all.

I am pretty sure I can speak for Gary when I say, he does not give two shits about your "midwest values." We don't live in the midwest; while shit will rot away with your fucked up weather, that isn't really an issue in CA.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by baddog

I am pretty sure I can speak for Gary when I say, he does not give two shits about your "midwest values." We don't live in the midwest; while shit will rot away with your fucked up weather, that isn't really an issue in CA.

Not really "Midwest values." Midwest is full of pack rats. Plenty of space to store everything.

[2013]

I like hoarders better

[slapass]

Originally Posted by Sly

Not really "Midwest values." Midwest is full of pack rats. Plenty of space to store everything.

Yeah, I am just trying to justify why it hit me so weird. Selling rusty old gas station signs isn't any worse then selling porn.

[sarah-teamcmp]

Originally Posted by kane

Like others have said, I think you are over thinking it. I have seen a number of episodes of the show and most of the people they meet seem to be either living on land that has often been in their family for a very long time. I grew up in a small redneck/country town and there were tons of big farms all around town that had nothing going on them. At some point the farm might have been used for something, but those days are long past and now it is just a bunch of land, but those that own it don't want to sell it.

+1
I grew up in a similar area. I would say it's probably common in small towns all over the US. I knew plenty of people who did this sort of pack-rat thing on old farm land. Some collected for a hobby and others collected stuff to resell for antiques or scrap. I didn't think it was that weird until all these shows started springing up like American Pickers and Storage Wars.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by slapass

Yeah, I am just trying to justify why it hit me so weird. Selling rusty old gas station signs isn't any worse then selling porn.

More profit in those rusty signs.

[2013]

baddog is a hoarder

[baryl]

Originally Posted by lazycash

...and get paid bank by History channel.

Why I always chuckle when they haggle over twenty bucks on Pawn Stars

[SomeCreep]

Materialism is a disease of the mind.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by baryl

Why I always chuckle when they haggle over twenty bucks on Pawn Stars

Because reality TV is so real.

[pimpmaster9000]

tv is turning in to bullshit because it costs less to produce bullshit than it does to produce quality material...

"reality" will be the end of TV as we know it...

a good show with good actors and what not costs say 1.000.000$ per episode and upwards...

a "reality show" with nobody-s as the main actors and some fake scripts costs like 10K$ max...why do an expensive show about interesting stuff like quantum physics or cutting edge engineering when you can rent 2 inbreed swamp loggers and make a "Reality show"...

its funny to see quality TV going out like porn...the reality shows are the tubes of mainstream TV LOL...the only savior for man kind is to introduce "stupid tax"...if your show insults non redneck intelligence you should pay dearly for lowering the bar so much...

[cthulhu_waves]

I stopped watching Pickers and replaced it with Duck Dynasty. Now that's real television. ;-)

[RebelR]

For the most part with these old farms, the owners are retired from farming. They themselves may not work the land, but would rent out the land to larger operations who still cash crop. That pays the taxes and quite a bit of the living expenses, since most of the farms are long since paid off. All the old outbuildings near the barn and house are just prime for these old guys to just stuff to the rafters, and over a lifetime, that stuff adds up. Farmers never throw away anything. There's always a use for it. And in years back, there was no garbage collection or land fill to take scrap and refuse to.

We have an old farm. In the back woods we have a dirt pile full of old bottles, there's an old VW Beetle as well as various old farm implements (some which are in surprisingly good shape considering they are over 100 years old and have been sitting in the elements all this time) Try going to a farm auction every once in a while, these old guys have nothing better to do than hang out with old friends, and buy boxes of stuff for $1 that no one else seems to want. I'll be that more than a few gems have come into their possession (harder now since its easy to look anything that looks remotely interesting up on the internet). Like the old saying goes "one mans trash, is another man's treasure" And these guys have been to quite a few places that are filled with stuff that is certainly not junk.

All in all, a pretty interesting show, that digs up some cool pieces. I think pickers can sometimes rescue items of significance that may have been destined to head to the landfill otherwise.