Did you inherit some vintage lures from a relative and want to sell them? Maybe your neighbor or a friend dropped off an old tackle box since they knew you were a fisherman and wants your help. Or maybe you just want to find the value for the lures you have and plan on keeping them. It doesn’t matter how you obtained them, selling or valueing them could be overwhelming at first!
Collectors might tell you to go to Ebay and look at sold items. That might be easy for seasoned collectors, but most vintage lures do not have a name on them. Without a name you can’t look them up…… Even seasoned collectors have trouble identifying unmarked lures!
There are a few ways to identify lures, here are a few.
Books: Carl Luckey, Karl White, have put out books for all types of vintage lures. These are best for beginners instead of buying ”specialist” books on one maker or brand. Here’s a tip, look at the style of the lure including the hardware and eyes to simplify your search. Warning: Books often provide values, however, values get outdated quickly, so don’t rely on values in books. At best they can give you a guideline on values.
Facebook: Join Facebook groups that help. There are pages that specialize in Identification like “Identify Pre 1980 Fishing Lures” and pages like “Antique Fishing Tackle Collectors”.
Google: Google has a new feature that allows you to shoot an image of the item and it brings up similar images on the web.
Websites: Joesoldlures.com, AntiqueLures.com, mrlurebox.com
Network: Find a few collectors that are willing to help you out. Be careful not to abuse another collectors knowledge, remember it is a two way street. The NFLCC is a fantastic club to join, and if you are in Florida, Carolinas, or Texas, they all have clubs as well.
Now your off and running….. Once you know what you have, its time to go to Ebay sold items and try to get values. Looking at completed listings can give you an idea of unsold items too, and that can tell you if your price is attainable. There are many other sites and Facebook pages you can go to on the web in order to get values like Worthpoint, Live Auctioneers, ”Deal or no Deal” on Facebook, and Vintage Lure Shows put on by the NFLCC club. “Tackle Find” is another app that you can find in the App store for high end lures.
Next you need to determine the condition of the lure and the color. For instance, A Creek Chub Pikie in Perch color might be worth $40 in excellent condition, but the same lure and color in Poor condition might be $5. A special order Pikie in White Scale color in excellent condition might be a $250 lure. As you can see, Condition and Color are extremely important in determining values. There are also variations in hardware, and material that determine age of the lure that can also contribute to value changes. Boxes and paperwork in the boxes with the lure, can more than double the value of your find as well!
If you get overwhelmed, don’t feel bad, we all have been there. Learning takes time, but research and information you obtain is part of the fun!
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