Be careful of ripoffs. My husband always says if a salesman says he "is honest" more then three times in five minutes - run in the other direction, quickly. I do estate saleswww.notyormothersestatesale.com, its what I do and I try to do the best job possible for my clients. I am also quick to admit I dont know everything and every now and then you come across a piece that is just different, no markings but you can see the quality. That is exactly what happened at a recent sale. The owner brought out two pieces of heavy crystal one a dog the other a donkey. Just holding these items you new they were special.

So I went home an did all of my homework on them or so I thought. I suspected these were Heisey Glass pieces and if they were they would be worth hundreds of dollars each. So I trotted off to a "known" collector. Oh he hemmed and hawed at the pieces and said he would get back to me after he researched them..I never said what I thought about them..that night the Antique dealer/collector/honest guy called me twice to call him back. It was Saturday night so he would have to stew for a bit. I called on Sunday and he told me he had an offer for me..$60.00 for the two pieces, when I did not react immediately, partially because I was so stunned, he jumped right in and said "I'll go $80.00". I thanks him for his offer and told him I would think about it. I already had a contact in my hand from Replacements.com for more then $500.00 for the two pieces. The moral...Do your homework and run if someone tells you how honest they are more then three times in five minutes;.