“Bares for Rares”: When no one wants to bid anymore, a dealer pulls out his cell phone

“Bares for Rares”
“We have a telephone joker”: When nobody wants to bid anymore, a dealer pulls out his mobile phone

A valuable lamp was for sale at “Bares for Rares”. Due to a lack of interest from dealers, the deal threatened to fail. But then Julian Schmitz-Avila picked up the phone.

Hans Schmid and his son-in-law Jens Kraft agree: It’s a “great lamp” that the two men from Bad Wilbach saved from the bulky waste. At first, Horst Lichter only felt like making a little mockery: “Gosh, just a few more years, then we can open a specialist shop,” he says to Detlev Kümmel. He jokes: “We’ll have all the lights through then.”

The lamp presented here comes from the Kalmar company, which was founded in Vienna in 1881, explains the expert. It is the “Catena” model and was made in the 1960s to 1970s. The sellers would like to have 500 euros for their object. But Kümmel goes far beyond that: There is a circle of collectors for these lights, so he estimates the value at 1000 to 1200 euros. “No,” exclaims Horst Lichter, who can hardly believe the sum. “Yeah well, then we’ll probably have to correct it a bit upwards,” says Kraft.

“Bares for Rares”: Julian Schmitz-Avila picks up the phone

To the delight of his colleagues, Julian Schmitz-Avila demonstrates the dimming function of the lamp in the dealer’s room. “Now I’m in the mood for the lamp, it listens to me,” says the 36-year-old. But at the auction, Wolfgang Pauritsch is the only one showing interest. His starting bid of 500 euros was not outbid by anyone present. But father and son-in-law don’t want to sell for that. “Maybe the wrong dealers are here today,” says Pauritsch.

Schmitz-Avila has an idea: “Shall we make a quick phone call,” he asks. “We have a telephone joker,” says Pauritsch happily. At the other end of the line, Markus Wildhagen, known from the show, answers. However, after seeing a photo of the lamps, his interest has cooled somewhat. After all, Wildhagen offers 600 euros over the phone. Wolfgang Pauritsch then increased his bid again by 100 to 700 euros.

Actually, the sellers want 1000 euros. As a compromise, Pauritsch adds another 50. Now it comes down to business, the lamp changes hands for 750 euros. “Now the Austrian has bought the Austrian lamp,” he comments on the deal. The sellers go home with a good feeling.

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