Expect to pay full retail prices for items that are clean! Items not cleaned you should figure on the price being discounted 20% to 30% or even more from retail pricing. But be careful with pieces that are covered in grease as you never know what is under that grease. I have overpaid a number of times for items covered in grease that were not as perfect as they appeared to be. One nice #9 Griswold block logo skillet covered in grease turned out to be quite pitted on the bottom from use on a coal stove. I can't resell this pan as people look at it and make a inward sucking sound when they see it, so it has become an everyday user in my kitchen, it is a great pan probably the best pan I use.
Take any pan you are interested in and handle it, check it over thoroughly. Feel the pan, is it smooth or rough? Put the pan on a flat surface and grab the sides does it rock back and forth? Knock the pan does it have a nice ring or a thunk? You want the pan to be smooth, sit flat and ring. The ring means it has no cracks but don't be fooled, knock the pan all over with a metal object because knocking on the bottom only you might miss a crack, like I have on a beautiful #9 Erie pan. I knocked the bottom of the Erie pan and it rang like a bell but I later discovered it had a crack near the handle. So I knocked the Erie pan again and it rang like a bell on the bottom but as I knocked around the sides I discovered the thunk from the crack that I could now see because I had cleaned the pan.
One thing that is extremely important to remember is not to get overly excited about a find. Stay calm. Don't let your heart race away with your emotions. Look at any cast iron purchase as a business transaction. Easy words to say but extremely hard to do. I get carried away far too often and make mistakes overpaying or buying damaged goods. So do as I say not as I do because I have a growing pile of broken pieces of cast iron in my garage.
If this sounds like too much, you can always buy from my store! I have already taken the risk on dirty, grimy, greasy and rusty pans and cleaned them to a beautiful condition and offer them for sale at very reasonable prices in my store at Etsy.
The pan that causes the sucking sound from people who see it!
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