Matt, I'm going to share a very dark and private Parker collector's secret with you. It involves how Parker collectors start out collecting, how they progress, and how they end up when vast experience kicks in. It is a simple formula that protects beginners in the Parker collecting game, kind of half way helps them as they progress, and puts them totally on their own when they get to the top of the heap with wonderful collections and heavy checkbooks. I told you the formula is simple, and here it is: For the first ten years, don't pay any more than 55% of what you think or anyone tells you a Parker is worth. For the second ten years, you may pay as much as 65% of what you think or anyone tells you a Parker is worth. As the years go by, raise the percentage by ten or fifteen percent every five or ten years. By the time you are in the game thirty or forty years, emotion takes over and you will be paying anywhere from 90% to 140% of what you or anyone else thinks something is worth, but you will be secure in your choices and your collection will make you happy, even though you are grossly overpaying for almost every gun you buy. I have been collecting Parkers for fifty five years, so I am at the top of the heap as far as the percentage of value I am paying for Parkers, but I am very happy.
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