American Pickers' Mike Wolfe Doubled A Collector's Asking Price For Car Parts

Generally, the point of shows like "American Pickers" and "Pawn Stars" on History is that the likes of Mike Wolfe and Rick Harrison are purchasing items they can turn a profit on. However, as Wolfe proved on "American Pickers" Season 12, Episode 4 in 2014, he's intent on placing the interests of collectors he's buying items from before his own.

During a visit to a California-based Model T aficionado named Vern, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz were looking over hood ornaments. Even though Wolfe pointed out the flaws when discussing the condition of the pieces, he was still interested in purchasing them. The bonus for the collector was when Wolfe asked Vern how much he wanted for one of the pieces, he replied "$30 a piece?" Wolfe replied, "No," but instead of going lower on his offer, he went higher — to $60.

"I'm in the business of keeping up on prices," Wolfe said. "I ask Vern what he wants for them [and] he hits me with a low number. I want to make sure I take care of him and make some money. I give him a little bit more."

Lucky for Vern, Mike Wolfe was interested in purchase more hood ornaments from his collection. Offering a fair value for each of the parts, the "American Pickers" personality upped the ante and offered $130 for the next purchase, and accepted Vern's asking price of $125 for a third. By the time Wolff and his now-former colleague, Frank Fritz, decided on the remaining purchases from the collector's stash of vintage auto parts, the total sale added up to $330. At that, point, however, Vern showed that he was appreciative of Wolfe's generosity, and said, "How about $300?"

All in all, Vern was happy that Wolfe was looking out for him when making the purchases. "I didn't think they were worth that much," Vern said of the hood ornaments he sold to Wolfe. "He was very fair." Later, Vern added, "I made money off of Mike. Yes, I did."