We envied the lives of American Pickers’ Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz for a while. They travel around all over North America to get their hands on the next big antique find and translate that into dollars. Their passion about what they did was highly contagious, and it turned us into amateur antique pickers wannabes. However, as the show kept on, viewers started noticing little things about the show that just didn’t sit quite right. All show have their secrets, and here are the 10 things that American Pickers kept from us all.
Their business is legit after all, and most of the time we see them giving people decent money for their junk. However, some people who have negotiated with the pickers have come out and said the negotiations were not always what it seemed on TV. Let’s just say that a lot of people lost money dealing with Mike and Frank, which isn’t what they play off on screen.
Producers pick too.
While we know that Mike, Frank, and Danielle do their part in finding locations to possibly pick, we’ve also figured out that the producers are pickers too. They’re the ones who go through submissions from viewers, and they’re certainly the ones who get the final decision on where the camera crews will end up.
Danielle’s a burlesque dancer.
Although Danielle doesn’t hide this fact, it’s never once mentioned in the show. She actually sees burlesque dancing as nothing more than an art form, and she actually finds her burlesque vintage costumes when she’s picking.
They might have planted some items.
This is probably the worst allegation that has been put up against the pickers. Mike and Frank pride themselves over finding some of the coolest antiques while on the road. How disheartening would it be if some of these items were actually planted? It would mean that the show is a complete sham.
It’s a show of authors.
Mike Wolfe has written a few books himself, but the real star is Hobo Jack, a recurring guest on the show. Hobo Jack may be hobo, but he’s actually authored and published a few books. Apart from that, he also has five music albums under his belt.
Producers have predetermined pricing.
There really isn’t much left to haggle with when the prices have already been determined beforehand. Apparently, this is how the show does it, and sellers are even told when and how to negotiate.
Frank Fitz doesn’t like picking.
We know that Mike Wolfe is all about the picking life, but Frank is not as passionate about it as his partner is. He’s in it for the show, but that’s pretty much it.
Mike and Frank are wealthy.
Although the show makes them seem like they’re hardworking small business owners like everyone else, they actually have quite the net worth to them. Mike is estimated to have $7 million to his name while Frank has $4 million. They both earn $500k per episode. That’s definitely not small business game.
They can’t ever fake history.
With reality shows, there’s always going to be portions that are staged. This is true for this show as well. However, none of these guys can ever fake the history of their finds–not the producers, not Danielle, not Frank, and not even Mike.
The show is ending soon.
Many of the people that come across Mike and Frank say that the two don’t get along well in real life at all. It could be a sign of why the show might be coming to an end, which Mike already confirmed in a radio interview.
