The Real And The Fake In ‘American Pickers’

The History Channel has a number of programs that are enjoyed by its devoted viewers, but one of the network’s favorites among fans is American Pickers. The show follows Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz and their various travels across the country to barns, attics, garages, and more. Typically finding themselves among collectors of memorabilia (who sometimes appear to be more like hoarders than legitimate collectors), Mike and Frank dig through the piles of what might seem like junk to some to find true treasures.

The show is chock-full of strange incidents and quirky characters, but that’s not the only thing that’s odd about the program. Continue reading to learn more about American Pickers, including the secrets you didn’t know about the popular series.

They Love To Haggle

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Mike and Frank are notorious negotiators on the show. It’s always depicted that, when they meet the people who own the items they want, they always negotiate a fair price down from a set value that the person has in mind. That’s not always what’s happening when the cameras aren’t rolling, however…

It turns out that it’s a common practice for the crew to set a price along with the guests before Mike or Frank show up. Once they do, the hosts of the program try to negotiate to that set price — once the filming has started, that is. In other words, there’s not much of a real negotiation happening at all, at least as far as the hosts are concerned.