rachelsmom
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posted on May 21, 2003 12:45:19 PM new
Here's a fun thread! Every once in awhile we almost all come across a real "find". Something underpriced that has the potential of a great profit margin.
I had a garage sale a couple of years ago, and asked my parents if they had anything they'd like to donate. My Dad has always been into computers; I remember playing with an old TI Texas Instruments computer when I was little, (20 years ago)with those big black cartridges. He gave me about 20 of them, and I actually had them for sale for a while.....then got bored and decided to go look some of it up on ebay.
It looked like some were selling for $30 or so, so I listed them all as a lot and ended up getting $140 for the lot!!! I could NOT believe it, now THAT is a great profit margin!!
How about it people... tell us your best profit stories!
[ edited by rachelsmom on May 21, 2003 01:05 PM ]
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lowprofile
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posted on May 21, 2003 12:58:08 PM new
You tell your first????
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marcn
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:03:52 PM new
My biggest profit is a really good story. It occured in the middle of 1998 during the Beanie Baby craze. I had been selling Beanie's for some time so my daughter who was 11 at the time had an idea of what was good. A kid at her school wanted to trade an "Old Face Cranberry Teddy" for one of her common ones. At the time I knew this was a good one but did not know how good...
This Beanie sold for $884. My wife freaked out over this and called the parents of the girl who we got this from and told them that it was sold on eBay. They proceeded to tell us that it was a special item that they had gotten in a hospital gift shop when the girl had been sick. We immediately told them we were going to give them half the money. They asked "How much?". When we said they would be getting more than $400 they were very happy  My daughter used her $400 plus to buy other Beanies and video games.
It was a great deal for everyone!
[ edited by marcn on May 21, 2003 01:04 PM ]
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gina50
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:14:58 PM new
Mine was ..........
We used to have a Goodwill where everything was only $1.00 !! Unreal, I know ! Gosh darn it, they closed that store 
Anyway, I found a Carole Little~ Moulon Rouge theme~ 2 piece skirt & top for $1.00...........sold on eBay for $150.00 
The movie came out like the next week, I often wonder what I would have gotten for it if I had waited !!
NOT gina50 on eBay
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shirsc
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:30:26 PM new
I got carried away at an auction and paid $20 for an old erector set. I was very new to ebay and Had no idea they were such a hot item--it sold for $168.00. I was thrilled!
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neglus
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:31:38 PM new
My highest profit was on a Titanic postcard that I picked up in an antique shop for $5 and sold last summer on eBay for $460. It was a White Star Line Swedish agent card (very authentic) and predated the disaster but did not picture the ship - merely stated the Titanic was "under construction"...it was fun watching the bids!
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Libra63
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:32:12 PM new
10 cent book $362.00.
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shawnb1
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:34:21 PM new
Purchased a box lot of junk at an estate auction for $13. In the box were mailing tubes containing Ferry Seed Company posters from the 1920's and 30's (9 total). Sold 8 of them (not all in one lot) for just under $10,000!!
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yorkie00
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:41:29 PM new
Not that this is some outrageous profit, but I did get tickled when I bought a pair of Michael Jordan shoes at out local church thrift shop for $.50 and sold them on ebay for $48.00!! <P>NOT yorkie00 on ebay!!
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clivebarkerfan
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posted on May 21, 2003 01:51:56 PM new
This was recent, so many of you probably know this....
A bank I found in the basement of my grandparents' house (I now live in it) went for $999. I didn't relax until the buyer left me feedback two nights ago!
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Dejapooh
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posted on May 21, 2003 02:03:00 PM new
I was at a pin show in Salt Lake City and I trade a Grasshopper Milk Shake pin for 3 Police Olympic pins. The first one I put on Ebay I sold for $103. The other two sold for $45 and $75. How much was the milk shake pin? I got it as part of a collection. The collection cost $500, or about $3 a pin. I ended up doing about $4500 in business out of that collection on Ebay. The remnants that could not be sold on ebay were brought to the Games in SLC and used as trade bait. The only thing I have now is the bag that the pins came in.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. B. Franklin
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neonmania
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posted on May 21, 2003 02:07:42 PM new
I had an action figure that someone had won but never paid for a couple years ago. The figure was in a box of like items that had been buried in a move. I found it about 6 months ago and relisted. The figure which had originally sold for 24.00 this time sold for 270.00. I think I paid 10.
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antique519
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posted on May 21, 2003 03:02:09 PM new
We purchased a couple of pieces of furniture from a lady in the early 1980's. In 1999 her niece called and said she had gone into a nursing home and wanted us to buy everything in the house, which we did. We had several people helping load so really hadn't seen all the little stuff. As we unloaded I noticed a train case type case that I recognized to be a Singer Featherweight Sewing Machine. We had just started selling on eBay so listed it that night. The next day when unloading some more we realized that the very heavy card table was really the table to use with the sewing maching. Listed it and linked to the othere auction. The same lady (with no feedback and shades) bought both pieces for a little over $1,400.00. Not bad for something we didn't even know we were getting! If we had priced them in the shop we probably would have asked around $500.00.
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paws4God
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posted on May 21, 2003 03:36:19 PM new
A local moving/storage was having a sale on some people's belongings who had'nt paid the storage fees for 12 years. Can't believe the guy waited so long to sell the things off. Anyway I got there late but there was an incomplete set of Fitz & Floyd Christmas china. It looked brand new and probably was. My husband thought I was crazy when I paid $20 for it. I knew I could get at least a couple of hundred dollars. I ended up selling it for $1240.00. Now when my husband asks if I really want to buy something to sell on ebay I remind him of the china.
Also at an estate sell I went through a box of books and found an old sci-fi hardback book from the 50's. It was signed by the author and in wonderful condition. I know nothing about sci-fi but I thought with the autograph maybe it was worth more than the $5.00 the owner wanted. Turned out it was a first edition and sold for $96.00 to some guy in Ireland. Not as good as the china but a good profit.
Wish I could find a few more deals like that.
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tradersjones
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posted on May 21, 2003 04:16:59 PM new
My husband bought an ANRI music box with Snoopy and Linus on it for 25 cents at a church rummage sale. With 8 bids, it went for $111. I was amazed, but disappointed at the same time as others were going for $135 - $175 at the time. Several postcards have sold for $75 - $85 that I might have had $1.00 or less in costs on. Sold lots of thrift store dishes (Denby, Stangl etc.) for 50 times what I paid in some cases. The good old days.......
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AINTRICHYET
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posted on May 21, 2003 04:43:52 PM new
again... an 'unpaid storage' auction find ... i recognized the 'owner's] addrss as being a local 'retired folks' apartment complex' in our area ... storage unit was quite filled with mostly not/old crafts supplies ... but a lot of it [as listed in the newspaper ad] was 'old dolls']... i'd looked at those when we got to take a quick peek at the storage unit and the dolls were complete YUCK broken dismembered dolls ... BUT i noticed a few big storage boxes with paper dolls items in them ... i had "just heard" recently from a relative that she heard paper dolls were going good at ebay ... so... for all the units at that unpaid storage unit auction that were going for wayyy under $100, when they got to THIS unit, auctioneer had started high up, saying there looks to be 'some real old collectible things in here' ................ all of the units that day they tried to start kind of high and sold for probably $40 per unit average ... on THAT auction though, I piped in my bid early at $200 and the small group of maybe a dozen bidders gasped! ... no one wanting to "up" that bid ... when the auctioneer talked up the contents more, saying there is of course some great stuff in there, still no one would bid more, and i stood there smiling gratefully at them with a look on my body language like 'PLEASE don't overbid this' ........... and to think it was just really on a hunch ..... we won the unit, and my husband and i cleaned it all out, took stuff to goodwill for tax write-off, took stuff to trash, and sold most of this paper doll collection for nearly $3,000 on ebay ... the neatest thing from that unit we still have [so far] ... it is an oversized book printed when Ulysses S. Grant was President, which is a 23-ft.! fold-out! lithographed illustrated book of the timeline of history since adam and eve ... we cherish it, so far, instead of selling, because our deceased dad/antiques-dealer said "hold onto this... someday someone will say" "Name your price" ... ... ... ... and "someday", we shall see ...
aintRichYet
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ahc3
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posted on May 21, 2003 06:03:51 PM new
Just today I sold a movie for $30 that I purchased on Monday for $1 - I love those. I also sold recently a video game for $86 that I paid $5 for. I suppose my biggest profit came from something that was free, it was a box of items that was destined for the trash. I am still selling items from that box so I won't disclose, but to date I have sold over $1000 worth of stuff from that. It gave me a real laugh, because my wife's relatives who think they know everything about collectibles pillaged basically worthless stuff, and decided this was worthless and it was headed to the trash...
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CBlev65252
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posted on May 21, 2003 07:25:06 PM new
My biggest was a postcard found in a book someone was throwing away. The postcard was free, but sold for just under $150 on Ebay. Had American Indians on it and was a photo postcard. That was back when things bid high. Remember those days? Congrats to everyone and their profit!!
Cheryl
http://mygallery.timegonebuy.com/customer/kcskorner/kcskorner.html?
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Libra63
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posted on May 21, 2003 07:40:40 PM new
Yes Cheryl, I remember hearing about those days but I didn't start selling until 3 years ago when things were slacking off. I hear stories about the good old days and I love to hear them. You could sell about anything on eBay but now people are getting picky. The new young buyers are coming and things are picking up a little especially the ones from their childhood days.
BTW I love to look at your gallery. It is done in such good taste....
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tradersjones
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posted on May 21, 2003 08:53:06 PM new
AINTRICHYET, or anyone else who might know, there use to be an ad in the back of magazines for a timeline poster similar to the one you describe in your old book. I have searched high and low for one of these to no avail. Any help? Keywords I might have overlooked? I'd love to find one of these now. Thanks
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toben88
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posted on May 22, 2003 01:26:34 AM new
My best item was an ebook I bought from someone for $8 - I sold that sucker 200 times untill I found out that the ebay didnt like keyword spamming. Now I have to sell stuff the hard way - sniff!
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rarriffle
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posted on May 22, 2003 02:16:33 AM new
One of my early ebay sales was a pair of cufflinks that I had purchased at auction a few years before in a box lot for $5.00...they sold for $277.00...I was petrified until the buyer left me glowing feedback...my first sale over $100.00.
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cherishedclutter
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posted on May 22, 2003 03:11:45 AM new
I stopped at an unadvertised estate sale a few years ago and got 2 Vienna art plates right off the wall for $8. I sold them for $600.
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tomwiii
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posted on May 22, 2003 03:36:34 AM new
For $7, bought a COCKTAIL SHAKER designed & signed by John Held,Jr (father of the "Flapper" look in the '20s) &, after a very exciting auction (including emails from all over the world & Christies,too!), it sold for $450! Turns out the buyer got a real bargain on that one!
Bought "Redneck," a terrible Italain crime flick starring Kojak & Mark ~"Oliver!"~ Lester, on eBay for $5 -- 1 week later, sold it on eBay for $110
"Those were the days my friend..."
Ralphie loves Mr Blonde:
"Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?"
http://tinyurl.com/5duz
[ edited by tomwiii on May 22, 2003 03:37 AM ]
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hdm228
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posted on May 22, 2003 04:20:06 AM new
Bought 2 17' uhaul vans of computer items for 250.00. I am well over 1000.00 on sales from this one and I still have alot more to go.
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CBlev65252
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posted on May 22, 2003 04:43:45 AM new
I have a client at work that is moving to Colorado and she wants me to come over and look at some oriental items she has. I've bought a few nice things from her so sure I'll go over there. Can't wait because she sells me things for next to nothing. Got a Nippon enameled bowl from her for $1. It sits in my display case. She does have a genuine Leopard head purse she wanted me to sell (too, too sad). Told her two things: 1. It's illegal to sell things made from endangered species and carries a $5,000 fine, and 2. What, do you think I'm nuts? Hee.
Maybe I'll find something there this time that will net me enough to keep me in electricity for another month. LOL.
Cheryl
http://mygallery.timegonebuy.com/customer/kcskorner/kcskorner.html?
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fleecies
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posted on May 22, 2003 09:55:24 AM new
I picked up a couple of old ('80s and '90s) Super Bowl banners that were given as a perk by salesmen of a candy company to some of their customers for $1 each at a garage sale by one of the former salesmen. They had probably several hundred of the banners. I listed them and sold each for around $75. Tried to go back and buy the rest, or list them for a commission, but they didn't want to part with them.
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lowprofile
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posted on May 22, 2003 10:15:41 AM new
DEJAPOOH,
In our local paper there is a pin collection for sale..can I make money off these?
Here is the Ad. Any advice would be great>
PIN collection, thousands of ass't pins, 5 cases in total, displayed in cases, $800
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ahc3
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posted on May 22, 2003 10:23:10 AM new
Without a good knowledge of a field, I would stay away from something like this. To someone who does not know pins, there is no difference between a $1 item and a $100 item. Same with anything really. I can show you two stamps that would appear to be identical to someone who does not know stamps, and probably someone who knows something about stamps. However one would be worth 15 cents, and the other $1500.
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aintrichyet
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posted on May 22, 2003 11:05:56 AM new
tradersjones: "AINTRICHYET, or anyone else who might know, there use to be an ad in the back of magazines for a timeline poster similar to the one you describe in your old book. I have searched high and low for one of these to no avail. Any help? Keywords I might have overlooked? I'd love to find one of these now. Thanks"
Hiya Jones ... I don't remember seeing ads for that [I only remember the little tiny monkey in a teacup ad LOL my mom wouldn't let me order one of those ... ] ...
I was looking in a 1954 childrens magazine i got at a yard sale this week, and i was really surprised what they had for a prize for a contest ... the kids were to 'decorate' a picture of a birthday cake with crayons or whatever and submit, and winner chosen by the magazine staff would win a pedigreed scottie dog puppy, their choice of male or female. ... ... i don't remember seeing those kinds of 'prizes' when i read kids magazines in the 50s... hmph!
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