posted on May 22, 2003 11:23:50 AM new
I bought 2 sets of Royal Crown Derby china at an estate sale. One was "Traditional Imari" & the other was "Blue Mikado". I paid $1250.00 for the 2 sets. Sold them on ebay pieced out for $5,200.00
posted on May 22, 2003 02:12:28 PM new
AHC3, when I USED to go out to buy collections, I would generally pay about $.25 per pin IF THEY WERE OLYMPICS. I paid less if they were not. I knew if I brought them to the Olympics, I could turn them. Olympic pins are a dying breed. Pins for 2002 or before are $1 each (mostly). most collectors who want them have ether gotten them or have given up trying. The market for Older pins is very small. The exception would be pins from Media Outlets, Pins from the National Olympic Committees, and some others. The end result for you is that I doubt it is worth it. By the time you get up to 1000's of pins, the price goes down to the point where you are buying Bulk. If you want to send me some pictures, I would be happy to tell you what I think. I am curious as to what would be there.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. B. Franklin
posted on May 22, 2003 08:44:23 PM new
O.k. Fetish held off, this is about the only thread with any FUN to it right now soooooooo,,,,,Fetish bought a bunch(A bunch? so far 26 and 50 more are waiting to be be bought by Fetish) of widgets for $20 a piece,,,,,hmmmm, so fetish sells them for,,,,oh? $40? double yer money, double yer fin,(fin is a buck, Slang,it was,,,,,a typo,But! Fetish left it) How about,,,,,$200.00! yehaaaaa!!!!! Fetish KNOWS what's HOT! So far,,,five! Out the door! They are bidding their brains out for this ,,,,,Widget. 15 bidder per auction. Fetish is retiring Her WHIP and getting a REAL job. Widgets,,,,Yeah! We like widgets!
posted on May 23, 2003 04:48:57 AM new
lol Way To Go fetish128 !! You can't retired the whip tis apart of your style...Besides widget buyer are dead beats to and you might need it to whip them into shape
My best deal was a box of stuff I got from a yard sale late in the day for 2.00(at least 10 items in the box so about .20 each)One sold for 347.00 ...and I bought my Mavica Camera with the money....money well spent
posted on May 24, 2003 03:55:53 AM new
The first one that I thought was a big deal was a Delft commemorative tile, paid 10 cents and sold for $75. Then one day there were "all town" rummage sales and I stumbled upon an unadvertised sale by a neighbor just putting a few things out on the end of her driveway. Bought a table top Victor talking machine with the morning glory horn for five dollars and sold for over $200 (probably not enough but I was tickled). It was a bear to ship and like others I held my breath until it arrived safely and I received good feedback. Last year I paid $20 for some old store stock Haviland and cleared about $250. Coincidentally this week I have two items on which probably fit this post (I'd rather not say what they are at the moment). One thing I paid 20 cents for and is going for $70 and the other I paid $3 for and is going for $50. I wish every week was this much pure profit! Have a super holiday weekend and find those bargains. Hammerchick
posted on May 24, 2003 12:37:27 PM new
bought a book at an Arlingtom Va. estate sale for 1.00, stuffed inside the book is 320.00 in cash in an envelope. i threw the book away.
posted on May 24, 2003 06:57:44 PM new
This is a fun thread!
I've got two.
1) My first sale, and what got me hooked. Sold an old Kung Fu magazine (mint in a bag) for my dad to a buyer in Japan for $930.00 (Bruce Lee cover). Cost to my dad? Well, he bought it new back in the 60s for something like 60 cents.
2) My wife found an older Hawaiian ukulele at Goodwill for $2.00...sold for almost $300.00. Wish I had one of those every month!
"Who's tending the bar? Sniping works up a thirst"
posted on May 24, 2003 08:05:24 PM new
I've had several...
One was a Stangl kiddie dish with little puppies on it. I got it for free for helping at the church rummage and had been using it as a spoon rest on my stove for months! Had several chips on it so I offered a postage included money back guarantee if they weren't happy. It sold for $85 and the buyer was thrilled!
Another was a Dukes of Hazzard enamel belt buckle. Had the Confederate flag on it. Sold for $215. Cost me a quarter.
A scarf from some '50s silk expo... Design was by Dali. It sold for $76 to a man who collects Dali and scarves. Cost me whatever it works out to for $1.00 a pound textiles at the Goodwill Outlet. Maybe a nickel?
From the same outlet was a fifty cent Prada bag, missing it's strap. Cost me $50 to get the strap replaced. The bag sold for $325.
How come I'm not finding treasures like these lately???
I know what you are saying about having knowledge in the field. I get my best deals on eBay in vintage jewelry on items that the seller and other buyers don't know anything about. Just got a cool oriental necklace that no one else wanted for a bit over $5. I knew it was Crown Trifari, but apparently no one else did. Not even the seller. I knew by the hang tag.
Cheryl
My religion is simple, my religion is kindness.
--Dalai Llama
I think I have an auction like that going now. I started a topic last week asking for advice on a pitcher I purchased at an estate sale. The first bidder is a powerseller who sells items much like this pitcher except hers sell for $200-$300. I think she know something about the pitcher I don't. She has evidently put in a fairly good proxy bid because 2 other people have bid and she still has the high bid. I think she may be buying it to sell. Also she uses Vendio and may have seen the thread where I ask for advice. It ends tonight so I'll see how much it goes up and if the powerseller gets it I'll watch to see if she sells it.
posted on May 25, 2003 02:46:26 PM new
I just had one today. I was driving home from the store and I saw an Estate Sale. I popped in (the sale started yesterday), and in the kitchen were some nice looking dishes. Hanover china, corination. 5 full service sets (5?). Anyhow, they wanted $5 for the lot (5 plates, 5 salad plates, 5 soup bowls, 5 desert bowl, 5 cup and sausers. I just called up replacements.com and they will offer 45% of their list price for anything. They don't what mine right now, but in a month or two they may. Cup and Saucer, $36 each as an example... WOOO HOOO...
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. B. Franklin
posted on May 25, 2003 08:41:54 PM new
My biggest profit was a book that was a different name of Carolyn Keene book. I started it off for $3.00 and it ended at $103.00.Wow! was I shocked.
posted on May 26, 2003 08:11:40 PM new
This was a long time ago (as most of the great stories about Ebay are now), but I bought a majolica oyster plate in a thrift store for 69 cents, and sold it on Ebay for $2,025!! I thought I had died and gone to heaven!
posted on May 27, 2003 10:30:26 AM new
A few years ago a footwear manufacturer had a style of shoe made up. He displayed them at shows. No store owners placed orders for them. They were kind of ugly. After about a year of them sitting around, he sent out a closeout list to his regular customers. The shoes were on the list. He wanted $3.00 a pair.
I called up and asked how much if I would take all of them. He told me $1.00 a pair. I ended up with around 150 pairs in 5 colors. Total cost with shipping was around $225.
I had seen similar (much prettier) shoes selling for a good bit. I started the auctions at $1.00. The titles always said something like: "FETISH! Kinky Bad Girl High Heels".
The highest ever paid for a pair was $106.00 the lowest $38.00.
I realiized that I had hit the jackpot. I decided to stretch out the drama. I started listing one or two pairs every now and then. The buyers were frothing at the mouth and my other auctions would benefit from the extra traffic.
I still have a few pairs (all in my size). They get uglier every year.
posted on May 27, 2003 12:20:47 PM new
I have bought several books for $1 each and had them go over $100 . One book went for over $150 .
The trick is learning which books are the high potential profit books. One way to learn is to watch the book auctions that are closing and see which books have the high bids.
In the past at ebay there was a completed auctions tab that allowed viewers see all the closed auctions and prices realized on the successful auctions in each category. When the percentage of completed auctions with bids went way down ebay stopped the ease of seeing every closed item in every category. It was disappointing seeing hundreds of closed auctions and very few of them with bids.
Sniping works up a thirst"