nycyn
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posted on December 31, 2001 09:51:10 AM new
Please join in!
My best sale:
I worked in a school where they were clearing out a science lab closet, that hadn't been opened since the year of the flood, and trashing the stuff. Science teacher shows me two heavy iron things and says: "Here, these are worth something." Music to my ears. One was a black heavy iron contraption with a wheel or something. Was supposed to be a steam engine model for instructional use. Looked like absolutely nothing. Totally banal. What the heck, right?
Sucker went for like $650.00 while I watched in amazement. I was sure the buyer would complain, but nope.
Shows to go ya.
Happy New Year!
Cyn
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carolann56
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posted on December 31, 2001 09:57:39 AM new
My best one this year was a book. I had bought several this year for 25 cents each. I started this at $4, thinking it might go to $10. Well, I knew something was up when it hit $28 within hours. *LOL* I spent more time re-reading my write up thinking I'd put something in there wrong. No, it wasn't a first edition, but close, and a scarce edition anyway, I found out from one of the questioners. It sold for a wonderful $152 and the bidder was VERY pleased.
[ edited by carolann56 on Dec 31, 2001 09:58 AM ]
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nycyn
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posted on December 31, 2001 10:00:11 AM new
Hmm. And what book might that be?
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holdenrex
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posted on December 31, 2001 10:12:08 AM new
Years ago, I picked up a Planet of the Apes sleeping bag at a yard sale for $2. At the time I was selling in an antiques mall, and I displayed it prominantly priced at $35 - never had a taker. I took it down and actually used the sleeping bag when visiting friends and sleeping on their sofas because it was a cool conversation item and it actually was very comfortable. So this year when I heard about the new Planet of the Apes movie, I decided to sell it off along with a bunch of other vintage Planet of the Apes stuff that I had accumulated over the years. A bidder from England bought the sleeping bag for about $360. He even paid to have a money order cut through BidPay. The rest of the Apes items didn't do too bad either, including a game I picked up at a thrift store years ago for $1 that I sold for about $150.
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docpjw
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posted on December 31, 2001 10:18:21 AM new
Well on to eBay Purchases (YES you can get a BARGAIN on eBay). I Buy mostly collectibles (usually comics, but some other "stuff' too). A seller had up a 1966 Golden Record Album of Spiderman #1. If you read the ad it said Basically it was JUST the Record Album ( a Theatrical Reading of the 1963 Comic ), I knew that the album came with a reprint of the original comic, so I emailed to ask if they had this also. They email back that yes they had it, it was STILL "Shrinkwrapped" to the back of the record album (You COULD NOT make out the "Shrinkwrap" in the photo and they did NOT show the Album's Back cover ). It cost me $60.00, I could auction it for Triple that or More, BUT again this is what I collect, so I was VERY Happy. I've had a few other Bargains this Year, BUT usually you get what you Pay for. HAPPY New Year Everyone!! 
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sun818
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posted on December 31, 2001 10:30:52 AM new
I bought one shrinkwrapped piece of business software with 50-user license. It was several years old, but it was from a reputable company and at $2.00 it was worth a risk. Turns out the serial number was unused and the company offered a free upgrade to their latest version. I stated this fact in the description it sold for $350 buy it now in two days. I gave him free insurance.
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upriver
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posted on December 31, 2001 10:42:51 AM new
I had an early Rose Bowl Game Program, I had bought it for about $80, my research had shown it would likely sell for about $300.
To my astonishment, turned out this one (1st Notre Dame RB game ever) was one of the rarest & most coveted by collectors, had numerous e-mails from major sports dealers, including one who told me he had not seen another of those offered in nearly 20 years!
So it sold for $2,035 & the winning bidder was delighted.
Neatest week I had all year!
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kyms
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posted on December 31, 2001 10:55:39 AM new
I think my best sale this year was a record I found at my local thrift shop. Paid .60 cents and it sold for $360.00!
It was a record for a doll I'd never heard of...turns out the doll has her own catagory on Ebay and she sells very high.
Now if I could only find some more....
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dixiebee
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posted on December 31, 2001 11:29:47 AM new
kyms: My biggie is very similar to yours. I bought an Ashford and Simpson disco promo LP at Goodwill for a quarter. Sold it to a guy in Japan for $256. He paid with BidPay and I had my money in less than a week. He paid for airmail shipping and he had his LP pronto.
I had no idea that this thing would go that high so I let it sit around the house for months before putting it up for sale on eBay.
holdenrex and I both had high bidders that were outside the US. I find it a good reason to accept bidders from all over the world. 
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rarriffle
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posted on December 31, 2001 03:30:32 PM new
one of my best bargains was also one of my best sales this year.
found a vintage (1939) chairside console radio at a yard sale for $10.00. the lady said it wouldn't work.
got it home and found a button that had to switch from shortwave to local and it worked fine. sold for $265.00. buyer and seller both happy.
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ashlandtrader
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posted on December 31, 2001 06:14:39 PM new
One of my better purchases was also a yard sale one-- I found a HUGE box of vintage avon stuff and asked the lady how much she wanted for all of it. I was also holding 2 old Japanese dolls and I had set aside a big pile of old cookbooks. She said i could take it all for $10! Almost all of the avon stuff was in the unopened boxes and when I got home and counted it there were 60 items! By the time I sold all of them I figured that I was almost $400 ahead! Normally Avon doesn't go very high, but I had BIN on all of them (started them at $3 each with $6 BIN and most all of them sold for at least $6.) So that was great!
My other one was from a storage auction. I had never been to a live auction before and you all had inspired me, so off I went. The first storage unit went too high for me ($140-- so I passed on it.) The second was not very full, but there was a lot of baby stuff in it, so I knew that what I could see I would do ok on. I bid $35 and won the unit. When we emptied it out we found a nice color TV (I needed one!), a cable box (sold, but deadbeat bidder so I have to repost) and many baby items. Not counting the cable box sale I figure I am up about $100, so I did okay so far with more to sell later. Now that is my new winter addiction-- storage auctions! It was like a treasure hunt. So if you see those advertised in your paper and haven't gone to one yet, that can be your new years resolution. :0)
Happy NEW Years everybody! And thank you for all of your help this year!
AT
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petpost
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posted on December 31, 2001 07:50:58 PM new
My sales haven't been that big, but after finally being able to buy a house this year, I decided to unload a lot of JUNK that I have been taking with me to rental to rental to rental....I started a lot of it at $1 including some drum corps newspapers that went for $28 and 5 drum corps patches that went for $36. I had some other winners, too, but these were things that I would have just thrown in the trash...it's worth 30 cents and a FVF to see what happens...
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richierich
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posted on December 31, 2001 10:15:55 PM new
I mostly sell new puls size and big and tall men's clothing.
BUT my mother-in-law was living with us and every now and then would give me something and say here sell this. This item was a candy dish. I had seen it in her house for years. She said someone had given it to her mother and her mother later gave it to her. It was an iced ble color, had a few minor chips on the rim and a lid. After answering about 20 emails it sold for $102.50.
I bought about 400 or so cross stitch pattern books CHEAP! I have listed about 250 of them so far. Last time I added them up I had made over $600 on them. GO FIGURE!
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vogeldanl
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posted on January 1, 2002 07:24:12 AM new
Bought a 1978 Orange Bowl(Oklahoma/Arkansas) program for $1.00 at an estate sale. Sold for $51.00.
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nycyn
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posted on January 1, 2002 10:17:09 AM new
Hm. I have this NHL "Fights" video from the 70's somewhere. Worth putting up.
I have always ben intrigued by storage auctions. Anybody know how to locate these?
Anybody other than me notice that males tend to be the bigger spenders?
Enthusiastic, hopelessly shameless Trash-picker,
Cyn
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holdenrex
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posted on January 1, 2002 11:03:04 AM new
nycyn, the storage locker auctions are advertised in your local newspaper among the other auction listings and public announcements. You may have to hunt for them because they generally aren't as big as the estate auction listings, since all they usually say are "XYZ Storage, Units #,#,#" without giving any indication of the contents.
It's also a bit of a crapshoot when you go to one of these. Unlike estate auctions, they don't let you preview - they just open the door and let you view the contents from the entranceway. Some auctioneers let people step inside for a quick glance around, but almost never let anybody open boxes. It's also your responsibility to clean out the locker within a set period of time, or else they'll start charging you for the storage space.
So those are some of the pitfalls you should be aware of. Some people have made out quite well, but others have won storage unit lockers, only to find the locker was filled with nothing but empty boxes, or boxes containing cleaning rags. Keep in mind the storage company sends reminders to the people who aren't paying rent. This frequently gives the deadbeats enough time to get any of the more valuable stuff out of the locker before the company changes the lock on them. So if you like trash-picking, it might be something you'd like to do - but in this case you have to buy the whole trash heap before you can do the picking.
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Libra63
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posted on January 1, 2002 11:19:35 AM new
I didn't have spectacular sales just good ones. Yes, men know what they want and usually pay by PayPal. They also bid early and then it is fun to see the price go up. Women tend to snipe. Items that I pay $1.00 for go for as much as $50.00. Easy to pack as it goes into a bubble mailer for little postage. Love those kind of sales. I try to stick to one item but now since I bought my new camera I can branch out. I enjoy reading these kind of threads to see what other sellers are doing. Thanks for starting this and I wish you all a Happy New Year.
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mrspock
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posted on January 1, 2002 12:19:04 PM new
The womens group runs a yearly sale that we look froward to both for personel use and resale
It is a fri, sat sale and I had to work friday so we didnt get there till late sat morning
Looking thru the books I found the memoriars of Richard Nixon...Signed by the author ...Richard Nixon Paid 1.80 Sold for $255.00
Dealers from 3 counties had already picked the sale so it made the find evan sweeter.
spock here......
Live long and Prosper
[
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tsunamii
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posted on January 1, 2002 01:31:06 PM new
My best sale came from something I wasn't expecting. When I do garage sales I always hit the "rich" area before the "normal" area. For some reason I reversed my norm. The first house I stopped at had an older gentleman moving in with his daughter. They were clearing out his personal belongings. He was selling his silver for $1 an ounce so I bought it all thinking that I would bring it down to the coin shop for melt value and double my money. Since I bought it all they gave me a little discount. My sister came over and saw the tea set, complete flatware set with serving pices, candlesticks, plates, etc. and told me what it was. It ended up being older S. Kirk & Son (yes...it was marked, I just don't know silver) in the Repousse pattern. I paid right around $500 for everything and sold it over a couple of months for a total of $14,800. That is the best I have ever done and I don't ever expect to do it again. I bought my sister a VERY nice Christmas present this year.
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cherrytreegirls
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posted on January 1, 2002 11:50:02 PM new
My best sale so far... I got a box of old ITT electrinics course books a a yard sale for FREE the lady had them in a "free pile". They sold on ebay for $224.
My next best was a Victorian bamboo easle I found at a local auction house for $27. It sold fot $255.00!
Remember amateurs built the ark - Professionals built the Titanic.
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yeager
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posted on January 2, 2002 07:03:32 AM new
My best item for this year was a Vintage aluminum Christmas tree, with the revolving stand and color wheel. I paid $1.00 for these at a local estate sale the family members were running. The total for these items was $232.00. What a deal!!
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dejapooh
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posted on January 2, 2002 09:42:53 AM new
I was at an Olympic Pin Show, and I traded a $6 pin that was discontinued (and worth about $30) for 4 pins. I've sold 3 so far. 1 for $17, 1 for $24, and one for $123.02!!!. 3 down, one to go.
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mcjane
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posted on January 2, 2002 10:23:46 AM new
Best sale was for a Noritake figural condiment set I bought at an antique store for 20.00 about 25 years ago. It sold for 835.00.
I'll try to post a link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=1304227287
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dejapooh
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posted on January 2, 2002 11:07:35 AM new
Very nice sale. Very nice item, except is it not Deco...
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joycel
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posted on January 2, 2002 11:44:10 AM new
Mine was an old harmonica. Paid $16 for it at an auction and sold it for $330. It was very unique, old and came in the original box. ...And I was holding my breath at the auction hoping I hadn't overspent by going up to $16!
One of my oddest sales of the year was an old turquoise blue electric can opener. Paid $1 for it at a thrift store and sold it for $32. You never know what people will buy!
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rarriffle
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posted on January 2, 2002 01:21:12 PM new
my wierdest sale this year was for 6 Barbie and other fashion dolls that were tortured to say the least. limbs torn, missing, dirty, you name it. I put them up on a dare from my husband. not only did they sell for $15.00. I was paid to overnight ship them to Universal Studios in Hollywood, Ca.
they may be in a horror flick!!!
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mcjane
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posted on January 2, 2002 07:30:43 PM new
dejapoo
More than one person who knows their antiques & Noritake told me it was Deco. They could very well be wrong.
I had no idea what to call it, so went on their advice. I also didn't even know enough to call it "figural" I just bought it because I liked it. I often see "deco" used with Noritake figurals. I assume it means "Art Deco"
Why do you say it isn't Deco?
I'm always ready to learn something new.
Jane
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dazedandconfused
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posted on January 2, 2002 11:48:06 PM new
It sure looks 100 percent DECO to me!! It IS deco! What a great find!
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ultimato
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posted on January 3, 2002 06:23:17 AM new
I had two beat-up posters for a bluegrass group that Jerry Garcia performed with. Even though I accurately described it with all the rips and folds, and I started the bidding at $10, they brought in $400!
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kahml
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posted on January 3, 2002 06:36:46 AM new
I bought a 50 cent comic book on the newsstand in 1975. It was kept in a box with dozens of others in the basement.
I had to clean up the basement last year, and found this one. I had it graded by CGC for $25.
Then, in the first quarter of the year, sold it for $810! Giant-Sized X-Men 1 - who would have known.
I only wish I had bought a few more....
[ edited by kahml on Jan 3, 2002 06:38 AM ]
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