posted on June 12, 2005 06:43:58 PM new
just do thrift shops?
Well I have. Now I don't have to get up early because what I sell nobody buys at the thrift shops. It looks either gaudy or to plain. But today I picked up a Swatch Watch which when mixed with the other watches it looks like a cheap watch but it wasn't. I have my swatch book and the value in 1998 was $120.00. Now all I have to do is find a bidder for it. Also in the past couple of months I bought 4 pairs of earrings that I received $100.00 for them. All my other items I list also come from the thrift shops so I have now been able to sleep in and enjoy waking up.
posted on June 12, 2005 08:01:34 PM new
I'd like to give up the yard sales. . . . but I find just enough things that I know I can sell to make it worthwhile. Lot of work, though. You have to kiss a lot of frogs.
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posted on June 12, 2005 09:59:04 PM new
Sparkz: Did we ever feel that earthquake! We're just about 12 miles over the mountains as the crow flies from Palm Springs, and the quake here in Idyllwild was at 5.0. Prolonged shaking and noise but nothing damaged or broken. Scared the you-know-what out of me, though. A friend lost a valuable vase. EVeryone in town was talking about the quake--where they were when it hit, what they did or didn't do, what they lost or didn't lose. Big event.
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posted on June 12, 2005 10:17:46 PM new
Roadsmith...Yeah, I know what you mean by being concerned. We glass and pottery sellers tend to be a little more touchy about quakes than the clothing and book sellers. Tell your friend that if she has anymore valuable vases, that she better let you list them for her and get them out of California to somewhere safe, like Kansas. At least there, the new owner can grab it and take it to the storm cellar with her
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on June 12, 2005 10:24:11 PM new
This friend is a museum curator and knows the value of stuff. She has wonnnderful antiques in her home up here. About 10 years ago she lost a lot of irreplaceable glassware and other things in a big quake and since has put special locks on some of her kitchen cabinets and used museum putty all around the house for valuable breakables. The vase must have been a maverick, in an out of the way place. Most people we know up here in the mountains use museum putty for any collectibles they have on display. And we're about to start doing that, too.
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posted on June 12, 2005 10:56:03 PM new
I would imagine it would be almost a must to use putty for the valuables, especially at that altitude. A quake on the floor would be amplified where you are. I have never seen putty sold around here, but it's available on the coast. If you don't have a source for it, you might ask Sanmar or Lucy to round up some for you. And, as your friend found out, Murphy's law states that the one item you forget to anchor, will be the most expensive item in the house. And as you put the putty away, and step back to admire your work, a 6.9 will occur less than 30 miles from that object. None of the cheap stuff will be damaged, but the priceless and irreplaceable object that wasn't nailed down will be attracted to the nearest piece of cast iron or concrete in the immediate vicinity.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on June 12, 2005 11:18:38 PM new
I got some great deals at yard sales a couple of weeks ago - I bought an widget for $5 that sold for more than $35 and a $2 lamp that sold for more than $60. I also got a $20 lamp that I sold for $108 at a B&M. Weeks like that keep me going to the garage sales - even though sometimes I don't find anything. I still enjoy the hunt.
On the weather front - tornado sirens when off about 5 hours ago - but as far as I know, nothing touched down close to me.
posted on June 13, 2005 12:28:00 AM new
I won't give up garage sales, because I do like the treasure hunt aspect to it. This year so far has been really mediocre so far, I get most of my stuff from other sources. In the past, I've purchased collections that I've made thousands on, so that sort of keeps me going. I do enjoy it too, I think if I stopped enjoying going to garage sales, then I probably would just stop going as what I pick up there has become a smaller part of my business.
posted on June 13, 2005 05:16:28 AM new
I very rarely plan to go to garage sales or estate sales. If I go by one, well maybe if the stuff looks interesting from the street and I am not in a hurry to be some where. Otherwise, I just skip 'em. Since the "good stuff" isn't selling as well as it used to, I am forcusing on unloading most of my inventory.
I remember that atleast one of us lives in the near san francisco North bay. Did anyone get a chance to go to that free garage sale from that lady who was closing her Ebay store? She had lots of depression glass to give away. The "sale" was in Petaluma. I just wondered what was there
posted on June 13, 2005 09:02:40 AM new
Sparkz: It's actually true that quakes on the desert floor are more destructive than quakes up here in the mountains. Many of our homes here are built on bedrock or close to it. Ours is on a rocky ridge, and the house seems to withstand quakes well. This one on Sunday did some real damage in the Palm Springs desert area but none up here except for my friend's vase(so far).
I see museum putty in catalogs all the time, but when I'm actually looking for it, it's nowhere to be seen. Yesterday we went to a neighborhood party and someone said they use museum WAX, which they got at Home Depot, so we'll try that.
There was a children's chorus in church many eons ago: "the foolish man built his house upon the sand". . . . "the wise man built his house upon a rock". . . . based on a parable in the Bible.
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[ edited by Roadsmith on Jun 13, 2005 09:03 AM ]
