Garage Sale / Thrift Store Finds 10/18/13

Greetings!

Haven't posted a video on my finds in awhile ... it's crazy how life just gets in the way sometimes ... plus I'm so busy fanning myself with all of the money I've been making selling on eBay (not literally). But Things have been getting better and better as we close in on the holiday season. I'm looking forward to closing out October with some more sales and VERY excited to see what November brings in!  I've decided I can't post every item I buy anymore ... I have to start dedicating some of that time to listing them!  But I will try to do short updates on some of the stuff I find and will continue to do items sold updates for sure ... cause let's be honest - those are the most fun! Here are some of my most recent finds:

Patriotic Leather Michael Hoban Jacket

Paid $10

1980s Horse Racing Collector Canterbury Cup
Paid $2

 Porcelain Sleeping Mexican Bookends
Paid $2

 2 Old Sailboat Candles
Paid $2

 Antique Cast Iron Plant Labels (Thyme, Basil, etc.). These are REALLY cool ... I have a sister in law who is a horticulture graduate and would SO want these ... not sure if I am willing to sell these or not because of that, but they are so awesome! Paid $1

 Antique German Brass Clock Phinney Walker
Paid $5

 Glass Praying Angel marked HOL 1989
Paid $.25 cents

 Strange Porcelain Ninja with Retractable sword marked Benihana
Paid $.25 cents

 Lighthouse Candle
Paid $1

 Black Corduroy Hunting Hat made in USA
Paid $.50 cents

 Ceramic Mantle Clock - no brand but very cool looking. I don't think it's that old
Paid $2

 Another Vintage Light up Santa! This one actually had the light and chord. I will buy these all day even though they aren't worth that much ... just too awesome and brings you to a different time period.
Paid $.50

 1940 Cuban Cigar Gurkha box made of wood. Supposedly this is very rare. Pre Columbian Crisis Era (whatever that means). This is the kind of box that was nailed shut, no hinges so I'm guessing for shipping. There is still some loose tobacco in the box. I was told they used to pack the cigars in the box with extra tobacco which is kind of awesome. Paid $1

 Nautical Themed Bell to hang on wall. Bell looks kind of older, has some patina on the inside. Probably not super old though. Paid $8 simply because bells and nautical stuff both seem to do pretty well.

Total Spent: $35.50

Estimated Resale Value: $350-$400

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Items Sold on eBay Update!

Greetings!

Sold a quite a few items over the past 2 weeks or so. Here's how we did:

Vintage Lettermans Jacket:
Paid: $3
Listed at: $79.99 or Best Offer
Accepted Best Offer of $44.99 + Shipping!

Vintage Poncho with Thunderbirds
Paid: $4
Listed at: $79.99 or Best Offer
Accepted offer of $50 + Shipping!

Vintage Roadmaster Tricycle
Paid: $5
Listed at: $69.99 or Best Offer
Accepted offer of $60 + Shipping!

Vintage Portable Airmate Headset
Paid: $.75 cents
Listed at $69.99 or Best Offer
Sold for $69.99 + Shipping!

Set of 4 Vintage Homco Plastic Hummingbird wall Decor Items
Paid $2
Listed at $24.99 Buy it Now
Sold for $24.99 + Shipping!

Cast Iron / Metal Lighthouse Candle Holder (candle not included)
Paid: $3
Listed at $34.99 or Best Offer
Sold for $34.99 + Shipping!

Vintage Kodiak Racing Mesh Trucker Hat
Paid: $.75 cents
Listed at $29.99 or Best Offer
Accepted offer of $24 + Shipping!

1990s Michael Jordan Valentines (unopened box)
Paid: $.25 cents
Listed at $24.99
Sold for $24.99 + Shipping!

Vintage Made in England Ibex Suede and Shearling Bomber Jacket
Paid: $3
Listed at $299.99 or Best Offer
Accepted offer of $140 + Shipping!

Vintage Georgia Giant Work Boots
Paid: $3
Listed at $64.99 or Best Offer
Sold for $64.99 + Shipping!

Total Spent: $24.75

Sold For: $538.94

Profit Of: $514.19! (this doesn't include eBay and PayPal fees)

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Items Sold on eBay Update!

Greetings!

Sold a few items over the past week/weekend:

Vintage Brunswick Bowling Ball Case

Paid: $4

Listed at $69.99 or Best Offer

Accepted Best Offer of $59.99 + Shipping!

Vintage Smith Corona Typewriter (with case)

Paid: $3

Listed at $69.99 or Best Offer

Accepted Best Offer of $35 + Shipping!

Antique/Vintage Jewish Menorah

Paid $2

Listed at $39.99 or Best Offer

Sold for $39.99 + Shipping!

Guess Brand Suede Women's Jacket (Faux Fur)

Paid $2

Listed at $59.99 or Best Offer

Accepted Best Offer of $35 + Shipping!

Lot of 3 Star Wars Figures

Paid .50 cents

Listed at $19.99

Sold for $19.99 + Shipping!

Vintage Scarf

Paid .50 cents

Listed at $19.99 or Best Offer

Accepted Best Offer of $15 + Shipping!

Vintage Nash Cruiser Roller Skates (with box)

Paid $4

Listed at $49.99 or Best Offer

Sold for $49.99 + Shipping!

1980s/1990s Letterman Jacket

Paid $3

Listed at $79.99 or Best Offer

Accepted Best Offer of $44.99 + Shipping!

Vintage Beige Izod Cardigan Sweater

Paid .50 Cents

Listed at $24.99

Sold for $24.99 + Shipping!

Total Spent: $19.50
Sold For: $309.94
Profit Of: $290.44 (this doesn't include eBay and PayPal fees)

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Items Sold Update!

Greetings!

We have sold a few items recently

Antique Sheets Rock Tea Kettle w/ Burner. 

Paid $5

Listed at $179.99 or best offer

Accepted best offer of $75 + shipping!

Vintage Hunting Scene Lamp

Purchased for $4

Listed at $64.99 or best offer

Sold for $64.99 + shipping!

 

Vintage Magnus Electric Organ

Purchased for $4

Listed at $49.99 or best offer

Sold for $49.99 + shipping!

 

Vintage Steamstress Steam Iron

Purchased for .50 cents

Listed at $29.99 or best offer

Accepted Best Offer of $15 + shipping!

Olive Oil Plush Doll

Purchased for $2

Listed at $14.99

Sold for $14.99 + shipping!

Total Spent: $15.50

Sold for: $219.97

Profit of: $204.47 (this doesn't include eBay and PayPal fees)

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sale Finds This Week

Greetings!

Haven't been having a ton of luck this week with sales. I've picked up about one thing a day this week. Here's what I've wrangled up:

Native American or Mexican Themed Poncho. Has a nice 'Aztec' looking design on it with a bird with a red head ... maybe a hawk or eagle. Paid $4. Seems old but in pretty good shape.

 I'm not sure what to think of this one. It's a print but it's like on glass or a mirror or something. If I look closely at what's under the glass in the frame it's like the artwork is 'cracking' in a few places. Over all it is an awesome piece with a couple of old dudes smoking pipes in smoking jackets by a fire. Old frame too with wire hanger on the back. Paid $3. Will have to research this one.

 Old Zippo lighter. Nice shape - has "Murl" engraved on it. Not sure if the engraving makes it lose value or gain value.  Maybe there is a Murl out there who has been waiting for this lighter his whole life. Who knows? Paid $2.

Total Spent: $9

Estimated Resale Value: Hoping for around $100.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Things I Don't Leave Home Without

Greetings!

Just thought I would give you a little insight onto a few things I like to gather before getting ready to head out on a long Saturday afternoon excursion of treasure hunting.

Prior to heading out I like to prepare. I go to my local newspaper website and find the garage sale listings for the upcoming weekend (Thursday - Sunday). This is usually listed under classifieds. If you can find this - it is extremely valuable! I then copy and paste the text of all of the listings into a text document.  I proceed to take the time to organize the sales in a way that makes sense to me. For me I separate them into Thursday Sales, Friday Sales and Saturday Sales.

Then I take my long listing of Thursday Sales (for example) and I order them in order from the furthest North sale to the furthest South Sale ... and then the same with ones that are on the East side of town and the West side of town.  Adjust this method for your area  ... if you have suburbs, organize them by those in the same way.  I then edit the listings so that the address is complete (fill in the street names if they are abbreviated and add the city and state). The reason I do this is to come ...

The next step is to email myself the text by copying it and pasting it into an email to myself. Then I send it to myself. When I receive the email ... all of the addresses have been turned into hyper links ... and you guessed it - now I can simply select the address hyper link and my gps will take me directly to the sales. I start furthest North and work my way down. GPS usually will get me right to where I need in a timely fashion.  Feel free to stop at any other sales that weren't listed on the way!

That's how I do my big 6 hour Saturday excursions to keep them in a timely manner. That's also how I choose where to go on my lunch breaks and after work on Thursdays and Fridays ... find an area of town that has a few sales that are open during those times and sneak them into my plans for the day. Grab a few items and move on ... but Saturday is almost always my big day. If I could do Friday mornings that would be much better - but my day job prevents that from being a possibility. Once I have a bit more PTO built up I plan on taking off 1 Friday a month to really hit the sales early and hard.

The next thing I don't leave home without (obviously) is my iPhone. I use this for GPS and for tracking mileage. It's not a bad idea to have a car phone charger for your smart phone - GPS really sucks up the battery power. You also want to have your smart phone with eBay app open and ready for when you hit the sale. I try to look up items while at the sale ... especially if they seem valuable or priced higher than I want to risk. I don't just look up the listings on eBay ... I do an advanced search and search for Sold items only. That way you aren't getting a false idea of what stuff might sell for ... you are seeing what it actually sells for. I then like to take a photo of my newly purchased items, or jot down in a note the item and how much I paid for it so i can reference back after an item sells and feel super happy and cocky about how great I am for picking up that item. ;)

The next thing I don't leave home without is my coffee. I'm a Folgers man myself and I like to brew a nice big pot before I go out. I fill up my thermos and that way I'm good to go all morning. I like to do that rather than start my day off with spending $4 on a coffee at a local store. Think of all of the treasure I can buy and resell with that $4!

Another must have for me ... and others might not see the need for this ... is a little travel size thing of germ x or an equivalent. When you are handling all of these used items that 20 other people have also handled that day ... and probably even more in the items history ... you might want to be aware of germs.  I like to frequently cleanse my hands ... just makes me feel better ... and probably keeps me healthier which means I can adventure out more frequently and steadily. Getting sick can really cost you!

The next thing is also pretty obvious but it's part of my routine. Music.  You have to enjoy being out all day and one thing that keeps it interesting for me is jamming out. Find a great radio show or podcast ... maybe treat yourself to some new music for your 'business outings'. The last thing you want is to be bored out of your mind while you are driving around all day ... the right music might be just what you need to keep you going, especially if you are a solo shopper like myself. The Princess Bride Soundtrack that I picked up on Cassette last week has really been getting me through the trips as of late ... what a great movie and soundtrack!

Probably the most obvious thing you don't want to leave home without is money. I like to go to the bank when I can and take out $50 - $200 depending on how big of an adventure I'm planning. I like to get plenty of ones, fives and tens and a few twenties. Sometimes Grandma Francine might not have enough nickels to give you your change for a $20....or she might have enough nickels and you won't be able to keep your pants up with $19.50 all in nickels in your pocket. ;)

I'm sure there are plenty of things I'm forgetting on this list. But it's a start. Is there anything special you like to make sure you have with you when you go out?  Any secrets to share about how to prepare for inventory shopping excursions? Do tell.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman