lowprofile
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posted on June 15, 2001 09:10:54 AM new
I have had great success with the use of wanted ads in my local paper for buying things to sell on Ebay..
Does anyone else use this method?
For Instance I just got soem widgets worth about 1-2000 dollars via a wanted ad for 75 dollars..the wanted ad cost me 4 dollars.
It does work...try it.
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vinniegambini
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posted on June 15, 2001 09:23:57 AM new
Yes I have done that. I even put an ad in the local free paper and you would be surprised how many people call you. I've gotten some great bargains!!!!
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on June 15, 2001 09:24:42 AM new
Who made the offer of $75 for the $1000 widgets- you or the seller?
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AntiqueParrot
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posted on June 15, 2001 09:26:01 AM new
I've tried, but the responses I got were all from people who had a greatly inflated idea of what there items is worth (higher than what ebay would fetch)
How do you word your ads?
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Zazzie
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posted on June 15, 2001 09:31:04 AM new
lowprofile---did you know the widgets were worth 1-2000 dollars when you paid $75.00??--or as mrpotatohead asked--was this what the seller wanted??
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lowprofile
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posted on June 15, 2001 11:09:07 AM new
I always ask what the seller wants before I even go to the house to look.
In this instance the seller wanted 100 so I offered 75.
Its business, I see nothing wrong with it.
The seller is happy.
Its not like they called me to do an appraisal...they called me because to them it is junk and they just want to get rid of it.
I dont act as a reseller ...I just say I am a collector or sometimes I say it is for a friend who asked me to look as they live out of town.
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rrayburn
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posted on June 15, 2001 11:18:56 AM new
I have run ads in a local newspaper in the yardsale section saying I will be happy to help get em organized and give em some tips for free... Early birds?? A few days!!! And they call me!!!
Remember ~ The early bird gets the worm ~ on the other hand ~ The early worm gets eaten!!!
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keziak
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posted on June 15, 2001 02:40:35 PM new
I've thought about that, because I've seen some of the donations the library gets and I know people out there have some nice books.
OTOH, I've seen the donations and I know they have a ton of junk, too!
I'm not sure how I'd handle it if I got an answer to an ad and went to a house and didn't want any of the books. Or only wanted to pay $1 or less and they were insulted.
How do you handle that sort of thing?
keziak
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capotasto
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posted on June 15, 2001 04:12:52 PM new
"Who made the offer of $75 for the $1000 widgets- you or the seller?"
Why should it make a difference? I have had items shown to me and the person asked me to make an offer... Let's say it's "worth" $1,000. The seller thinks it's maybe worth $25 or so.
I know from experience that if I offer $500, the seller will suddenly think, "Wow, it's worth a lot, and I'll bet this guy is low-balling it, and I can get more than $500 from someone else." And he'll go away.
OTOH if I offer say $75 he is more likely to take it.
It's human nature, I've seen it! So if you ask me for an offer I will take human nature into account. My job is to buy the item, not to give you a free appraisal.
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suz23
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posted on June 15, 2001 08:31:14 PM new
On thinking about keziak's question as I have often seen a few ads even in the area that I live in ~ small town in Canada ( very very small) and it seems to me that the ads were specific like old postcards or vintage magazines. I have often thought of running an ad to what I was interested in at the moment: ie "interested in buying Pierre Probst Caroline books and older Nancy drew" I think that might solve the problem for me at any rate. However, I am so overloaded with "stuff" that I am not going to run ads. Once when I was buying books at a sale , I was asked to help out at the library sale ( 3 days of help) I get first "pick" of books there and of course I get first "pick" of books left over~ that can be great fun.
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chazbme99
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posted on June 15, 2001 09:58:59 PM new
2 Rules/Methods to be success in business:
1. Buy Low, Sell High.
2. Knowledge is Power!
These are the two basic principles in the antiques business.
Learn them well. 
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hwahwahwahwa
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posted on June 16, 2001 06:52:12 PM new
it is always more fun to be a buyer than a seller,like all the big corporate purchasing agent knows TAKE ME TO LUNCH!!!!!!!!!
i dont know why ebay is going that route,land to cyberspace ,seems kind of backward to me.
not to mention a certain degree of risk involved meeting strangers and letting them into your home?
i have incidents where ebay bidders want to meet and pick up the item to save on shipping,to see what else is of interest,to meet friends or TO SELL ME SOMETHING!!
now with all that talks about uncle sam getting a cut of cyberaction,would there be a case where the buyer is an agent,i heard that sometimes agent posed as buyer for cuban cigars or other contraband.
i have cases when it just turns me off when someone local want to save a few dollars of shipping fee,say 1.95??
or somene who bot a small item and insisted on meeting me wants to sell me a life retired greyhound for a few hundred dollars,or the wife of a real estate developer wants to build me a house.
one day a guy called me and claimed he is a collector and wants to meet and ask me to bring all my items of interest to coffee shop.
then he and his wife got into the back of my car and examine each item and proclaim they are all trash,the worst kind he has at home is better than mine.
then we returned to coffee shop and he lamented that (1) the best pieces are hard to find,and he is looking for items close to museum quality (2) even if he has the museum quality items,he cannot connect with the rich people who have the money to pay.
so he was looking for a bargain,hoping i have something of museum like quality he could buy for a song .
overall i would prefer to conduct business without meeting in person,as most of my items are not that expensive and rare which requires such close examination and dont forget time is money ,time spent meeting,socialising and collecting a few dolalrs is time not spent listing on ebay!!
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gravid
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posted on June 16, 2001 07:05:37 PM new
I don't know where you are but in the Detroit area ads are expensive. I wanted to put a 5 line ad in for one week and it was $125.00. I told the lady that for that much mony I could buy an equal ad in a national specialty magazine that targeted 40k people interested in my stuff. She said well you better do that. No yield at all. There are some special deals for privite personal sales only. They can not be anything that is a business.
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IMLDS2
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posted on June 16, 2001 07:19:09 PM new
I just put an ad in the paper..starts tommorrow...
Thought I'd see if it works....ad was FREE...our 'WANTED TO BUY' section of the classifieds are free...
Carole
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