posted on August 5, 2001 05:28:38 PM
Went out looking for deals one day last week. Bought four items, resold them very quickly, made $815.00 profit less expenses for the day (this stuff didn't sell on ebay, so you won't find it there if you were going to look. I turn some things locally).
Felt pretty good about that big day.
Went out a couple of days later to look at a promising item we found in the paper. The item was in a neighboring town about 25 miles away. Turned out to be in such bad shape that I didn't buy it. The lady had it priced low because it was a hunk of junk. Funny, when asked about the condition over the phone she didn't mention some of the flaws. Didn't find anything else worth buying that day either, even though I put some miles on. Wasted trip.
Profit for that day? $0.00.
It kind of evens out, doesn't it?
[ edited by loosecannon on Aug 17, 2001 08:27 AM ]
posted on August 5, 2001 06:48:15 PM
It is mostly still fun for me. But a couple of months ago an elderly lady phoned and said she had antiques for sale so I drove to a neighboring town directly from work.
Their house was messy and smelled really terrible and there was dirty yellow green shag carpet and it felt like little bugs were crawling up my pantyhose.
The only items for sale were a beat up credenza and a rusted flat iron. I glanced around and there were plastic flowers, plastic vases, etc. everywhere and she told me I couldn't have those as they were her treasures.
The only thing I touched was the doorknob but when I got home I jumped into the shower.
Recently a lady that I was reluctant to deal with had awesome rhinestone jewelry at a reasonable price so I am glad that I made time to see her. Another lady that used to work in a jewelry and china shop in the 1950's promised us incredible things but only had yard sale stuff. You never know until you get there.
[ edited by kiara on Aug 5, 2001 07:06 PM ]
posted on August 5, 2001 07:09:14 PMit felt like little bugs were crawling up my pantyhose.
All in a day's work. LOL! They probably had fleas in their carpet.
I understand that feeling though. We have Brown Recluse spiders around here (not to metion Black Widows) and it seems like the stuff I find is always stored in old sheds. I worry about running into a spider! Oh, we have scorpions in Missouri too. Believe that? Yeah, I know. A 6' 2", 240 lb man being afraid of a spider. But they do freak me out.
Rancher,
I want all good days. Need the money!
[ edited by loosecannon on Aug 17, 2001 08:28 AM ]
posted on August 5, 2001 08:28:10 PM
loosecannon, I also have a great fear of spiders.
A couple of years ago a friend started to teach me not to be so afraid each time I see one. He said to consider it a sign and a reminder not to let my thoughts be trapped in a web. He said to think of weaving your thoughts into opportunities each time you see a spider.
It helps somewhat. But I still shudder.
So each time you go into a shed and see a spider maybe consider it a special sign that you may make lots of money from the items you purchase that day?
posted on August 5, 2001 08:28:59 PM
Pssst, hey LC...
LOL! I can do that to you dear because I too am terrifed of spiders (and I'm not a tiny girl either ). And we have all the creepy crawlies you mentioned here too, along with rattle snakes!
posted on August 5, 2001 08:39:53 PM
Kiara, I just got that humdinger this morning. I thought it was cute since I'm a total wuss when it comes to spiders. I had just done my post when yours snuck in and I started to giggle.
posted on August 5, 2001 09:14:38 PM
LooseCannon: A friend of mine moved to Mo, down By Lake of the Ozarks, in TightWad, and they had lots of SCORPIONS!!!!!!!!!!. I was surprised, I only thought they were in desert states!!
posted on August 5, 2001 11:22:59 PM
Hey all you guys that are afraid of spiders,
maybe knowing this will help.
Fact....If all the spiders in the world were to die tomorrow, you would also be dead from starvation in about 8 weeks. Spiders kill and eat trillions of insects a day & without spiders the insects would eat every single bit of vegatation on Earth. We cannot survive without them, they are worth their weight in gold.
You have friends in Tightwad? I've been through there a few times. I don't know if the scorpions range as far north as me (I live north of Kansas City), but they probably do. I haven't went looking for them around here. I was surprised when I found out they lived around here too. Like you I thought they were in the desert.
mcjane & kiara
Let me rephrase that. Spiders don't bother me at all unless they get too close to me or I get too close to them.
We also have those great big yellow and black orb weaver garden spiders around here. They can get as large as 3 to 4 inches leg span and look really menacing. They spin large, sticky webs, sometimes 4 or 5 feet across. I walked smack dab into one of those webs with my face once. Thought I saw the spider out of the corner of my eye. My arms flailed so fast and furious trying to get that web off of my face that I broke the frame of my eye glasses in two.
[ edited by loosecannon on Aug 17, 2001 08:29 AM ]
posted on August 6, 2001 12:09:10 PM
WHat I love are the "little old ladies" who say they have some stuff and don't know what its worth, so you make the time and spend the gas to visit them.... Usually they ask you to make them an offer, which I do, based roughly on 1/3 - 1/2 of what I think I can get for the stuff. Then suddenly they seem to realize that their stuff is far mor valuable and rare than they had let on and demand a price that is beyond the going rate!
It used to piss me off, but now I just tell them that they should find another dealer, and usually give them the name of one or competitors who I know pay even less for stuff than I do - and leave.... 1/2 the time they come back to me and accept the original offer.
posted on August 6, 2001 12:41:14 PM
loosecannon, that is the way I am with spiders. If they are not close to me I am okay. We get those big yellow and black ones in our garden and by the end of the summer they are almost as big as my hand. Last year while I was weeding I found one perched on my upper arm.
fonthill, I think the little old ladies are the same everywhere these days. They all like to play games and waste time. And they all watch the Antiques Roadshow. I can buy my items for much less on ebay than from them.
). And we have all the creepy crawlies you mentioned here too, along with rattle snakes! 
Hippy wannabe 
~^~
