amber
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posted on July 16, 2005 02:30:34 PM new
While eBay is slow, I thought I would throw out this question. There are always a lot of threads about getting good buys. I think my biggest blunder was a couple of weeks ago. I saw a Sega Genesis Video game in a box with about 10 games for, most had price tags of around $59.99 on them. I know NOTHING about video games, but I thought it had to be worth that for the games alone-wrong! Some of the games are selling for 99 cents on eBay. I will be lucky to get my money back. It's a big heavy thing to mail too.I paid $40 for it.
Sometimes I think I have a great buy in china, only to get home and find a chip.
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replaymedia
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posted on July 16, 2005 02:39:00 PM new
I once bought a "LOT OF 2000 CDS" from an eBay seller. These were all new and sealed. I figured for $1500 I couldn't go wrong.
Heh Heh. OOPS!
They sat around here for two or three years taking up valuable shelf space, selling maybe one or two a month. Eventually, I got out of the music business and the guy who bought me out paid a per-CD rate more than I paid for them, so I guess it cam out all right in the end.
Still, it was an expensve lesson.
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Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum sonatur.
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niel35
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posted on July 16, 2005 03:58:55 PM new
I was at a sale this morning and bot Lenox Spice village collection - supposed to be 24 and when I got home there were 23. the young fellow said they were his Grandmothers and she paid $100 each for them and that only 2 of them had chips. I believed him as the mosquitos were so bad and I wanted to get the hell out of there. Well......13 of them are damaged and they are worth 14.95 each. BACK THEY GO TOMORROW. I will take bug repellant. If he doesn't give me my $80 back I will use the bug spray on him.
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MAH645
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posted on July 16, 2005 05:19:49 PM new
I guess it would be about 200 DVDs I had bought wholesale that wouldn't sell on E-Bay. I finally sold most of them in my Danville store but still have some.
**********************************
Two men sit behind bars,one sees mud the other sees stars.
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sanmar
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posted on July 16, 2005 08:00:30 PM new
I bought 12 dolls on an auction & can't even move them on the auction after having them for a year. Oh well.only $60.00
Life Is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine
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LtRay
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posted on July 16, 2005 09:50:48 PM new
anything I bought for a $ that won't sell for $20 
Seriously, I keep buying this stuff that won't ebay for $10 and I know it is not worth my time or fees to try and make money like that.
Not knocking you guys who make your millions a $ at a time. But I take too long to write auctions. I need to clear at least $25 to justify my snails pace.
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max40
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posted on July 17, 2005 07:29:15 AM new
If you don't make misteaks, you're not buying enough!
In my younger days in the business, I purchased 2 pieces of Galle art glass for cheap. (total $735) Turned out they were both repros. I still have them displayed in a place of prominence as a reminder that I'm not as smart as I think I am.
[ edited by max40 on Jul 17, 2005 06:23 PM ]
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hessfineart
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posted on July 17, 2005 06:02:26 PM new
We have a saying in the office. "Our best education is a bad buy"
We guy alot both on ebay and over te counter and frankly I hae made some whoopers of mistakes but never the same mistake twice.
Live learn and do well.
katrina
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jackswebb
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posted on July 17, 2005 07:03:23 PM new
Sanmar,,,,,if they are BARBIE I just MIGHT be interested......
Space is Valuable. It's later than you  .
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jackswebb
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posted on July 17, 2005 07:03:39 PM new
Sanmar,,,,,if they are BARBIE I just MIGHT be interested......
Space is Valuable. It's later than you .
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cherishedclutter
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posted on July 17, 2005 07:35:35 PM new
My biggest blunder buy was a house. I didn't know until I moved in that the furnance didn't work. Gas company put a big red "DO NOT USE" tag on it.
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kozersky
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posted on July 17, 2005 08:11:34 PM new
cherishedclutter:
Of course you brought a law suit aganst the seller. Or, did the seller repair or replace for you?
[ edited by kozersky on Jul 17, 2005 08:12 PM ]
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jackswebb
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posted on July 17, 2005 08:11:59 PM new
Not relevant......
[ edited by jackswebb on Jul 18, 2005 10:01 PM ]
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classicrock000
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posted on July 17, 2005 08:12:39 PM new
"We guy alot both on ebay and over te counter and frankly I hae made some whoopers of mistakes but never the same mistake twice.
Live learn and do well.
katrina"
Katrina..where are your waves??
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cherishedclutter
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posted on July 17, 2005 08:23:06 PM new
Can I plead young and stupid? (I was 30 - should have known better) I bought the house from what I thought was a sweet old couple. The first month I was in the house, several people knocked on the door looking for the former owner - seems he skipped town owing lots of people money.
Actually one of my first indications that the guy was a crook was the shocked expression on the water company man's face when I told him that Mr. "sweet" no longer lived there. He was among those who wanted to find him so he could get back the money he was owed.
No - I didn't sue, I just bought a new furnace. It turned out ok in the end - I sold it 5 years later for a good profit.
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mcjane
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posted on July 17, 2005 10:23:27 PM new
I'm embarassed to even tell this, but everyone else is owning up so I will too.
I bought a Beanie Baby bear on eBay named Libearty (correct spelling) for 125.00. At the time, about 6 years ago, this Beanie was selling for that much & going up a few dollars every week. So I put it away to sell a couple of years later expecting to get over 300.00 for it. Turned out it was a counterfeit & even if it was genuine all it was selling for by then was 10.00.
I ended up giving it to my dog for a toy & she tore it all to hell. It deserved it.
Around the same time I bid, like a fool, on some McDonalds teenie beanies, paid 211.00 for the lot
Never received them, seller lived in Hawaii, user ID LATV
She was NARU shortly after, but I believe she is back again.
After that mess I started to educate myself & also found Auction Watch, now Vendio. Just about everything I know about on-line auctions I learned here & am deeply grateful to all who take the time to share their knowledge & experiences.
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amber
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posted on July 18, 2005 03:32:34 AM new
Mcjane: Don't be embarassed, thousands of people were burned by Beanie Babies, they were selling for hundreds of dollars, we had friends asking us to look for certain kinds, then all of a sudden, they were worth nothing. Now you see them at rummage sales all the time.
When I bought the video game, I broke my own rule " buy and sell what you know". I know all crafts well, quite a bit about English china and Blue Mountain pottery, and my expertise stops there. I always have problems when I buy something I know nothing about, but I guess sometimes you have to take chances in this game.
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ruthiebabie108
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posted on July 18, 2005 04:01:35 AM new
Amber-Interesting you mention Blue Mt Pottery. I live within a few hours drive of Canada and run across Blue Mt and , darn, can't think of the other, similar one right nows name. Have picked up quite a few pieces, mainly because I LIKE the stuff. Do you think holding onto it a good plan? People around here not treating it with any value at the moment. Thanks, Ruthie
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cblev65252
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posted on July 18, 2005 04:44:40 AM new
It's hard to determine from one minute to the next what will sell and what won't. What sold like hot cakes last month, won't sell this month. I made a killing on threader earrings. Then, the fad stopped. Fortunately, I knew when to quit buying them. The same can be said for jean or bag charms. My biggest blunder was ever trying to get in the handbag game. One minute you sell a ton of them and the next you sell nothing. I'm stuck with some now and may just list them as a lot at wholesale. The last thing I need is another purse!!
Cheryl
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amber
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posted on July 18, 2005 06:00:44 AM new
ruthiebabie: We live about 20 miles from where the factory was, it is now closed down. I used to find lots of nice pieces, but I haven't seen any of them for a while, I think people are hanging onto them because they will be more collectible now they are no longer made. I do find that the bigger pieces are not worth buying, just too heavy to mail for their value, and very breakable. I pack very carefully, and BMP is the only thing I have had break a couple of times.
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toben88
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posted on July 18, 2005 08:47:08 AM new
I assumed artificial Christmas trees would be a big hit on ebay, so I bought a huge lot of 6 foot trees for $8 apiece.
As soon as the buying season hit they were selling on ebay for $7.99.
I still have about 30 trees in my basement.
I just updated my new website - give me your feedback on it.
http://gotflag.com
[ edited by toben88 on Jul 18, 2005 08:47 AM ]
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pelorus
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posted on July 18, 2005 12:24:22 PM new
I currently have 2 copies of Mein Kampf, which ebay doesn't allow to be listed at all. The thing is, I know people will pay good money for them, but I can't figure out how to sell them.
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LtRay
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posted on July 18, 2005 12:50:03 PM new
pelorus, I know nothing about Mein Kampf, but there are a tons of closed, sold auctions for it on ebay.
I think you can sell them if you don't list the auction open to international sales. I still don't understand the ebay criteria for Nazi items. I've seen stuff sell on 10 day listings that should have been pulled immediately.
Back to Ambers thread... I had forgotten. I did the Beany Baby thing too. Bought 50 for $35, thought there was no way I could lose on that one. WRONG! Anyone want 50 beanies for $35??? <g>
I usually put most of my bad bloopers in the Goodwill box and get them out of the house fast so I don't have to think about it. But the beanies are still in the closet, ugh!
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niel35
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posted on July 18, 2005 01:33:17 PM new
I've got Beanies, Barbie Dolls and Cabbage Patch dolls and those little gnomes that were so popular. I just know this will all be popular again, hopefully in my lifetime
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bizzycrocheting
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posted on July 18, 2005 03:52:41 PM new
Niel -- What are you waiting for? Cabbage Patch dolls came back!
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pelorus
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posted on July 18, 2005 06:45:51 PM new
Ltray -- I have sold Mein Kampf before after finding the conditions they allow it with, but I couldn't find the rules anymore.
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birgittaw
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posted on July 18, 2005 07:48:10 PM new
Big huh? Probably the butcher block table that I couldn't move once I got it off the truck (took a few guys to help load and me by mygoodself to unload). It sat in the driveway until the termites found it. $100 in sawdust!
And perhaps the base to a barber chair -- only $5 but the buyer I thought I had didn't want it, so it went into the clean up day pile. Poor garbage men!
That's what happens when you equate bulk with profit.
B/
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sparkz
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posted on July 18, 2005 08:24:23 PM new
I once bought a large box at a live auction. It had about 25 teddy bears in it, each with various major league baseball uniforms. Got'em cheap and planned on making a killing on Ebay. They all had tags but the tags looked a little funny. I did a search on Ebay to see where they were being listed and what they were going for. It pulled up several auctions, but when I went to open them, about 95% came up as invalid items. Seems like these items are popular to counterfit, and it seems like MLB has some aggressive attornies manning their VERO button. The funny looking tags gave me cold feet, so I didn't list them. Instead, my wife and I donated them to a neighboring county's sherrif's department. The deputies carry them in the trunk of their patrol cars. They're great for calming down a lost child when they're found, or an abuse victim when they take them into protective custody. I wasn't stuck with them, and my accountant turned that blunder into a good tax deduction.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
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blueyes29
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posted on July 18, 2005 09:19:34 PM new
Thanks for this thread, amber. I've been agonizing over the $2,300 I spent on a dining room table that I'll probably use 3 times. I feel better now.
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mcjane
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posted on July 18, 2005 09:57:51 PM new
Amber...they sure were selling for hundreds & the Royal Blue Peanut elephant was going for up to 5000.00
Funny thing Beanies hit the bottom around the same time the dot com stocks went bust.
I still sell Beanies when I get them, but only the ones I get with free points for using the Ty.com MasterCard.
They have the MC logo on their nose.
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