parkman
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posted on July 3, 2007 05:00:49 PM
Reading about Roadsmith's wonderful deals made me wonder what other people may have "found" at yard sales, auctions, etc that sold for a lot more than you anticipated. I bought a box of records some years ago and later when I was looking through it there wasa Beatles Butcher Cover in the box. I sold it for 1200.00 and was THRILLED. I have bought a few more things that did real well but that was the best one. Anybody else have a great find?? Also, Congratulations to Roadsmith on the great find!!
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etexbill
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posted on July 3, 2007 05:04:35 PM
Once upon a time, I sold a postcard on eBay for $66.00. I had paid a dime for it.
Those days are gone, I'm afraid.
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niel35
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posted on July 3, 2007 05:14:59 PM
About 5 yrs ago I went to a yard sale on Star Island on Miami Beach (this is where Gloria Estevan lives). Anyway it was a great sale. I bought a yellow taxi cab cookie jar for 35.00 and sold is on Ebay for 606.00.
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sthoemke
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posted on July 3, 2007 05:17:50 PM
Bought a book for 50 cents, and sold it for over $130.
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max40
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posted on July 3, 2007 05:42:49 PM
Bought a pair of pot metal gilded book-ends for $2.00. Sold for $482.++
Last year bought a small Red Wing jug for $150.00, sold for $1600.00.
[ edited by max40 on Jul 3, 2007 05:45 PM ]
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toasted36
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posted on July 3, 2007 06:02:01 PM
Yoda Mardi gras poster this year 5.00 sold for 700++ that shocked the heck out of me.
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glassgrl
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posted on July 3, 2007 06:02:31 PM
Bought an AA 1st edition second printing with DJ for $1.00 and sold it for $2,000.00.
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roadsmith
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posted on July 3, 2007 07:42:09 PM
Sold an old family RPPC postcard for $145. Free to me!
_____________________
There is more to life than increasing its speed. --Mahatma Gandhi
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dejapooh
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posted on July 3, 2007 08:21:04 PM
I found an olympic participation medal at a yard sale. They didn't want to sell it, but finally agreed to sell it for $160. I turned down $600 and should get $700 to $750.
I found a 1984 participation medal worth $225 on Ebay. After 3 days of no bids, the owner agreed to sell it for a BIN price of $23.
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hwahwa
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posted on July 3, 2007 08:28:59 PM
Someone proxied 5k on an item which costs me 1 dollar,but he told me he wont pay if it gets that high.
Another senior citizen bidded $656 for an item which costs me $2.75 and went into hiding.
I am still rehearsing my Happy dance.May be someday I will have a chance to dance??
PS.
If Ebay wants to clean house,why not clean out these senior citizens who are on medication,I bet it is L-DOPA!
L-DOPA makes them do it!
*
Lets all stop whining !
*
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mcjane
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posted on July 3, 2007 10:39:17 PM
I did buy a book for 200.00, The Stray by Betsy Wyeth, illustrated by Jamie Wyeth.
On the front inside cover he hand drew in sepia ink a copy of a picture that was in the book. It was also signed by both.
I listed it on eBay & the bid went up to 3000.00 within an hour of closing. A half hour before it closed I canceled the auction & bids.
Reason was someone emailed me & said I should take it to Sothebys, not eBay.
Never did, I still have it.
At the same time I also bought a large book, Christina's World, written by Betsy Wyeth & illustrated by Andrew Wyeth. It's signed by both & I still have that too. Paid 65.00 for it.
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MAH645
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posted on July 3, 2007 11:40:21 PM
5 Years ago bought 57 Agatha Christy books for $100 and sold them for $800.00. Last year someone gave me 10 Trixy Beldon paperbacks sold them for $310.00. Four years ago bought over 5,000 audio books and didn't have to work anywhere but home.
**********************************
Come to www.bestfreecellularphones for the best deals in cell phones from any carrier. Get your phone FREE or even cash back. Come check us out!
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LtRay
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posted on July 4, 2007 02:09:57 AM
1984 fought a friend's parent's household goods for $1500. Have probably sold over $10K worth of Prussian China and art objects from around the world and still have many pieces such as hand painted oil lamps and victorian furniture that I have enjoyed all these years.
My best yard sale find was probably the god-awful ugly vase I bought for $4 becuase I knew it was old. It was a Roseville that I sold for $450.00
Anyone hear about the Jackson Pollock painting a lady bought at the thrift shop for $5? She has turned down 8 million for it!
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toolhound
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posted on July 4, 2007 04:11:26 AM
I picked up a rare antique carpenters plane at a car show about 3 months ago for $20.00 . Sold it on eBay for $2,030.00
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cblev65252
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posted on July 4, 2007 04:55:02 AM
Paid $0 for an antique lacquer box. Sold it for $500. Nice return on that one! Too bad that can't happen more often.
Cheryl
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parkman
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posted on July 4, 2007 06:03:10 AM
I am amazed at the great finds!! Too bad we can't find them more often. Guess this is what keeps us all hanging with ebay. Wish it was like the days when you sold most everything for a good profit.
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roadsmith
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posted on July 4, 2007 06:21:44 AM
This is the adventure of eBay for those of us who sell sundry collectibles (the big big big world of collectibles). The thrill of the hunt, the down times when there's nothing to be found, and learning constantly about that big world of collectibles, which seems to me to be endless.
In my head I have a list of things I've found that sold for huge dollars. But I've never found another like it. Three round (RARE as opposed to the square ones!) trivets in Desert Rose pattern, for $5 total. Sold for $325.00. Never have seen one since (I guess that's why it's rare!)
And the beat-up 1930s hardback novel about a dog, Beautiful Joe, at a thrift for 50 cents. Sold for $230 to a woman who said she's always loved pit bulls (!!!!!) and had read that book as a child. She was ever so glad to have beaten out her competition, that !@%^$^& gal who always outbids here. . . somewhere out in the ether. I studied the picture of Joe on the cover but for the life of me didn't see a pit bull there. And I've never found another Joe book, ever.
I think that hunters tend to go to the same hunting grounds that were successful for them in the past--the same thrift shops, all those yard sales in certain communities. I keep remembering the time, once, years and years ago, when I was taking my daily walk, and found a dollar bill on a street corner. Every time I passed that corner, I'd look for another one. And I made sure I always went by that corner. Sort of a Pavlovian response. The mind of a gatherer. . . .
In our little mountain town, with my unwillingness to drive 45 minutes to Palm Springs or other cities, I'd never be able to support myself by selling collectibles. But as a hobby, it's MORE FUN.
_____________________
There is more to life than increasing its speed. --Mahatma Gandhi
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merrie
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posted on July 4, 2007 06:31:04 AM
I don't do yard sales, but have liquidated my mother's varied collections. Mostly dolls and toys, but other family items, also. Eddie Munster doll $426. Many large Star Wars dolls, she paid $6.99 (greasepencil price still on the box) sold for $150-675. Muffy Taffeta Holiday doll I sold when I was very new at this, listed it for $9.00 over a Thanksgiving weekend. Sold it for $450. Today you are lucky to get $50 for the same Muffy. Collectibles are a changeable market. They go up and they go down, also, you need to have at least 2 people hot for the item, more helps. Still have more treasures, not sure whether to save or list.
[ edited by merrie on Jul 4, 2007 06:33 AM ]
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parkman
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posted on July 4, 2007 07:28:57 AM
Oh Merrie--I could cry. I sold my two sons Star Wars (large) figures at a yard sale for 50 cents each. Wish I could undo that one.
I have had my days though...a Harley Davidson factory bank that I paid 1.00 for and sold for 205.00. That one was funny as there was a guy at the yard sale that has a flea market booth..he was buying a bunch of diecast cars for 1.00 each and smirked at me when I only bought the bank. Last time I was at the flea market he still had the cars.
A doll that the eyes change color..paid 25 cents and sold for 800.00 (of course I will probably never find either again). There have been more things through the years and hopefully there will be more.
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merrie
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posted on July 4, 2007 07:43:56 AM
parkman, I can commiserate on the lost treasures. I am sure I would have sold my mom's Muffy for a few dollars at a yard sale if a friend had not turned me on to Ebay. My daughter sold a group of dolls and stuffed animals at her yard sale. I had put them in one box for transporting them, but did not really want them sold as a group, some clever buyer bought the whole lot for $20 before I got to her house (early birds!!). A few months later at a live auction I saw one of the items from the box (I know it was the same one) sell for $250. The irony is and that is what makes auctions unique is I had listed the item on Ebay and it had not sold that is why I was selling it at the yard sale, but I knew it had more value than $20 as part of a box lot. You just never know. It takes a lot of patience, not to mention space and organization and there is always that one that got away!!
In case any one is interested, it was a vintage Raggedy Ann Camel with wrinkled knees stuffed animal with tag.
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twig125silver
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posted on July 4, 2007 08:28:17 AM
An old egg beater from a boxlot....$386.00
An emerald green eyewash cup, paid $3...just under $400
A grouping of Field & Stream fish pins, pd $3....ended just under $800 (one was rare).
All from the same auction...
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merrie
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posted on July 4, 2007 11:02:16 AM
Have you noticed a pattern here?? Nothing is from Ebay Express, Store listings, BIN, Fixed Price......
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birgittaw
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posted on July 4, 2007 11:17:39 AM
Here's one: Two awful chandeliers. Awful! Bought at a show for $20. No bids on regular auction starting at 9.99. Twice! Got mad, did fixed price, and sold for $350.
Best items: Four brass sinks, railroad, for $15 each at a flea market. Sold between $5-600 each over a year's time.
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ms24ktau
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posted on July 7, 2007 06:38:24 AM
Just got back from a vacation and saw this thread...had to answer it. About a month ago I bought a dirty old Taxco necklace at a garage sale for 1.65. (Buyer didnt have change for a ten) and sold it for $1025.00. My happy dance hasnt ended yet!!!
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neglus
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posted on July 7, 2007 07:27:55 AM
I bought a postcard from an unsorted box for 50 cents and sold it for $630 (it had a Bermudan Censor Stamp on the back). I had no idea about the value of the Censor Stamp but thank God I had the brains to note it in the title!
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
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pixiamom
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posted on July 11, 2007 06:38:59 PM
I bought a postcard for $8 (probably the highest I've paid for resale). It went for $250. Delighted at the time, have regretted it since then. I have never seen an earlier postcard. It was a full color 1883 and featured a hot air balloon, Uncle Sam and shoes - should have sold for $750. -
[ edited by pixiamom on Jul 12, 2007 05:33 AM ]
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cta
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posted on July 11, 2007 08:17:22 PM
Bought a book at a yard sale for a $1 - sold it for $650. Those were the days!
Also sold a Densitometer (a Xerox accessory that does color copy adjustments) that was left behind at my office (I was a Xerox agent/owner up until a few years ago) and I sold it on eBay for $1,200.
Just recently sold a coal miners tin that I had sitting in a box that I probably purchased at a yard sale for little to nothing or a box lot at an auction, and I got $333 for it. That was a shocker and the buyer loved it!
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