And we're off!

[Thumper]

Heading out in a few minutes for a little 4-day get-a-way at the beach. This is our first venture out in quite some time. Man am I ready to just get out of the house for a change. Youse dufes TRY to be good ... have laptop, will travel .... so remember, I'll be checking in occasionally to see if anyone is misbehaving .... POSTHOLE!

[Bwana]

Have fun and stay healthy

[Big Muddy]

......and, eat a ton of raw smelly sheeit!!! ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

Cricket alert!

BKB

[airbud7]

Wait...What!...You no worry bout that Covid thing?.....don't eat no bats :D

Have fun Thump!

[DeputyDog]

Have a good time.

Today is my wife’s birthday and we went out for dinner at a small place with another couple. It was the first time we have eaten in a restaurant since the whole Covid thing started in March.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Thumper]

Well, it's already been a successful trip! We rolled into town yesterday and stopped at a few thrift stores on the way to the hotel. (the main reason we come here is to pick up eBay inventory) With just a few quick stops yesterday, I already have junk worth close to $500, with an expenditure of $38.00. Stop number two yielded a small gold mine! I sell a ton of vintage Pyrex and have developed a pretty decent eye for the "good stuff". Hint, odd (rare) patterns and colors bring a premium. The odd part is, I found a couple pieces on one shelf in one part of the store, and other pieces scattered on different shelves here and there, but once I gathered them all up, I had a complete set (4 bowls with lids). These are called "refrigerator dishes" and are very small bowls. I have no pics to post yet, but the set will bring $200 on ebay (I sold my last set, a different pattern, for $187.50). I just checked recent sales for this particular pattern and the last sales went for $201.10 , $193.10 , $192.79 , $191.31 .... well, you get the idea. My cost? They were marked $2.99 each, so I walked out with the set for under $12.00! :thumbsup

We're headed out for breakfast right now, then a full day of thrift stores (same plans tomorrow). I may need to rent a U-Haul to get all my junque back home!

[Bwana]

Happy hunting Thump!

[Buckrub]

Well, it's already been a successful trip! We rolled into town yesterday and stopped at a few thrift stores on the way to the hotel. (the main reason we come here is to pick up eBay inventory) With just a few quick stops yesterday, I already have junk worth close to $500, with an expenditure of $38.00. Stop number two yielded a small gold mine! I sell a ton of vintage Pyrex and have developed a pretty decent eye for the "good stuff". Hint, odd (rare) patterns and colors bring a premium. The odd part is, I found a couple pieces on one shelf in one part of the store, and other pieces scattered on different shelves here and there, but once I gathered them all up, I had a complete set (4 bowls with lids). These are called "refrigerator dishes" and are very small bowls. I have no pics to post yet, but the set will bring $200 on ebay (I sold my last set, a different pattern, for $187.50). I just checked recent sales for this particular pattern and the last sales went for $201.10 , $193.10 , $192.79 , $191.31 .... well, you get the idea. My cost? They were marked $2.99 each, so I walked out with the set for under $12.00! :thumbsup

We're headed out for breakfast right now, then a full day of thrift stores (same plans tomorrow). I may need to rent a U-Haul to get all my junque back home!

Good luck. I guess I missed what town you went to.

If your side of Florida is anything like Melbourne, there is a law that every strip mall has to have a "Thrift Store". The guys that I camp with there (if we ever get to do it again!!) are Disciples of Thump, I guess. Their happiest days are spent driving around to every one of the 1,000 second-hand stores in Brevard County. They shop like women (which is what you are doing, diddle-britches). They are not going after a specific item. There's no goal. Just go to a store and manhandle every tiny item in there, in hopes they'll find a nugget. This is where they get ALL their clothes. Some drive big Freightliner trucks and pull big old fifth wheels, complete with golf cars and 'smart cars', but won't go out to eat because it's too expensive. If they ever do, it's Checkers down the street. UGH!

I already have about 3 houses FULL of old, old stuff. I sure don't want any more. So when they go 'shopping', I go fishing. Course, I go fishing even when they don't go shopping! LOL.

So you'd fit right in over there. No clue if we'll ever get to go again. Hope so. But I'll take my own second-hand junk, don't need more. I always marvel NOT at your taking advantage of folks who want old worthless stuff, but at how many are willing to buy/bid on all of it...........the fact that your junk sells, and quickly, just tells me some folks apparently don't have enough junk. I wish they'd come through my house(s) when wife is gone. Then we'd both be rich.

[Thumper]

I hear the same thing from Cappy. He’s been telling me for years he’s ready to “clean house” because the kids aren’t interested in any of his old “stuff”. Many times he’s said he’d like to load up a trailer full of junk, then bring it to me to sell, then we’d split the cash. Between you and him, I could retire a millionaire. Problem is, from the descriptions, I wouldn’t have enough time left on earth to get rid of all of it. I see both of you guys in my head at every estate sale I go to. People spend their whole lives “collecting”, then they’re gone (to a nursing home or to St. Peter’s gate) and the family wants nothing to do with the “junk”. That’s where I step in. I don’t collect ANYTHING any more, only cash from other people’s collections. 😉

[Thumper]

Buckster, if you hang with your buddies on one of those trips, you might get hooked. We haven't bought NEW (from a retail store) clothes in 25 years. MUCH of what we buy from thrift stores still have the store tags on them or are obviously brand new. All those stores have sale days such as Wacky Wednesday for example. Senior and veteran discounts plus their normal clearance items. I not only buy my personal clothes there, but I buy tons of NEW Levis with the tags and some new w/o tags (usually department store returns, wrong size usually). They're normally marked $5.99 but I buy them on 1/2-price day for $3.00. It's like going to estate sales, you have to play the sale day game and know what you're looking for. I sell Levis on eBay for anywhere from $30 to $50, depending on model. I have a shitload of 'em here to get listed and they sell as fast as I can list them. Lynn has a very nice bathrobe that she wears around the house after her shower (I keep the a/c waaaay down and she freezes). She hates to take it back and forth when we travel, so she just bought one last Wednesday before our trip. Brand new, retails for $99 (forgot the brand). The other one is top of the line from Bath & Body Works ... she bought both of them for 25-cents each! Now she wears one at home and the other stays in her travel bag for out of town trips. She's prolly bought 500 frigging pairs of designer shoes ... some rich lady will buy them, wear them once, discover they're too big/small and donate them. Lynn will buy a "new" $100 pair of shoes for $2.99.

I spent $102.00 this weekend on eBay junque (all thrift stores) ... I just finished running an inventory and will EASILY turn this stuff for at least $1500.00. BUT ... like anything else, there's a learning curve. Our local thrift stores are pretty sucky and you really have to shop hard, but I will find a gem from time to time. We LOVE the Ft. Myers/Cape Corral area and I score BIG time every time we head down there. But, go another 20-mins south to Naples, and the stores suck big weenies. I seldom find anything down there and if I do, it's over-priced. As I said, it's like estate sales, with experience, I've learned some estate sale companies are over-priced and I don't even bother attending. BUT ... I make a killing off the one's I've learned have great pricing. You have to hone your skills and the only way to do that is to get out there and hit the bricks! Add in the fun factor and we have a great time doing it!

[Thumper]

Wanna see sumpin' crazy? I bought these old PLASTIC bowls at a thrift store for $3.00 total. One is so faded (on the inside) that you can hardly tell what color it's supposed to be. (the outside color is fine) The others show wear, scrapes, scratches, etc. I listed them the day before we left and they sold the next day! The guy paid $80.11 for these silly things! Develop an eye for this type stuff and you can make a killing!

I just finished packaging them and they're going in tomorrow's mail. Note the discolored one, upper right. If these had been pristine (all of these are scratched/scraped and show obvious wear), who knows what they'd have sold for?

11664 11665