Come on down Ticboy!

[Thumper]

Photography must be bad for one's health. I went to a local estate sale this morning that was FULL of professional photography equipment. I got there about an hour early and there was only one other person there (at that time). He was a Vietnamese dude who drove all the way down from Jacksonville (200 miles). He deals in photography equipment, watches and jewelry. We had a lot to talk about (he just came here from 'Nam in the 80's), plus he gave me an education on the stuff he deals in. The dude knew his stuff and made a bee-line for the camera stuff. I saw him grab about 20 lens' (left behind another 15-20), some camera equipment and a pile (5-6) fancy looking tripods. He said one of the tripods would bring an easy $1000 (he paid $20). He has a business in Jacksonville (he gave me his business card) and spent about $700-$800 right off the bat and told me he had about $11,000 - $12,000 worth of stuff there! I'm clueless, but he seemed to know his stuff. He's coming back down for a show at the Convention Center here in town in February and we're gonna hook up (Lynn will most likely be able to get him tickets and a parking pass) as her hotel is on the Convention Center property. A really cool guy and we had plenty to talk about between 'Nam and estate sales.

Anyway, there's another estate sale that starts tomorrow. I doubt I'll go since it's just not my thing, but I thought you might like looking through some of the pics. I think if you attended, you'd be drooling all over this stuff!

Here's a partial lead-in ...


We'll be conducting a unique sale in Tampa for a professional photographer who owned 4 photography and video production studios. His passion was creating professional catalogs for international lingerie companies.

After recently moving to Tampa with his wife, his health took a turn for the worse, and unfortunately he passed away earlier this year.

His wife, originally from France, has hired our company to liquidate his photography equipment, including cameras, lighting, audio and video production equipment, and just about everything that has to do with professional photography & video production studios.

There's some major "stuff" at this thing but I don't know squat about it. Here's a link with a bazillion pics:

http://estatesales.org/tampa-fl-estate-sales/boudoir-photographyvideo-production-equipment-736191

[Big Skyz]

Man, what I'd give to get in on some of the deals a guy could get from estate sales like that! Quality camera lenses are EXPENSIVE!!! If a guy knew what he was looking for I'm sure they sometimes go for pennies on the dollar at some of those estate sales.

[Thumper]

Yep, the main thing is persistence. Sales are all over the map ... some good, some not so good as far as inventory goes. The same with prices. I hit them every week and many times come home empty-handed (I didn't buy a single item yesterday) ... but other times I come home with a truck-load. If you go just once and nothing excites you ... chances are you'll write 'em off as a waste of time. It's kinda like hunting or fishing, just because you don't catch any fish or bag any game on your first trip/hunt, it doesn't mean you should throw in the towel. I had a buddy in town who was all excited to go to one of these sales with me. I took him along and it was pretty much a dud. He never went again. The buddy who tags along with me now (been friends for 56 years) had just retired when he went to his first sale and he's been hooked ever since (over a year now) and has only missed ONE weekend ... only because his transmission took a dump one morning on his way to my house to hit the sales with me!

[Big Skyz]

I have a question for you. We have a fair number of estate sales here. Many of them include firearms. I'm assuming a guy almost never gets a good deal on those? I've never gone to an estate sale because firearms are generally the only thing that would really interest me around this area. Perhaps I should look a little closer and see if anyone is selling fishing or camera equipment.

[Thumper]

Down here EVERY sale has fishing stuff and frankly, I seldom look at it. Firearms are spotty ... it seems the family usually scarfs them up, but when they are available, people flock to them. In a HEAVY hunting area, I'd say there may be some great deals but they are something that are easy to evaluate as far as price is concerned. If you're selling a car or firearm, you can easily look up a price on the net or a price guide. With camera equipment, maybe not so much. My buddy has found his niche, he makes a small fortune buying/selling kitchen knives. Most if the companies haven't really caught on to their worth and most kitchen drawers will have a tag that says "25-cents each" or something similar. He once picked up a set of Cutco's in a butcher block for $15 ... they sell for over $600! He does real well with Old Hickory, Wusthof, some of the Henckles, etc. He seldom pays over 50-cents to a dollar for a knife (usually less), or $10-$20 for a set. BUT ... pocket knives or hunting knives ... most of the companies have caught on to them and have them priced accordingly. Like cast iron, I can many times find a great deal, but a lot of the companies are realizing they're worth something and doing a little more research. It takes some digging sometimes.

[LJ3]

That is a serious pile of stuff!!! Just a couple of the SLR cameras could be resold for 3-4K. Most of his shit is outdated but it's the kind of equipment that stands the test of time.