Even BORING stuff can be a gold mine!

[Thumper]

Dang! I went to an estate sale a while back and the old lady who'd passed was an obvious hoarder. Stuff was piled floor to ceiling throughout the house, much of it still in the original unopened boxes. I bought quite a bit of stuff, but it just wasn't my style for the most part ... mostly "old lady" type stuff. But there were a few treasures to be had. Anyway, she had stacks of unopened boxes that were actually old cases (6 items/case) of boring old Corelle dishes that were promotional items from a local grocery store. You know, spend "X-amount" and get the dishes for "who-knows-what"? I didn't count the cases on Friday, but they were marked $1/each and I just ignored them. I went back Saturday for "1/2 price day" and there were 30 cases there (I have no clue how many sold on Friday), so I figured, "what the heck"? They HAVE to be worth more than 50-cents! So I paid my $15 and loaded them in the back of my truck (along with a few other "treasures").

I dragged the crap home and kept wondering why I bought a pile of junky frigging dishes, but I figured I'd figure something out. That same weekend Lynn and I went to dinner at a friend's house and I mentioned those stupid dishes. The host's mother said she'd like to buy a set as a gift for her sister. Dang! I sold her 6 cases for $25/case! That was easy. A quick $147.00 profit and I still had a shit-load of dishes to unload.

Ok, yesterday I finally get around to listing them on eBay and every time I'd list a case, it would sell immediately! I've sold 13 frigging cases since yesterday for $27.50 a pop!

Ok, I paid a total of $15, I've already sold $507.50 worth in two days and I just finished listing the final 11 cases (@ $27.50 ea). I just took a peek at the listings and out of the 11 listed, 6 of them are on watch lists already! Who'da thunk it? ;)

Now I ain't talkin' fine china here ... I'm talkin' plain ol' every day stuff. I'm thinkin' my price may be a bit low. ;)


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[Captain]

Yea, I bet you could have gotten 28 bucks per pack! :D

[Thumper]

I don't want to get greedy ... maybe $27.75? ;)

[Captain]

You got a big heart like that.
Seriously though, it's amazing what you pick up and sell at there sales. Pretty cool actually. I need to get on the 'bay and sell all my collectibles while I can still enjoy the money. :D

[Thumper]

Cappy, with all the stuff you have, you'd need to hire an entire sales staff and work 'em 24/7 !! ;)

One sad thing I've found by attending these sales is that many, many people spend their whole lives collecting various odds & ends, then leave them behind after they pass, but the family does not share their passion. Those collections sometimes turn into a cash cow for some (all they want to do is sell the stuff for a profit), but 90% of the time, the family could care less and the life-long "collections" are nothing but a burden to them. That's when they hire an estate sale company to come in and get rid of the stuff so the house can be cleaned up and put on the market.

There seems to be 2-3 "rules of thumb" I've learned at these sales. Normally, after a sale, the left-overs are either given to charity and the receipt is handed over to the executor for a tax deduction, or some companies call in a liquidator who gives a lump sum (pennies on the dollar) for EVERYTHING leftover and empties the place out, then those proceeds are turned over to the family. As for pricing, there's a bit of a Catch-22, some companies price high to make as much money as possible for the family, but that makes for a LOT of left-over inventory and some mighty fine stuff is "given away" in the end. Some companies have very reasonable prices, but they're only "good" if one is buying for his/her own use. There is not enough "room" left for someone like me who plans to resell, so it cuts out a large portion of the customer base (hence, more leftovers). Then there are the companies who go in for the sole purpose of emptying the house and everything is dirt cheap ... by time the sale ends, the only thing left in the house is dirt and dust-bunnies to be swept out. In the end, what goes to the family averages out to about the same anydamnway. (the latter is the type company I like to work with)

With experience and getting to know the people running the different companies, I know who is reasonable ... or will at least work with me on pricing since I'm a regular and they know I'm a re-seller. The bottom line is, it's exciting (no two sales are alike), fun (you never know what you'll find) and can be profitable. Plus, I have no set hours, only have to leave the house one day per week and can work in my underwear. :D

[Big Skyz]

Cappy, with all the stuff you have, you'd need to hire an entire sales staff and work 'em 24/7 !! ;)

One sad thing I've found by attending these sales is that many, many people spend their whole lives collecting various odds & ends, then leave them behind after they pass, but the family does not share their passion. Those collections sometimes turn into a cash cow for some (all they want to do is sell the stuff for a profit), but 90% of the time, the family could care less and the life-long "collections" are nothing but a burden to them. That's when they hire an estate sale company to come in and get rid of the stuff so the house can be cleaned up and put on the market. :D

I've actually pondered this quite a bit as I've watch many, many, trophy collections that hunters accumulate over a lifetime be sold, given away, or thrown away. In fact, while I have quite a few mounts in my house it is very unlikely I will get anything else mounted soon, with the exception of possibly a fish or two. I've even considered selling off all my mounts as I'm sure my family won't have much use for them once I'm gone. I've seen gun collections go down a similar path as well. However, I have enough kids that I'm pretty sure most of mine will get handed down. I guess my point is we really can't take it with us so main as well turn some of it back into cash and enjoy it while we are still on the planet.

[Thumper]

Yeah, I have a bazillion $$$ worth of trophies at my buddy's house in Ohio. They really don't mean much to anybody but me, as each one is a memory of a certain hunt or fishing trip. I have bear, fish, deer, pheasants ... you name it, but they'll probably just hang on his wall until I die. My son has no use for them and nobody else in my family appreciates them, so who knows where they'll end up?

I used to love collecting "stuff" and then one day it hit me. WHY do I enjoy having things around that I don't need and really have no practical use for other than looking at it from time to time? It didn't make sense and once I decided to sell some of it off (actually a financial necessity after my hospital stay), I found out I enjoyed SELLING the stuff more than I enjoyed COLLECTING it! I now like to spend that money on travel and eating. Life is too short to spend a fortune buying "stuff" that'll only sit around gathering dust, then become a burden for someone once I die.

[Big Skyz]

Jim, that is exactly the way of thinking I'm starting to come around to myself. I don't have a ton of stuff that's worth much money, but there are a few things and I'm seriously contemplating selling them. Basically I just need to get organized and do it.

[Buckrub]

If that's the unbreakable plates, I'd sure like to gave a bunch for the travel trailer.

[Big Skyz]

Buckrub, I'm sure that is their unbreakable plates as I grew up using those exact same plates. However they should be called break resistant not unbreakable. They do break and when they do they bust into a zillion pieces!

[Captain]

Bucky I'm sure Thumper will sell you a couple of packs for the GoodHunting special of $55.00 :-)
Those things are made just up the road from where I live in Midland NC. (aka) Hells Half Acre

[Thumper]

Yep, B/S is right. We have them also (plain white) and they are called "unbreakable", but should be called "break resistant". If they hit the floor just right, they bust up into a bazillion pieces! They are pretty resilient though.

[Thumper]

If that's the unbreakable plates, I'd sure like to gave a bunch for the travel trailer.

Buckster, Corning/Corell has made elebenty-bazillion-gazillion of these things. You can find them at every yard/garage sale, every thrift store from Auntie's Attic to Zoey's Thrift ... or any Salvation Army or Goodwill. And then there's eBay! They're a dime a dozen. ;)

If you want some brand new one's, still in the box, I can fix you up. I guess the draw is that the particular styles I have were made in the 80's and people like the fact they've never been used.