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Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

LMAO

On one hand we all have to deal with those pesky "professional buyers" and on other hand we have to laugh when something you know that is worth 15 at the most gets bid up to 252.50.

I always hit the garage sales for items to list on one of my new accounts.
Works perfectly for me and gets the account going with never any issues.

Hit a garage sale last Saturday morning and picked up several good buys.

One in particular.

Bought an item for 1.00 at the garage sale. Though an easy 15.00 item and maybe a quick feedback item.

Last night it ended at 252.50 with 38 bids. I started it last Sunday at 0.99 and thought no way will I get paid for this item. Has to be a fluke.

Working on printing labels tonight I looked and there is was, paypal payment was made.

Amazing how badly some people want something or want to keep others from having it they will bid it up like this.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Thats a sweet margin!

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Now that is nice,yeah its funny at times cause I do the yard sale thing to and usually the stuff that I think ain't worth much actually does better.good job Sandy D

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

That's amazing! lol.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

NICE!!!!!! going to try this but with goodwill (:

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Absolutely Sandy, I once listed an item that I thought I was gonna get a Max of $100, ended up selling for $380.00, I was shocked and even more shocked when I saw payment made.

Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Very nice. Your story inspires me to look for things other than "high risk" items. Lol

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

I make a living buying antiques and collectibles. Nothing high risk at all.

I am a treasure hunter day and night.

Been since I was a kid.

Grandparents used to drag me to every yard sale, antique auction etc as a kid and FORCED ME TO LEARN. :)

Thought this was something to share because of the professional buyers or non payers we all have to deal with and this case they just beat each other up.

Shocked when the payment came in actually.

* I will have to dig into my notes but largest profit last year on a single item found at a yard sale or antique auction was close to 2000.00.

Does not happen all of the time but I do find some goodies.

Esp in the estates I buy when I buy the entire house full of items. All hidden treasures.


If you need items to sell on a new account this is the way to go. Yard sales provide you with endless crap!!

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

That's awesome! If you don't mind me asking, how much do you make annually?

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Awesome. Reminds me of the good old days. When someone a Hawk Dog for everyone else a hot dog purchased during the Seahawks 2005 NFC Championship game for 2k. I remember a Jar of air from a redskins game the same playoff season going for over $500. Crazy how the garage sale/flea market eBay use to be.

NFC Championship Game hot dog sells for $1,800 - NFL - ESPN

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

I would not discuss totals. I run well over 100 sellers accounts, many amazon accounts, and many etsy accounts. 2013 was a record year in sales for me and I have been selling on ebay since 1995.

I get paid to treasure hunt for items no one else knows what it is. Every time I purchase items from an antique auction, yard sale, flea market or when I buy an entire estate full of goodies I always find something no one else knows what it is or who made it.

I work ( I mean I really enjoy treasure hunting ) a ton of hours a day, not a couch potato, as I like to be busy. I work when my kids are in school and then back at it when everyone is in bed for the night and usually I am up until 2 or 3 am.

Hard work and effort pays off big time.

I do sell some new items but focus mainly on what I know and I am best at which is antiques and collectibles.

I enjoy helping other people and sharing experiences and knowledge.

Not many get to enjoy and be paid nicely for enjoying what they really like to do so I consider myself very lucky.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Sandy D You are a very hard working from what i can tell, and yes it takes time to get to the point but once you find that "niche" or field that you get to learn from experience you can make a good profit. I also member the good ol days when going to a estate sale, yard sale or even the flea market was fun and things where priced very cheap. Back in the good ole days before all the auction hunters pawn stars storage wars. Lol before those days when it was nicer in my opion to find deals

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Actually those days are still here. You just have to focus on items that are not marked, rare odd items and items no one shows interest in.

I had a record year last year mainly because I found some major rare items all year long.

Also, estate items. More boomers are selling out and more are passing away leaving tons of goodies in homes. You will find many kids dont want to deal with the hassle of removing items from Mom and Dad or Grandpa or Grandmas house so I am buying a record number of estates.

Have a bid in on one right now if I get it I wont sleep a wink as it is full top to bottom with great treasures.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Now this is what I call PROFIT!

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Yeah i guess your right on that also just depends on your area. like where i live population of about half a million which aint bad except no other souranding big cities so like when you go to the estate sales you will see the same ppl waiting in line before it opens which is me also but just seems like its a little harder to find stuff over here i guess. But just gotta keep looking for the right stuff and never give up

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

I am in the middle of two large cities and usually go outside of this area to buy estates. Usually are urban areas.

I meet tons of people at those auctions you are talking about and pass out my card which tells them I buy estates, collections etc. Just dont get caught passing it out inside the auction house or the auctioneer will boot you.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Happened me before, I was selling a replica 1 ounce gold bar, labelled the bar as a replica in the auction at least 5 times, but ofcourse there's always that one buyer. The buyer bid upto £220 (item typically sells for £5), and to my surprise he paid! I was over the moon. And still to this day 6 months later he hasn't filed a dispute. Purely stupidity on his behalf

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Out of courtesy we don't typically ask people what their profits, sales are. Some things are best kept to one's self.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

yep, I dont doubt anything anymore. my good buddy sold a candy wrapper for 70 dollars no candy included. and a Popsicle wrapper for near the same.

found a old piece on ebay, I was the only bidder and bought it for 80 sold for 1600 overseas.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Ive had a few items I bought ON EB and then flipped them elsewhere for a very handsome profit.

I speak several languages so I scour the European sites. I once bought a widget on EB France for 15 euro. It was wrongly labelled and poorly photographed but I took a punt. I couldnt believe my luck when it arrived. Sold it at Christies for 1500 GBP (about $2800).

Another time I bought a collection of the widgets I specialise in and the bidding went much higher than expected. Along with the collection were some other items which are outside my field of expertise. One of them "spoke" to me and I researched it. Subsequently sold it in my Ruby Lane shop for 10X more than I paid for the entire collection.

Breaking up collections and selling them separately (properly photographed and researched) and flipping them onto more appropriate platforms can be very satisfying.

If they are outside my field of interest I can usually flip them to other dealers for a reasonable profit.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

Sweet Sandy, nice going! The closest I have come is my item that sell BIN for $160 and auction starts at $110 got bid up to $260 and got paid and happily received. Pretty good for me as my cost is $50. 4 months later & I am still all :-)
.

Re: Now this is what I call PROFIT
 

I do this a lot.