What's your secret to being so profitable mcpapa? Do you go to just auctions to find items to resell or what?

What's your secret to being so profitable mcpapa? Do you go to just auctions to find items to resell or what?

 

Papa's a bit of a vulture at estate sales, from what I've heard.

What's your secret to being so profitable mcpapa? Do you go to just auctions to find items to resell or what?

 

Auctions, estate sales and yard sales. Don't frequent the flea market scene.

 

And to be clear - I don't hit it out of the park every time. I have my share of popouts and whiffs. And often times when I buy an auction box lot because of an item that catches my eye, it's something else in the box that's a moneymaker.

 

But I do like to think that I'm a fairly decent picker.

Auctions, estate sales and yard sales. Don't frequent the flea market scene.

 

And to be clear - I don't hit it out of the park every time. I have my share of popouts and whiffs. And often times when I buy an auction box lot because of an item that catches my eye, it's something else in the box that's a moneymaker.

 

But I do like to think that I'm a fairly decent picker.

 

I love estate sales and yard sales. You have to avoid "professional" sellers but true yard sales are gold mines.

I love estate sales and yard sales. You have to avoid "professional" sellers but true yard sales are gold mines.

 

The annual "400-mile" yard sale on U.S. 68 is an interesting example. Thousands and thousands of ratty baby clothes, VHS tapes and so on. It becomes apparent that the vast majority of these (at least between Maysville and Lexington) are held by folks that save up all the crap that they bought at yard sales, then try to sell it all on one weekend.

 

But I still make the trip, because there are always a few folks that are just a bit off the main drag that have some pretty good stuff. Best find this year was the first place I stopped, a bit off the highway. Got a big box of O-Scale train cars (including 2 engines) for $15 and a nice acoustic guitar for $5.

 

Seasoned veterans tell me that the 127 yard sale that starts in Alabama and works its way north is better, but I've never done it.

The 127 yard sale is absolutely better than the other one. I get excited when I see a true yard sale. I've had good luck at Goodwill stores too.

There's an auction that I try not to miss in Vanceburg, held every couple months or so. Primarily high-end furniture and glassware inside, but box lots sell outside first. This auction attracts a lot of folks who run stores and shops, and it's often tough to find a bargain.

 

But 2 months ago, they sold what looks to be mostly a mix of foreign and US covers (envelopes). Being around the stamp business all my life, I took a flyer at $65. Most everybody looked at me like I was nuts.

 

I've sold most of the box by now. $520 and counting. Took a little time to sort through the stuff and divide into eBay lots. But time I got.

I found an original copy of Gone With the Wind at Goodwill a few years back. That is one of my best finds yet.

The 127 yard sale is absolutely better than the other one. I get excited when I see a true yard sale. I've had good luck at Goodwill stores too.

 

True story.

 

Our (Maysville) Goodwill is one that is bad about finding an eBay listing (not SOLD) page for an item that they think is high-dollar. They put the item along with the printed eBay listing in a showcase, then ask about half the eBay asking price.

 

But they don't catch everything. I bought 3 board games a few weeks ago at $1.50 apiece - pretty much their standard price for board games. These were complicated military strategy games.

 

Sold them for $139.51 on eBay.

I found an original copy of Gone With the Wind at Goodwill a few years back. That is one of my best finds yet.

 

I always liked that expression. Kinda like business ethics or jumbo shrimp.

 

Margaret Mitchell was a distant relative. Good find.

I always liked that expression. Kinda like business ethics or jumbo shrimp.

 

Margaret Mitchell was a distant relative. Good find.

 

Haha, I should have said first edition. I bought it for like $0.50 at Goodwill and sold it on eBay for just under $200.

To be clear, I don't recommend this as a person's primary source of income.

 

But I have a blast doing it to supplement, in a small way, my pension.

Haha, I should have said first edition. I bought it for like $0.50 at Goodwill and sold it on eBay for just under $200.

 

There you go.

 

Similarly, I once found a first edition Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe) book for basically nothing and sold it for $120 or so. Bought a box of Shakespeare books (New Temple set, I think) that a seasoned auctioneer called "reference books". That five-dollar bill netted me a c-note.

And then there was the signed 1998 (either '96 or '98) UK basketball that I bought at a local yard sale for a buck. Even told the seller that it was autographed, but she insisted. Sold for something like $120.

 

I love yard sales. And I've probably lost out on lots of money because I refuse to show up at a yard sale an hour before their advertised start time. There are plenty of folks I know that do so but I don't.

 

Makes those good picks feel even better.

Like how do you know it's a good find when you see it at a yard sale or auction?