Sweetheart Deals for
the Ebay Hopeful
A great supplement to garage sale hunting!
We have all heard about sweetheart deals, and I have one. Next to my home is a
quasi-antique-junk store. I don't mean to sound snobbish, but that's what it is, and I love it. The owner of the
place buys estates and rejects from other estate buyers. Just think, I live next to this three story heaven! And heaven it is -filled
from top to bottom with the kinds of things to make a pack rat cry in envy!
If Forest Gump were to go there, he would definitely say it's like a box of
chocolates-"You never know what you are going to get." I found 10 marble eggs which I bought for 10 dollars. Now
this is not a Jack-in-the-Beanstalk story, and I didn't take them out back and plant them. I did admire them, spin them around like tops,
and even juggled them over my bed. Alas, I placed them on eBay and waited for the feeding frenzy. Well, the feeding frenzy never
happened and they sold for $9.50. Ugh. Fine, but what about the sweetheart deal you might ask?
Small Items Work Well At a Garage Sale
Now, If I had taken those same eggs and placed them in my garage sale, I might have had more success. Part of the fun of is
trying to guess how to sell the item whether via Ebay or the ever popular garage sale. With the lovely marble eggs, I simply guessed
wrong!
Since the guy knows me as his neighbor and trusts me, he lets me take his higher-end items and
place them on eBay without paying him one cent. He tells me what he wants for the item, and that's what I pay him if the item sells.
Now that, my friends, is a sweetheart deal! So far, I haven't exactly hit the jackpot with this agreement, but the potential is there.
Recently, I grabbed three absolutely luxurious fur coats off his rack and asked him. "How
much?" One beautiful black fur coat was a mystery fur but I took it anyway for $120.00 due after I sold it. I also took another one
for $85.00 and a third for $75.00. Being the clever guy that I am, I thought it would be a good idea to place the one I could identify on
eBay first.
This one was a mink stole. To protect myself I placed a 75.00 reserve on the
stole. Placing a reserve on anything on eBay is like dumping ice water on all bidders. The mink stole was not an exception, and
it received zero bids. I learned that fur coats were not selling at this time and returned them being the loser for about $3.00 in listing
fees.
Ebay...Home of a million Paintings!
I knew success was waiting for me so I pressed on in the form of a wonderful painting of an
old man framed in a magnificent gilded frame. How much, I asked. Fifty dollars was the reply. Moments later the picture was staring
at the whole eBay world, of course with a $50.00 reserve!
In the last hour of the last day, bidders came out of hiding and bumped the opening bid
of 20.00 upward. The excitement of it all! This unknown painter from the past was going to be my ticket to a Caribbean vacation. The
bidding was going fast and furious, but... only one dollar at a time-not a good sign. Time ran out! The winning bid was, you may have
guessed it...$50.00!
Have you ever packed a large painting? Ugh. I paid the junk store guy his $50.00 and was left
with another $3.00 listing fee. I know success is waiting for me somewhere in that three story building, and I am going to find it next
time.
Check This out:Garage Sale Success
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