Anyone have a booth at an Antique Mall?

The estate sale went well, but I am exhausted. My day started at 6:00 am, and I didn't stop working until 7:15 pm.

I went early, and was the first one there, showing up before the estate sale employees and any other buyers. Being first in line was a big plus, but it never guarantees that you'll find anything you want.

I spent about $300 on:

2 aluminum rockers from the late 50's.
6 Mid Century wire magazine racks, end tables, etc.
1 box of TV and Radio Tubes.
A very unusual milk box
A small lot of NOS AC Delco and Ford sparkplugs
About 20 long handled tools
1 lot of N scale trains, NIB
1 Wilton bench vice
2 very cool garden fence gates
A very large lot of small cigar boxes filled with hardware
1 box of Jarts from the 1950's. I sold the last set I had for $100.
Set of pipe dies for threading iron pipe
A large armful of women's clothes from about 1966 to the early 70's.
1 Westinghouse 1920's brass fan in very rough condition. About $75 to $100 on ebay.
1 Coleman lantern in stunning condition.
The balance was in tools, which are far too numerous to list. I love tools!!

I passed on the ugly Herman Miller chair. It was too rough to have any real value.

Should have bought the two steel framed art deco style outdoor chairs, but they were priced at $100 for the pair.

One big score was finding a city directory for 1964. They gave it to me, most likely for buying so much, but I would have paid $25 for it. I would think it should easily fetch $100-$200 on ebay, but I haven't checked.

So far, we've already taken the big stuff to the IFM. We've marked $684 worth of stuff, if it sells, we'll be golden. I might take some of it to an AM where we sell; Mid Century is H-O-T there.

Nonetheless, it is easy to sit here and tell you how easy the picking is, and the grand amounts that I hope this junk brings. But even after going to auctions all of my life, and being in this business for years, I've never left an auction, estate sale, garage sale, retail store where I spent a pile of money, and didn't think, at least once, "a fool and his money", LOL.

Thanks for letting me share.

Great finds Clovis. Being there early pays off, especially if you can take a companion that is knowledgeable enough you can split up. I send DH to look for very specific items, he doesn't do well if there is bunches to pick from.
I always get excited when I find Jarts or lawn darts! Got a box that had never been opened a few yrs back & a used set at the same thrift store. That store has stayed on my regular list ever since.
I would not do so good at picking tools, each of us having our own strengths makes this a wide field to be in.
DD14 is a toy guru for her age. We were at a sell where another reseller was picking toys. DD went behind & snatched up several they had not chosen. They had passed on at least $100 of toys. The person with them even commented on how DD seemed to know more about toys. DD15 is into dresses. I passed on a dress that was 99c the other day. She snatched it up, brings anywhere from $75-$125 everytime one is listed on eBay. Evidently Madonna wore the same dress in an 80s video, go figure!

Clovis, I think mid century mod is becoming hot everywhere!
I would love one of those rockers!
I hope it all brings what you ask for it!

__________________
2Ti 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Luceo non uro

Thank you for the replies.

Jcat: Nice picks! Care to share about the dress?

MJsLady: We put $85 each on the rockers. They should sell at that price; I typically see them priced at $125. Who knows though? I can't ever seem to second guess the buying public!

BTW, I've had a few surprises and a few disappointments with yesterday's haul.

The Ford spark plugs in the original boxes? Yeah, used. I should have looked at them first, but was in a hurry. A total rookie mistake! I figure that I have no more than $2 in them, so no big loss.

The AC Delco oil filter? Well, it is not the super desirable one that everyone wants, I don't think.

Surprises, so far:

The Westinghouse fan was a good score too, but that thing is really rough.

The N scale trains were an awesome pick by my wife. She grabbed them up while I was grubbing around in the basement overpaying for used spark plugs and an undesirable oil filter, LOL. There are more train cars than I expected, almost 2X as many. I know HO and Lionel O fairly well, but I know nothing about N scale.

The dress DD picked was a Loralie. Our goodwill has 2 colors on sale every wk. one color is buy 1get 1 & the other is 99c. When formals go for 99c I grab up the modern ones, they are usually an easy $20 sale especially this time of yr. not very many older ones are desirable.

Bummer on the parts, I know it is hard to check everything out when you are rushing to grab up the good finds. It's always a gamble not checking everything over.
DD spent 99c on a Disney 1000 piece photomosaic puzzle & she is still trying to figure out if it is all there. Stuff in boxes are always a gamble!

Thank you for the info on the dresses!

On my deal, I lotted up the plugs and filter with the radio tubes. It was a sheer gamble on my part, but one I take quite often if they are cheap enough.

I bought a sleeve of GM plugs too. They are new, but I don't have high hopes for them. I still have to look those up. I had 6 GM plugs a year ago that sold for $50 on ebay.

Is that really how "cheap" estate sales are priced?
I've never been to one thinking they want top dollar for everything

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I always wondered why somebody didn't do something, then I realized I am somebody

IMO when you shop estate sales you learn quickly which companies are affordable & the ones that are not. I love the ones that post LOTS of photos & catalog prior, but those are the ones that are more expensive usually.
One company locally does 3 day sales. Thur-Sat. Those are nice since you can go & not miss prime yardsales.
Some families host their own estate sales & those can be awesome!

In our area, 99% of all estates are settled by auction. Any estate of size is generally sold at an on-site auction, meaning that the auction is held at the house where the people lived.

A new thing in our area are tag sales. These are on-site sales too. There is only one company, so far, selling estates with tags. For the most part, they are pricing stuff to get it sold. In their early days, they were putting crazy amounts on furniture, and letting all the smalls go super cheap. We've had more than a few 'wowzer' moments, like the $25 asking price for a cheap camp cook set, but I bought two vintage lanterns for $15. One lantern sold on ebay for $125, and went to Japan, and the other sold at the IFM for $35.

These guys at the local estate company are just winging it, I think. They are making up prices as they go, but tend to be on the very cheap side. I could write blogs on all the killer deals I've gotten from them. We've butted heads a few times, and I've been frustrated with a few things in the past, but all in all, I've made great money at these sales.

As always, YMMV.

Is it even legal for a thrift store to sell lawn darts? It's certainly legal for people to own them, or sell them privately.

I don't know, thesedays, but I'm not telling, LOL!

The fact that ebay won't allow them to be sold on their venue makes any Jarts hard to sell, but it also has made them more desirable by jart enthusiasts, IMO.

Back in the day, when the economy was booming, I found a bunch of Jarts and made very good money selling those.

The Jarts that I bought on Friday look to be pristine, but the box is badly damaged.

The oldest Jart sets are getting very hard to find.

Great finds Clovis! I'm eager to hear how your sales go.



We went to our local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store over the weekend looking for bathroom fixtures specifically, and just looking in general. I found one of those wooden handled toolboxes our grandpa's all used to have, larger than a shoebox, in lovely weathered condition. $2.00. I snatched that baby up. I'm thinking I can get at least $12.00 maybe $15.00 for it. I'll start out high and see how it goes.

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For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring - Carl Sagan

Jlixian: I'd put $16 on that tool tote...and maybe $20 or higher. At $16, I would expect it to fly off the shelf in the first few days, and would expect it to sit for a while at $22-$25.

Sometimes we have progressive mark downs on items. We start with a much higher price, and gradually mark it down as the weeks go by. Progressive mark downs are much easier when you only have one or two booths.

I am happy to report that we've already sold quite a few items from the recent estate sale.

One of the aluminum rockers sold for $85 the very day we set it out. I suspect that I sold it too cheap.

We have sold several long handled tools @ $10 each, a table saw roller stand for $25, and some miscellaneous junk.

We haven't sold any of the stuff on ebay yet. The N scale trains should sell for $4-$5 each at an AM, but the big score was a passenger car set that we listed yesterday on ebay for $100. We have about 25 other cars, but at $5 each, I think they are better at the AM than eBay.

I bought a large lot of cigar boxes at this estate, all filled with hardware. Each of these small cigar boxes have a knob on the front where the owner had made them into a drawer, of sorts. At the ES, the women were swooning over the boxes (and complaining that they were full of hardware), so I quickly snapped them all up for $12. I'm guessing we have 35-40 cigar boxes.

We are taking the hardware out, and put them into Crystal Light containers, and mark them about $1.50 each, which is an outstanding value for those who know how expensive nails and screws are these days. The old 99 cent box of nails is now $5 at Lowes. I've sold a TON of hardware in the past years. Much of the hardware comes from the bottom of tool boxes that I've bought, and adds a $1 or $2 to the bottom line, even though most people would trash it all.

We've marked the cigar boxes at $5 each. Past history tells me that they should fly off the shelves at that price, but women can be as fickle as they come! I think that they will sell crazy fast...or sit for eons until I mark them down.

At any rate, I am blessed. I am thankful for the sales!!!

Clovis, I'm drooling over the finds you got at the ES! Oh my. My husband would have loved those cigar boxes full of "stuff"..... what treasure! And of course the boxes are treasure in and of themselves. Sigh.....

Okay, I'll take your advice and begin with $22 on the tote. We'll see what happens! I noticed that a lot of stuff I marked down last month has begun to move so markdowns do help. Maybe regulars to the market watch to see if things will be reduced in price.

My house is still so chock-full of STUFF that I hate to go out looking for more STUFF to put in the booth, but finding that tote at the Re-Store was so lucky. I was amazed they sold it so cheap. I guess they need to keep things moving.

__________________
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring - Carl Sagan

One philosophy that has served us well over the years is "it all adds up."

Many years ago, I read a book about an envelope company that couldn't turn a profit. The owner went to an envelope and printing trade show, and happened to run into a janitor that worked at another envelope company. The owner was bemoaning the fact that they were losing money every month, and the janitor asked "How much are you getting for your scrap paper?"

At that point, the company had been paying big bucks to have it hauled off. They bought a baler, and started selling all of their waste paper, and was able to start turning a profit immediately.

In the FM business, the sales of 50 cent and $1 items add up fast. At every auction, I see people buy a box for one single $10 item, and throw out $25 worth of 50 cent to $2 items.

These cheap items tend to sell fast, and can add great profits to your bottom line. Many buyers think nothing of spending a dollar on an item at a flea market.

The trick is knowing what to trash, and what to keep and mark.

Another trick is to limit your time involved with these low cost items. There is no sense spending 6 hours trying to fix, prep or mark a handful of items that will bring $4 at the flea market. KWIM?

So, what are you getting for your scrap????

As always, YMMV.

Excellent advice and insights, Clovis. And much appreciated! Thanks!

__________________
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring - Carl Sagan

I too thought the toolbox was worth $20+, but I know everyone's location is different.
We have a "variety store" in town that will allow you to consign anything, but you would be lucky to get $8 for the tool box. Drive 20 miles to a populated area and $20+ would be easy.

Ain't that the truth, jcat?

You couldn't give away a wrench at one AM we are at, but I can't keep them in stock at another place.

I think this is why we have such a tough time with pricing. An item is worthless at one place, worth $30 at another...and $50 at another.