Yard / Garage SALE STEALS!!!
bookofrhymes21
Posts: 70
I am just curious what eveyrones best finds are at yard/garage sales...and any tips??
This is like my motivation for me to go to yard sales
This is like my motivation for me to go to yard sales
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things you can get for .5 cents to .50 cents. It's amazing.
I've never found any real treasures, but my brother in-law and mother in-law
constantly go to yard sales every Saturday morning bright and early. They're the crazy
ones that buy the paper and it lists all the yard sales from start to finish. True garbage
collectors. They live for this stuff. I think the best thing they ever found was an antique Marionette doll
in perfect condition. Circa 1920-1940. The old gentlemen even had the original box and it was made
in Germany somewhere. Had some sort of inscription on the doll which was probably
the artist's/maker's name. Anyhow, the purchase was $5. They put it on Ebay with a BIN of
$250 and it went within 20 minutes after listing it. In retrospect, I think they should of
done some research on this doll. Maybe the creator or artist was really famous in Germany
and it was probably worth a lot more if it went that fast.
I myself have never ran into any sports memorabilia at yard sales, but sometimes
run into a box of commons that these people think are worth a fortune just because
they're baseball cards. Never anything old either. Maybe late 80s to present from low end
brands and all commons. I'm still looking for my first treasure, whatever that may be.
paid $10.00 total...
ebayed them... sold individually... made apprx. $550~
then I spent the $550 on psa graded cards!
so, it was sort of like finding a psa 8 1967 yaz, psa 8 1967 gibson, psa 9 1976 reggie and a psa 7 maravich rookie for $10...
Click here to view my Knickstars collection and wantlist
Went to a garage sale early one morning and found basically what you would expect: random books, some old exercise equipment, clothes, and other knick knacks not worth the time. On one table there were some older looking items that attracted me over. Among the items was this nice ovular picture frame with gold trim and a very nice vintage look to it. I didn't even pay attention to the picture in the frame, but I purchased the frame for decorative purposes. The woman tending the money was easily 95 years old at the time and told me that it was an item given to her uncle shortly after his stint in the Civil War(!!). Her father later got the item and it had been in her family since. She was selling it because she needed to pare down her belongings before she moved. She had $3 marked on the frame but only asked for $1 after we talked for a short time and she noticed a little nick in the frame. I happily paid and went along to some other sales.
When I got home, I looked at the items from the day and got to the frame. Took a look at the picture and noticed that it was Abe Lincoln! I did some research online but wasn't able to find any info on the item. At that point in time the Antiques Roadshow was huge and relatively new. They were coming to Hartford, CT which was about 2.5 hours from where I was in NY. One July or August morning I went to CT, stood on line for 3 hours with the picture and some other items. When I got in I took the picture to an appraiser specializing in historical memorabilia or something to that effect.
She told me that what I had was a period picture of Abraham Lincoln. It was done in 1863 by an operator in Matthew Brady's (the famous Civil War photographer) studio. The picture then went on to be used as the basis for the print on the Lincoln $5 bill. My piece was a period reproduction of the original that was distributed to certain individuals by the studio. An original would be valued at approximately $10,000. My period reproduction, however, was still worth $1000.
Not a bad return for a $1 item at a garage sale. Still have the 142 year old picture hanging on my wall. I really do like the piece.
There have been other items like an old umbrella stand that I got for $10 that was appraised at $450 that day. A nice old lithograph that was bought for $5 was valued at $600.
Basically the moral is that you have to be willing to look at other items at those sales after you realize that there are no cards to be had!
spacktrack
- lot of about 300 ex to nrmt 1967 Topps baseball commons to lesser stars. $4.00
- lot of about 400 high number 1972 Topps ex to nrmt (4) Ryan, (4) rose. $.50
- Full set 1979 kelloggs baseball set nrmt to nrmt-mt. $2.00
- full sheet of smokey bear player cards 14 plus 2 extra panels nrmt. $.50
- Notre Dame football player Bobblehead/Nodder early 60's. $1.00
- Schiltz football mint. $.75
- Tons of 50's-70's football, hockey, baseball, basketball etc. vintage games free to 1.00
Best non sports find-
- Rosemeade Minn golpher state ashtray paid .25 sold $350.00
- Rushton rubber face Easter rabbit paid .50 sold 210.00
- 50's Remco ray gun .05 sold 144.00
The list could go on and on. My advice is hit middle of the week sales early, find estate sales run by family members (clues no early sale line missing from ad, no company name, do not list items, run ads during week not on sunday), go to sale run by churches people donate good stuff and the workers have no problem selling it for cheap, get friends and family to spot sales not advertised or ads in low circ papers, go to out of the way sales, do not chase signs for more than a couple blocks people leave them up all the time, leave time on reg. drives to stop if sale is spotted, this is a hard one, do not do a drive by "if you see the sale stop no matter how sad it looks you never can tell what you will find and if a ad has cards listed in it do not get you hopes up you better off hitting another sale blind.
It will help if you branch out into other searches either for you or other people, most sales will leave you empty handed so the more items you can make money on the better. figure gas and time into what a item cost you and I would say you will only bump into sports cards about 1 in 30 sales and 90% of those will be over priced modern, 7% will be way over price vintage, 2% will be collector price vintage and 1% or less will be a steal( about 1 in 300 sales). this rambling is just my opinions and only the tip of the iceburg.
MOST IMPORTANT(my kids know this by heart) always, always check the free boxes. Sometimes the best items of the sale at no charge. sales are also a great way to pick up free peanuts, bubble wrap and all types of packing material to keep shipping cost down.
Good luck Jim
One really has to be knowledgeable about so many items to really spot the hidden treasure. I remember one time when I was with my friend, and he wanted to buy a bunch of Dr. Seuss books from this one lady at a flee market. He haggled and got a good price, but the lady kept emphasizing that some of the books may be worth thousands of dollars and hoped that we got one of those. If she suspected that they were that valuable, why didn't she just go and get them appraised? Heck, she was even telling us to sell the books on ebay and make a lot of money. I say she was just full of it to make her customers think they were getting something good. It was not even hard to haggle the price down. He spent a few dollars of several books. The goal was to get children's books, I really doubt they were collector's items.
Most of you posted and shared stories of finding something valuable for cheap and then reselling it for big profit. That is all good, but sometimes you get a good deal on an item you intend to keep and enjoy for yourself, and that's still a success.
BST: Tennessebanker, Downtown1974, LarkinCollector, nendee
Bought an original 12" IG-88 from Star Wars along with several other old Star Wars toys for 12.00 Sold the IG-88 for 125.00. Traded the rest for cards.
A 1985 Corvette Tech book the one the authorized repair shops get directly from Chevy. Paid .25 for it Sold for 87.00.
It was one of the first sales I hit for the day. I went there, didn't see much until the frame. I honestly just wanted the frame, and since I was focused on getting to some more sales early, I picked it up and went. The lady caught my ear but made no mention of the photo's subject. It wasn't until later that I realized it was Abe. Look at your $5 bill and just picture a table, an inkwell, and the rest of Abe's body in an otherwise plain photo. That's what I have.
spacktrack
In case you're wondering..........$5.00 for both. I kid you not.
Later on I became a weekend show seller, sold the blankets for $10 each and the Bowman scrapbook for $125. After he paid, the buyer said he was a dealer himself and knew a trick for loosening the glue without harming the card. Something about soaking them in a thin layer of water until the cards came loose from the pages, then drying out the cards. I never saw him again, so I don't know if he was successful. Maybe some of those cards are in slabs today.
I won't go into some of the stories I have heard about people buying unbelievable collections for cheap.
yard/garage sale: a framed commission from the early '70s as a Kentucky Colonel for $2. It was hand signed by the then Governor and Secretary of State. The Governor was Wendell Ford, who later became Majority Whip of the U.S. Senate.
rummage sale: a paperback copy of Ronald Reagan's book "Where's the Rest of Me", complete with a sheet of stickers promoting his 1966 run for Governor inside, for $0.25.
thrift store: 2 separate finds bear mention: 1) a large collection of sports cards and some memorabilia, with dozens of complete sets from the early 80s through mid '90s, several monster boxes full of '70s cards cherrypicked only to remove the top superstars, vintage sports magazines, a Mickey Mantle autograph model store model glove, hundreds of valuable vintage cards, including '60s HOFers, '72 Topps football high #s, and early Kellogg's stars, and several more monster boxes of modern superstars for $225 (broken up on eBay, it would go for between 10 and 20 times that). 2) a full size Cincinnati Bengals football helmet (new in box) for $12.50 (normally a $200 item).
public auctions: a carton of encyclopedias for $2.50 - it turned out to be 28 of the 30 volumes of the 1950 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana. It brought me $40 in trade credit at a used bookstore.
swap meet/flea market: a bunch of Dodger Stadium game promotional item pins from the 1980s and 1990s for $1 apiece from a vendor who had a mishmash of items - these normally go for $3 to $10 apiece in the L.A. area.
antique shops/malls: a man's ring, with a design on the front typically found among Chinese living in the U.S. during the 19th century, for $25. It's just over 12 oz. of .925 silver. Needless to say, the seller was not a jewelry specialist.
public library sales: 2 finds come to mind: 1) an autographed hardback copy of Ronnie Lott's autobiography for $0.75. 2) about a dozen Life magazines featuring sports covers from the '60s and '70s plus at least 10 hardback sports books filled up most of a bag (the rest was 2 coffee table books and a few fiction paperbacks) at "all you can fit in a bag for $3" time at the end of a weekend sale.
misc. giveaways: 1966-1975 Sports Illustrated volumes, library bound (with significant wear and tear from usage by college students). These were among many duplicate or obsolete books and periodicals being discarded at UCLA during a library renovation and free for the taking to students, faculty, or staff.
Nick
Reap the whirlwind.
Need to buy something for the wife or girlfriend? Check out Vintage Designer Clothing.
Also, bought a Dukes of Hazzard lunch box for 50 cents and sold it on the bay for $36. And a Hartland Western horse for 50 cents and sold that at card show for $25....a complete set of 1968 Atlanta Braves postcards (Aaron, Niekro etc) for $2.
The finds are still out there.
My other find was actually through my step-father. He manages a bar. A guy came in and said the local card shop wouldn't buy this box of cards, but took out all the good ones. My step-father, who knows nothing about cards, bought the box for $50 and bought the guy a few drinks.
Some of the cards in there:
1941 Ted Williams and about 70% of the 41 Play Ball set, 1938 Goudey DiMaggio (now a PSA5), 1933 Goudey Jimmy Foxx (now a PSA4) and a ton of 1921 American Carmels, as well as, a 1954 Bowman Mantle and other stars. The condition wasn't great for any of the cards, but for $50, and a few beers, that I didn't actually pay for, it was worth it!!!
As a side note, I traded the American Carmels for some 1955 Topps All-Americans - they just came back from PSA...
EVID-TRIM!!!!!!
<< <i>Spack I would like to know how in the world you didnt know it was Abe Lincoln at the point of sale?
Maybe he thought it was Don Mossi?
Having 10,000 of thousands of cards that I deemed worth nothing, I stacked 500-count box after 500-count box in my wife's garage sale, three feet high x 3 feet wide. I slapped a price on them for $150.00 and hoped somebody would take them. Of course, through the years I pulled the good cards, but when a dealer showed up and wanted to search the boxes, I said, "Nope, $150 and they are yours." He purchased the stack. I ran into him a year or two later. He said, "I found a couple Amonte (??? hockey???) rookies, but I sure got a $150 worth of fun going through them"
Man, was I glad to get rid of those cards!!!!!
your friend
Mike
bad news...traded them for an 88 fleer factory set and some other misc crap in 88....omg now i am going to be sick the remainder of the evening just thinking about this.
Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06