Hello all..below is the issue of my newsletter, Yard Salers, with the great flips contest entries for March, and the winners announced.
Yard Salers: March Madness Flips Contest Winners
Subscribe at:
www.yardsalers.net
** If you enjoy Yard Salers and want to support the publication,
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Hello, all!
We had truly wonderful entries to the March Madness Flips
contest, where the first prize is a free copy of EasyAuctionsTracker
software. I think you all will really enjoy reading about the flips,
and that they will make you aware of not only new items to be on the
lookout for, but also new sources.
So this issue is going to be a short one -- mainly a roundup of
the entries -- but I don't think you'll mind a whole issue of flips!
If you didn't get a chance to enter this time around, don't fret -- there will be other great prizes in other months.
In this issue, I announce the contest winners at the end, so
skip down if you entered and want to cut to the chase. Also, if you
entered this or another flips contest and have not seen your entry run,
please email me at juliawilk@aol.com. And as always, send those Flip of
the Week contest entries to me as well at that address.
If you don't want to wait 'til the next issue of Yard Salers
for more yard sale and eBay nuggets, follow me on twitter at
http://twitter.com/juliawww.
Now let's get to it!
~~~~~
If you like this issue you'll love..Big Bucks Flips: the ebook.
now you can get Yard Salers' Readers best flips, and accompanying tips
and rules of thumb, all in one convenient package. The Big Bucks Flips
ebook is at a special low rate for newsletter subscribers...only $4.50.
Get it instantly here.
**********************************************
1) Flip Contest Winners
***********************************************
Printer and Toners Cartridges
Thanks for you for your great newsletter.
My Flip was a HP Laser 4200 Printer with 4 Toners, bought a local auction for $20.00
Sold 1st toner for $92.00 + shipping on ebay.
Sold 2nd toner for $44.00 + shipping (not the printer it worked in) on eBay.
Returned 3rd to Staples (Checked their return policy on line 1st).
Walked out of store with $174.00 worth of stuff in exchange!
Put the 4th toner in the printer (off brand) and kept the printer!
Rocky
~~~
I wrote Rocky thanking him for the flip, and he wrote back with this additional info:
The toners sold on ebay were going to resellers -- they both asked me
to double box, as they mark them up more to resell. No bad boxes wanted
-- the better the box, the more you can sell for! Wish I could get
their price!
1 year ago bought fuser lube for a Xerox 5090 $15.00 for 3
boxes -- 1 sold for $132.00, the others for $123.00 and $115.00. The
last box was no good and
torn -- see the difference in price. Got new glasses that am wearing
right now.
Fuser lube helps the copier keep the toner on the paper.
WEBSITE: rockyjennings.net just parked getting ready to build soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Automated Breast Pump
Hi,
I got the Yard Salers email and I wanted to talk about my top
item that I flipped. I've been selling on eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, and
Half.com since 2001. I've sold over 1500+ items so it's very hard for
me to pick just one item. But the most memorable item I can recall
is...
An automated breastpump. I sold it for a friend who decided she
didn't want to have any more children. I told her she was crazy and
that no one would ever buy a used breastpump. She told me maybe, but
let's try it anyway. I listed the item on eBay and got about $175 for
it. I still have a hard time believing it!!!!
My name on eBay is marcsgaragesale
~~~
Hey there!
Wow..an automated breast pump..who knew?? You know, I had one of
those back in the day...wish I'd thought to keep it..lol. As I recall
it was pretty expensive; must be why some folks would rather buy it
used.
Great flip..thx so much, and you're entered in the contest!
Best of luck,
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FDIC and Bankruptcy Auctions
Had one of my best flips yet, at it happened recently. I do go
to yard sales, but I spent more time at auctions because it seems like
I see more worthwhile items with my limited amount of time.
One auctioneer I have gotten some good stuff from is
www.worleyauctioneers.com. They do auctions for the FDIC all over the
country.
At a recent bankruptcy auction for a local construction company that
went out of business, I scored these Polycom Voice over IP phones for
about $50. I sold them within 24 hrs of listing them for over $500. The
Item number: 270356583627.
On top of that, I had two more phones, one of which was
damaged, that I got for $1 in a box lot of office supplies. I sold both
of them to the same buyer for another $100. Hope this qualifies as a
good flip. I was certainly excited.
I love receiving your updates. Keep them coming.
Scott in Tampa
PS, if I win, I'd love any ebooks that you could send that may help me find more great flips
~~
Hey, Scott!
Thanks so much for sending your flips!
What a great idea..FDIC auctions -- esp. in today's climate. I took a
look at the site and noticed -- not surprisingly, a lot of the auctions
coming up were based in Vegas, Fla., and also Ohio.
Super idea..thanks so much..and yes I'll be happy to send you
ebooks as prizes! I'll be announcing winners hopefully by tomorrow
night.
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Strange Doll" in Trash Bag Leads to Not-So-Strange Profit
In early 2007, I decided to try my luck at be an "internet
entrepreneur" after taking a short retirement from my profession of
Licensed Social Worker.
My husband and I had sold on eBay a few years back when we owned a
children's store, but our merchandise was pretty basic.My oldest son's
significant other, Jamie, had sort of gotten me turned on to
Barbies...which I knew very little about...so I decided to try to focus
on Barbies in my new ebay adventure.
My husband started hitting the garage sales locally and I was always in
amazement...sometimes in horror...when he would arrive home with the
van brimming to the top. My husband came home from one of his buying
marathons and at the bottom of the piles was a white garbage bag about
1/3 full of Barbies, Barbie clothes, and LOTS of trash and dirt.
I didn't even want to put my hands in the bag because the
merchandise was so terribly dirty. Later that evening I decided to
tackle the job of THE bag. I very gingerly removed dolls in all states
of dress and undress, removed clothing, and threw all into a large tub
to soak in detergent. As I got to the bottom of the garbage bag, I
retrieved a doll that I had never seen before, but knew it was not a
Barbie.
It wasn't in very good condition...very dirty and its arms were sort of
just hanging there. The doll was a hollow plastic. I laid it aside to
clean and put in my garage sale pile if I could ever get it cleaned up.
A few days later, I spoke with Jamie and was telling him my
horror stories about the past weekends garage sale finds. I told him
about the "strange plastic doll". He asked me to get it and describe
it..and look for markings on the back. I did so and he seemed more
excited about the doll than I had been. He asked if I would take a
photo and email it to him that day. I did..and within an hour, he
called back. He was laughing when he told me, "You have an original
Bild Lilli doll".
Of course I had no idea what the heck he was talking about. He
gave me the history of the doll and directed me to websites for more
history. I learned how to clean the doll properly, took photos of the
nude doll because I had no clothes for her, but did include a couple of
dresses that I thought would fit her. I posted her on Ebay at $39.99.
I sat in amazement that week and watched the bidding going up.
In the end the doll sold for almost $150.00. Not a bad return on a doll
that was in a bag of garage that my husband paid $1.00 for!
[some recent high sales of Bild Lilli dolls..yes that says $2858 for the mint condition one, above.]
I also later learned that a lot of the "garbage" items were
original Barbie/Mattel clothes in extremely nice condition once I
cleaned them properly. That bag's profit was well over $275.00!!
This success, addicted me to Ebay! I also can't pass up a bag
of Barbies at garage sales...no matter how bad it looks. Just goes to
prove the old addage..."One man's trash is another man's treasure".
Sincerely,
Judith
LovedayLane (Ebay seller ID)
~~~~~~
Hey Judith!
Sorry for the delay..a Bild Lilli! Wow, I have never heard of her. Of
course I just had to dig up a pic of her..lol. You better believe I
will be on the lookout for that doll from now on, as I am sure all YS
readers will.
She does indeed have an interesting history..here is some of what I dug up about her on the Internet:
"Lilli was a popular cartoon character by German cartoonist
Reinhard Beuthien created in June 24, 1952 for the newspaper
Bild-Zeitung in Hamburg, Germany.
In 1953 Reinhard decided to market a Lilli doll and contacted
Max Weissbrodt from Hausser/Elastolin company in Neustadt/Coburg,
Germany.
Together they designed and mass produced the Bild Lilli;
originally she was 30cm tall (about the same size as Barbie is now) and
soon after was also available in a shorter 19cm (7 and a half inches)
size.
Lilli was first sold in Germany On August 12, 1955 as a
playful, erotic gift for gentleman (her cartoon character was a
sensual, headstrong, attractive girl appealing to German men). She was
available in tobacco stores and some adult oriented toy shops.
Eventually she was exported to several countries around Europe, Africa
and the USA... these dolls did not include the word Bild and were
simply called Lilli." [sic]
Super flip. Also, good advice re: the Barbies..I have picked some up at sales but not as many as I could have.
Did u know Barbie just turned 50..I think? :-) Lookin' pretty good for her age..lol.
Thx again and will keep u posted about the contest!
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Broken Nintendo DS
Dear Julia,
My son broke his DS. We did not have a warranty. It sold for $47
with two bids. The buyer left excellent feedback. It's a mystery to me.
JPJeffries
~~~~~
Hey JP!
I love it..short and sweet! Who knew this broken stuff would sell? Gee,
I think I'll list some of my kids' broken electronics..lol. I remember
that the first thing ever sold on eBay was broken..Pierre Omidyar's
broken laser pointer.
And oh yes, I should mention to everyone....if you sell
something that's just lying around the house, that counts too as a
contest entry..because you already owned it, you can think of it as
having zero cost. Especially if it's a surprising thing.
Thanks for the fun flip..you're entered into the contest. :-)
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vita Mix Mixer
Audrey, of "London Bride" town Lake Havasu fame, wrote us again
including one of her flips. Audrey, by the way, has a side business
doing garage sales for friends..pretty good business idea for this
economy! Something to think about, in case you want to put your yard
sale skills to work setting one up. Anyway, here's her letter and flip:
Hi Julia,
Thanks (I think) for the ebook! Hadn't planned on printing it
out, but when I got to reading it, the book had so much information I
could use, and would probably forget, that I ended up printing almost
every page. I've started a notebook where I'm trying to file things by
subject matter, so I'm a little bit better informed about the items I
look at, at garage sales.
Another couple and my husband and I also occasionally do garage sales
for friends and this will help me keep informed about what to price
things. We will be doing one next week and I think I may have a Fenton
small candy dish/candle holder, and will be doing some research on it
before we put it out. May end up with it on eBay instead of the garage
sale, if it's profitable enough.
When I do that for the owners, I take 50% plus expenses,
rather than stiffing them. I figure since I'm doing all the work (along
with the expertise of knowing/thinking the item might be valuable) I'm
entitled to more than what we get for doing the sale.
I gleaned a lot of information (some I will use, some is just filed
away in the back of my mind!) from the book and will probably keep it
around for a while, just to be able to check back into, if needed.
I did have a flip a couple of years ago from an estate sale we did for
a friend. It was a Vita Mix mixer -- did some research, and knew I
couldn't get the price I wanted from the garage sale, so listed it and
it eventually sold for over $400. The most I probably could have gotten
at the g-sale would have been about $200. Vita mix is still in
business; they built a quality machine and some of the older ones go
for a lot more. Depends on condition, of course.
Love your newsletter, it always has a lot of interesting things to read about.
Keep up the good work
Havamom
Audrey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tobacco Cards
Dear Julia,
I have lots of great stories about "flips." One of my better recent
stories was about a set of tobacco cards. Bought a set of nine in a
little antique shop for $1.15. I sold one of them on eBay to the
grandson of the artist for $115.95, see the auction here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150321910822
I sold the rest of them for an average of about $60 each. I love making over 500% profit on things!
Another
good one is a real photo postcard I bought for $9. It showed a country
club in the hills outside of Hollywood that existed at the turn of the
20th century but was torn down in the �40s. I put it up for auction and
two guys duked it out until it went for about $125. Love that.
Then there was the mechanical pumpkin and black cat postcard I bought for $14 and sold for $79. Love that too!
When you know what you�re looking at, you can make good money doing flips!
Cheers,
Laura
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey Laura!
Wow..what an awesome flip! You seem to have a real knack for these. :)
Love the tobacco card flip..esp since you found it in an antique shop.
I thin people need to realize it's not just yard sales or even estate
sales where they can find flips..
Do you specialize in post cards? I see you have that in your
name. If u have any other cards tips you want to share w/ readers, I
can pay u to write an article.
Thx again!! Keep flippin', and reading,
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Women's Snow White Halloween Costume
Julia,
The eBook is great! Definitely got some new ideas of things to look for now.
AND, I completely forgot... I HAVE A FLIP! I don't have a picture anymore, so I hope that won't count against me ;)
Last
summer, I found an adult woman's size 10 Disney's Snow White Halloween
costume for a dollar. It was one of those costumes that is folded up
and in a heavy plastic bag with a hanger at the top. The costume
consisted of the dress with an attached white 'cape' with a red fabric
bow head band. It had been worn once and had some water stains on the
hem, but was otherwise perfect.
Kept it in my inventory closet until late-September, started the auction at 99 cents and it sold for $27!
I was pretty happy with my return, until I got an email from the buyer
saying that it was too small, could she please return it? So, of
course, I let her and refunded her money.
Once I got it back, I put it back up for auction (it is now
mid-October) with another 99 cent start bid. I didn't have much hope it
would sell for more that $10-15 at such a late date for Halloween, but
figured I'd at least get my money back. To my shock, it sold the second
time for $52.00!!!
I now keep my eyes peeled for costumes, both adult and children's. If
you have room to store them, it's a great way to make some money fast
in September/October to gear up for Christmas sales!
Thanks, Julia! 'Talk' to you soon!
Kaytee
~~~
Hey Kaytee!
Sorry for the delay. So glad u like the ebook. :) Ahh...a costume
flip..I love it! Wow...good thing that lady returned it, lol! I love
when those work out.
Great idea to keep an eye out for costumes..esp. to sell before
Halloween, as u say..and some even sell all year round for plays,
dress-up, etc!
Thx again and I'll run it in the next contest. :-)
Keep flippin'! :-)
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cathrineholm (Yes, it's All One Word) Bowls
Hi, Julia!
One of my best flips to date is a set of 6
bowls I bought at a local Goodwill for $1.50. All I knew about them was
that they were beautiful, in excellent condition, and cheap! I figured
I could easily sell the lot for $10 on eBay.
Using the info stamped on the bottom to create my title, I
listed them as "6 Catherine Holm Norway Enamel Bowls Gorgeous," and
basically described them as "enameled bowls, solid colors with white
feather designs, in perfect condition, designed by Cathrine Holm of
Norway." I listed them at a starting price of $9..99, and was delighted
to see a bid placed almost immediately.
Later that day, I received an email from a kind eBayer telling me I had
something really special and giving me the proper key words to use in
my title. She informed me that they were lotus bowls by Grete Prytz
Kittelsen, a (now elderly) well-known Norwegian designer whose father
had been a leading jewelry designer, and that Cathrineholm (one word,
not two) was the name of her company. This eBayer also attached a
catalog page showing each bowl valued at $40 -- several years ago!
Acting on her advice, I closed the auction citing incorrect information
and relisted the lot as "6 Grete Prytz Kittelsen Cathrineholm Norway
Lotus Enamel Bowls," again starting at $9.99 for the set, and included
the information she had given me -- and over the next seven days,
watched the bids climb to $210! I was thrilled, of course, and am
forever grateful to that knowledgeable collector who took the time to
help a new seller experience the excitement of a great flip!
[Photo of a Cathrinholm bowl that recently sold on eBay for $58]
Thanks for a great ezine!
Kay (pack_rat_009)
Packrat's Emporium on eBay
url: http://stores.ebay.com/Packrats-Emporium
~~~
Hey Kay!
Having a senior moment and now can't remember if I got back to u
about thee wonderful bowls. What a great flip! I love that her name is
all one word .."Cathrineholm."
Also so nice that an ebayer was kind enough to tell you about them. I
had that happen to me recently with a stein I listed..will tell the
story in an upcoming issue. Anyway thx again and good luck in the
contest!
[By the way, after sending that, I checked out Kay's store, and
was amazed at the number of items she had in it! Check it out if you
get a chance.]
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shot Glasses
O! and I had another great flip!!! Almost a year ago, I bought 2
boxes of shot glasses at an estate auction for a couple of bucks or so,
don't remember exact amount, but wasn't much. I bought them as a joke
for my son because he collects shot glasses and I thought this would
help him add to his collection...lol. When I got home my
daughter-in-law looked thru it and found a couple that she wanted. Then
I put them away and forgot about them.
Never did give them to him, he didn't even know about them till I told
him, just today! Anyway....I found them a couple of weeks ago and
figured I might as well try to sell some on eBay.
A lot of the shot glasses were plain ole glasses with some that matched
others, sort of a collection of sets. And some were just random that
didn't match. And then there were some that had names or something on
them. So I thought I would start with those. There were a few that had
alcohol names on them, or they were measuring glasses for mixing. There
were also some that were medicine dose glasses that had a name of
druggist and location on them. Two of these were smaller and they were
the winners!!
I listed about 8 different glasses that day and started most of them at
$3.99. I figured if I sold a few I would be making something off of
them, instead of just sitting in storage. Wow! was I surprised when two
of them sold for $52.76 each!!
And one other one sold for $28.50. So I did make my money back! And then some!!!
LOL I now have something new to look for when at sales!! It
never ceases to amaze me what people will buy and how much they will
spend!
[One of Dee's super shot glasses]
I now have a lot of books up for auction that I bought at an auction in November. Hope there are some sleepers in there.
Who knows??? I am ready for spring/summer because this is when there are more estate auctions! WoooooHoooooo
Happy eBaying!
dee
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks so much, Dee! Now I have something new to look for, too! LOL.
Keep flippin',
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More from Going to Offline Auctions
Junk boxes at the auction that really pay off
[Note
from Julia: Rhonda had written us a while back to tell us about her
auction house "junk box" finds. She had included two more flips that
didn't get included in the previous contest, so we're including them in
this one. I included her 1st paragraph from the previous flips as well,
to explain her auction house strategy:]
I deal in marbles, old sunglasses and believe it or not $1
boxes at the auction. You know, the ones that are on the side table
full of junk that no one wants? I stay until the end and spend $4 or $5
on dollar boxes and have made over $200 on each one and every time. How
about stuff on auction sales and the hidden treasures to be found?
Rhonda then wrote back with more gems. Her eBay id, by the way, is gracie_13
These were in the same $1 box with some other stuff I haven't listed yet:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160185587893&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT&ih=006
[ This is a lovely set of collectible silver state spoons. $26.00 ]
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160182726759&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT&ih=006
[ Tiffany "Good News" silver pin in the distinctive blue box. $34. I
must say that is one of the stranger Tiffany items I have seen; I am
guessing it's a love child of the 70s, but I don't know. You can't
argue with the blue Tiffany box. ]
Then there is the Box of Saturday Evening Post Magazines. There were
old craft magazines that were all torn up in there also. I paid $7 for
the box and a lady offered me $2.50 for the ripped up ones so $4.50 and
I've already made...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160188792102&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT&ih=006
[ SATURDAY EVENING POST DEC. 21, 1935 - ROCKWELL SANTA - $52.51! ]
I have 3 more on right at the moment and about 20 more to list. I like this stuff!!!
I'm in NW Indiana and you may use my name and please link to my
auctions! I don't have an eBay store yet but I have stuff on all the
time as it's becoming better than my 1st income. I work for the County
so that tells you what we get paid lol.
Thanks!
Rhonda / marble-mistress on ebay.
~~~~~~
Hi Rhonda!
Thanks so much for the awesome finds, and the offline auctions tips! As
you can see in a recent issue, I followed your advice and went to a
local auction house here in Va. recently. Can't wait to go back.
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, now for the winners and almost-winners... (really, I think of everyone as a winner!
We just couldn't resist Judith's story about the Strange
Doll..our friend the Bild Lilli...and Judith wins the first place prize
of a free copy of the EasyAuctionsTracker software! Judith, I'll get
the software folks in touch with you.
Rocky, marcsgaragesale, Scott, JPJeffries, Audrey, Laura,
Kaytee, Kay, Dee and Rhonda all win a copy of the Big Bucks Flips
ebook! Or, if you already have it, a free copy of my paperback book,
the eBay Price Guide..or one of my ebooks of your choice.
I'll be in touch w/ you with the free ebook..if you wanted a
different one, just let me know..thanks so much everyone and congrats!
Until next issue..happy hunting, and flipping,
Julia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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