Photo thanks to www.comstock.com
It is almost time to store those snow boots and get ready for the fun of garage and house sales. But what will you be searching for is the question? Yes, all the items mentioned in my many blogs will help you but there are other factors to consider.
I always look for treasures that may be out of season for the seller but to the collector never go out of season. The best example that I can think of is Christmas items. Who is thinking about Christmas in April? The answer to that is me. Often people want to sell their Christmas items rather than store them for another year and these are the people I am searching for because I have many collectors just waiting for the items I find, regardless of the season.
The best part of the off season is when you go to a sale these items will usually be in the basement or garage and you will have the territory to yourself as the hordes scour the pickings in the rest of the house. I have been able to make more money from my finds in these areas than if I had bought everything on the upper levels of the house.
I once found a large box completely filled with glass Christmas ornaments. Believe it or not there was one of Santa worth $500 in the mix. I asked what the price for the box full was and the answer almost knocked me off my feet. “Would $5.00 be too much?” I thought for a moment but not too long because I didn't want others to see what I had just bought so I said “I guess that will be all right.”
This same approach will work for Easter or Halloween and you should become knowledgeable on the particular items from these holidays that bring big money. However, you can buy bicycles, snow boards, wave runners, lawnmowers and golf clubs all out of season and they will prove to be very valuable to someone.
Vickie, my wife, was having her hair done and I got impatient so walking through the neighborhood I spotted a garage sale. To help you understand, it was late fall. In the garage in the corner was a golf bag filled with clubs. Picking it up I saw some of the strangest putters that I had ever seen, plus a complete set of persimmon staff woods. These clubs must have been from the 40's or 50's and I knew they had value.
The lady approached me and asked if I was interested. I wanted to spend more time examining what was in the bag so I said “Yes, in just a minute.” I knew at that time they would be mine but the question was at what price. I signaled her back over and said yes, I was interested and asked the price. What I haven't told you is there was what looked like brand new shoes sitting beside the bag and they were my size. “Would you pay $25 dollars for it all”? My answer was, “Yes if you include the shoes”. The deal was consummated and I walked away very happy. I still use the clubs myself today and also the shoes. But what about the putters, you’re asking. After some research I discovered I had purchased about $800 worth of putters, some that were signature ones. Here are the other bonuses: almost 40 new gold balls, hundreds of tees, an umbrella and three gold gloves still in the package.
I was already a golfer but after this buy if I hadn't been I would have become one.
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