Garage Sale Adventures

I found this Yellow Ware Bowl stashed under a table at a garage sale. It's now available at 31 Marketplace.


You don't find the pot at the end of the rainbow every day, but you can still find some sunshine. This happened to me today. Still missing my little dog, I was struggling to get moving yesterday. Thankfully, 31 Club Member, Marsha, called me about noon and asked if I’d like to go with her to a few garage sales. I knew I had to get out of the house and helping Marsha would fill me with good cheer, so off I went.

At the first sale, It didn't take us long to realize that the sale had items from an emptied booth from an antique mall. The owner didn’t even bother to take her sale labels off the items. We looked and came away with a piece of Griswold cast iron for $5 that should bring $15-$20; nothing to write home about. But there was an Ironstone platter I wanted to get home and check out. It was very large for a platter and extremely heavy. After checking prices at home, today I’m asking Marsha to go back to the sale and buy it. The price was $100, and I feel sure no one will have purchased it at the asking price. If I’m right, we may even buy it for less than $100. I figure that it’s worth $400-$500.

The next sale was very interesting. The lady had some very unusually cat items which included jewelry, change purses and even a Garfield the Cat telephone. We were able to pick these pieces up for under a dollar each, and I figure they will bring at least $5 each, if not more so, we just added another $25 or $30 to our profits to fund other purchases. But, we weren't though with this sale yet. I spotted a great print from the Napa Valley. The asking price was $20, so we passed on it and headed out toward the car. One of the assistants was following us, and I was telling her about the 31 Club. Before we reached the street, I mentioned that there was a print we would buy for $10, but we didn't know the artist. “I’ll take that,” she quickly said. No, we didn't know who the artist was, but because they had bought it in the Napa Valley and were told it was a local artist, someone will know. So in our listing, we’ll just describe it as a local Napa Valley artist. It’s quite large and very well done, so I have no doubts it will bring $150.

At this point I knew that I needed to get back to work, but on our way back, we saw an estate sale sign that just pulled us like a magnet. I immediately recognized one of the gentlemen conducting the sale, so we talked awhile, then Marsha and I began browsing the sale. There were about 10 Royal Doulton mugs and a small figurine, so I asked what they would take for all of them. They wanted $130 which wasn’t bad. I offered $80, but they wouldn’t take it. It was late in the day, and I knew all the dealers who planned on coming to the sale had already been there. I also knew that this sales house reduces everything by half the second day, so we decided to take a chance they would be there tomorrow.

If these Doulton items are purchased, there will be at least $150 profit there. So, no real treasures on this day, but how did we do? We weren't looking for $5 items, but that was all there was to be found. When I total our future profit if the platter and Doulton are purchased, and we don't yet know what we may find tomorrow, there should be at least $625 profit, which isn't bad for a day.

Remember that poem from yesterday’s blog? Don’t Quit! The pot of gold is just around the corner when you persevere.

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Treasure Under the Table in Yellow Ware

Yellow Ware Mocha Loving Cup, circa 1840. Photo from Martyn Edgell Antiques.

There's a new ending to Friday's Blog about our adventure to the estate sale. I’ve always told you to dig into every corner and look into every cabinet. Well, I took my own advice.

After packing up my purchase of Books and Depression Glass I decided to take one more look around just to make certain I didn’t pass anything up. Sure enough, just when it looked as if there wasn’t anything else for me to buy, I spotted two Yellow Ware bowls on the floor. I picked them up, realizing they might well be treasure at the price of $3. In all these people rushing around, the two yellow ware bowls went unnoticed by most. I snatched them up and handed those bowls to the attendant. As you get out more and more, you’ll see that the knowledge you’ve gained will come into play and pay great dividends if you are patient.

When I got home, I went right to my trusty Kovel's Price Guide. I estimate they are worth from $200 to $400 each. How’s that for a $3 purchase. Estimate that rate of return. I looked further into the Kovel’s Price Guide, I found that most Yellow Ware pieces will bring $200 or more. A pepper shaker, mold or flask could reward you with over $1,000.

The secret of compounding seems to have worked quit well at this house sale. In Friday’s Blog, I said our investment of $287 could bring as much as $2,000. With this new information on the Yellow Ware, I’ll have to raise the estimate to $2,400, possibly more.

Now, think with me here for a minute. $287 turned into $2,400. If I am able to just double the $2,400 with new purchases, I will have enhanced my bank account considerably, and could have $4,800 after deducting my cost for buying. Am I crazy, or is this simply amazing?

These simple things, when added together, can make you a believer in what we are teaching. Not getting rich quick, just getting rich. That’s our motto. Keep your Honesty, Integrity and Spiritual Purity and still receive all the blessings that God intends for you to have. I can’t think of a better way to live.

I encourage you to always do more research once you've read a Blog. For example, you might be asking yourself, "What exactly is Yellow Ware?" If you began researching it right after you finished reading the Blog, the time you spend researching is active time, and it will etch certain facts and pictures into your mind that you will be able to draw upon when you're out in the field.

Remember, if you spend a little time everyday studying and researching, this time of active study builds up information in your mind layer upon layer. I'll lead you and show you how to make money. But the activity of researching is what will build lasting knowledge. So, do a search on "Yellow Ware". Try googling it. Search it in Yahoo, or whatever you like to use. I'll start you out by telling you that Yellow Ware is a type of stonewear, and it's called Yellow Ware not because of a glaze color used, but because of the color of clay used to make it. See what else you can discover today.

Don’t just follow the daily Blog. Join with like-minded 31 Club Members. Turbo charge your treasure hunting. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets. Learn to build a bank account that last a lifetime with your profits. My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. The book is also available on Amazon.com. If you buy the book on Amazon, then the membership is FREE.

See the fine paintings we have listed in our gallery like the Texas Bluebonnet painting by William A. Slaughter. Works from Robert Woods, William Horton, Tom Darro and more. Our Hannah Barlow decorated Doulton Lambeth Vase is superb. Take a look here.

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Will You Find Diamonds or Rubies at Estate Sales?

#13 Giswold Cast Iron Skillet Sold for $925 on eBay on March 26, 2008

I checked the paper the other day and found a House Sale listing a Civil War Operating Table, so yesterday I made it out of the house early to check this out. Being from Kentucky, my mind told me that I might be the only person attending the sale who would have interest in this prize.

I arrived at the sale with my son, Joshua, and as we waited for Cindy to arrive, I began visualizing the purchase and sale of this table in my mind. I even visualized reporting this great find to you all in a Blog. When I entered the house, I immediately ran for the area where I was told this table was located. When I got there, my heart fell. This antique and highly collectible prize, already thought to me mine, had a price tag higher than the amount I had designated for the purchase. I’m sure Joshua and Cindy could see the disappointment in my face, but I tried to show a strong presence to them by saying I am sure there are other treasures here for us. I thought I was fooling myself, though. But, since we were already here, why not look around?

The first things I spotted were about 50 pieces of an amber Depression Glass set, I liked their price tag of $75. I asked if all the pieces were perfect. They were. I told the attendant I was willing to take the entire set for $60. He accepted that and this was the start of our shopping list. Next was a quick trip to the kitchen, where I found about 10 pieces of Griswold Cast Iron skillets and lids. At one time, I owned one of the largest collections of Griswold around. There were several skillet lids, skillets, and even a miniature. I quickly formed a large group of the pieces. I asked the attendant what these would cost me. He asked me what the tag showed. I told him that it showed $100, but I could give him $60. He added them to my list. This is when Cindy called me on my cell phone from an upstairs bedroom, so I was certain she found something. “I’m stranded up here, guarding some special books I don’t want to walk away from. It’s too many for me to carry,” she told me.

I went up there, and indeed she had found some great books, but there were tons more still on the bookcases. You should’ve seen the look in her eyes when I said, “Just start stacking them and I will carry as many as I can down the stairs. I’ll be back for the rest.” We did this until I must have carried 100 hundred books out of there, into the family room and plopped them down on a sofa.

But this story doesn't stop there. The family room had loads of bookshelves filled with more books. I dug in and by the time the two of us had finished there must have been 200 books on the living room couch. They were an assortment of books From Civil War books to Antiques and Collectibles, Fine Art, to Golf. There were so many that we had to take a blanket to cover them so that others would leave them alone. This helped, but I had to still tell several people that these books were sold.

Two pieces of Yellow Ware, some sewing items, a few advertising bottles, and a couple of Vintage Cigar Boxes completed our shopping. We might have missed the diamond, but I think we may well have found over $2,000 worth of rubies that we spent $287 on. It would have been very easy to just have walked away in disappointment. No, we didn't make $10,000. That will have to wait for another day.

Don’t just follow the daily Blog. Join with like-minded 31 Club Members. Turbo charge your treasure hunting today and start building a bank account big enough to last a lifetime. My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. The book is also available on Amazon.com. If you buy the book on Amazon, then the membership is FREE.

See the fine paintings we have listed in our gallery like the Texas Bluebonnet painting by William A. Slaughter. Works from Robert Woods, William Horton, Tom Darro and more. Our Hannah Barlow decorated Doulton Lambeth Vase is superb. Take a look here.

Read Up On The 31 Club Here.

Visit our website here.

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