Hi!
Today is my grandmother’s birthday. She would have been 95 years old. She loved birthdays and was always a very willing gift recipient. There was nothing she liked better than to open her presents. When I wasn’t living in Bellingham and I would ship them to her I would write in big letters Do Not Open Until 1/25 but she would not listen and would open them right when they arrived. She was worse than a little kid on Christmas. That is how I still feel every morning when I wake up and check on my auctions to see what has been bid on or what has sold.
My grandma had a two-car garage plus a warehouse across the street. Her van was never in either of them. Instead, they were used as storage for merchandise. I must have picked that up from her because my car has been displaced from my garage. Read my feature article below to find out what has pushed my car out onto the street.
- Special Announcement: Boot Camp Sign Up has Begun!
- Feature Article: Buying at the end of the Estate Sale
- The Queen’s Update: Book Naming Contest
- Lynn Recommends: Listen to Griff and me on eBay Radiothis Tuesday
This ezine is now published once a week.
January 25, 2007, Volume III, Issue 4
Dear friends,
I have had a great week. I spent the weekend in Phoenix with my friend Peter. He got VIP tickets to the Barrett-Jackson car auction and we got to see how the rich folks live. It was really fun to see cars sell at live auctions for $50,000 and up.
The most expensive car we saw being sold was a convertible for $250,000. Many of you may have heard the most expensive car sold during the weeklong auction was the CNN Military Hummer for over $4 million–with proceeds going to charity!
It was a very atypical weekend for Phoenix. It poured down rain the entire auction and it made for an interesting event. I had never heard of the Barrett-Jackson auction until we went but I guess it is a pretty big deal.
I was very careful not to raise my hand. I do not want another Alfa Romeo fiasco! And my garage is full (read the feature article to find out why). No cars will be parked in there!
The Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event
We did not buy any cars and we didn’t have time to hit any garage sales so on Sunday when I got back to Palm Desert, I went to a professionally run estate sale. I had been there the weekend before and had let it be known that I would be interested in buying everything that was left.
Read my feature article to find out how best to handle a great opportunity like this.
My Live 3-Day Boot Camp is now for sale. Don’t miss out on this exceptional event. More details follow.
Here’s to Successful eBaying!
Lynn Dralle,’ The Queen of Auctions,’ Creator of the best-selling eBay Boot Camp in a Box.
My first Live 3 Day Boot Camp of 2007 is now available for sign up. Click here for more info.
Update – we have had to postpone this year’s Live Boot Camp. Watch my ezine for details of the new time. – Lynn
Many of you who purchased eBay Boot Camp in a Box has been asking me a very important question.
The question that many of you have been asking me is this….
What do you feel is the biggest difference between attending Boot Camp and the purchase of Boot Camp in a Box? (Other than getting to meet you and making new friends, of course!!)
I think the biggest difference is the actual hands-on experience. I expect you to do actual work and list with my help and guidance. It really brings it all together. You will get a chance to do the faux garage sale which is also very valuable. Lastly, it was a life-changing event for my Boot Campers. It is an inspirational three days and several of my students walked away from it making life-changing decisions–all for the positive!
 “I just wanted to extend a huge THANK YOU to you, Lee, and your mom for such an inspirational eBay Boot Camp. I have attended other seminars but never have I had such a hands-on experience where I left with a sense of accomplishment and the UTMOST confidence that I will succeed.” “Your method of teaching is so effective, the way you taught us to step by step EXACTLY what to do and then actually had us DO what you taught us – as you mentored us through the entire process!!! It was just amazing!! I learned so much!!! Your class is invaluable! You were right…you don’t charge enough!! You covered so much material and answered every single question that was presented to you but never did I feel you rushed through the material or became impatient with our questions.” “You delivered EVERYTHING you promised – actually you OVER delivered!!” –Cathi Adams, Florida |
You are invited to join us and become a member of this elite group of eBay Boot Camp graduates.
Visit here for more information.
Click here to sign up with my special 3-part payment plan
(expires February 8th.)
‘Buying Everything That is Left!‘
by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions
I had gone to an estate sale close to my house the weekend of January 14th. I ran in during the breaks in my son’s baseball tournament and ended up buying $1,000 worth of stuff. The lady who had owned the house had great taste. Everything was either Made in Europe, the USA or Japan. When you stumble upon a sale like this –you should definitely spend some time.
I purchased some amazing dinnerware and a big collection of Bing & Grondahl and Royal Copenhagen plates. One of the dinner sets I bought for $40 added up to over $1,000 at retail on Replacements. Here is a link to one of the chop plates on eBay.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a whole lot of time because watching my son win his baseball tournament was more important!
So, I asked the professional running the sale what he was going to do with everything that was left. He told me to come back next weekend on Sunday and talk to him. Cool! Tip #1 –Always let the professional running a good sale know that you would buy everything that is left –Do this far enough in advance that the seller doesn’t contact other dealers.
So, on Sunday (after returning from the car auction) I went to the estate sale around 2 pm. It was scheduled to end at 3 pm. Most of the stuff was still there. The house was chuggarum full (as my grandmother would have said. Whatever that means, I’m not sure.) Tip #2 –show up when they are at the most desperate.
Here are some of the items.
This stuff seriously reminded me of my grandmother’s antique store. There were Fenton cranberry pieces, majolica, and a shoe collection. My grandmother used to carry every shoe made by Fenton in her front store windows. I just had to buy all the items –it was just like Chicken Soup for the Soul. I would be transported (in my mind) back to the shop when I got everything ready to sell.
Also, as my mother pointed out–there was enough merchandise in this house alone to get me through the slow garage sale summer months.
And, as you can imagine, the man running the sale was very motivated to sell. He needed to have the house cleared out by Monday. Yikes! This is an important negotiating tool. Tip #3–Offer to pack it up and haul it away right then and there.
I asked him how much for everything and I was hoping he would just name a figure. Tip #4–Buy in Bulk…This is the best way to buy and how my grandmother always did it. However, he needed to add it all up by hand for his books and then he offered to take a drastic cut.
His estate sales are always priced quite fairly and as he said to me, “If you make money from doing business with me, you will be back.” He is right. So, when he offered everything to me at 30 to 40% of the market prices, I said Yes. I ended up spending an additional $3,200 that day.
I purchased over 1,000 items. So at about $3.20 per item I know I will do very well with this estate. Tip #6–Always piece it out by average price per item to decide if it makes sense for your eBay business.
Now that we had struck a deal, I had one small problem. My kids were at my house with my mom and I had no one to help me pack it all up. Me and my big mouth. I called my mom and she said, “Call William (the kids’ dad) to see if he is still in town and can babysit.” Brilliant! I got him on the phone and he agreed to come right over. So, now I had my mom, plenty of boxes, and paper but could still use an extra pair of hands.
I had received an email from Sharla Jackson, one of my eBay Boot Camp graduates from Bellingham and LAX, saying that she was going to be in Palm Springs for her birthday. We had agreed to meet up for lunch on Monday, January 21st. I had an inspired thought–maybe I could pay her to help pack it all up.
I called Sharla and sure enough–she was game. She thought it would be fun just to experience the estate sale and said I didn’t have to pay her anything. Too sweet! She raced right over in her convertible and the three of us got to work. Tip #7–always have plenty of friends and family around!
We packed it all up in about 2 1/2 hours and it filled two loads in my mom’s minivan and one load in my BMW. I was just starting to clear out a place in my garage for my car (now that the Alfa has sold) but alas, it was not to be. Where my car used to be parked is now a pile of loot just waiting to be sold on eBay and sent to wonderful homes.
Check out Sharla and my mom in my crazy, messy garage.
I emailed photos of the estate sale to my brother and he just couldn’t help himself, he emailed right back and said, “Can you even walk through your house? Do you have aisles or pathways?” He was making fun of me because my grandmother always had so much merchandise in her house also. Ha Ha!
The final tip I will leave you with is from my grandmother Tip #8–The time to buy it is when you see it (especially if the price is right.) It is better to stock up and have too much than to wonder where your next 100 items will be coming from.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 8000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your eBay business, make more money and have more free time, get your FREE tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com
Drum Roll Please…..The winner of our pick a title contest is…..
Well, I’m sorry but you’re all going to have to wait another week to hear the winner of the book title contest. There are so many great entries that we can’t decide! We need more time to think about this. So, the winner of the $250 credit will be announced next week (I promise!)
eBay Power Seller and third-generation antique dealer, Lynn Dralle, is the creator of Boot Camp in a Box, the home-study course where you can learn to implement the Dralle Method to maximize your eBay profits.
If you liked today’s issue, you’ll love this step-by-step course that is guaranteed to be the most complete and enjoyable guide to selling on eBay that MAKES YOU MONEY.
Read all about it here.
The Queen of Auctions also offers free articles, teleseminars, how-to books, tracking guides, DVDs, eBay Boot Camp training, and other resources to help entrepreneurs make their eBay business a six-figure sales machine. Click here to learn more.
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Lynn@TheQueenofAuctions.com
I am honored to be invited back on eBay Radio with Griff. I will be a guest on his show this Tuesday, January 30 at 1 pm PST. I hope you tune in online at http://www.wsradio.com/ this Tuesday. Griff and Lee always put on a great show!
Happy eBaying!!
Lynn
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Lynn is an experienced eBay Power Seller, author, and teacher. If you want to know the eBay tips, tricks, and tools that Lynn uses for buying and selling at an online auction click here.