Lynn’s eBay Ezine Volume III, Issue Number 33

#4 Lesson Learned for Garage Saling–If there is inclement weather and it looks like a chance of rain–go to every garage sale you can. What we found this past Saturday was that no one had been to this charity sale (and it was 10:30 am) most likely because most of Bellingham thought the sales would be cancelled because of the dark and gloomy skies! Score!

So, I got down on my hands and knees and went through every box on the floor of the garage. I quickly realized that these were all boxes full of donations. I found antique dresser brushes (one was even sterling), antique tea sets and super newer collectibles.

Nothing was priced and the ladies just said make us an offer. I always feel funny doing this so I made a huge pile on a couch.  When I was done, I said, please tell me what would make you happy. I waited and waited and finally the ladies said $20 for everything. In my head, I had been thinking $40 to $50. So, I said, “You know, I was thinking more like $30.” They were thrilled and so was I. It was a win-win situation!

#5 Lesson Learned for Garage Saling–Ask the price of one item first. If it is a fair price you can feel confident making a big pile of items because you can assume that overall they will price realistically. If they were overpriced on the one item–this strategy may not work. So if the test price on an item was fair, make a huge pile before talking total money and let them name the price. Then offer more if it is a low figure, especially if it is for a charity. You are helping others!

By this time Kiki and I had only spent $55 and the mini-van back area was filling up. How fun!

Next stop was a sale in Edgemoor, my old stomping grounds. This is where I grew up and where the kids and I had last lived. This is also where my dad currently lives. We needed to have Houston and Indy to my Dad by 11 am so that they could spend the day with their Grandpa!

The sale was huge! Everything was priced, and from the moment I walked into this sale, I knew we were in for a major score. On a table in the garage was a Goebel Hummel figurine priced at $3. I said to Kiki, get some boxes and start making a staging area for our items.

Here is a photo of the Goebel Hummel Figurine

Click here to see what it sold for.

You may be wondering why we only did 3-day auctions. You will have to come to my Live Boot Camp in 2 weeks to find out…Please join us.. Just one seat left.

We ended up spending $43 at this sale. So our total for the morning was only $98 and we probably had 75 very saleable items. Perfect!

#6 lesson: Try and spend on average no more than $1 for each item.

As we were leaving that great sale, my mom said to me, “Did you see those Hummel bells?” I said no, and then I remembered seeing some Goebel Crystal Bells that don’t sell for a lot that my grandmother used to carry in the shop. I said I did see the crystal ones and she said, “No, the bisque ones.” I said, “Well, we had better go back.”

Since Kiki, Zach and my kids were already all buckled up, just my mom and I went back across the street. On the table with the bisque Goebel Hummel bells MIB (mint in box) were some Ferrandiz plates. I always have good luck with these, so I made a pile and it all added up to $50. I asked the ladies “since I have already spent so much, can you make me a deal?” They said sure and asked me if $35 would work. SOLD. $133 and still one more sale to hit!

#7 final lesson: go back one more time (if not two more times) to any great sale.  You may have missed something great.

There was one more sale on the South Hill that we thought we would swing by before arriving back at Kiki’s house. We had to be there by 11:45 am because I was meeting my great friend and personal shopper Audrey Mortensen at noon to find outfits for my infomercial shoot. Very important to look good on national TV.

At that final sale on the South Hill, Kiki and I spent $2 for some brass dresser hardware (drawer pulls) and a crystal bohemian votive holder. Grand total for the day $135! And we got a boatload (well a mini-van) full of stuff!

Goosebump time:

This is what I hope you have all been waiting for. My sister was so excited to have all this really wonderful, cheap and highly saleable merchandise that she just couldn’t wait to get it all listed. I stopped by on Saturday afternoon after my shopping spree with Audrey. Audrey is so good that I got about 10 outfits for $300. She doesn’t ever pay full retail and is the most amazing shopper.

I was just checking in on Kiki to see if I could offer any suggestions to help her list items on eBay. She was in the process of taking photos of the Goebel Hummel Bisque bells and she couldn’t get the box open. I was like, “Look genius, you just open it from the side, not the top.”

She had started her listing when she said, “Oh my gosh, I think I see a price tag with Grandma’s handwriting.” I said, “No way!” She pulled out the sticker from inside the box–a 1980 Hummel Bell and the tag said $85.00 in my grandma’s handwriting. We were both silent for quite some time. I said it again, “No way!” But we both knew it was her writing because we remembered how she used to cut big tags into smaller tags to save money. This was one of those tags. With two square corners and two rounded corners.

We both felt her presence at that moment and were freaked out that 27 years ago our grandmother had priced this item and most likely Kiki and I (in addition to our grandmother) had touched this item in the shop.

Then Kiki got out the next bell to photograph. It was from 1978 in a blue box and on the very front was the same shaped price tag. Only this time it wasn’t in my grandmother’s handwriting. It was in one of her three grandchildren’s handwriting and it said $50. We both looked at one another and no words were required.