finds for today

Same old same old. By now you guys/gals just about write the first few lines for me. I was up and out by 5:30. To my first estate sale before 6. They opened at about 6:40 and had very little to show for my efforts until I got to the last shelf in the garage and bingo…set of gauges. From there I went back into the house and started to dig through the box marked 25 cents each. They had about 200 pieces of silverplate flatware. But mixed in was 9 pieces of sterling. I left there a few minutes before 7am and started on the garage sale hunt. I saw a fair amount of sales. Not as many as last week. But I think I found better items then last week also!

Weather was great again. overcast and upper 60’s in the morning and its sunny and 81 outside right now. I quit around 12noon today. I tried to bring my camera up to more sales this week. Unfortunately I didn’t see any really overpriced items to take a picture of! But I did see something odd….can someone tell me what the creature is in the last picture? It looks like what happens if you were to cross a roster and a porcupine. Also if you look closely in one of the picture you can see the Fostoria stems I got sitting out just waiting for me!

I got some really good deals today. We all know I find some good prices. But today was just wow…that’s all you want? Really?? The only problem was no Fenton…3 of the last 4 weeks…no Fenton. What’s happening to me??

Here is the rundown on that I got today.

Picture #1

Milk glass cake stand w/ brandy well $3 I’m not sure of the pattern or the maker on this one (I know what’s the world coming to?). Its a heavy thick quality piece. My first thought was Kemple…but after I got home and unpacked it for the picture I’m having doubts.
Fostoria American Wine and Champagne stems $2 That is 2 for all of them…not per set. Not a bad collection of Fostoria…and you can’t beat the price. Even though American has been hit hard in the “glass crash” it still sells…
Calif. pottery apple dish $1 I think its for nuts…its a nice flea market item
Imperial hobnail creamer and sugar $1 Imperial didn’t make much hobnail…to bad the price doesn’t reflect the scarcity!

Picture #2

Conn Vintage? Guitar in case $5 Its in nice shape…not something I normally buy…but its in excellent condition…for that price you’d have to be insane not to grab it!
Box of Christmas $1 Got some nice ones in there!
tray 50cents I got the pitcher and tumblers already…now I have the tray!

Picture #3

2 boxes full of vintage cards 1.50 I only have one box shown in the picture. Some cool 50’s and 60’s ones in there. For all different occasions! I asked how much and was told $1 a box or 1.50 for both…also included was a stack of vintage wrapping paper. Probably someplace around 3-400 cards total! I have a small sample shown in the picture so you can get an idea.

Picture #4

Harry potter books 50cents each I’ve never been a fan…but maybe I’ll try reading them…or just toss them up on line.
Sterling silver spoons/fork 25cents each Not a bad find…I’ll pay that price for sterling all day long.
Vintage set of airplane gauges $5 I’m very happy with this find. I think its the exact same style altitude gauge I sold back in Feb for over 100….add in the Waltham clock (working!) and the compass…and it makes my morning!

Now I’m going swimming!

Another warm summer day here in southern California. Its right about 90 out now (feels much worse). I was up and out of the house early again and at my first sale by 6am. I went around to a few estate sales first thing. I was able to find a few interesting things at those…including a confederate flag (money a few weeks ago…now a flag…did I move to Georgia?…its humid enough today). After the estate sales first thing I wondeed from garage sale to yard sale to moving sale until around 11 when I quit. Some people were starting to pack up…and I was tired…some days there just isn’t enough caffeine.

Lots more sales out this week. Check the pictures to see proof of that (also another foot picture…but as a bonus I threw in a blurry index finger!)! I saw one sale who was very overpriced today. I got to say one thing for the professional estate sale sellers…they might overprice things but at least their not stupid about it (well for the most part their not!). But I saw a watt mixing bowl today that had a nice chip out of it plus a crack priced at $40. Right next to a made in Hong Kong knock off railroad lantern for $175. All it tells me is I need to bring my camera up to all the sales just for cases like this!

You’ll see in my pictures for the last few weeks that I’ve been trying to branch out a bit more and buy different stuff. Hence the quilt books and the radio.  So far its been working okay….plus its not like I pay much for anything. But see what a few week with no Fenton will do to me?

Picture #1

Group of lefton angels $1 Nice flea market items…these seem to be a strong seller.
2 tier eapg? tidbit $1 It looked interesting…and for a buck…why not? I’m not sure its that old however(Probably 50/60’s).
carnival glass creamer and sugar $2 Nice flea market set…
Etched footed creamer 25cents Fostoria, Cambridge, one of those…I need to look up the pattern…
Little Bo peep wall plaque 50cents Unmarked…but looks cool. To bad she really did lose her sheep!
Fenton (finally!) perfume $1 it counts as Fenton…but it still doesn’t sell for very much. But I was just happy enough to find some!
Spode Christmas tree cup and saucer $2 I’m really stocking up on this…I’m going to have tons come Christmas!
Imperial milk glass bud vase 25cents Marked imperial (I over G) not a bad flea market item.

Picture #2

Modern magazine holder $1 They thought it was a trash can when I got it at the yardsale…But even I know better then that…I think…right?
The 2 empire Santa’s imprisoned in the magazine holder $1 From the same sale as the modern…it made a nice fit. It will all make for some nice flea market stuff!
box of stamps $5 Bunch of them in there…not a bad little set…
4 quilters folders $5 Flea market? Ebay? I’m not sure yet…

Picture #3

Hawkeye picnic basket $5 With its original service pieces…looks never used. Its big so I’m not sure about ebay…should make for a good flea market item?

Picture #4

sansui receiver setup $15 It has a 700 receiver, a 770r tape deck, and a L50 turntable. All with manuals its excellent condition. I need to find some speakers to test it. But it looked cool to me. Plus the price was right!
HO scale train bridge FREE with purchase of the stereo
MAC tools feeler gauge $1 Nice little set…
Ice tongs these were found in my car from last week…I swore That ice bucket came with tongs…But I couldn’t find them in the box when I got home…I guess they fell on the floor before I wrapped the bucket and today they finally rolled out! I guess that’s one good thing about the cyclist I almost ran over because he didn’t feel like stopping at the red light!

Picture #5

3rd flag of the confederacy $10 Estate sale find…I thought it was interesting…seller said his dad was from Missouri. But had no idea where it came from or that it was even in the house before today. Its silk…appears to have some age. And whoever made it can’t stitch a straight line to save their life! Interesting piece…

Late late late!

Sorry for the late post. I’ve been busy busy this weekend. Plus the sales were pretty slow for me overall. But I didn’t expect a whole lot this weekend. It was a holiday weekend after all. Plus I didn’t see any ads in the paper for estate sales (that I wanted to go to). So you add all that up and it equals a slow weekend. But such is the nature of the beast I guess.

The weather was warm…you know its bad when you get in the truck at 6am and turn it on…the air comes on and you reach to turn it off. Then stop yourself and figure that’s not a bad idea having the air on! I spent the day going from yardsale to yardsale for not to much. I need to find another good old family run estate sale where I fill my truck. Its been a few long months. Plus its been 2 long weeks with no Fenton! But who knows what next saturday will bring! Lets at least hope it brings some Fenton!

Here is what this Saturday brought…

Picture #1

Cambridge Caprice Ice bucket $2 Nice ice bucket good price…popular pattern = easy $20
40’s hocking ball style tomato juice pitcher $1 Nice pitcher…should be an easy sale!
Match book collection $3 It won’t make you rich…but its worth picking up when you see them cheap!

Picture #2

AC Plugs $20 for them all signed by the maker. From the early 90’s…they ended up mass producing them (still are) later. But these are the original early ones. Nice swim baits…I might sell a few on ebay but most of them I will keep.

Picture #3

Atari 5200 $5 With games and console…not a bad set for $5
Milk Glass compote 50cents They told me to make an offer…so I did!
2 60’s? ash trays $1 These are interesting…vintage drug company advertising ashtrays for the drug triavil…made of glass. you know its vintage when you see an advertising ashtray from a pharmaceutical company!

Another one bites the dust….

At least the this is going to be a pain to ship thoughts are done with. I was washing my punch bowl I got last week and smacked it on the faucet and now it has a nice chip. Now I like to think it was just an accident. But maybe my subconscious stepped in and took care of it for me? This ups my total to I believe 4 on the list of items I have broke while washing. I’ve dropped boxes at antique shows and broke a few pieces that way…or unwrapped at the flea to find something broken once or twice. I’ve probably lost 3-400 retail on breakage over the year. And that’s not a bad total all things considered. I deal in a lot of glass…

I could sell it as-is…but its heavy (about 8lbs) and I don’t think the shipping would make it worth while. So I’ll just take the cups and ladle out and hope someone on ebay needs a few replacement cups and maybe someone broke their plastic ladle over the years? Its not like I have much to lose anyway…I only paid $1 for the whole set. Plus I didn’t have to go and sweep it up the floor after. That’s always insult to injury!

Another day another dollar

Another Day Another Dollar

Just like always I was out of the house early. I stumbled onto another free pile this week…right on my way to an estate sale. So that was very nice I picked up a few things then went to the sale. I was able to score some tools there…but little else. Then it was around to garage sales for the rest of the morning. It was a pretty slow pick for me today. I didn’t even see one piece of Fenton. I still managed to have an okay day. But it was just slow going all morning….one item here…nothing for 30 minutes…more item and so on.

The weather was nice in the morning. Cool with some June gloom in the morning. But it cleared up and got warm. Its 87 out now. Early next week its supposed to be very hot. Even though it wasn’t to bad today people were still packing up early and I called it a day around 12 and came home.

So now all that’s left to do today is BBQ some chicken and go swimming!

No feet pictures today…sorry  But if your interested in a dog or a mouse check my first picture…

Picture #1

tons and tons of 45’s Probably someplace around 400. And the best part…they were all free. It was the free pile I found first thing. I took the whole pile! I drove by and it took a second to register in my brain (hey I was only on my second mug of coffee!)…and I thought…”was that a whole collection of 45’s that said free??” So I turned around and sure enough it was. I looked through some of them. And I found some Beatles, credence, and other fun stuff. I’m going to have to dig out my player! I wish I knew more about records…aside from they should go away for me at a show pretty easily…..

Picture #2

Beswick tea pot $2 Cat shaped…that will go away quick for me. Lots of crazy cat people out there…with the Beswick name on the bottom to boot!
Indiana carnival glass punch set $1 I still have the amber one i got a few months ago…the green one is better and will sell on ebay…but its hard to pack. I stood there and I didn’t want to buy it. I hoped they would quote me like $20 so I could run…but when they said $1…I had to get it…
Tower projector free it was next to my free 45’s I just took everything they had out!
Stained glass lamp shade $3 Its nice…unmarked…tiffany knockoff I’m sure. But for $3 its still nice and should go away for 20-25 at the flea pretty quick…

Picture #3

Spode pitcher $1 I’m getting together a pretty good collection of that…
hooklatch kit $1 Help…please…i see others on the yardsale board buy them…so did I waste $1???
Westmoreland English hobnail candlesticks $1 Not a bad set of milk glass…
pink measuring cup 25cents Should go away at the flea. Won’t make me rich…but its money.
Drippings jar $1 its marked on the bottom. I can’t remember who…and I’m to lazy to go look…sorry…

Picture #4

2 vintage Pflueger reels $4 for both Not bad old reels. To bad he didn’t have any freshwater lures from the same era!
Volkswagen transporter manual $1 Might make for a good eaby item!
Stack of Old confederate notes $1 The condition is bad on a lot of them. But 2 of them appear to be in good shape. Older lady selling them told me “those were my husbands counterfeit bills.” I guess she forgot her glasses when she priced?? Anyone on here collect this stuff and can tell me prices??
A bunch of snap-on tools Same sale as the “counterfeit bills” All the tools were 25 cents each. So I took all the snappy I could find. A set of sockets and 2 wrenches. All told I spent $4 at that sale…my total was 3.75…but when she started to look for the quarter I said that’s ok. I figured I was robbing her blind…I didn’t need to get my 25cents back too

Excuses…

I don’t often got to garage sales on a Sunday. Not because I don’t like to. I can’t think of to many times when I wouldn’t go to a sale. They could call it a vampire special and start it at midnight…if the ad sounded good I’d be there. The problem is I don’t see to many ads for Sunday only sales that sound good and are worth the drive (gas). But this last Sunday I saw an ad on Craig’s list when I got up. It was for a sale about 15 miles away. It didn’t sound really good. But then it didn’t sound bad either (it didn’t list kids stuff). But see it was the perfect excuse. It was 2 blocks away from one of my favorite bakery/deli. So I took the drive…found nothing at the sale like I figured. But I was able to have a very good breakfast and pick up some cookies and a little chocolate chip cake like thing. I always grab one of the chocolate chip thing. It ranks in my top 5 desserts! In fact I think I’ll go have another piece right now!

My finds for 6.21.08

No good estate sales to hit this morning so I was able to get out of the house a little bit later then normal (6am…as opposed to 5 or so). So that was nice. My plan was to head down to my summer area and see what I could hunt up. But that changed two blocks from my house…

One of my favorite areas was having its neighborhood sale. They never run an ad…or put up a banner or anything. So you just have to hope your in the area when it happens. Normally its in April…so I had just about given up on it this year. I figured I missed it. But I saw a hand written sign reading community sale. So I pulled in and there it was. It saved me a lot of gas. I drove a whopping 26 miles on the day. Much better then the 100+ last week (11mi to the gallon on my truck…so that by itself saved me $35+). I was able to do good in the neighborhood again. One house had a nice free pile out front…no sale…just a pile of boxes with free on them. It looked like an estate cleanup…So I will have to keep my eyes on it in case more gets put out for free. I didn’t get out of the neighborhood until 9am. And I move pretty fast so you know how many sales there were to hit. I didn’t find a ton of stuff…but I got a lot of interesting items that should do well…

So from there I wondered by a few yardsales and called it a day about 11 when it was getting hot and people were packing up. It was 72 when I got up and left this morning. And you can check the pictures to see what it was when I typed this.

All in all another nice day. And I even found Fenton again this week. So all is right in my world (well aside from the heat).

iPhone picture today (on a side note I can’t wait to buy the new one!..it will be mine!)…so the pics are of almost everything but the sale. Including my foot!

Picture #1

Fenton Amber Poppy Hanging Lamp $15 Nice lamp…he had it marked 25…I got it for $15…I wish it was less…but its easy money…the hanging lamps sell good. I’ll probably get 75 or so for it.
Amber crackle glass creamer 50cents flea market junk
Sharon Cabbage Rose Veggie Bowl 50cents another flea market piece
3 Hawthorn Thomas Kinkade houses $1ea They looked cool to me…and for $3…I can’t lose!

Picture #2

Satcruiser FTA Receiver new in box $10 Nice free to air receiver. I have a hunch it will sell good! I also got a DVD player at the same sale for $10 brand new. But its not pictured because I pulled it out and hooked it up to watch a movie, relax and have a cool drink when I got home. The sale looked like a surplus electronics sale.
22 Nintendo games $10 I might sell them as a lot on line. I don’t know if any of them are good solo…
2 odd looking old tools 50cents I’m not sure what they are for…but it was cheap enough…
3 rustic animal traps $3 Good flea market item…after the house stuff last week and this stuff I will have a lot of that type stuff…but that’s good…easy to pack!
Vintage toy truck 25cents someone dug it up…I think it was underground for about 5-10 years…more? But the price was right and I thought someone might want it.
Set of ford manuals $1 Not a bad set…They should sell…

Picture #3

All free. Yep everything in the picture was free. Its what I dug up at the free sale. The pocket watches are broken…but I figured for parts…someone might want them? And I know nothing about the patterns. So anything I should look for?? I thought maybe 25 cents each at the flea would be a good price…more? Less? Then its one piece of Pyrex and some tie clips…even if everything is worthless…you can’t say I overpaid

Picture #4

Old Library desk $15 I know…i know…its furniture…I can’t sell it. But come on how can you pass it up for that price?????????????
Vintage Wave Tools Surfboard $10 Its signed Lance with a number. Not sure about it. But I figured it might make for a good flea market item…everyone else sells them so why not me. I don’t know what to ask so I might give it a go on ebay first…just in case…local pickup only

Picture #5

Vintage? Passap Knitting Machine $5 It has some poles and stuff not in the picture. The guy was just pulling it out of the garage when I stopped…I asked “What is it?” And he said “I think its a knitting machine…it was my moms…its yours for $5″ So now its mine. It looked like it should sell…right? Maybe? Please? Its heavy…so probably a Craig’s list item…and it needs to be dusted! My gamble item of the day

My stuff for today

It was migration day today…aka oldkeet’s summer tactics.

But I didn’t start out on migration. First off was a 7am estate sale. I got there pretty early but it was light out so that’s good. I always hate sitting in the truck waiting when its dark out. They opened a bit early and were quickly flooded with people. I didn’t find to much there. The prices were good…but other then a handful of tools I just didn’t see much. Then I set off on my summer route…its a bit more driving ( I think I went about 110 miles today round trip). But it turned out to be well worth it. I didn’t see nearly as many sales as I normally do (maybe 40 total for the day) but the crap sales were few and far between and I had to get out at probably 75% of the sales. So it was a nice easy going enjoyable morning.

I did see without a doubt the highest priced estate sale ever. With all the sales I’ve hit over the years (you could easily figure 30+ sales a week…times 52 weeks…times the million years I’ve been going to sales and get a huge round number). But lets just say its a lot. I have never see these kinds of prices. They had a 60’s Indiana carnival glass fruit bowl…the oval one you can’t get more then 10 for on ebay. Priced at $2,000. A red Fenton basket at 95. A Fenton thumbprint compote at 75. A clear moon and stars bowl at 45. Normally I get a chuckle out of some peoples prices…but this was to shocking to even laugh. I did ask them where they got the prices…and I was told the person across the street did it for them. And that “he has an antique store.” I left the camera in the car so no pictures and I was parked to far away to walk back and forth (I didn’t want to waste time at 7:20…sorry guys/gals). Normally an antique store will price things high…but at least they aren’t stupid about it. This was just stupid/insane/I don’t know. Oh yeah they had 2 small Roseville magnolia vases marked 750 for the pair (one is on ebay with a $49 BIN). Oh and some Avon cape cod at 1k for the set (looked like a service for 8…maybe 6). I spent more time at the sale then I should have…it was like a train crash…I wanted to run…but I just couldn’t stop myself…I had to keep looking…

Anyway here is my rundown for the day. I found some neat stuff and some good selling items.

Picture #1

2 Green depression glass bowls $2 Not bad an easy 12ea at the flea market. I found that after 11am too…don’t see to much green depression out still after 8am
Lefton Santa 50cents Still has his original stickers…it should sell good…
Cameo art glass vase $15 Its handblown…unmarked…it looks old to me. Its a total gamble…well not really I’m sure I can sell it for 40 at the flea to some other sucker who sees potential. It just had the right look to me of the old French cameo art glass pieces. And for $15 it was worth it to find out in my mind…because if it is…wow…

Picture #2

One of the coolest lamps ever made $5 I’m not really a modern fan…but that lamp rocks! I couldn’t believe it when I was quoted $5 as the price…I almost ran back to my truck with it…I really like it can you tell!
Handful of old tools $5 Some nice pieces in there…good names…
007 song book 25cents It looked like a good flea market item to me.
2 games $1ea One of them is still sealed in plastic
Set of 15 glen Miller 45’s $1 Another flea market item.

Picture #3

Tractor seat Horse bit ect $10 It was all loaded in a box I picked up the set and was told they wanted $10 for the box. That was fine by me…so in the truck bed it went. Some very good selling flea market items there.
Mission child’s rocker $5 Same sale as the horse stuff. Good deal on the oak piece…its very very dirty and dusty…I didn’t clean it for the pic sorry

Well, that’s it for today…I got some nice stuff. Not a whole lot…but it was quality stuff. None of the “will it sell?” filler/flea market items I sometimes have. And good prices to boot. Well worth the migration extra mileage and gas…but only…no fenton…

Oh on my “finds” pictures…I forget to reset my camera picture size…so if your on dial up…don’t even try…sorry

Wonder if it works?

To all my fellow eaby sellers out there worried about the new feedback changes and how it will effect you. I found a seller who has an interesting approach. Bribe your buyers with candy! I got a lure box off ebay and a hand written note on the receipt thanking me, asking me if everything was satisfactory, and asking me to leave feedback. It also came with a mint…

I’ve read that in a restaurant the waiters/waitesses get bigger tips when they write a note of thanks on the receipt and add in some candies. I wonder if it works for ebay as well???

Maybe during winter we can include some fine chocolate truffles on high ticket items? During summer (chocolate will melt) we can throw in some good caramels?

Its a thought…maybe not a very good one…but one I figured I would throw out there!  Let me know if you try it!

It pays to call around

I was fixing a mass air flow sensor on an SUV today for a friend. They happen to be one of the easiest things in the world to fix on that car. I think it took all of 5 minutes. But what amazed me (aside from how much onboard computers/sensors screw up a car). Was the price disparity. I called 3 places looking for one. The SUV is an import and those things can be a pain to find parts for. The first place was pep boys…the price was 189.98 + $30 core deposit…special order only 5-7 days. Called Kragen 155 + 40 core special order only 2-3 days. Then I called auto zone 105 plus 40 core in stock. So we went right down and got it. But how can the instore price (not sale price) be $85 different from one auto parts store to another??? After I got the part and installed it I remembered I didn’t call Napa auto parts…maybe it would be been another 85 off? Oh well not like I was paying for it anyway…

Because I also have a thing about posting pictures with each entry…I’m not sure why…I guess I’m visually oriented. Here are a few pictures of the Beach Boys concert I went to on Sunday. They put on a great show. Well worth the $55 ticket!