What to look for...
When I head out to go to garage and estate
sales I have already decided what items I will not be looking for. I have
a hard time finding suitable boxes and packing materials for shipping large
or heavy items and it is not fun to try to wrap up items that are fragile
and prone to breaking during shipment. Knowing this allows me to not consider
buying items that fall into these categories. Whenever you ship an item to
someone it is your responsibility to be sure it gets there in one piece. Even if
the buyer refuses to pay for insurance. If they receive it broken or damaged in
some way you are responsible to refund their money. That's why I rarely buy
items that are easily damaged or broken.
There are several ways to ship an item
including the US postal service, Fedex, and UPS. They have all broken items that
I have shipped through them. Submitting an insurance claim through them is very
time consuming and frustrating. There are a lot of hoops to jump through and you
must do everything in a timely manner. They want to see the broken item, the box
and all the packing materials that were used in order to make a determination.
Often the claim will be denied because they determine that you have not shipped
the item properly or according to their shipping requirements. It can take weeks
or months to have a claim be finalized. Meanwhile you are still responsible for
refunding the money to the buyer of your item. Some items cannot be insured
because the value cannot be determined accurately, such as jewelry.
I also have discovered that some items are so
common at garage sales that they do not sell well at auction because everyone
already has it or it has become obsolete. This includes newer golf clubs
(antique golf clubs are very collectible), baby items, children's toys and
games, common kitchen items including glassware, Tupperware, pots and pans,
electrical cooking gadgets, plates, cups, bowls, common flatware and such. These
common items may do great at a garage sale but not on an online auction.
I look for rare things. Items that you don't
see around much anymore. I look for old and antique kitchen utensils such as egg
beaters, sterling silverware, and other sterling items like old coffee and tea
service or silver creamers and sugar bowls. Anything that is old and rare will
catch my eye. But before I lay down my money to buy it I always look it over
real good looking for cracks or chips, dents or missing parts. Condition is
everything. The item has to be in good condition or it will not be worth
anything to potential buyers and collectors.
Once in a while I find some old toys or other
items that still have the original box it came in. This is an excellent
opportunity. Collectors are often willing to pay double for an item that is
still in it's original box or packaging. If you find some old Star Wars or Star
Trek toys in their original packaging you could be holding a gold mine. There
are some Star Trek stuffed aliens from the 1960's that are worth hundreds should
you find them. If they are complete and have the original packaging they are
worth much much more to collectors.
Some people like to collect movie memorabilia.
This is loads of fun but you have to look out for fakes and reproductions. I
never suggest buying celebrity autographs at auction since it is too easy to
forge signatures. Even if they say they will provide a certificate of
authenticity (called a COA) These COA's are not worth the paper they are written
on. Take my advice, steer clear of items that are said to be signed by
celebrities or other autographed memorabilia items sold at auction on the
internet. Selling a fake or forged signature is a criminal offense.
