and drives the bid often is not what I thought.

So I won that online unit (after sniping a guy who sniped me the previous month) and had figured out what we had $$$ wise.  The final price after the 10% buyers premium was $79.50.
The mattress set was garbage - $10.
Some of the seen appliances were ratty -$10
The giant ficus tree was trashed -$10

So there's $30 of my $80.  Yikes!  But we did find 2 Compaq computer towers, with 3 Planar 15" flat screen monitors and numerous keyboards, cables and mice.  2 beautiful flower girls dresses and just a mishmosh of stuff.

We had some buyers coming over for a stereo cabinet (fallaparticle board from a previous unit) and they took a rolling sterilite 6 drawer unit for $10.
Then another group showed up 5 minutes later for the same stereo cabinet (oops.....), they were disappointed, but we managed to sell them $50+ worth of merchandise including the microwave and fallaparticle board desk from the online unit!

In the bottom of a bag I found a broken Nintendo-ds-lite.  Listed it on ebay for an opening of $4.99.  Already has a bid with watchers.

So as of right now, I've made back $35 of the $80 and have quite a bit of salable items.  I'm praying somebody can come up with a quick $150-200 for the computer stuffs so I can simply donate the 4+ bags of clothes I ended up with!!

Oh and can I interest you in a Lusty Linda (x-rated) pen holder?!  sheesh~

I'm glad I got the unit and it was a learning experience, but frankly~I like the action of a live auction much better.  While I could study the photos, seeing in real life is believing.

I've got quite a bit of scrap silver and gold and have been trying to figure out where to sell it.  Pawn shops or the gold buying places always (deeply) undercut.  I called a guy from a local craigslist ad that said he pays well for scrap silver.  He said he pays $17 per troy ounce.  Well when silver was at $30.....that didn't sound to good to me.  So I've been watching ebay and prices they are getting are right in line with the (dealer) market.  I've pretty much been bouncing from calculator sites and the jack hunt coin broker is the one I finally bookmarked.  I use it religiously!

I've been checking weight/prices/market value and I think lb for lb it may be the best best, but........
I've noticed that most folks start many silver scrap lot auctions at .99 and let the buyers do the rest.  I'm too cowardly to just step off the ledge.  What if I don't get what I want?  I've yet to see a lot with a reserve.  Doesn't seem that the BIN attracts much attention, perhaps they're asking over market value....

Any of you guys ever peddle your metals on ebay?

Apologize in advance for the length~
We finished up our busy week today by attending a couple auctions in the final caravan of the week.  Crowd was too large and since we had already purchased two units this week, just bowed out and cleaned out our 10th locker.

This was a 10X20 that Don purchased yesterday, as mentioned in the Auction Scene thread.

Well.....almost all the furniture was either particle board and/or broken, (cigarette) burned or chewed on.  So chances of making anything there is pretty nil.  There were two chests in this unit and inside the cedar one (which we have to repair) we found........
Lots of stuff!  And not all dirty clothes either.  The first thing my daughter sees is an iced tea jar full of pennies.  Maybe $5 there.  There was an adorable jewelry box (with some jewelry), a cool tiger head planter (from Italy), an alpaca toy (that is obviously imported and neat) and an urn.  Yep.....my first time with remains.  We did open it to make sure.  She was in there.

We also found a large propane patio heater and an electric air-conditioning unit, plus lots of gardening items, some crystal pieces that will be easy to sell and a nice flatware set in the wood box.  We'll recoup the cost of the locker on these items alone.

Other items found and if anybody has any idea on values.....I'd be quite appreciative:
~9 neat menus from 1962 on the SS Hanseatic Hamburg-Atlantic Cruise Line.  A Sun-way cruise to the West Indies.  They have some of the neatest artwork featuring native people in  pen and water-color.  Too neat.  Probably not worth much, but I LOVE them!
~Numerous silver-plate items including a couple wm rogers and a 'Newport fish knife' that has an antique mall tag of $45 and dated 1880..
~We went through all the jewelry and found quite a bit of silver to go with that from my mineral unit.  Not much gold and very little of any value.  When I was digging through the file cabinet I found several appraisals for jewelry and lo and behold~there was a piece that we had in the 'I'm not sure' pile.  Turns out it has approx. 1.255 mm seed pearls, 7 diamond cluster set and is 14K.  It appraised for $595 back in 94.  As soon as we 'identified' it, I told Don "Quick!!!  Find me the watch from the appraisal!!"
~We also found two stock certificates from 3-1962 and 6-1962 for American Telephone and Telegraph Company!  Odds are they've been cashed in and even if they haven't I know nothing about obtaining 'ownership' or if that is even possible.  They were issued to Joan (who was a sassy lass born with a silver spoon in her mouth, traveled the world and hung with the boys.  I think she was somebody I would have loved to have talked with).  Her daughter Lana died of lung cancer.
~There were some interesting art pieces.  A couple wood carving/paintings from the West Indies, including the coolest mermaid.  A neat print (or perhaps litho?) of Joan of Arc (Sainte Jeanne d'Arc).  It was (very professionally) framed in Cedar Rapids Iowa and the label on the back looks old.  And a litho of Eldorado by Toulouse Lautrec.  It says on the back of the frame that it is a colored litho, plate, initialed.  There were also a couple other paintings, originals, but I doubt they have value.  I haven't really investigated the art much, as after my Pablita Velarde deal....I hate art!  Oh there was also a Navajo sandpainting....that one should be easy here.

I know we'll (easily) recoup the $250 spent, but like my mineral locker......I'm left with lots of questions and not a ton of items that I can turn and burn.  I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the items of interest, but dang.....this is almost novel length as is.

This is the largest amount of items we have to return to the facility, as there were tons of photographs (we enjoyed viewing those from Joan's wild and wooly days), legal docs and of course the urn.
As I told Don......this unit is anything but boring~

If you have any info on (any of) the aforementioned items, we'd truly appreciate the input.

I tell ya Tucson is a tough market.  We won't have any auctions for weeks then come the second week of the month....Pow! right between the eyes!
Monday~relatively easy.  Only 3 auctions with two being a caravan.  Don will hit them as I've got prior obligations.
Tuesday~Day one of a large caravan.  There is usually another auctioneer doing a separate caravan on this day but instead he is going to do it.......
Wednesday~3 separate, large caravans.  Ugh....we usually just split up and hit the two that are normally going on.....now??? Pick and pray we chose wisely.
Thursday~Day two for one of the caravans.  Hopefully we'll already have a unit or two but if not.....hopefully the majority of the 'regulars' got theirs yesterday.
Friday~spent recovering and hopefully sorting and selling!!

The first auctions of our new year will be tomorrow with an auctioneer I met last month.  Funny, Don was watching reruns of Auction Hunters and lo and behold......there was our auctioneer.  He is based out of Phoenix, but occasionally does auctions in CA and NV.  Kinda funny to see one of our own on the small screen.  No.....I won't be starstruck~

So feast or famine......seems to be the norm 'round here.
Is it that way where you are or are you a bit more balanced?

Went to two auctions yesterday.  First had 16 units. Bid on one unit that ended up going for $200 more than what I wanted to spend.  Little did I know that that trend would continue all day.  Big crowds with deep pockets.  Yikes!

Caravaned to the next facility, where we lost maybe one or two.  Long story short~I overbid on the second to last unit.  I had set a limit of $500, which my husband didn't agree with (he was thinkin' more like $400 MAX).

It was only a 5X5, but very full.  What put me over the top was an old sewing cabinet and a trunk.  Yes the dreaded trunk.....I ended up in a bidding war with one guy and when it hit $500 I debated.  We needed a unit and I wanted this one.  I ended up winning it at $600.  Funny thing is, had the other guy bid one more time, I wouldn't have gone on.......Damn my luck, he didn't.

My husband was grumbling as we started to clean it out.  It was an interesting unit as every box, tub and bin we opened had unusual items, which I'll list below.  There was a decent washing machine, dresser missing a drawer, nice small dining set (only 3 chairs), small coffee table and end table.  Oh yes~the porn and drug paraphernalia (seems crack was the drug of choice this time).

funny thing is~I don't have a clue what I've got.  We found lots of jewelry, no gold but lots of silver.  Figure we've got over 10 oz of it, so that has some value.  The gal seemed to be a gem show junkie as we found numerous minerals.  Crystals, meteorites and the like.  I've got a guy coming out tomorrow (a friend recommended him) who specializes in meteorites and minerals, so I'll hopefully know more then.

In a nutshell I found:
a 4' clay (made in Mexico) rosary.  This is actually one of the coolest items in the lot.  It is so awesome!  Not worth a lot however.
a beaded necklace with what appears to be an intricately carved jade (?) Buddha
a gorgeous beaded bag, with no markings for identification.  I think it looks Native American, my husband thinks more middle-eastern
a woven Peruvian bag
lots of costume jewelry
two pearl necklaces.  One is very long and beautiful, the other small pearls with 5 strands and a 14K clasp.

I should never have bid that much on that unit, as the value wasn't apparent.  I really at this time have no idea how we're going to do on it, as I don't know jewelry (not your typical girl) and I don't know 'rocks'.  I don't think we're going to lose $$ and we may just turn a profit, but dang......I just don't know.

So wish me luck that the pearls are priceless and the minerals out of this world!  If I knock it outta the park, New Years celebratory drinks are on me......If I lose my butt, Can I come stay with you?  I don't think my husband will let me live it down......especially after I still kid him about the 'icky' unit.

And I know.....I know.....I know.....bid with your brain and avoid your women's intuition.

Oh anybody need a 4" amber crystal ball?  
Wow!  What a wacky unit~

Edit to add~this was my first time finding cash (well more than the customary pennies and nickles) as I found a 1957 Silver Certificate=value $1.25 and a two dollar bill.  Cold hard cash baby!!!

My husband and I split up today to attend different caravan auctions.  He went to one we'd never attended before, while I went with the old standby.

First facility he bought a unit for $125 and a couple of the old timers said he overpaid.....they say that to pretty much everybody (save their own), so he took it with a grain of salt.  He paid, went to 'peek' and found a couple WWII items.  One is a German helmet that is in great shape and the other is a canister, that he later discovered contained a German gas mask.  Both are in very good shape.

On his way out he ran into one of the more boisterous of the old-timers and was again told he overpaid.  He smirked and replied "Yeah I know but these WWII German collectibles sure are cool!".  Off he went to the next auction having had the last laugh.

He went back to clean it out and knows the money will be doubled with just the tools and audio equipment, so the German stuff is gravy!  He did find an old knife with a really cool sheath.  There are not a ton more boxes to investigate.....but I've got my fingers crossed for more memorabilia as my dad was a WWII vet and I love 'learning' more about it!

That first unit ended up being the only one we bought today, but seems like the best wasn't saved for last for a change!

We've won 5 units in our short time doing this and in that time have often wondered which was the better deal.  The particle board dresser set or solid oak dining set?  The Sidi bicycle shoes or the 5 pairs of tennies?  The Lowenbrau, Moosehead & Stroh's beer signs or the Pablita Velarde paintings?

Our last unit (10X20~3/4 filled=$625/$25 more than I wanted to spend, but I digress) netted us:
the above stated particle board dresser set~4 piece in excellent condition
the solid oak dining set w/ matching buffet~excellent condition
generator & many, many quality tools
Very nice stereo system~I'm keeping it......I know...I know....I know.....but I want it!
Beer signs and other misc. art

When we won the unit a fellow bidder offered to buy the dresser set.  I told him to let us see what we've got and he went with the caravan to the next auction.  Came back an hour later, checked it out and said 'nah'.  I even offered to 'discount' the price to $75.  Wife said 'NO!'.

Listed it on craigslist for $150 and sold it within an hour....with many 'buyers' to call back.

Now the high quality dining set on the other hand I've been sitting on for 3 weeks with nary a taker, although I did sell the buffet for $125.  Can't even get a nibble on the dining set.

Beer signs~sold  Fine paintings~hopefully selling today, but they came out of a unit we bought in Sept!

Generator sold immediately.  Took the remaining tools out to the swapmeet.  Cheap ones flew outta the booth.  The makita wormdrive like new......folks balked at the $75 price.  One old boy came through, knew exactly what it was worth and offered $60.  Called my husband and he said "make it $70".  Sold!

Just curious on how others feel about the junk vs 'gem'.  While I love the 'quality' items......I think I prefer the turn and burn of the 'junk' better.

What's your preference?  Turn and burn or quality over quantity?