Do you know what this word means ?

You might if you are a "picker", and if you don't know....look it up.

Tchotchke

Tchotchke...wasn't he Fonzarelli's cousin?   

I know what it is but I never would have known how to spell it!

Tchotchke

Wasn't he Janeway's first officer on Voyager?

I know what it is but I never would have known how to spell it!

This is the Yiddish spelling.....most of us spell it C-R-A-P.

This is the Yiddish spelling.....most of us spell it C-R-A-P.

But some of it sells!

Here is what I would call crap and a lot of this was found in storage lockers I bought over a 10 year period.

Used pots and pans, mattresses, clothing, shoes, paint, lumber, tools, you name it.

At least with picking you have a better chance at choosing what USED items you want to pay money for.

Today I bought four sealed models for $3 each. They will sell for around $20 each. I rarely found any new, unbuilt models in lockers.

I also bought a piece of electronic test equipment for $20 that should go for $75 to $150 depending on who is looking to buy. I did find a locker of similar stuff (8 years ago) and I did great on it; I never saw those particular items again in a locker but have bought half a dozen over the last couple of years by picking.

Time to try expanding a bit and getting out of the comfort zone for a while. At least at picking prices if they don't pay off one hasn't lost much in the investment.

But some of it sells!
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True, true.

But I wouldn't think of your picks as Tchotchke.   I considered it more like cheap figurines and gaudy snow globes from Vegas casinos......

True, true.

But I wouldn't think of your picks as Tchotchke.   I considered it more like cheap figurines and gaudy snow globes from Vegas casinos......

And you'd be right. The stuff I buy is anything but that. However, I see a lot of the stuff they're buying and am thinking I should take a flyer on some of it and try it out. If cheap enough it wouldn't be a big loss if it only broke even or even if it didn't sell.

The stickman they bought ($125 split between the two of them) is something I would buy if I saw if for $25 or so, but not at $125.

The bearded guy, Jason, has a house full of Tiki stuff himself so he KNOWS about values there. I wouldn't have a clue...just another thing to learn if I wanted to buy some.

Nope, I'll happily dole out $75 for a tool I know I can get $250 and up for. In another thread I talked about a used tool I bought at a ranch sale for $35 and sold for $250. At the same time I bought a brand new one of those for $75 and it sold for $1K on eBay (they sell new for $2,100. But, in the last two years I've only found 4 or 5 of those...don't get me wrong, that's great but there is a ton of the kind of stuff those thrift guys buy and if one can get a few in the $3 to $25 range and make $30 to $100 that's a good return too.

Just thinking about it that's all. Today I went in a thrift store and I still couldn't make myself go through all the shelves of stuff and the racks of clothes. Hard to turn to a new method.

I've been trying to figure out the whole figurine (sp?) market.   Like the Clowns and hobo's....
I see them all the time at estate sales and are usually marked cheap because they don't have time to research each one.   But I see them SELLING on ebay for $25-$250.  I can't tell/remember the $1 one from $1000 one. 

Same with Disney stuff.  Market pretty much fell out on that fad but still some pricey stuff out there.
But I don't know a thing about that stuff.  You put two of those "stills" that were so popular in the 90's next to each other and to me they look exactly the same.  But one is worthless and the other is $500....?