I know a lot of people read my last posting on this subject.   If not, here is a link:

http://storageauctionforums.com/index.php?topic=1269.msg5751#msg5751


I mainly want to reiterate the timming issue.  Timming is key to almost any form of selling.

Here is a perfect example of what all I talked about in my first post about eBay selling sports cards.


In this lesson, I will start with how I acquired the card and why, then how I am selling, with links to each.


Let's begin the lesson..........




Acquisition of the card and a bit of football knowledge:

Every year I look at the new rookie class during pre-season games.  I usually stick with my team, Dallas Cowboys.  This year, I saw a very promising young running back rookie named DeMarco Murray.  He had a good pre-season, so I knew one day he would be a decent player.

DeMarco’s cards were selling fairly cheap on eBay, so I bought an Autograph patch card of his for my personal collection.  I then decided that since they were so cheap and I have some extra money, I would buy a few more, 5 total autograph cards.

The last card I purchased was the one in this lesson.  Well, 3 days after I purchased the card, the starting running back was injured (Felix Jones) and the backup running back (Tashard Choice) became the starter, leaving DeMarco Murray as a backup.  That game he rushed for over 200 yards, beating some of the record holding Cowboys running back’s (Emmitt Smith) rookie records. 

Well, guess what happened.  Tashard Choice was cut from the team and DeMarco took over as starting running back.  He rushed for over 100 yards in the last 4 games, a couple were over 200 yards.


Here is where I purchased the card on eBay for $29.55.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130583546556?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649



Selling the card:


With the awesome 4 games DeMarco had recently, his cards have skyrocketed in value, like the example of Ben Roethlesberger in my last thread.

Well, again, timming is key.  If I sell now I am guaranteed to make a tremendous profit.  If I wait and he gets hurt, I will not make anything, or I could make even more.  I chose now to sell.   If I waited till next year, it will not even sell for book value.

So, I am selling while he is hot and there is a major feeding frenzy.  Think of it as chumming for fish.  You throw chum out and the fish will hit anything, even bubble gum.

Here is my listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320796794361?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649


I added some enticement to get the price up more.  I offered two bonus selling price level s.

I posted it for a 7 day auction that will end on Thanksgiving night at midnight.  That gives 2 more games for him to kick ass and boost the price more.

Ten minutes after I posted it, I had a starting bid of $99.99.  That’s right people, my starting bid was more than 3 times what I paid!  The next morning, the bid was at $102.50.  This morning the bid was up to $173.50.  At this minute, not even two days into the auction, the bid is at $196.50!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bid right now is more than double the price of what the same exact card sold for less than a week ago.


So, the lessons to learn are timming and knowledge of the sport you are trying to sell cards for.

If a rookie is hot as hell, sell during that season.  Do not wait till the next year because the frenzy will be over and you will kick yourself in the ass like I did over the Miles Austin RC cards I did not purchase a couple years ago!

One of our local auciton houses has live auctions on Tuesday and Saturday.  Well, last Thursday they had a special auction for antiques and collectibles.  I think I did pretty good at it.

1.  Hank Aaron autographed baseball with stand - $15
2.  Ted Williams autographed baseball card - $15
3.  Ted Williams autographed picture - $15
4.  2 wooden asian lamps - $10
5.  wood calculator and pen set in wood case - $2.5
6.  Tiger Woods commemorative golf ball set in tin - $2.5
7.  Antique Uncle Sam Bank - $2.5
8.  1913-1915 Felt and Tarrant Comptrometer - $10

All three of the autographed baseball memorabilia came with a COA, but they are pretty much worthless when trying to sell.  The sports memorabilia dealer that consigned the items guaranteed them authentic, and said that if they are ever found to be non-authentic, they will give a full refund, no questions asked.

I plan to send all three items to PSA to get a real cert done.  The Hank Aaron will cost $30, and the two Ted Williams will cost $75 each.  I am unsure why the Williams cost so much, I will have to ask PSA about it.  Even with the high cost, it will be worth it.  The Williams card will be worth around $300, Williams picture will be worth about $150, and and the Hank Aaron baseball will be worth between $200 and $300.

Let me start with the link:

http://www.kovels.com/


I was researching the history and possible value of an antique boot I found in a collectibles collection I recently purchased.  I have already posted a thread for the boot on here, so I am not going to get into that in this thread.

I contacted the boot manufacturer, which is still in business today.  They emailed me back today and gave me a little history lesson on their company and told me to go to kovels.com to find the current prices of their merchandise.

I went to that site and signed up for the free account.  I tried searching the price guide, but found nothing pertaining to that boot company, which is what I expected.  Well, they have a forum on there too.  I started a thread, coppied the one from that I posted on this forum, and am waiting to see if I get an answer.

I just figured this might be a good resource to add to your arsenal for looking up prices of items pulled from units.

Anyways, check it out, don't check it out, your choice.  I just thought I would pass it along.

Also, if anyone has more sites for researching prices of antiques and collectibles, fell free to add them to this thread.  I will also add more as I go. 

I have 1 leather ladies boot, I believe it is from the late to mid 1800's, possibly early 1900's.

I can still read the information on the sole.  It has the same exact style logo as all of the Hamilton Brown Shoe Company logos I see on the internet, but the information is different.

On the top of the logo on this shoe it says "Hamilton Brown Shoes", on the bottom of the circle between the ribbons it says "Makers", and in the middle it says Hamilton.

Most of the logos I see on the internet are as follows:  The top says "Hamilton Brown", bottom says "shoe co" and in the middle it will say either "Makers", "Quality", or "Gentleman".

The major difference I see is that the one on the bottom of my boot does not depict the word company "co".  Could this be made sometime before they considered themselves a company?


I will take pictures of the boot and post them along with examples of the logos I find on image searches.

I am just trying to do a little history resaerch of this boot to get an idea of its possible value.  I have never really dealt a lot with antiques, especially boots and shoes.  

The condition is no where near new looking, the leather is dried and cracked, the top around the ankle support is ripped some, and the shoe lace is in two pieces, though it does still have both of the metal aglets and all of the metal eyelets.  The sole is complete, but not in excellent shape and the heal is dried and cracked.

After I post pics, if anyone has an idea of what it may be worth, please let me know.  I will try to have the pics posted tonight or tomorrow.

update **** I have not found a picture of a boot sole with the log on it, only shipping crates with their logo.  I will keep looking for a logo on an actual sole to post a copy of.

As the subject says, I have a lot of practice selling storage unit types of items coming up, courtesy of a friend.  After this selection of items, I think I will be ready to tackle a majority of sales after winning an auction.

Well, to make a short story long, here goes.....

A friend told me to come to his house to pick up some sports cards he had found for me.  He said he also has few things he would like for me to sell for him, and we will split the income from it.  By the time I get to his house, he has a few boxes out, full, and is still filling more boxes!  He has been collecting Nascar memorabilia, antiques, hot wheels, and junk (lol) for over 20 years.  Well, after 7 hours of packing and loading my pickup, my bed cover would not shut and I could not see out the passenger window, and barely could shift gears!!!!!

A quick list of types of items I have to sell are:

1.   Nascar memorabilia – everything from die-cast cars to shampoo bottles and cereal boxes (full of cereal)
2.   Hot Wheel cars – probably over 300, and almost every single one is still in a perfect package
3.   Military issue gasoline lantern in perfect condition
4.   1800’s ladies small leather boot – yes I said boot, not boots, just one.
5.   Late 50’s hot rod tachometer with control box
6.   Late 20’s Model “A” parts – smaller items
7.   Wired remote control R2D2 robot that works and looks great
8.   GI Joe doll with clothes – missing one foot, will sell as a parts for someone to restore
9.   30’s tricycle
10.   Sports cards – mostly junk, but a few good items
11.   Coca-Cola glass bottle commemorative 6-packs.  All are in excellent condition, including the cardboard carry cases.
12.   More stuff that I can’t think of right of f hand

I will be starting to list a lot on CL tomorrow, and what does not sell, I will periodically move over to eBay.  If I have a lot left by the time I get to go to the next flea, it will all be coming with me.

He told me to try and sell everything.  Sell what I can, give him a percentage, and keep a percentage for myself.  He said do not bring back anything that does not sell.  I told him I will do an inventory and track the sales, so he knows how everything is going.  The reply I got was “Don’t waste that kind of time on me, I just want to see some green”.

After this truckload is finished, I have probably 1 to 1.5 truck loads more to pick up and sell.  The next lot will have a lot more high end die-cast cars, like 1:36 scale concept cars that were only sold to Chrysler employees.

As I list items and they sell, I will probably report updates on this thread as to the good and bad that goes along with it.  I will also post some of the links to the ads for ya’ll to review and help me improve my selling strategies.  I want to hear all positive and negative feedback, because that is the only way I am going to learn what I am doing right and wrong.

When I come across items that I have no idea what the value may be, I will post questions in the appropriate section “What’s it worth?”.

Looking for most sports, but mainly football, baseball, and basketball.

Mostly looking for small to medium collections (large if the price is right) with:

1.  Pre 1980
2.  Post 2000
3.  Rookies, Stars, Semi-Stars
4.  Short Printed Inserts, Game Used, Autos

I will take the whole collections, including the junk cards (which I can give away to people for free), as long as it includes good cards too.  I will even take your cards for free if they are just in the way, lol (it was worth adding).

Note - let me say this ahead of time so I do not hurt anyones feelings.  I will not pay full Beckett value for any cards, since I am planning on reselling them starting at 50% of Beckett and letting people talk me down.  When I make an offer, I take into consideration my time of sorting through and organizing them, and my possible sell price.  I do not try to lowball, but I am trying to make money too.  I do not try to buy cards to add to my personal collection.  I usually only find like 1 or 2 cards out of thousands that I fall in love with anymore.


I prefer to be able to see the cards in person, that is why I said local.  If the price is right and the cards are exellent, I might consider having some shipped.

I live in Mt. Vernon, TX.  It is 100 miles east of Dallas.  If you are out of Dallas, Texarkana, Longview, or Tyler area, and I am heading that way, I would be willing to stop by and check out your cards.  


In the future, if I have enough cash to play with, I will even consider taking a couple of vacation days to head down to Houston, San Antonio, and Austin Areas, if I have guaranteed purchases lined up.

Hi everyone.  Not only am I new to the forum, but I am brand new to storage auctions.

I live in Mt. Vernon, TX.  It is about 100 miles east of Dallas.  If you have ever been to BFE, keep driving about 20 more miles and you will see my mailbox.

I signed up last night, and have put in at least 8 to 10 hours of reading time on the boards.  Drew just approved my account, so I am ready to get on the ball and learn all I can from you guys.

There is a lot of excellent information I have seen so far.  Because of one of the posts, I have already started compiling a call list of local storage units within a 50 mile radius.  I think I am up to 49, and that is with just a couple of small phone books.  I know there are a lot more, I just have to hit google up for the answers.


I was going to hit one of two auctions in Greenville, TX today.  I saw them on freeauctionlists.blogspot.com.  I would have made it, but I finished reading this morning at 5:30am and woke up 30 minutes late.  Oh well, there will always be more.

Well, If you are wondering, My wife and I are wanting to get into the storage auction scene because I drive 18-wheeler full time locally, work my cb radio sales and repair shop part time out of my house, pick up autos to repair and sell, and finally do wooe burnt art.  I would like to eventually generate enough income between all of my small businesses to quit driving truck full time and be able to concentrate more on my cb radio shop.  


I am guilty of liking to watch Storage Wars.  Though it is not realistic, it is entertaining.  I actually had the idea of doing this when I had my pizza restaurant back in 2003.  I thought of doing it to make a little extra income.  Well, the pizza restaurant bit a chunk out of me and I never had the "extra" money to do it.  Now, I can afford to drop some here and there to get started.


Well, I am looking forward to hearing and learning form everyone.