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The Treasure Chest / Finally a good one
« on: February 17, 2012, 10:13:30 PM »
Been at this since Sept 2011 and have been a rather consistent lurker of this message board.
I have been gaining a lot of inspiration from everyone's stories and hope to contribute with my most recent find.
So let's start with my stats : 11 units total to-date and am still down by 12% of my original investment.
Been primarily using Craigslist and eBay to sell my product so once I include all those fees and gas my true return to-date is much worse.
Going to be doing my first Flea Market in a couple weeks so am hoping to improve my percentages soon.
This has certainly been a learning experience and a super tough thing to do in my "spare" time.
With the exception of the most recently purchased unit, all of the rest of the units have been rather uneventful and nothing really great to mention.
So, on with the story....
I Went to a very small town in the middle of TN about 1 month ago. My first time to this facility and there were 35+ units up for auction
and about 40 folks in attendance. I was not able to recognize any of them as being regulars from the Nashville area. They all looked to be locals from the area.
All of the units were going very cheap where most of them went between $50 - $200. There were a few getting more than that including the one that I got.
I managed to score a unit that appeared to me to be about a 20x20 packed full for $535. This was my first big unit and was very excited to get one but
realize now just how much work and planning you need to do ahead of time to buy one properly. There was a ton of items visible from the enterance to justify
the price and to continue the gamble there was more to be discovered. It took me 6 trips with my van and 2 trips with my brother-in-laws trailer to get it
all cleaned out. It took me 3 very long weeks of inventorying, researching and taking pictures. The entire contents of this unit was like walking
back into the 1960 - 1970. There were so many Fisher Price and Playskool toys in great shape
and stored in their original boxes that I lost count. There was even more without the boxes. I must have 7 totes fully packed with nothing but
collectable crystal items. I have 2 full totes of nothing but old Halmark Ornaments. I have 6 totes full of nothing but old sewing fabrics.
3 totes of old sewing patterns. 2 old doll houses with lots of furniture. An old metal toy stove and fridge.
Lots of odds and ends type house hold items from various countries. 1 tote of old oil paints and brushes still new
in the box and packages. 1 tote of old action figures. 3 totes of old dolls. A six foot grandfather clock with an castle shaped top all made of match sticks.
An old coca cola carrier along with 3 trays. 7 Silver plated trays, copper plated pots and pans, etc.......
My inventory spreadsheet for this unit is already over 400 items that I would classify as better than Flea Market pieces.
If and of course this is always the big "If" statement... If I can actually get it all sold for the
prices that I have researched to-date than this unit should come in around $7,000 to $10,000. I will be happy with $5,000 and do feel that this
will be more than attainable but will realistically take me until around mid summer to unload it all. I just don't have the time to attend to the sales
side of the business as it properly requires but heck... I don't mind the slow turn-over.
I have just barely gotten started listing some of the higher end pieces on eBay and have managed to bring in $425 before fees. I cannot wait to get the next couple
of months under my belt with this inventory along with a few Flea Market trips.
I realize to some of you out there that your not buying this story without proof. The only proof that I can provide are the pictures of the items as I inventoried them along with a few pictures of the items as they stood in the unit while we were cleaning it out. My only issue with providing pictures is that I have no idea how to do so using this message board. If someone out there can message me throughout it then I will update this post with some of the picts.
So, it is my intentions to periodically revisit this post to keep my sales-to-date figure updated and slip some pictures of the items in.
To-Date (fees not taken into account) :
Unit Purchased : $535
Gas : $325
------------------------------
$960
Sold : $425
------------------------------
44%
Wish me luck as I am out of the buying side of this business for a good long while I try to sell it.
I have been gaining a lot of inspiration from everyone's stories and hope to contribute with my most recent find.
So let's start with my stats : 11 units total to-date and am still down by 12% of my original investment.
Been primarily using Craigslist and eBay to sell my product so once I include all those fees and gas my true return to-date is much worse.
Going to be doing my first Flea Market in a couple weeks so am hoping to improve my percentages soon.
This has certainly been a learning experience and a super tough thing to do in my "spare" time.
With the exception of the most recently purchased unit, all of the rest of the units have been rather uneventful and nothing really great to mention.
So, on with the story....
I Went to a very small town in the middle of TN about 1 month ago. My first time to this facility and there were 35+ units up for auction
and about 40 folks in attendance. I was not able to recognize any of them as being regulars from the Nashville area. They all looked to be locals from the area.
All of the units were going very cheap where most of them went between $50 - $200. There were a few getting more than that including the one that I got.
I managed to score a unit that appeared to me to be about a 20x20 packed full for $535. This was my first big unit and was very excited to get one but
realize now just how much work and planning you need to do ahead of time to buy one properly. There was a ton of items visible from the enterance to justify
the price and to continue the gamble there was more to be discovered. It took me 6 trips with my van and 2 trips with my brother-in-laws trailer to get it
all cleaned out. It took me 3 very long weeks of inventorying, researching and taking pictures. The entire contents of this unit was like walking
back into the 1960 - 1970. There were so many Fisher Price and Playskool toys in great shape
and stored in their original boxes that I lost count. There was even more without the boxes. I must have 7 totes fully packed with nothing but
collectable crystal items. I have 2 full totes of nothing but old Halmark Ornaments. I have 6 totes full of nothing but old sewing fabrics.
3 totes of old sewing patterns. 2 old doll houses with lots of furniture. An old metal toy stove and fridge.
Lots of odds and ends type house hold items from various countries. 1 tote of old oil paints and brushes still new
in the box and packages. 1 tote of old action figures. 3 totes of old dolls. A six foot grandfather clock with an castle shaped top all made of match sticks.
An old coca cola carrier along with 3 trays. 7 Silver plated trays, copper plated pots and pans, etc.......
My inventory spreadsheet for this unit is already over 400 items that I would classify as better than Flea Market pieces.
If and of course this is always the big "If" statement... If I can actually get it all sold for the
prices that I have researched to-date than this unit should come in around $7,000 to $10,000. I will be happy with $5,000 and do feel that this
will be more than attainable but will realistically take me until around mid summer to unload it all. I just don't have the time to attend to the sales
side of the business as it properly requires but heck... I don't mind the slow turn-over.
I have just barely gotten started listing some of the higher end pieces on eBay and have managed to bring in $425 before fees. I cannot wait to get the next couple
of months under my belt with this inventory along with a few Flea Market trips.
I realize to some of you out there that your not buying this story without proof. The only proof that I can provide are the pictures of the items as I inventoried them along with a few pictures of the items as they stood in the unit while we were cleaning it out. My only issue with providing pictures is that I have no idea how to do so using this message board. If someone out there can message me throughout it then I will update this post with some of the picts.
So, it is my intentions to periodically revisit this post to keep my sales-to-date figure updated and slip some pictures of the items in.
To-Date (fees not taken into account) :
Unit Purchased : $535
Gas : $325
------------------------------
$960
Sold : $425
------------------------------
44%
Wish me luck as I am out of the buying side of this business for a good long while I try to sell it.