Storage Auctions

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - KrauseHouse

Pages: 1 [2] 3
16
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: Business licenses, Taxes & Such
« on: November 11, 2012, 10:14:13 AM »
Well, if you want to sell online, that will leave a paper trail, so you should probably be legitimate. So it depends on your avenue of income.

I do have a sales tax license number. I pay my sales tax every 3 months. I only have to pay sales tax to those people who purchased items in Texas, so it's a pretty small percentage of my sales.

I will claim the money I'm making on income taxes. I've had the government come at me before for non-reporting and had to pay back about 5k in tax money, so I don't want to go through that again.

17
Picker's Paradise / Best Item You've Ever Picked
« on: November 09, 2012, 03:50:21 PM »
Hey all! I thought I'd kick off another topic in this new forum with this. What is the best item you've ever picked, whether it be from storage auctions, yard sales, estate sales, thrift stores, or some other means. Tell us what the item was and the story behind the pick.

I'll start us off. I should caveat that I am cheap and don't spend much money on items. I have a hard time laying $20 for anything. So my best is not going to be a thousand dollar item. :D

My best item is actually something I just picked up last weekend. I decided to take another path in my yard sale route and it paid off big time. I hit this one sale where they had a lot of vintage board games, my speciality, but at the bottom of a junk box where they had a bunch of broken toys and other worthless stuff, there was the prize. They had a quarter on it.

It was a Game & Watch Manhole game, in the original box. The box was in fairly good condition and the Manhole was mint. I had to buy batteries to test it because the original batteries were dead, but it worked perfectly. I paid $.25 for it. I'm not sure exactly how much I'm going to get out of it because the auction doesn't close until Sunday, but it's currently at $109.50 with 18 watchers and 4 bidders. This find was a super rare find and I'll probably never find another Manhole game like this again. And if I do, it's not likely to have the box and be in such perfect condition. That is my best find to date.

What's yours?

18
New to Storage Auctions? / Re: Things You Should Never Buy at a Storage Auction
« on: November 09, 2012, 10:58:25 AM »
If the unit has a lot of mattresses, I stay away from it. Those just have to be hauled to the junkyard for the most part. And the idea of touching gross used mattresses icks me out to no end. Ick ick ick.

19
Welcome to the Online Storage Auctions Forum / Re: Hello from Coastal South Carolina
« on: November 09, 2012, 09:49:38 AM »
Welcome to the forums Butch! I'm sure you are going to have a lot of expertise to share and I'd love to hear how things have changed. History is fun. :)

20
Welcome to the Online Storage Auctions Forum / Introduction from a Gal from the South
« on: November 08, 2012, 10:45:45 AM »
Hey everyone :)

I've been posting on the forum for a few days and figured maybe an introduction thread was in order.

I am a picker from the south. I have been doing this full-time since July. I primarily source my product at yard sales an thrift stores, but I do manage to find the occasional storage locker that speaks to me. Because of my primary way of selling (eBay) and my primary source of income (board games), most storage lockers aren't for me. I'm not interested in furniture, but sometimes, I'll see one that I just HAVE to bid on.

I also do a YouTube show called the Bargain Bandit on Tuesdays and have a live hangout M-F with another gal picker. I love to share my finds and answer questions from people who are trying to do the same thing I do.

My best advice for anyone starting out is to start with what you know and are passionate about. I am passionate about board games, so I started there. I sell other things, but that knowledge about what to pick up comes in time and with experience. Find your niche and know your market. :)

Thanks for reading.

21
Suggestion Center / Re: New logo / header image for the forum
« on: November 08, 2012, 10:35:36 AM »
I have a very different thought process than you do MovieMan. I gladly share my finds and give advice freely. I even have a YouTube show that I do that on and I watch a lot of other YouTubers do the same thing. The great thing about picking is that I can show off my awesome find... say a Game & Watch Manhole game (my best find to date!) and let others know to be on the lookout for those. Other people are not competing with me over those, because they are rare and hard to find, but not everyone necessarily knows about them. So I'm happy to go out there and say 'be on the lookout for these' because the odds of me finding another one ... ever ... are pretty slim. The fact I even found one is pretty phenomenal. Picking is 90% perspiration but it's also 10% luck. I rarely find the same items over and over again, so I don't mind sharing what kind of things to look out for.

22
The Lounge / Re: 2 States Legalize Recreational Marijuana Use!
« on: November 07, 2012, 02:36:32 PM »
Is there really a lot of things going on with misuse of priority mail boxes or was that a joke? Normally, I'd know it was a joke, but it seems like lately a lot of things that should be jokes are actually true.

23
Suggestion Center / Re: New logo / header image for the fourum
« on: November 07, 2012, 02:35:20 PM »
Better although that orange is a little too pastelly for my tastes.

24
The Lounge / Re: 2 States Legalize Recreational Marijuana Use!
« on: November 07, 2012, 12:08:45 PM »
It's kind of exciting. And Colorado is brilliant for doing it - they needed money, they found a way to get it. Their economy problems are gone now! As a die-hard non drug user, I wish all the other states would follow suit. Seriously, pot is no worse than Alcohol. I have a feeling that pretty soon, the FDA is going to move Marijuana onto the list of allowed substances (at least for medical use), so the federal issue would become somewhat moot at that point.

25
Suggestion Center / Re: New logo / header image for the fourum
« on: November 07, 2012, 12:03:06 PM »
I'll second that the green is bleh. I like the orange of the current image. The lock is interesting but does take a second glance to realize what it is. :)

26
Picker's Paradise / Re: New Goodwill Store in town
« on: November 06, 2012, 05:00:04 PM »
We have a *ton* of Goodwills and other types of Thrift Stores in San Antonio. We also have Salvation Army stores but I have yet to find anything I could buy there ... either it's junk or the prices are just too high.

The Goodwills here are all different. Some box up all their toys into one bin and sell it for $10. Others don't sell toys at all, don't know what they do with them. Others throw them in a messy pit for the kids to play with. Regardless, I've done OK with board games at Goodwill. I also do OK with mugs. Found a set of Puremco Dominoes (always buy these if you find them at a reasonable price) with Blue Bell advertising on it about a month ago at a Goodwill I rarely go to in the Ceramics aisle. Bought it for $2, turned it around for $30. Thrift store shopping is hit or miss here, but there's so many stores that when I do make a run, I always come home with a haul.

27
Picker's Paradise / Re: Yard Sale Picking Has Been Good
« on: November 06, 2012, 04:56:34 PM »
Yard sales are my primary source of product. I mainly sell on eBay. Just this past weekend, I picked up a Manhole Game & Watch for a quarter and it's currently selling for 107 on eBay with 5 days to go. Got a Nike LiveStrong.Org Bike Jersey a couple weekends ago for $1 and it's currently selling for $37 with a few hours to go (expect a few more bids on that one.) My bread and butter is the buy for $1 and sell for $10-15, but every once in a while, I find something with a greater return.

I'm lucky that I live in a place that has over 200 yard sales almost every weekend and weather is usually not an issue. It doesn't even really get cold here.

28
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: How do you transport your merchandise?
« on: November 06, 2012, 04:47:21 PM »
I need an *other* option because I drive a mini-van!

29
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: How far would you be willing to drive to attend a storage auction?
« on: November 06, 2012, 04:46:37 PM »
Yeah that DFW one looks awesome. I live in San Antonio and driving from the North side to the South side is about 40 miles... so I said 40 miles.

30
What's it Worth?? / Expertise in Board Games
« on: November 04, 2012, 11:52:48 AM »
Hey everyone!

I'm happy to share my expertise in board games. I'll say a few things first about board games.

One, condition is everything. If you have one torn corner, one gouge in the box, a little tape damage, all of that detracts from the the value of the game. A mint or sealed copy of a game from the 60s to 80s can be worth quite a bit of money, but even a small amount of damage in the same time period can cut the value of that item by half.

Two, kids board games are less valuable than what I call 'hobby' board games, which are games that typically run in the 50-200 dollar range. A game like Fireball Island or World of Warcraft: The Board Game (not to be confused with the Adventure game, it's different and less valuable) can get you $100 or more (depending on condition), but kids games like Scrabble Jr. or Chutes and Ladders, regardless of the age, will not net very much money ($10-20).

I'm happy to answer any questions about board games. I already share my knowledge on a YouTube show. :)

Staci

Pages: 1 [2] 3