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Messages - MovieMan

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3151
eBay / Re: anyone have a suggestion on how many days to hold an auction?
« on: July 06, 2011, 11:19:31 PM »
Here's a newbie waiting to make a name for himself in Florida....and if he charges for shipping on eBay, he probably will succeed !  ;D


3152
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Worst Unit?
« on: July 06, 2011, 10:57:57 PM »
Quote from: elvisluvs on July 06, 2011, 09:44:45 PM
He seems to be a pretty big deal-movieman-thanks.

Elvisluvs.....send me a pm telling me how many photos you have, actors in pics (if possible) and condition they are in (you mentioned they smelled I think) etc.  I am a big movie fan and might be interested in buying them if the price was right.


3153
eBay / Re: anyone have a suggestion on how many days to hold an auction?
« on: July 06, 2011, 10:53:22 PM »
Quote from: johnnyghonda on July 06, 2011, 10:32:22 PM


i dont want to charge for shipping as i would think it would generate interest in my items.  and wanted to use ups cause i hear our usps system loses packages all the time and i dont want to have a ****ty feedback rating.  what do u guys do regarding shipping???



Well, how does that $4 loss feel? Not good I'm sure.

When you do your listing you have the opportunity to offer several (2 or 3) methods for the buyer to choose from.
The buyer when he pays his invoice can choose the one he wants.

The only time I give free shipping is when it's something like a shoulder patch or a booklet that I can mail in an envelope for 44 to 88 cents, and that's when I have gotten 8 to 10 dollars for the item.

Buyer's expect to pay for shipping; eBay likes to push the idea of "free shipping" as a buyer incentive, but that doesn't work for me. I even charge a $3 handling charge which typically covers my cost of placing the ad. Sure they ding me a bit on ratings (I have a 4.8 for shipping/handling) and 4.9 and 5.0  for the others.

I am a power seller and a "recommended seller" or whatever eBay calls it. This helps a bit...the rep as being someone who sells some quantity and gets high ratings.  I give feedback AFTER I have received feedback. Have to be careful NOT to get negative feedback...it's a matter of pride more than anything else.

I once got a negative from a buyer who claimed the item wasn't Princess House as advertised. It was PH; it was in a box from PH. The buyer had 10 feedback; I had 300 at the time. I gave them neg feedback too (allowed at that time). Each year at Christmas I send an email to that person (who still has 10 feedback as a buyer) and my feedback is now at 850 ..... as a seller.  That negative feedback stayed around A YEAR before it dropped off. eBay's philosophy is that MOST buyers will see the OVERALL PICTURE on a seller's feedback, but most sellers hate seeing the red feedback.

Edit: ....if you have 900 or so feedback a neg won't take you down much, but if you have 5 feed back and get a neg you will be sitting at 80%...that would be painful though even the dumbest buyer should be able to figure out what was going on.

3154
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Lookey Loos Part 7.....July, 2011
« on: July 06, 2011, 10:38:13 PM »
Quote from: johnnyghonda on July 06, 2011, 10:27:58 PM
hi movieman! wish u wouldnt be so secretive bout your 30.00 purchase!  i'll bite...lol no i know if you wanted us to know u would have said it...
my ? 2 u is how did u approach the newbie about the item u bought?  were u bidding on that lkr too?

I saw the item before the bidding started and was interested in the lkr, but just watched the bidding and saw it going at $400 to relative newbies and thought I would try to just buy the item.

Went with their kid to lock up the lkr and took a closer look.  Went back to the parents and said "when the auction's over I'd like to look at one of your items."

When we went back at end of auction I pulled it out and it was something I had good luck with before. I asked them "what do you think? How much do you want?"  She tried to look it up (unsuccessfuly) on a cell phone, and said "maybe I should wait until I can google it at home". I told her to throw me a number and she said "my husband thinks $200". I just laughed and said "I was thinking $25." She hemmed and hawed and I said "look, we don't even know if it works. I'll give you $30 and take the chance."  She bit and I walked away with it.

Nope, can't mention the item here. I probably will never meet anyone on the forums to compete with them at an auction, but selling on eBay or Clist I might put my item up against their's, and that could be a problem.

This is a neat way to turn a buck without as much work. Washers/dryers and bigger stuff aren't my thing for the most part, though I will buy a lkr with those items in it IF I see a lot of "smalls" that I like.

3155
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Lookey Loos Part 7.....July, 2011
« on: July 06, 2011, 07:21:47 PM »
Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Went to 3 of 4 possible auctions today with 1 being one auctioneer and 3 being another auctioneer.

First one had 4 lkrs; I didn't bid on a one. Crowd about 15 with 5 regulars. Prices OK.

I didn't go to the next one because I don't care for the clientel there, but a friend got a pretty good one for $295 and said crowd and prices were good.

The third one of the day (#2 for me) only had 2 lkrs; crowd of 15, prices OK for what they were. I didn't bid.

The fourth of the day (#3 for me) similar story; 2 lkrs, crowd of same 15, nothing worth bidding on.

So, a nothing day for me, but crowd and prices OK. I don't know what out of town auctions might have been going on that might have siphoned off some crowd.


3156
General Storage Auction Talk / Re: How would you like to go to THIS auction?
« on: July 06, 2011, 02:21:13 PM »
July 6, 2011

Finally ran into a buyer who went to this auction. I was surprised to hear that only about 30 people were there (according to this buyer).

Apparently the place was built in the 70's, was all wood construction and was in pretty bad shape. He said you could see contents inside the units the siding was so bad in spots.

Took until about 3:30 to finish all the units. He went to $600 on a couple of units, but didn't win any. He thought people would start running out of money, but if they did (by buying a lot of multiple lkrs) they just went somewhere and got more.

He said one guy bought 10 and was in those about $10K.

The one unit I had heard about before the auction (from the auctioneer who cut the locks) was said to have rubber molded faces (aliens, etc) and other movie gear. This stuff is somewhat available in southern CA, but still a bit of a rarity. The big studios used to have auctions of duplicate props, but that stopped some time ago (at least at my tracking of it).  Anyway, that lkr sold for $1,800 according to the guy I talked to.

If he had gotten one (or more) he would have had his traveling companions drive HIS vehicle back to the central CA valley where we live, and he said he would have rented a $20 Uhaul. To quote him, "What's $20 for a one-way trip?"

I don't know if he knew about the $.60 per mile they also charge, and of course the gasoline for the 400 mile one-way trip from southern CA to central CA, but I did, and that and the prices of lkrs kept me from going to this sale. Watching an auction for fun is one thing, but not when it's that far away.

In the next couple of weeks I'll be talking to the auctioneer and will have more to report.



3157
New to Storage Auctions? / Re: Who are the real experts at this business?
« on: July 06, 2011, 09:53:55 AM »
What makes an expert?

I believe experience makes an "expert".

When I started I knew next to nothing about buying and selling household goods, but with time I learned about both.
I made mistakes, I had sucessess. My experience doesn't make me a complete "expert" but I certainly know more about this biz than someone who has bought zero to 10 lkrs.  The person who has bought 10 lkrs is more an expert than the person who has bought one lkr. I continue to learn with each lkr bought (or lost).

I personally don't believe you need to pay for books (most of which would amount to a pamphlet) or even for lists of auctions, since both types of info are free at many places on the internet. Sure, you'll pick up a few tips from an ebook, but nothing you can't find by READING here on this forum in the many theads. Want to find out about a SPECIFIC area of interest (lists, prices, what sells, what doesn't, laws regarding lkr sales, etc), just push the search button at top of the screen and type in your area of interest; with a little time spent there you will find many answers.

As to Glendon's stuff, personally I can't relate to him. Watch one or two of his YouTube videos and judge for yourself. He is no longer buying lkrs. He is selling his "knowledge" instead.

All of the above is MY OPINION and what works for me. Other people will have their opinions and those opinions have value too. It will be up to you to make decisions about what works for YOU.

3158
The Lounge / Re: Did Casey Anthony kill her daughter?
« on: July 05, 2011, 06:43:27 PM »
Have cut off the voting, but the four people who did vote felt the party-girl did it.

OJ had nothing on this girl (IMHO). Amazing to me that she was acquited. I heard one analyst say that jurors believe all the crap on TV shows such as DNA coming back in an hour, etc. They want a smoking gun.

The analyst went on to say that while circumstanial evidence isn't as damning as more solid evidence (like fingerprints on the duct tape, etc) that the PREPONDERENCE and QUANTITY of circumstantial evidence should have been enough to find her guilty.

This girl will get hers in the end as she will be shunned by more people than will accept her, and who would want anything to do with her anyway. I give her a year or less before her troubles again make headlines.

Will be interesting to see what the jurors have to say for themselves.

3159
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Lookey Loos Part 7.....July, 2011
« on: July 05, 2011, 02:40:03 PM »
Went to my first July auction today, July 5, 2011 and here are the results:

Well known auctioneer group, maybe 25 people with perhaps 18 newbies...and again I MEAN NEW. There seems to
be an unending supply of new folks and with new episodes of Storage Wars starting July 20 there will be a new batch for awhile (IMHO).

Prices were somewhat decent for content; first 10 x 10 showing washer/dryer, Dell desktop, etc went for $400. There will be some profit.

Others I don't remember all that much except for a couple that went in the $200 to $300 range, and one for $35.

The one I remember the most was a 10 wide by 5 deep. Clearly showing a go cart leaned up against the wall. Engine was there but had been taken off. Also showing a little scooter that looked pretty good...gas engine, clean.

Before the auctioneer could start someone said $200, and auctioneer said.."I've got $200 but I'm looking for $500." At that point I said $300, first guy said $400 and I went to $500. He said $600 and I stopped; others joined in and it sold for $1300.  Even if the winner wanted those two things for his kids he could have bought them cheaper than that and there wasn't anything else of value in the lkr. Oh well...another day at work with no work to do !

BUT, I did buy one piece of specialized equipment from a newbie lkr buyer who didn't know what he had and I'll make 10 times the money on my $30 investment. Knowledge is a wonderful thing.


3160
What's it Worth?? / Re: Subwoofer help
« on: July 05, 2011, 02:24:17 PM »
You'll probably get an answer here, but I think you'll get faster results if you go on eBay and do a search for the brand and model number of your speakers.

If there are any listed they will come up. Of course what people are ASKING is one thing; what they GET is another.

THAT'S WHY YOU WANT TO LOOK AT....COMPLETED ITEMS.
The completeds will show you what they sold for. Just look to the left side of the screen after you have done the initial search. About 4 to 6 inches down you should see a link for COMPLETED ITEMS (or completed listings, don't remember for sure  which it is.)

OF COURSE I REALIZE this is NOT THE ONLY ANSWER or solution. This is what I do and IT WORKS FOR ME.  This is my opinion. Other people will have their own opinions which have value as well.

Edit: addition....you can also do a search on Craigslist for your item. If they don't come up, switch to a larger city in your state or even a different state with a large city. Of course this will just give you some idea of value, but you have a starting point.


3161
Craigslist / Re: Pirated photos?
« on: July 05, 2011, 10:27:08 AM »
OK, I googled it and this is one of the results ( I think it was the first non-sponsored link that came up).

http://gallery.menalto.com/node/37588

One of the first things the forum there talks about is the "right-click" approach used for copying photos.

I know "I" have right-clicked on a photo or a piece of cartoon art and have gotten a "protected" message.


3162
Craigslist / Re: Pirated photos?
« on: July 05, 2011, 10:09:59 AM »
Weird, but doable.

To answer your questions:

1) They see your photo; they right-click on the pic; they save the pic (usually under a different name) on their
     storage area for photos; they use it in their ad.

2) You can protect your photo from being copied; don't know how exactly, but have seen it done; do google research
     for actual procedure.

3)  Not a big security issue...it's basically a cut-and-paste but with photos not text.

Now for my question:
What piece of furniture (or pieces) would be that common that they would copy your picture and use it as their own?

And a further observation:

You could probably flag their listing, but I don't know if there is a spot where you could describe WHY you are flagging it.

Will be interested in hearing more about this situation.


3163
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Worst Unit?
« on: July 04, 2011, 01:47:10 PM »
Elvisluvs....

Check out this link; scroll down about 4 inches and you'll see the filmography of this still photographer.


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0325837/

3164
Stories about Storage Auctions / Re: Worst Unit?
« on: July 04, 2011, 01:15:29 PM »

Happy 4th of July to you too !



I used to buy this kind of lkr.

Photos have possibilities and would have been GREAT possibilities had they been autographed.

100 liquor boxes of garbage...........whoops!


3165
The Lounge / Did Casey Anthony kill her daughter?
« on: July 04, 2011, 09:05:50 AM »
Posting this BEFORE the jury comes back. The other polls I have posted (about storage auctions) only got 3 votes each I think. Any opinions here on this nationally covered case?

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