I got a new one!

There are these guys all around the country that drive around big tank trucks and they spend the day sucking crap out of portable toilets. Not only do they get paid a good salary because they have a CDL license and who wants to play in crap all day, but they get to keep all the good stuff found in the bottom of the portable toilets.

Think about the promo: Scruffy guy in overalls with a big hose sucking the poop out of a port-a -john, and then he sees something shining at the bottom. With his big plastic gloves he scoops it out, Holy Crap! It's a $10,000 gold and diamond tennis bracelet!

Here we go again. This will be the 12th month I've started a thread with Lookey Loos in the title.

Come January, 2012 will have to figure out the numbering system for that year.

Anyway, I'll come back here Thursday, Dec, 1, 2011 in the afternoon after going to a flea in the morning (for buying) and then 3 or 4 auctions out of 7 possible hoping to get a lkr.

We used these threads with Lookey Loos all year to discuss the auction scene around the country, but for 2012 we should change the title. In my opinion the Lookie Loos were only a slight nuisance during the year, mostly over the summer with the kids and strollers and grandma and grandpa having to ALL get a look at the units.

 The big problem was the casino gamblin' newbies. We all saw them and suffered them. No flashlight or new flashlight big enough to use on the front of 747. No locks. No research. They either got ALL their info from the TV shows or they have been doing this for years and have found lots of treasures, even if we have never seen them at a auction before. Lots of money to gamble.

Typical casino gamblin' newbie strategy for 2011. 10 X 10 unit: garbage bags filled with clothes, particle board furniture, boxes labeled "cups & dishes", but  a 48" LCD plasma flat panel TV BOX at the very top of the stack, hmmm.

Bidding starts $50, then $100, then $150, then $250... casino gamblin' newbie thinking "That TV is $1200 new at Best Buy!" casino gamblin' newbie jumps in $500!!! He's ecstatic, he's got this one in the bank. But wait, oh no, it's casino gamblin' newbie #2! He thinks "That TV is $1400 new at Sears!"
Newbie #2 jumps in $750!!!! He wins!! The high-fives go all around with the group of buddies he brought with him.

Well a month goes by and we return to the same facility for another auction. Where is casino gamblin' newbie #2? Nowhere to be found. Don't worry, #3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,etc... have all showed up for this one.

Well here is an update. I have been overwhelmed at my full time job and have had little time to keep the storage auctions and shops running at the level I want to. Thats changing so in January I'll get back into the swing of things. That said, our next step is to open a single shop in another mall about 20 miles from where I'm at with two booths. The area is more affluent and has clientel that don't make the trip to Kennesaw Ga. (I'm going to open the new space in Alpharetta Ga at Queen of Hearts.) That should work well for me as I live 8 miles from one and 12 from the other and it will expand the possible client base. Yes more work but if it does as well as my first two I'll be happy to put in the time. I have also noticed an uptick in peoples buying habits. Not a gandbuster but better than what you would expect for a holiday seasonal uptick so I'm hoping the economy around here is improving. Thats another reason I want to open a new shop in a new area so as things continue to improve I'm already in place and making things happen. Well, off my soapbox and back to work. Good luck everyone!!

I am sure you already thought of this, but just in case, don't forget to cross advertise for both your locations so your customers who visit one location know about the other and vis-versa.

OK guys, my analysis on the $60 per hour might have been a little theoretical and not real world practical, but the reason I did not include time sitting at the flea market is because I take hundreds of items to the flea market and I am generally selling something every couple to ten minutes, so the time spent at flea market is already sunk. I realize had I only taken that one item and it took all day to sell, I would have had to account for that time.

I did not intend to disregard Ebay as an market for selling, I was just trying to judge the true cost and return on items that sell for say less then $20 on Ebay as to whether it was worth the time and effort.

Movieman, You are spot on about flea market sales, the regulars tell me in our area 5 years ago you could make $500-$750 a day, and now it is about $150-$300 depending on what you have. I have had those $75 days, but I know I was selling mostly bottom end stuff.

Mr. Smith, I think you are right on the money, no pun intended, about making the most from your time and not individual items.

This is an analysis comparing a recent sale of two identical items, selling one at flea market, the other on Ebay. I do not suppose this is the only way to look at sales or the best way to look at sales, I just think it is interesting information.

Item: Vintage Hot Wheels toy

Flea Market: sold for $1.00

time spent: sorting and putting in tote = 30 seconds, sales transaction = 30 seconds. total time= 1 minute

additonal cost: fuel = negligible, table rental = negligible, total cost = $0

Return = $1.00 per minute = $60 per hour.

Ebay: sold for $6.50

time spent: research = 15 minutes, boxing/weighing = 3 minutes, listing = 8 minutes, posting/shipping = 4 minutes, delivery conformation = 1 minute, leave feedback = 1 minute. total time = 32 minutes

additional cost: listing fees = $0.30, shipping fees = $0.15, Ebay fees = $0.90, PayPal fees = $0.30, total cost = $1.65

Return = $4.85 per 32 minutes = $9.09 per hour.

Well, maybe it's just me, but if you spend this much time (taking the photos of the "guitar" and I think even making and posting the youtube of it (your measuring tape?), then I think you may be overthinking the sales process.

If I had found this item I would have sold it for a $1 and been happy.  You must have tons of smalls in that locker and spending this kind of time on many of them seems counterproductive to me.

Of course if you just plain ENJOY IT that much, that's one thing, and maybe it's just beginner's enthusiasm at having all the goodies to work with in one way or another, but just seems overkill to me.

Coffee mugs? I can't give them away; maybe I'm not working hard enough at doing that...oh yeah, Goodwill will take them.

How many hours have you been up straight now...something like 36 or so.  What's the hurry? Get some sleep.

This is probably the biggest conundrum in the business, especially when you start buying multiple units per month/week. Do you go through the entire unit with a fine tooth comb, research as best you can every small item to see if you have something worth $5, $25, $50 or more, and squeeze every possible penny out of those units? Of course the more expensive, the more unlikely you will find something like that. Or do you turn and burn! Sell what you know has a certain value, dump the other stuff at yard sale/flea market for $0.50 to $2.00, donate the rest, and go win some more units?

Looks like I will be taking an extended vacation

Just get back in the game, it's kinda fun now knowing you can run up noobies and not get caught! They just won't quite in my area, especially towards the end of the day/auction trail.

Right now the pattern seems to be get unit or two early in the day, especially first location, before all the noobie juices start flowing. Granted there is no guarantee there will be any good lockers early, but around here, if you wait till a good locker comes up you are going to pay retail or worse.

Things to think about...

Is that a notice or a contract you must sign prior to bidding?

Look at the wording "may contact" and "request", these are not obligations. They use the most subjective word in this contract, "reasonable" actual cost.

Can you just see them trying to take you to court because they think your cost to sell back the items is not "reasonable".

I think a good attorney on your side would have a field day with the wording of this contract.