Old Marbles!!

Even though this isn't a storage locker find, it's still pretty cool.......

Bought an old large tin can full of (mostly) old marbles at a garage sale. The lady who sold them to me insisted they belonged to an old man she was the caretaker for, and wouldn't budge below $20. So I took a chance.

I painstakingly split up the marbles into 20 lots of 18 marbles each on ebay, with many pictures that would show every angle of every marble. Started all the lots at $9.99, and awaited the huge cash windfall.

Something happened on the way to the bank. There was no interest or bids (insert sound of crickets chirping here). I even re-listed them, and only sold one lot for $9.99. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME- the lots took the better part of one day to photograph and list, and I still hadn't even made my money back!

Then a light went off in my head. How about selling them in a local popular auction house??? So I got a large old mason jar (that I found in a locker, and was doing nothing with), and filled it. The jar certainly gave the illusion that the items were old, even though the better percentage of them weren't all that desirable.

Low and behold, there was a bidding frenzy, and they sold for $420!!!! Even after my 35% commission to the auction house, it was a decent profit. Off to find more marbles!!!!

Sweet!    I'm off to dig up my grandma's flower beds!   She used marbles as ground cover decoration round her roses.   Must be a gold mine in here by now!   

My kids tell me that i have lost all my marbles.

LOL!

Well, the old saying goes "children and drunks never lie." At least you aren't out digging up your grandmother's flower beds. 

At least you aren't out digging up your grandmother's flower beds. 

That was uncalled for. 


 

That was uncalled for.

You're right, but it was funny. You know I was only teasing.

I lost my marbles too, uh, not the ones in my head (if there are any there) but the old ones. Dang, that dates me. Yes I played with marbles back in the late 60s, early 70s. I also played with a wooden top. Wow, life was simple then.

I never played marbles for keep because I had some really pretty ones. We just played for fun. I was semi-good, not great. Have no idea what happened to my marbles. I now I threw away my comic books. GAH! I could have made $$$ off of them had I collected them.

From family talk my great grandmother was the best marble player ever. I still have her marbles, my dads marbles, my marbles and my son added some of his own to the collection. I could never part with them. My dad still brings my son marbles every time he finds one and my son is 17. One day I hope he passes them down to his kids.