Thursday, October 11, 2007
Treasure Hunting at Goodwill
| By Lynn Forgy Can you remember the time when "ebay" was NOT a common household term? I can...vaguely. Ebay opened up doors for buyers and sellers alike. Particularly for me, as a seller. A year or so ago, I found a cute little stuffed monkey (circa 1960s I think) at the local Goodwill (another great store!). I did not buy this little monkey with the thought of selling him in mind. I bought him because my grandmother had one just like it, and I suppose I inherited her love of stuffed monkeys. The monkey sat around my house for a while, until one day out of curiosity I looked him up on the internet - just to find out his name and a little more about the hairy little guy. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw similar monkeys for sale for...gulp, $100??? I had paid $2.00 for him, and could multiply my earnings tremendously. So I did. He sold for around $70 if I remember correctly (he had a marking on his foot from a Sharpie - what cold-hearted person could do such a thing?). So what is the point of this long-winded rambling about monkeys you may be asking yourself. The moral of this story is NOT to go directly to your local thrift store and by anything and everything you can get your hands on (we're trying to get out of debt here, not fill up our homes with items we don't need and can't pay for). Rather, the point is that if you do your research, and you see items in thrift stores or at yard sales that you could sell on ebay for a profit, and IF you have the money available, a good way to earn extra cash to put towards your debt would be to snatch those items up. I've been lucky enough to find not only the monkey, but many old books as well. Most sold for at least 10 times what I paid for them, and some as much as 100 times (if I got the book for $.10 and sold it for $50.00 - that's a nice little profit). Your chances of finding a "pot of gold" are probably not that high, but I like to think of it as hunting for buried treasure. You just never know what you're going to find. Labels: ebay, Goodwill, online selling, treasure |
posted by Krista at 7:32 PM
One of my very favorite things to do! Except, I have a tendency to "hold on to my newly found treasures"...rather than sell them. I'm a terrible pack-rat and don't like to throw anything away. I keep thinking I will use it someday...not good...but it's a hard habit to break! I enjoy looking for older cooking items..in good shape of course and not beat up. Give me an old aluminum pan vs a $150.00 French chef special coated pot anyday! Some of the best food comes out of the cheapest and sometimes most unattractive cookware!