estate sales 0

[Bird]

estate sales

No real point here but I was looking at estate sale ads and was wondering how you guys do it. I am pretty haphazard and not at all diligent enough to really make a killing but I dabble and do okay. I use estatesales.net and a local auction house mostly, although I am going to one on my work route tomorrow that was just advertised with a sign on the street.

Any pointers? Do you try to stick to comics or allow yourself to look over everything? I am looking at a crazy Star wars listing now...lots of stuff including this stuff

 

 

I try to research a new thing or two each time but it is slow going trying to learn it all! I am not confident enough in my knowledge to really go wild even on comics unless I have a plan beforehand.

 

 

[Readcomix]

I stick to comics....an old friend just turned me onto estate sales.net....not sure if you are close to Palisades Park, but did you see the one listed there with an Action 252 and a ton of other SA? I emailed the seller about prices but never heard back. Would have had to take a half day off at least to go check it out.

[Bird]

2 minutes ago, Readcomix said:

I stick to comics....an old friend just turned me onto estate sales.net....not sure if you are close to Palisades Park, but did you see the one listed there with an Action 252 and a ton of other SA? I emailed the seller about prices but never heard back. Would have had to take a half day off at least to go check it out.

Is that one today and tomorrow? I think I saw it but I am central Jersey so it is a ride for me as well, and I had a presentation at work today. I see people here talking about estatesales.net so i figured no need to hide the source. 

I stick to comics but paintings are calling to me. I see what appear to be sweet opportunities but it is so far off my knowledge base I hesitate.

[Readcomix]

1 minute ago, Bird said:

Is that one today and tomorrow? I think I saw it but I am central Jersey so it is a ride for me as well, and I had a presentation at work today. I see people here talking about estatesales.net so i figured no need to hide the source. 

I stick to comics but paintings are calling to me. I see what appear to be sweet opportunities but it is so far off my knowledge base I hesitate.

Yes, that's the one. I'm maybe an hour north of it in NYS. I bet they were all gone at 1 pm today when it opened. You raise a good point about opportunities; I just stick to comics because I don't have time to develop expertise in other collectibles. So I'm narrow and deep.

[shadroch]

I rarely  find comics that are priced right, so I've taken to looking for other things.  It takes research, but an hour or two on the internet can help you id some bargains.

It seems every estate sale or auction I go to, more than half the people are competing for about ten percent of the stuff and the rest is unwanted.

[Bird]

Just now, shadroch said:

I rarely  find comics that are priced right, so I've taken to looking for other things.  It takes research, but an hour or two on the internet can help you id some bargains.

It seems every estate sale or auction I go to, more than half the people are competing for about ten percent of the stuff and the rest is unwanted.

This seems very accurate for me as well. The internet research is time well spent, I agree. People here seem to have more time than I do so I often want to post a link and say "what here is good?" and let the boards do the work! If only...

Come back home, I saw a listing for Levittown but it is too far for me.

[shadroch]

I am home!

[Junkdrawer]

If you're expecting to be successful at Estate sales, well then your just going to have to attend 20-30 per month at least and become a regular. You will have good finds and much time wasted as well, but no one deserves to get lucky on day one. Don't expect it. The ones that have the best stories to tell are the ones who've been at it for years. Long before Estate sale companies were invented. When lawyers ran the sales. They'd often pocket the gold and precious gems and sell the furniture and other contents. You had to read the paper to find sales too. Damn shame where it's gone lately. I hardly ever go now

[Bird]

Speaking of opportunities, I just passed on a cabinet with some 78s and a Victrola record player on the top. $95 was the ask. MAY have been this one (picture from web, there are tons of variations on this).

 

[Bird]

11 hours ago, Junkdrawer said:

If you're expecting to be successful at Estate sales, well then your just going to have to attend 20-30 per month at least and become a regular. You will have good finds and much time wasted as well, but no one deserves to get lucky on day one. Don't expect it. The ones that have the best stories to tell are the ones who've been at it for years. Long before Estate sale companies were invented. When lawyers ran the sales. They'd often pocket the gold and precious gems and sell the furniture and other contents. You had to read the paper to find sales too. Damn shame where it's gone lately. I hardly ever go now

Oh I have been going for a year or two already. I know some of the regulars but I am not obsessive about it.

[AnkurJ]

13 hours ago, Bird said:

Is that one today and tomorrow? I think I saw it but I am central Jersey so it is a ride for me as well, and I had a presentation at work today. I see people here talking about estatesales.net so i figured no need to hide the source. 

I stick to comics but paintings are calling to me. I see what appear to be sweet opportunities but it is so far off my knowledge base I hesitate.

They are accepting bids on the entire collection. The books aren't priced individually. You can bet every major dealer in the area has been there to view the books.

[comicstock]

I used to travel to estate sales but stopped a couple years ago.  Too much time & travel with too many dopey bidders waaaay overbidding on stuff.   I've seen many pay ridiculous prices because it said #1 on it.  People are nuts.

If you see something you want, come up with a reasonable price in your head and stick by it during the bidding.

[Phantalien]

I used to go to estate sales for no intended purpose except that there might be something I would want.  I wasn't specifically looking for comics or anything to flip but maybe something to have in the house.   They used to seem like indoor yard sales, then once ebay came, it changed and I was priced out of estate sales and then yard sales.   Or they just had stuff I didn't want at all.    Pretty soon there were too many misses to make the hits worth it and now I don't even do yard sales.

 

When any estate sales said that they had comics, I never got there in time to actually see them or see anything past beat up non-superhero stuff.

Edited April 23, 2017 by Phantalien

[F For Fake]

I do Estate Sales and auctions quite a bit. It's a lot of fun. I mostly stick to comics and toys, but occasionally I'll branch out if I have a gut feeling about the value of an item. I also dabble in advertising, particularly tobacco and beer signage, stuff like that. I use Auctionzip and Craiglist and the local paper's classifieds, also the homepages of the bigger local auction companies. They usually have pictures of everything up well in advance, so it gives me time to do eBay research on items that I'm interested in, especially things that are outside of my wheelhouse. I've gotten some tremendous bargains, but I've also lost out many times. Sometimes I luck out and none of the local dealers show up, but usually it's the same three or four dudes going for the same stuff. You win some, you lose some. But once you get hooked, you have a great time and keep looking for more sales!

[ThothAmon]

On 4/21/2017 at 11:26 PM, Junkdrawer said:

If you're expecting to be successful at Estate sales, well then your just going to have to attend 20-30 per month at least and become a regular. You will have good finds and much time wasted as well, but no one deserves to get lucky on day one. Don't expect it. The ones that have the best stories to tell are the ones who've been at it for years. Long before Estate sale companies were invented. When lawyers ran the sales. They'd often pocket the gold and precious gems and sell the furniture and other contents. You had to read the paper to find sales too. Damn shame where it's gone lately. I hardly ever go now

My law firm, Dewey, Cheetum & Howe, would never ....