Made a **KILLING** at an estate sale
I was looking around for estate sales for coins, and I stumbled on one relatively nearby (16mi as the Google flies) that had Star Trek stuff, but not just any Star Trek stuff, highly valuable Star Trek stuff! Stuff like the 1991 Hallmark ornament of the 60's U.S.S Enterprise, like the AMT model kit of the same ship, et cetera. I sent a quick mail to the administrator of the sale, asking for an invite, as that was how they were managing how many people were coming in there (much better than an open garage sale).
I showed up at 11:00am today, and there was one other shopper there, asking about a mixer in the kitchen. I introduced myself to the administrator, who recognized me as being interested in Star Trek stuff. He led me to the room where it was being displayed, and there it was: the ornament, the model kit, and bunches of action figures, calendars, lunch boxes, all sorts of stuff (there was other sci-fi toys there too, but I digress). I picked up the ornament, and two model kits (the aforementioned Enterprise, and the Klingon Cruiser from the first movie), got his attention, and said, as I gestured to the ornament and model kits, "50, 10, and 10?" He said, "Okay." I threw on a Ferengi action figure from 1988 that re-completes my set of those action figures for 5 more, paid the man, and made out like the lady in the Ikea commercial who thinks the prices were too low and wanted to get away before the store realized their mistake!
The ornament and kits will be re-sold on eBay, natch. I am tracking 4 current auctions for the ornament, with current bids between $102 and $150! Yeah, I make a killing there! If only I had more cash... sigh.
UPDATE: I put the ornament up for sale on eBay, 24 hour auction. Started it at $9.99, which was the predominant starting price, and watched and waited for this afternoon. When the dust settled, I had sold it for $172.50! Not a bad profit :)
I showed up at 11:00am today, and there was one other shopper there, asking about a mixer in the kitchen. I introduced myself to the administrator, who recognized me as being interested in Star Trek stuff. He led me to the room where it was being displayed, and there it was: the ornament, the model kit, and bunches of action figures, calendars, lunch boxes, all sorts of stuff (there was other sci-fi toys there too, but I digress). I picked up the ornament, and two model kits (the aforementioned Enterprise, and the Klingon Cruiser from the first movie), got his attention, and said, as I gestured to the ornament and model kits, "50, 10, and 10?" He said, "Okay." I threw on a Ferengi action figure from 1988 that re-completes my set of those action figures for 5 more, paid the man, and made out like the lady in the Ikea commercial who thinks the prices were too low and wanted to get away before the store realized their mistake!
The ornament and kits will be re-sold on eBay, natch. I am tracking 4 current auctions for the ornament, with current bids between $102 and $150! Yeah, I make a killing there! If only I had more cash... sigh.
UPDATE: I put the ornament up for sale on eBay, 24 hour auction. Started it at $9.99, which was the predominant starting price, and watched and waited for this afternoon. When the dust settled, I had sold it for $172.50! Not a bad profit :)