Been a while since I posted here - had the best buy of my life last night

[wyldwolf]

Someone was having an estate sale - advertised 4000 DVDs among the usual items at estate sales have. The craigslist ad asked people to call for the sale address because he didn't want to publish the address.

I called and talked him into letting my come by for a sneak peek before the sale started.

He wasn't exaggerating. Shelves and shelves of DVDs, some new, most rarely ever played. I spent two hours scanning them and came away with about 100 pieces - many of them TV show box sets and Wii games - for $200.

Just got done listing them all and the listed value of the cache is $1500.

I may pay off a credit card by the end of the week.

[libodem]

1. Most excellent

I have a best friend who does eBay. I've been watching her and hope to screw up enough courage to try it someday.

[grasswire]

3. I'm back on ebay after being off for about three years

Unfortunately, they now have a limit on the number of items you can list in the first 90 days if you open a new account. Ten items a month. That limits me severely. And Paypal now holds your funds for 21 days until you get established. That sucks too.

But otherwise things aren't much different. EBay used to be a money tree, in the old days. I know people who still do very very well there.

[Vinca]

4. I've gone back to selling a few things on ebay, too.

Unfortunately, it's more like running a museum unless you want to give stuff away. I've finally just decided to keep listing a few thing every day as "buy it now" listings with the option to make an offer and hope for the best. It sure isn't like the early days of ebay when you could sell virtually anything and get a good price for it.

[safeinOhio]

2. It pays to be nice to people selling things.

This week I saw an ad for a sale at a photo studio. Lots of props and lights. Was to open at 8 am. I was driving by the day before and saw the man setting up a tent outside, so I stop and asked how early I could get in. No early birds he said, not until 8 and not until the next day. I spot a primitive bench with a $20 price on it. I asked if I could buy it now. Sure he says and I've got 2 more inside. Invited me in, got first look and walked away with some nice stuff. He told me I bought all the stuff he didn't think would sell. I knew different.

The next day I got to look at a nice piece of furniture at a house. They were asking $800.. Told them that was a little more than I could spend, so she came up with a lower price, also picked up some other stuff at a great price. The best part was after I handed them the cash, they said they were now on the way to buy a new air conditioner as it must have been close to 100 in the house. Everyone was happy.

[Vinca]

5. Good job weaseling into the sale early. LOL.

The "no early bird" people drive me nuts. If I'm there and my wallet is full, they shouldn't be as nasty as they sometimes are.