Sweetheart Deals For The eBay Hopeful

Sweetheart Deals For The eBay Hopeful

We have all heard about sweetheart deals, and I have one. Next to my home is a quasi-antique-junk store. I don't mean to sound snobbish, but that's what it is, and I love it. The owner of the place buys estates and rejects from other estate buyers. Just think, I live next to this three story heaven! And heaven it is - filled from top to bottom with the kinds of things to make a pack rat cry in envy!

If Forest Gump were to go there, he would definitely say it's like a box of chocolates-"You never know what you are going to get." I found 10 marble eggs which I bought for 10 dollars. Now this is not a Jack-in-the-Beanstalk story, and I didn't take them out back and plant them. I did admire them, spin them around like tops, and even juggled them over my bed. Alas, I placed them on eBay and waited for the feeding frenzy. Well, the feeding frenzy never happened and they sold for $9.50. Ugh. Fine, but what about the sweetheart deal you might ask?

Since the guy knows me as his neighbor and trusts me, he lets me take his higher- end items and place them on eBay without paying him one cent. He tells me what he wants for the item, and that's what I pay him if the item sells. Now that, my friends, is a sweetheart deal! So far, I haven't exactly hit the jackpot with this agreement, but the potential is there.

Recently, I grabbed three absolutely luxurious fur coats off his rack and asked him. "How much?" One beautiful black fur coat was a mystery fur but I took it anyway for $120.00 due after I sold it. I also took another one for $85.00 and a third for $75.00. Being the clever guy that I am, I thought it would be a good idea to place the one I could identify on eBay first. This one was a mink stole. To protect myself I placed a 75.00 reserve on the stole. Placing a reserve on anything on eBay is like dumping ice water on all bidders. The mink stole was not an exception, and it received zero bids. I learned that fur coats were not selling at this time and returned them being the loser for about $3.00 in listing fees.

I knew success was waiting for me so I pressed on in the form of a wonderful painting of an old man framed in a magnificent gilded frame. How much, I asked. Fifty dollars was the reply. Moments later the picture was staring at the whole eBay world, of course with a $50.00 reserve! In the last hour of the last day, bidders came out of hiding and bumped the opening bid of 20.00 upward. The excitement of it all! This unknown painter from the past was going to be my ticket to a Caribbean vacation. The bidding was going fast and furious, but only one dollar at a time-not a good sign. Time ran out! The winning bid was, you may have guessed it...$50.00!

Have you ever packed a large painting? Ugh. I paid the junk store guy his $50.00 and was left with another $3.00 listing fee. I know success is waiting for me somewhere in that three story building, and I am going to find it next time.

John Lundgren offers free garage sale tips at his website www.garagesale-rx.com