Had to Give the Thrift Store Jewelry Containers A Try

[bdsawyer]

I will admit, I spend way too much time on here looking at all the posts, and one that kept popping up was the thrift store vases stuffed with jewelry. I moved to a new town, and decided to give them a try. The first vase I bought was $24.99, skunked, will be lucky to break even. I decided to wait for the next one and use my discount coupon, and today they had two vases. I decided to buy both and just see what happens.
I found about 20 grams worth of 925 jewelry, then out popped this huge bracelet. It is marked 925 in a tiny spot on the rings and Jabez Jewelz under the main band. Unfortunately it is missing a large piece of Mother Of Pearl, but man this would have been an amazing piece if it was intact. I will keep searching my jars for it but sadly Im sure its gone. It weighs in a hefty 2 oz too! I contacted the maker of the jewelry to see if that piece could be replaced, but have no idea if I will get a response. Sorry for the poor photos, I only have my phone right now while I am getting my digital camera replaced. Happy Hunting!

 

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[mjm579]

Now you've done it, you've caught the bug!!!

 

[mugsisme]

OH NICE! What I do when I bomb out with a jar is figure it together with any others I got that day. For instance, if I spent $20, and then $60, and the $20 one tanks, then I just pretend I spent $80 on one jar, and have to make my money back like that.

That is a sweet bracelet. if you don't hear back from the jeweler, you can always look locally to see what it cost to repair.

 

[vpnavy]

Nice buys. Thanks for sharing...

 

[JustinNH]

Nice find!

I've bought two jars at a yardsale (orig from Savers) that got me a lot of money back.
Recently got 3 bags of GW jewelry and maybe 7 grams of silver and 2 grams of GF (so like .15 grams gold) in all of them.

Good will Northern New England definitely picks through the bags. One had a lot of signed pieces though and could make up for the others... which were mostly junk.

Still way more fun than buying a $20 scratch ticket!

 

[bdsawyer]

Thanks for the replies, mjm and mug I believe it was all your posts about these that got me curious. Jewelry is quite honestly my weak point in what I buy and sell, but i love to learn as much as I can and these make me sit down and spend time researching. Experience and fun!
And to Justin, i was thinking they probably also sift thru these bags here as well, but being it was broken and the 925 mark was so tiny, it slipped thru the cracks. I guess you never know and it is so much better than a lottery ticket!

 

[inspectorgadget]

I don't buy scratch off lotto tix nor jars/bags or vases of jewelry as it's all gambling to me but I'm glad you guys enjoy it! What is the largest payout of a single jar/bag/vase that anyone has had on here? I hear of People hitting for $500 & $1000 on scratch offs around here quite often & was wondering if it is possible to ever get a jar with that much value in it ($500-$1000)?

 

[mugsisme]

What is the largest payout of a single jar/bag/vase that anyone has had on here? I hear of People hitting for $500 & $1000 on scratch offs around here quite often & was wondering if it is possible to ever get a jar with that much value in it ($500-$1000)?

I don't keep records of what I got from each jar. I do have an idea of one piece that makes up for the jar. My best so far was a $125 jar. Huge jar. I pulled out a bracelet that I sold for $255. That is a single piece. I remember there was some other gold pieces, tons of vintage earrings, etc. I got an email this past Sunday from the local consignment store ... I have a check for $180 waiting for me. I picked up a $75 check yesterday and will get another $60 check tomorrow from yet another store. Never mind the amount of jewelry I have sitting here waiting to be sold. (Gotta take pictures first.) If I can stop buying and start selling, I am sitting on a small fortune, IMHO.

My friend who taught me bumped into me the other day. She said that I work very hard for my money. She would rather pluck down $50 for one piece that she knows she can sell for $200 than risk $50 on a jar. That said ... my last jar was $60. It had $300 (spot) of gold and silver. Very little of it is scrap. Most of it is necklaces, charms, and earrings.


I don't want to hijack the thread. I guess it depends on what you enjoy doing. I like the thrill, and then I love sorting and playing with the jewelry. I pulled a gorgeous pair of earrings out of there that are in my jewelry box. (ps-- I easily think I will clear at least $500 from this jar, just on the gold and silver. Never mind the other pieces in it. A Brighton necklace, and I forgot what else. Oh, the Juicy Couture necklace was mailed off to my daughter as a gift. Bought me brownie points. Priceless.)

 

[Drmad7]

I don't buy scratch off lotto tix nor jars/bags or vases of jewelry as it's all gambling to me but I'm glad you guys enjoy it! What is the largest payout of a single jar/bag/vase that anyone has had on here? I hear of People hitting for $500 & $1000 on scratch offs around here quite often & was wondering if it is possible to ever get a jar with that much value in it ($500-$1000)?

My last jar has yielded over $1500 so far. One necklace was 49.5 grams 14k, a gold ring was 3.5, and there were a couple unmatched 14K earrings. Also a 1.8 gram necklace and a Spanish Reale-looking(researching) coin pendant wrapped in 14K. Its my greatest so far and I would be shocked to see it happen again. But before that, I got a Tiffany & Co silver keyring in a $24.99 bag. Sold it for $125.0 and could have gotten more. 95% of the bags are costume jewelry and like mugsisme says, I can sell each piece and make my money back if there is not a lot of silver or gold.

 

[mjm579]

I too love the thrill of "the hunt" more than anything. It's about as crazy as I get these days with two young boys.

 

[kali_is_my_copilot]

My best two were a $5.99 thrift store bag that had an 8+ gram 14k tie bar in it, and a small lot off ebay (10-12 pieces, $3.99 + $5.25 shipping) that had 11 grams of 14k, a 5 gram unmarked ring & 6 gram chain marked at the clasp. For me part of the appeal lies in sticking to small investments, as I haven't had much luck when I've gone in over $30 or so on mystery lots and I'm happy to put the bulk of my money into treasures I can lay my hands on and verify (or PM purchases on eBay that are protected by their policies).

(Edited to add that yes I may be a little hooked on the thrill of the hunt but I am SO FREAKING TIRED of the ever-increasing mountain of costume jewelry, I proved last week that I can sell small flat rate boxes of it for $20+ each all day long but I am so sick of screwing around w/ it that I haven't worked up the energy to list any more lots. I keep trying to rope people into helping me sort and photograph stuff but all of my friends and family members are either old enough to know better or too young to keep on task, lol).

 

[huntsman53]

I will admit, I spend way too much time on here looking at all the posts, and one that kept popping up was the thrift store vases stuffed with jewelry. I moved to a new town, and decided to give them a try. The first vase I bought was $24.99, skunked, will be lucky to break even. I decided to wait for the next one and use my discount coupon, and today they had two vases. I decided to buy both and just see what happens.
I found about 20 grams worth of 925 jewelry, then out popped this huge bracelet. It is marked 925 in a tiny spot on the rings and Jabez Jewelz under the main band. Unfortunately it is missing a large piece of Mother Of Pearl, but man this would have been an amazing piece if it was intact. I will keep searching my jars for it but sadly Im sure its gone. It weighs in a hefty 2 oz too! I contacted the maker of the jewelry to see if that piece could be replaced, but have no idea if I will get a response. Sorry for the poor photos, I only have my phone right now while I am getting my digital camera replaced. Happy Hunting! View attachment 1037697 View attachment 1037698 View attachment 1037699

Nice finds! I have several halfs of Tennessee Fresh Water Mussel Shells and if you are good at cutting and polishing, it would be a easy and cheap fix for the bracelet. I could send you one or two (the extra in case you destroy the first one if just learning how to cut and polish them) if you want. If so, just PM me with your name and address.


Frank

 

[mugsisme]

(Edited to add that yes I may be a little hooked on the thrill of the hunt but I am SO FREAKING TIRED of the ever-increasing mountain of costume jewelry, snip snip I keep trying to rope people into helping me sort and photograph stuff but all of my friends and family members are either old enough to know better or too young to keep on task, lol).

OH MY GOSH! This is me exactly. Except that I have a lot of vintage pieces that I don't know what to do with. I am almost at the point where I am going to just bag them up and sell them as a "tangled mess". (I've sold two such lots so far, but nothing more than $10.)

It's getting tiresome to have to keep going to the consignment stores. They have a limit on how many you can bring each day. That said, I did make $12 this weekend doing absolutely nothing from one of the stores.

 

[kali_is_my_copilot]

mugs, I wouldn't mind consigning but there is a dearth of plain old consignment stores in my city. What I do find are ever-increasing numbers of little craft/antique mall type places, who either don't consign at all or only consign if you already rent a booth. If I were doing this full-time it would be different probably, but right now I don't have the time, energy or money to dedicate to renting/stocking/operating either a flea market or antique mall booth. Funny you said that about making $12 doing nothing, that's how I decide whether to pick up extra shifts at my day job. If I'm thinking of going in that night I don't call to be put on the schedule until noon or so, that way if I have a good eBay day or find $200 in scrap somewhere I've already made more than I would have putting in a 12-hour shift so I get to stay home with my boy and our dogs

 

[mugsisme]

I am getting ready to make a huge lot of this. I got my money back, and I just need some of the costume stuff out of the house. You can't see my dining room table for the last few days as I am trying to sort through what I actually think will consign and what I know won't.

Maybe try going a little out of your area to consign? I was also looking for more consignment stores. Some of them charge a fee, and those are the ones who take 60%. Give me a break. No way is that going to happen. I'm starting to learn about the vintage vs costume, and now I got a bunch of antique pieces. too much to learn!

 

[HyHoSilver]

First you realize you can for go lunch and buy 3-4 ounces a week. Then you realize breakfast isn't really the most important meal and hey 2-3 more ounces a week. The kids don't need new shoes, you have duct tape, Vacations are over rated, You start buying your clothes at goodwill, ETC, ETC, ETC.....HA HA HA HA HA..Hey I bet theres food in that dumpster !!! Uh this happened to a friend of mine, yeah a friend of mine...not me,