Treasure is where you find it....

[wilsonspaulding]

I like to look for treasure everywhere. While I have a White's MXT and love to hunt my old homestead and places in my area, my best finds in terms of value have been unrecognized little "gold mines" that are in every town across the USA. I'm talking about yard sales and thrift stores.

Antique shows and upscale flea markest are hard to find anything that you can make a large profit on as those folks usually know what they have and are proud of it. But the yard sales and thrift stores can hold hidden gems of great value as people let things that seem worthless go for next to nothing. Thrift stores do now, however, have professionals that do checking on what comes in but they can't be expert on everything and sometimes something great slips through their hands.

Here's a few of the things I've found and made a decent profit on over the last 10 years:

1948 Doodlebug Minibike frame purchased for 20.00 at yard sale, sold for 2000.00 on Ebay

WW2 ship porthole purchased for 50.00 at yard sale sold for 350.00 on Ebay

1972 Honda CB125 motorcycle purchased on Craigslist for 900.00 sold for 2150.00 on Ebay (did a fluff and buff on it)

Wooden Water Rower high end exercise machine purchased at Goodwill for 20.00 sold for 480.00 on Ebay (Just last week)

Pair of White's metal detector headphones purchased at yard sale for .50, work great

Probably my best overall find was facilitating the restoration and sale of a Rock Island Lines reverse glass railroad sign a friend of mine's father had about 4 years ago that set the world record for an advertising sign. They didn't know what they had and thought it was worth just a few thousand but I did the research (a treasure hunt if I ever had one) and we ended up getting 165K at an appropriate auction which made EVERYONE very happy. The father was able to retire more comfortably, my friend was able to purchase his dad's house on the river and I was able to update all of my work equipment.

My own best personal find was about 6 weeks ago at a local thrift store where I found a photograph from a very famous photographer that started her career in the 1920's. It was framed and matted and I recognized her signature and it's one of her early works. I purchased it for 4.99 but with my senior discount I got it for 4.00. I found an appraiser on an old episode of Antiques Roadshow that had appraised a few of her photos and contacted her directly. She told me the auction estimate is between 9-12k and more if I have it restored. Right now it's in process of being sent to a professional conservator in Boston (it has some foxing on the mat and it just needs some general work on it) and it's going to cost between 700-1300 to have the work done. It should be worth it the long run when it finally comes up at auction in the next couple months.

I don't have any secrets about what I do, I don't, for instance, get up at the crack of dawn to go to garage sales, etc., I just stop by in between my other work when I have a moment or two. The thing I do is to watch the old episodes of Antiques Roadshow and similar show on Youtube just to get a feel for what things of value look like. I think I've learned more that way than studying books and the like. I love to learn about the history of the object I found online, it's almost like taking a mini college class on a certain time period of our past.

Not meanin' to boast but just to share some of my own treasure hunting experiences and to say.......treasure is where you find it!

 

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[surface finder]

Thanks for sharing the treasures wilsonspaulding! I also hunt for the good stuff at thrift stores, in dumpsters, and second hand stores of all kinds. Your technique sounds a lot like my own: go regularly to similar spots and keep your eyes open. Thanks also for saying that "getting up at the crack of dawn" is not necessary to succeed at garage sale sailing. I've gotten out of the habit of stopping at sales because I figure the good stuff is gone. I need to reconsider that based on your advice. I've picked up some great stuff over the years and know that there is not a person out there ahead of me with all the time and money and knowledge to get all the good stuff before me. I found a lot of treasure in your post.

-surface finder

 

[dejapooh]

Thanks for sharing the treasures wilsonspaulding! I also hunt for the good stuff at thrift stores, in dumpsters, and second hand stores of all kinds. Your technique sounds a lot like my own: go regularly to similar spots and keep your eyes open. Thanks also for saying that "getting up at the crack of dawn" is not necessary to succeed at garage sale sailing. I've gotten out of the habit of stopping at sales because I figure the good stuff is gone. I need to reconsider that based on your advice. I've picked up some great stuff over the years and know that there is not a person out there ahead of me with all the time and money and knowledge to get all the good stuff before me. I found a lot of treasure in your post.

-surface finder

Many of my best finds have happened after noon. Many times, once the early crowd thins out, the homeowner goes back into the house and pulls out a bunch of other stuff they weren't sure would sell, they weren't sure they wanted to sell, and so on. Some Great bargains happen late.