Drummed up something interesting

[gravityrules]

Thanks to all of you posters, I have enjoyed reading about your finds over the last months. Seems like there's something new to learn every day!
My 15 yr old son enjoys 'garage saling' with me and we have found some interesting items this summer. We're not serious 'hunters' but we do enjoy seeing if we can find something of interest, and hopefully some value.

Late this Saturday we stopped at a sale with an odd assortment of items on the front drive. It was extremely hot outside and we didn't see anyone running the sale at first. A couple of minutes later a woman came out of the air conditioned house to check on us. Nothing was marked, the items were not organized. I spotted this snare drum down low among other household items. I asked 'how much' and she replied "5 bucks?".
I don't know much about drums, but I could tell this was an older, well made drum so why not?

It is a Tama Imperialstar chrome snare drum from the mid 80's, made in Japan. It does have a bit of surface pitting but looks to be in decent shape otherwise. They were made in 3 models, the top line MasterCraft, the King Beat, and Powerline but there's some variation in features on this one that make it difficult to positively identify.

I put in on the local Craigslist this morning and it sold within 2 hours at $50 ... perhaps I priced it a bit low ... but I enjoyed the find, researching the drum, and selling it to someone who was thrilled to have it.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[Paleo_joe]

I am a drummer and I just traded away that exact snare!
I LOVE to find old drums. My problem is that I sell them, then wish I hadn't.

 

[diggummup]

That's a pretty quick sale for Craigslist. I like researching many of the things I buy myself.

 

[Loco-Digger]

That was a quick turn for profit. Congrats, you spent your time wisely.

 

[gravityrules]

Thanks for the kind comments. I don't think I've seen a real drum at a garage sale before, although I've seen some 'toy' drums.

I never know what to expect when posting on CL. I know a person that recently posted a pop up camper at a good price and he was flooded with texts and emails; 2nd person that looked at it bought it the next day. On the other hand a reasonably priced metal detector I posted didn't get any contacts for 4 weeks and then get texts from 2 different people interested within an hour of each other!

What are your thoughts about when to use CL (or some other local advertising venue) versus using Ebay? Is there a 'minimum value' that makes sense for CL since you have to arrange to meet and such?

 

[Tallone]

What are your thoughts about when to use CL (or some other local advertising venue) versus using Ebay? Is there a 'minimum value' that makes sense for CL since you have to arrange to meet and such?

I have sold many things on CL. CL has two distinct advantages: 1) No fees; and 2) No packing/shipping. The downside to CL is that you are selling into a much smaller market. I use CL for common things that a lot of people want (power tools, furniture, bicycles, etc.) but may be awkward to ship. Pretty much everything else goes on eBay.

Nice score on the drum.

 

[Baltimore]

What Tallone said. CL is for big stuff that isn't worth the time to ship. If you've got something big that'll profit $500, by all means ship it, but if you've got a $100 item that would cost $100 to ship, that is the time for CL. Bikes an furniture as mentioned above, big auto parts, building materials, large appliances are all good. Although I would say that ebay is a pretty good marketplace for selling cars, way less deadbeats and a huge viewership. I sold a rare car on there for a price I never would have gotten on CL, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Plus, they give you 6 free vehicle listings per year, so you've got nothing to loose.

 

[gravityrules]

I have sold many things on CL. CL has two distinct advantages: 1) No fees; and 2) No packing/shipping. The downside to CL is that you are selling into a much smaller market. I use CL for common things that a lot of people want (power tools, furniture, bicycles, etc.) but may be awkward to ship. Pretty much everything else goes on eBay.

Nice score on the drum.

Thanks Tallone, Baltimore. I agree with the big/bulky shipping criteria. I had not thought of CL as being a much smaller market since I'm part of a large metro area but that would explain why more unusual items may get no interest on CL. I was thinking there may also be a $ threshold where CL doesn't make sense; will people actually go to the trouble to buy something in person if it is a $15 item?

I had an odd CL/Ebay crossover experience this morning. I had one of those approx $15 items posted on both the local CL and Ebay; I had a buyer contact me through CL, but he was out of town and wanted me to ship it to him (he was paying for shipping and willing to pay with PayPal). I referred him to my BIN listing on Ebay. I had to pay the Ebay commission but felt better about this being a legitimate buyer.

 

[Baltimore]

yeah, I probably wouldn't do anything under $50 personally. Especially because a lot of people want to meet somewhere, and If I'm going to drive 20 mins away I better be making a decent return. Super local facebook free and for sale pages are good for low dollar cash sales, but the ones I use are tiny (specific city neighborhoods, so most people can just walk to my house and buy the item).

 

[gravityrules]

What are the odds of finding a second drum at a garage sale? This time it is a excellent condition, very lightly used Pearl Piccolo 13"x3" steel snare drum purchased for $15. Still has the original box.