How do you go about educating on what to pick?

Backstrap80 · Apr 10, 2015

I've done some cherry picking on obvious mistake sterling etc but I'm wondering how you guys gain a broader knowledge of watches, art, paintings, costume jewelry, "modernist" I need to google that word

Thanks for any tips. This looks like fun and I want to try it.

2Minnesota · Apr 10, 2015

Time, time, and more time searching the Internet and thrift stores, sales etc for what is selling and how much it's selling for. It's a hobby or extra income for most of us (I'm guessing) but there are some that do it as their full time job. Get out and start looking at things and if it looks good then look it up. See if it's worth buying/reselling.

kingskid1611 · Apr 10, 2015

And when just starting out, don't spread yourself to wide. Find something you are interested in and work that to get the hang of it, then broaden your interest and knowledge.

Scrambler65 · Apr 10, 2015

Agree with 2Minnesota, it's all about research. The following is a bit basic but you may find it helpful. The easiest way to start is to figure out what you may interested in, say it's watches. Then go to ebay and filter your search results to sold listings. You will see exactly what watches are sold for. Better yet filter the sold listing from highest price to lowest, now you know exactly what the highest selling watch brands are and which ones you really need to be on the look out for.

Often overlooked is the public library. Get a library card, log on to your local library system and check out pricing guides on anything from pottery to vintage clothing. Then take lots of notes once you get the books. These types of books are generally considered educational material and typically can be checked out for twice the length of normal materials.

We sell anything that will make money. So it's not uncommon for me to spend 4 to 8 hours a week doing nothing but research.

You can also do the smart phone thing and look things up right at the thrift store. However I prefer printed lists and memorization. Cant tell you how many times I blow by people at the Goodwill with their head buried in their smart phones looking things up, snatching up things they never get to. The only thing better is grabbing some $2.00 item they put down because they couldnt find the pricing info on Ebay when I know darn well the thing is worth $80.00.

Best of luck. Have patience, learn from your mistakes, dont spend too much money while learning, and remember the next good flip may only be a few feet down the isle.

frankendime · Apr 10, 2015

ARC · Apr 10, 2015

Time...
Over time you develop what is called "An Eye"...

You get "An eye" for things.

vwayne1 · Apr 10, 2015

Research on eBay, but don't listen to people telling you not to use phones at sales. Complete nonsense. Printed materials? No. You could have a book as big as a New York phone book and not cover all the variations of different items your looking for. Use your phone, make some money, and laugh all the way to the bank.

austin · Apr 10, 2015

Scrambler65 hit it perfect. The library or a bookstore will have stuff on collectibles and pricing guides. If you want to be able to pick out a broad range of things, practice, practice, practice. It takes time. I cheated. My way of doing it was a Master's in History and a partnership in an antique store for several years. Easier way is experience and research. Get out there and search. There are some great finds to be had and some serious money to be made. I haven't really searched for several years and there were still serious gaps in my knowledge. Things I didn't like I never learned too much about. My partner and I were pretty successful. I knew glass, stained glass, relics and western stuff. She knew Texas primitive and all furniture. We both loved jewelry. Just go have fun and good luck...

Drmad7 · Apr 11, 2015

Definitely read and study the Ebau "sold" listings. And read everything you can on treasure net! I scored over $700 in sterling silver(spent $36) from the info I gained here. I am going to an auction later today with the hope of scoring some very nice earrings with info I learned here. For me, the "eye" comes "naturally" because I grew up reading magazines like "GQ", "Robb Report", and "Conde N'est" etc.. and I tend to recognize the quality of items that are well made. Its a running joke at my job that i have the "tastes of a 65 year old White woman" and its true(Im aBlack male LOL). Those ladies are my biggest competition! And I will give you some advice: The items that were collected by the older generation...Fiesta ware and different types of pottery and anything that you can think of along those lines, that generation is dying off and those collections are hitting the marketplace everyday. The prices are slowly going down. A good place to focus for sales is what the current collectors in their mid 30s-50s wants to collect. Think Brady Bunch era. Most folks want to remember their childhood, so they want the toy they used to own or never got the chance to own. Or something their parent or grandparent had in their home. That's the stuff that will make good money.
People ask me what do I buy sell, and I tell them "Everything and Anything that will make me money...but I have to like it. In case I get stuck with it!"

Beans · Apr 11, 2015

Be prepared to have a lot of stuff around, not everything sells, then you have to decide 1. Keep it for later time 2. Have your own garage sale 3. Donate/give it away 4. Trash it. I only deal in one area right now. Trying to get into sports (not cards). I do not use a smart phone, like some of the people on here I like the old way. If I like the item I will go home and research. This helps my instinct and keeps my mind active. One important thing I have learned is If it is meant for me to have an item it will be there if I am first in line or last in line. I no longer run and try to beat everyone to the estate sale. This way I am more relaxed and don't impulse buy.

It is also important to know what not to buy as what to buy.

ivan salis · Apr 11, 2015

lots of reading and studying

Red James Cash · Apr 11, 2015

I've done some cherry picking on obvious mistake sterling etc but I'm wondering how you guys gain a broader knowledge of watches, art, paintings, costume jewelry, "modernist" I need to google that word
Thanks for any tips. This looks like fun and I want to try it.

Go to your library and start reading.

Beachkid23 · Apr 11, 2015

To kill time I like to go to antique stores and antique malls. Look at all the stuff people have for sale in their price tags. Time is definitely good help. I'm sure I pass up a lots of items I have no idea what they're worth so maybe worth a small fortune. Sold listings on eBay are also good help. And then if you have the opportunity to learn from other collectors as well. I love sitting down and talking to people that used to collect things or just old-timers who have been doing this a long time!

Scrambler65 · Apr 11, 2015

vwayne1 said:
Research on eBay, but don't listen to people telling you not to use phones at sales. Complete nonsense. Printed materials? No. You could have a book as big as a New York phone book and not cover all the variations of different items your looking for. Use your phone, make some money, and laugh all the way to the bank.

Vwayne1, I really was not clear in my statement and certainly don't want to tell anyone starting out smart phones are a bad thing. I use a phone when I run into an item I am not familiar with and it's made a big difference. I think a smart phone can play an key part in ones overall buying strategy. For those starting out by all means use the smart phone. What I wanted to convey is that when I started to document and learn literally thousands of things worth buying my effectiveness in buying took off. Especially for unique items with little or no pricing history.

As far as printed material I don't take books with me. I research for the best items in a category, memorize a bunch, then plug as much as I can into a spread sheet which I print out 2 sided at 10 font on a few pages. So for instance; when I am going on a shoe buy I grab a few sheets of paper containing hundreds of brands or styles to snap up. I can literally process huge shoe racks at any thrift store in about a 10th the time I could using a smart phone.

I do however use a stack of reference books from the library when I settle in for some serious ebay, etsy, bonanza sniping.

vwayne1 · Apr 13, 2015

Scrambler. That makes sense. Sounds like you're in it for the long haul. Good job. I've been buying and selling since I was about 12 (I'm 47 now). I used to dumpster dive for recyclables and resellables. Started on ebay in 98 and it truly changed everything. Anybody can step up and make good money with little investment. But like you say, you have to learn to truly effective.

hvacker · Apr 13, 2015

I was in the antique business briefly. I inherited a store and spent awhile selling the contents. What I learned about antique dealers is many are knowledgeable about a very small number of areas. Example one might know a lot about glass and nothing about furniture. Or know glass but not jewelry.
Most can never be good at everything and most that do casual collecting will miss the big one simply because they didn't know. I once found an Enfield bayonet from the Civil War in a box of old tools. It's value is around $250.
I knew a potter that was at a show and spotted a American Indian black plate signed by Maria Martinez. Instead of buying the plate he bought the whole table so not to draw suspicion.
It's also disappointing with how many reproductions are made. Seems almost anything is being reproduced.
A lot can be learned from antique appraiser books. The pictures and pricing can at least make a person more aware of the thousands of markets out there. Reproduced old catalogs like Sears are good for tuning in on the age of things. There are collector books on most everything, even whirligigs.
Some of the best bargains can be found in resale shops. many times they won't know what they have. I like the ones that rent booth space for sellers.

Nickleanddime · Apr 13, 2015

Get to know what's trending right now. Like right now is my generation and my parents age people looking for stuff from their childhood. Like clothing they use to wear, toys, vacation reminders with the family, concert shirts, stuff like that.

Also watch the newer "picking" shows of any kind. People see items on there then get itchy to have them items. Even reruns will spur buying trends in certain product. Watching them also will get you current "retail" prices of the items. Another great show for antiques and collectables that your likely to find local is Antiques Roadshow, great great show for deep info into items. I spend hours a day searching keywords or items I see in the thrift stores and at Thursday Friday garage sales. Then go back later or next day pick them up. People around here look for certain key items and their cheap, I'm talking $1.00 will cut them out of making $50 because they claim it cuts into their profit lol. Sports stuff sells great. I'm not talking new stuff it better have 5 years or retired player to be good. Gameday bobble heads of certain players are great. Picked up one last year and went the whole village sale and was leaving when I looked it up and seen it was a easy 35, ran back and still there for that buck. And it's a huge huge sale.

Some kitchen stuff and housewares are good items but tough to tell what they'll get in return and how long you'll have it. Any good knife is a good seller.

Stay away from Name brand clothing I.e. Aeropostale American eagle old navy stuff like that. Every thrift store and g sale is full of that stuff. I do really well on jerseys 5 years or older, again players from my age (30) and up. Popular I products are great but you'll pay what eBay is and you gotta watch to make sure they are not locked or stolen.
Well hope this helps a little good luck.

Here's a short list of what people eat up fast:
Old pocket or kitchen knives
New chef quality knives
Flat screen tvs
My area DVDs
Old fishing stuff
Camping equipment
Tin toys
Barbie stuff
Rustic, farmhouse items
Sports equipment
Athletic apparel I.e north face
Name brand Older gaming stuff, aftermarket check first
Graphing calculators

tamrock · Apr 14, 2015

Move to where Beachkid lives and start following him around :laughing7:

. A little industrial espionage can go a long way. That's part of what I did for a living back in the 1990's - it saves a ton of money on engineering and design finding out what the competition is doing... If you can't move, start tailing other treasure hunters in the thrift stores. They're, easy to recognize. They move slow and take time looking things over very well. They also have a certain reaction when they do come across something good. They don't get excited and start acting inconspicuously. Strike up conversation with these other treasure hunters if you can, some pickers just love to brag about all their success and will offer some very helpful information or they just like to help others in the hunt like some of us do here. Develop a good eye as, ARRC mentioned. Research of collectibles, antiques and brands is key. Get started on that. Don't always trust your smartphone, try and store all you can in your head.

Beachkid23 · Apr 14, 2015

tamrock said:
Move to where Beachkid lives and start following him around . A little industrial espionage can go a long way. That's part of what I did for a living back in the 1990's - it saves a ton of money on engineering and design finding out what the competition is doing... If you can't move, start tailing other treasure hunters in the thrift stores. They're, easy to recognize. They move slow and take time looking things over very well. They also have a certain reaction when they do come across something good. They don't get excited and start acting inconspicuously. Strike up conversation with these other treasure hunters if you can, some pickers just love to brag about all their success and will offer some very helpful information or they just like to help others in the hunt like some of us do here. Develop a good eye as, ARRC mentioned. Research of collectibles, antiques and brands is key. Get started on that. Don't always trust your smartphone, try and store all you can in your head.

Best advice yet. In fact you can drive! I'm glad gas prices are lower definitely spent a lot of money on gas last year or so. I've taken two guys around with me before. The one decided he'd open a handyman business and he's doing very well. I sometimes work for him to for about $25 an hour. The other guy wasn't really interested in looking for jewelry but he started getting into toys and they have done very well for themselves He passes out a card that says looking for toys for my daughter with this phone number and a list of toys he likes to buy.

One night when you have nothing to do go on eBay and type in the word vintage hit search then completed listings price plus shipping, highest first. Do toys and hats and clothing and just about anything you can think of. When you're done with vintage go to the next word that strikes your mind.

Another thing I started to ache was selling things on consignment for other people. I don't like doing it that much anymore unless it's a good return but charge 30% which includes eBay fees it gets me into their house and I get to pick out what I want to sell for them. It's turned into now where I go to their house and just buy their stuff because I don't want to be bothered with how annoying they get when you sell their stuff it's not done within the first week and they want their money instantly. But when you come across an item that sells for three or four $5000 and you get to make 15% or 20% off of that thing it's well worth it. It can be a pain real quick though but helps you get product and some income as well.

tamrock · Apr 14, 2015

Beachkid23 said:
Best advice yet. In fact you can drive! I'm glad gas prices are lower definitely spent a lot of money on gas last year or so. I've taken two guys around with me before. The one decided he'd open a handyman business and he's doing very well. I sometimes work for him to for about $25 an hour. The other guy wasn't really interested in looking for jewelry but he started getting into toys and they have done very well for themselves He passes out a card that says looking for toys for my daughter with this phone number and a list of toys he likes to buy.

One night when you have nothing to do go on eBay and type in the word vintage hit search then completed listings price plus shipping, highest first. Do toys and hats and clothing and just about anything you can think of. When you're done with vintage go to the next word that strikes your mind.

Another thing I started to ache was selling things on consignment for other people. I don't like doing it that much anymore unless it's a good return but charge 30% which includes eBay fees it gets me into their house and I get to pick out what I want to sell for them. It's turned into now where I go to their house and just buy their stuff because I don't want to be bothered with how annoying they get when you sell their stuff it's not done within the first week and they want their money instantly. But when you come across an item that sells for three or four $5000 and you get to make 15% or 20% off of that thing it's well worth it. It can be a pain real quick though but helps you get product and some income as well.

I just did what you said...What came to mind was matchbooks. Latest sales record on ebay for a single matchbook, I see was a old coca cola one that sold for $464.00 and big collections can go higher. Those were free and still are. I remember when I was in Texas in the 80s they charge 3 cents for a book of matches. I think I got a little outraged the first time they said there 3 cents now.