Missed Opportunities!?

[Tejaas]

Another time my dad pulled up to a sale and saw a guy walking out with a beautiful Winchester 1895? lever action rifle. He only saw if for a second but overheard the guy telling his friend he only paid 50.00 for it. .

If it actually was a '95 - A little part of me would have died right there.

Hell, even if it was a '94 - ouch.

 

[Beachkid23]

I saw another competitor that I'm friends with out and about. We came to an estate sale at the same time and I said you go first. He goes in the door and goes one way and I go right to the jewelry. He comes over and says how much for this silverware set? She says $50! The jewelry was good but it was overpriced so I didn't buy very much.... Needless to say he leaves and I see him a couple stops later and ask what that silverware set was.... a Gorham sterling set service for 8!

I could've made up for today though, I had an opportunity! another Gorham set service for 12. She only wanted $4000! I asked her if she would take my Honda minivan for trade and give me a ride home. Lol

 

[Beachkid23]

This one made me want to puke afterwards. I went to a house in Naples Florida, and if you're not familiar with this area there are a ton of rich people here. So I get to talking with this lady and she pulled out some silver coin's and this is just recently that I bought from her. So I was happy with that deal. She trust me so she said she had some jewelry she wanted me to weigh and tell her what the gold value of it was. Six pieces of jewelry, scrap gold melt value on the six pieces was $18,000. This bracelet she had was absolutely amazing. A necklace that was 150 g. This huge omega necklace, another necklace and a brooch and pendant that matched the huge bracelet. I offered her $15,000. She said she was not ready to sell them yet. (my wife would've killed me) and hopefully the check would've cleared.... she would not let me take a picture of them though and to be honest I don't really blame her. I have dreams about that bracelet though. It weighed as much as a full soda can. That would been a find of a lifetime for me.

 

[diggummup]

Yesterday I missed out on a whole room full of reloading equipment including a couple dozen different dies and 3 reloaders as well as the bench, massive amounts of brass and shot shells, cans of powder etc,. etc.
I just don't have the room for it all. The ladies having the sale didn't have a clue as to what is was all worth. I'm sure somebody got a heck of a deal. I paid the $10 asking price for a shoe box full of pistol grips and SKS and 45 auto magazines and took home a free box of gun related ephemera with it.

 

[bigcaddy64]

Yesterday I missed out on a whole room full of reloading equipment including a couple dozen different dies and 3 reloaders as well as the bench, massive amounts of brass and shot shells, cans of powder etc,. etc.
I just don't have the room for it all. The ladies having the sale didn't have a clue as to what is was all worth. I'm sure somebody got a heck of a deal. I paid the $10 asking price for a shoe box full of pistol grips and SKS and 45 auto magazines and took home a free box of gun related ephemera with it.

That has been my experience with loading gear. It's either sky high or a mystery object, to the seller, and can be had for nothing. I can think of two sales that illustrate the price spectrum. Both were professionally run as well.

I found a mint RCBS Rock chucker press with a set of new carbide .45 dies taped to it for 80.00. I sold the dies and got a mint press for 40.00. It replaced my Jr and I use it nearly every week. The second sale was an entire garage full of shotgun presses, mostly Ponsness Warren and Big Texans, starting at 200.00 or more. My friend bought them all to the tune of 3200.00. He made his money and then some but I would of passed. It was just too much stuff at too high of a price

 

[trdhrdr007]

I've done fairly well with reloading die sets picked up from estate sales. As long as they don't advertise reloading equipment there isn't much competition for it. If it's advertised it turns into a zoo. There are a half dozen guys that don't generally come to sales that will show up early that don't have any problem pushing & shoving in an attempt to be first into the room with the equipment at which time they loudly proclaim "I'm buying all of it". Rudest bunch I've ever seen at a sale.

 

[Drmad7]

I feel jinxed by this thread!! LOL! Today was several community sales and my 22nd Wedding Anniversary. My wife hates my hobby. But it worked out that the weather turned unusually cold and there were fewer pickers. I went to a sale on a cul de sac at 3pm. Grabbed a Fossil watch display with key for $5.00 because they were packing up the sale and wanted gone. Several pieces of Sterling cufflinks and tie tacks for $2.00 each set because the husband was not as accommodating as his pregnant wife. He goes in the house and she says "Feel free to go through the boxes and if the price is too high, make me an offer, I don't really care. Just want it gone." I start picking out stuff and come across a cheap watch in a baggie with paper that I can see partially "..4kt" written. It has $5.00 on the bag and "768" or something like that. I pick it up and say "I don't know that the price is(I didn't see the $5 written until JUST THAT MOMENT!). And I didn't not notice the wife had left and her husband had come out. BTW, there was at least 3 gold looking rings in the bag. The husband grabbed them up, looked at the bag, opened it, took out everything and said. "How about $2.00 for the watch?" He examines the rings and says "Looks like my wife is trying to sell gold rings for $5.00!". The rings were not huge, but at least two had what appeared to be decent sized diamonds is CZs. I'll say CZs because it makes me feel better.

 

[batcap]

The only time I groaned so loud people asked if I was ok, I saw a guy walk out of the estate sale with a top-o-the-line White's underwater metal detector. I was still 10th in line to the door. I did manage to pull out a shoe box full of civil war bullets that I posted about at the time. I also got a super heavy-duty wet-sand and surf beach scoop. It seems to be of custom design and suitable for wading. My Garrett AT-Pro was not up to the saltwater and trash of Atlantic City, so it sits, its gun-tape handle peeling, on my back deck ever since.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

The one that bites the MOST.......

10 acres for $25,000 - totally undelevoped - Broward Cty, Fl.
No water, electric, sewage, cable, nothing connected yet.
Fast forward 20 years...... That same land is now worth $400,000.00 per acre.
I try not to dwell, but it pops into my mind, every now and then.

 

[ARC]

Lots of vacant land in what is now the Pasadena Yacht club in Gulfport Fl.
Asking price 25 years ago... MAX $50k each.

same lots... IF vacant of house... 1.2 million.
Waterfronts.

Guy I know bought 1 for 50k...
built a fortress of a home on it.

Sold it in October of 2013 for $2,350,000

 

[tamrock]

Doesn't bug me so much anymore. Won't do any good crying over a spilt glass of milk. Should of, Would of, Could of has no true meaning. You snooze you loose is what I tell myself. Better luck next time is all I can hope for. Sometimes I've noticed missing a smoking deal is a sign something better is to come.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

LOL @AARC, yeah, I'd be a building a compound, too!
That's me waving from behind the compound wall.....

You're right Tamrock, can't dwell or let that bird build a nest in your head, drive ya crazy, it will.
Best reason I was ever given for the "don't woulda/coulda/shoulda" was:

You're alive. You did everything right.

 

[bigcaddy64]

Lots of vacant land in what is now the Pasadena Yacht club in Gulfport Fl.
Asking price 25 years ago... MAX $50k each.

same lots... IF vacant of house... 1.2 million.
Waterfronts.

Guy I know bought 1 for 50k...
built a fortress of a home on it.

Sold it in October of 2013 for $2,350,000

I was talking with an acquaintance (Tim) at a sale who is maybe 62-65? and he shared a similar story. He worked at a supermarket when he was a young teen (14 or 15) and made friends with an coworker that was 18-20 years old. The older guy was trying to sell my friend a 1 acre parcel of land he purchased and was trying to make a quick buck. Tim wasn't sure so thought it over and asked his dad a few weeks later. His dad said you should always buy land, "if you can afford it and the opportunity presents itself" so Tim went back to buy it.

The older co-worker wasn't at the store any more because he went off to Vietnam. He never returned and Tim never did figure out what happened to that piece of land. The parcel in question was a hillside plot, overlooking the Malibu lagoon in Malibu, CA. It was adjacent to the Lilly Lawrence "Malibu Castle House" which is a 2.51 acre lot. The land sold for 16 million about 7 years ago after the house burnt to the ground.

 

[SDIceMan]

This isn't so much a missed opportunity as a blown one. I bought a mid-century chair and ottoman at an estate sale with the knowledge that I would be traveling to Palm Springs in a few days time. Now, when I think mid century modern, I think Palm Springs, so I had the brilliant idea to throw the chair and ottoman in my van and put it on craigslist Palm Springs while I was there to make a little extra spending money. To make a long story short, my master plan went off without a hitch, and I met a local buyer in Palm Springs who happily paid me my $150 asking price for the chair and ottoman. Fast-forward two weeks and I am researching something unrelated online when I see the exact chair and ottoman in an Adrian Pearall catalog from the 1960s. Adrian Pearsall is an extremely sought after mid century designer. The chair is known as the Havana lounge chair. Each example I can find online, primarily on the 1stDibs website, shows as 'sold'. One seller has the chair on eBay right now for an asking price of $3900, although my chair needed reupholstering or at least a couple of buttons replaced. Chalk this one up as an expensive learning experience. I am normally better than that, but I think my approaching vacation and the lure of a quick buck clouded my judgment. Better luck to you guys, and happy hunting!
My former chair:

Online comparable:

 

[cheech]

Here's one of my missed opportunities could've got it for a dollar
Could have sold up to $600 lesson learned.

 

[dejapooh]

Just this last weekend, a guy standing next to me asked for some Jewlery. The woman said, "Only a couple of pieces Tiffany." I asked if he could see them. He pulled 3 pieces of silver out of the first Tiffany baggy. A heavy sterling keyring, a ring, and the nice fine necklace with a pendant with the letter "B" on it. The second baggy had a Pearl Bracelet with a gold clasp and a crown Pendant (silver looking)... I knew, tiffany, nothing is gold colored. I'm DROOLING. He asked the price. She says, "$10 per piece." I am DYING to throw down $50 for it all, but I am not an ass (much).

He looks at the pearl bracelet under a loot, feels the pearls with this teeth, and says, "Would you take $8?"

I yell, "I'll give you $10!" but I don't, because I'm still not much of an ass...

He drops the silver, and she takes his $8. Consolation Prize for me, 3 pieces of Silver, and the silvery crown with a really tiny 14k on it for $30.

Looking on Ebay now, I don't see anything with that type of gold clasp on it.

 

[jerseyben]

Flea market this past weekend: I am roaming around EARLY asking people for records/coins. Dude says yes. Ok, what do you have? He tells me he has silver dollar coins but not Morgans or Peace dollars, they are bullion. I am about to ask to see them and he says oh they are all slabbed MS69 or something. I am looking at this guy and his stuff and Im thinking to myself, he is gonna want the moon for these. Coins in my area are almost always overpriced. I asked to see them and he tells me he still has to unload the rest of his stuff to get to them. Ok, thanks anyway I tell him and I went on my way to continue shopping. About an hour later, I run into my buddy who was shopping at the same flea market. He tells me he just snatched up 5 silver eagles for $20 each! He shows them to me. They were all PCGS MS70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!! Lesson learned... The hard way.

 

[dejapooh]

Heres the pendant... Looks silver... White gold? BTW, 10k not 14k...