Well I've posted some good ebay buys, this one may be embarrassingly bad.

[insontis]

Wasn't sure about making a post in regards to this recent purchase of mine (about 5 minutes ago recent), but honestly I feel slightly embarrassed on how much I may have just overpaid. Tried to eyeball this ebay listing.. even had the seller try to separate out the metals for me to better gauge a potential value. That being said my offer was more so based off of resale value.. so if I get skunked there I am dead in the water.

Anyway! To the purchase.. so I offered $153 shipped for this pile of.. well.. that's to be determined. It was accepted and whatever it contains is now mine. Would sure like a fellow treasure hunters opinion on this. Hopefully a diamond in the rough, perhaps? I'm hoping.

First we have the "misc jewelry", or as I like to call it, probably "junk"



Moving on we have the 10K gold, or as I like to call it "10K junk". Although those butterfly earrings might pull $15-25 bucks. Hopefully the pendant as well.



Next is the sterling.. Hopefully there is more weight than I think there is. But there seems to be a variety of wearable. Many $10+ a piece, me hopes.


Here is the "GF / GP" items


Here is some bracelet they say is marked only "sausalito craftworks".. haven't looked into yet but, also likely junk.


And here is a very interesting "unsorted" pile which, although I'd like to call it all junk, I can't help but feel there may be treasures in these waters..



So let's assume I'm likely skunked here.. anyone see any glimmers of hope in these items?


Oh - and I should mention I did get $11 in ebay bucks back.. totally worth it, right?

 

[insontis]

Starting with the sausalito craftworks bangle.. the only one for sale on eBay is being offering for $22 OBO+shipping.. So I'm going to call it hopefully $10 and move on from there. Not going to count my ebay bucks in this tally so I'm down to $143 in the hole..

Think I'll call the known 10K gold $43, between scrap and resale on the pendant/earrings.. bring me down to a nice even $100.

In theory I should have a lot of sterling items to bring $10 a piece, hopefully 10 of them, but I'm really not looking to break even or barely come out ahead. I'm hoping there's something(s) that can pull $30-50, however unlikely.. although I am eyeballing that belt buckle hard.

That mickey watch in the "unsorted" pile, last photo, appears to hold a value of around $25 if it works.. should also play music apparently.

 

[trdking]

Like anything else, if you put enough effort into it, you will recover. I think you definitely overpaid but put in the effort and I think you will make a little profit. Just don't do that again!

 

[insontis]

Like anything else, if you put enough effort into it, you will recover. I think you definitely overpaid but put in the effort and I think you will make a little profit. Just don't do that again!

I have to admit it was a bit of an impulse buy, certainly not garage sale prices to say the least. Think part of me knew they wouldn't accept an offer below a certain number, even though that number may have been too high for me to pay (didn't really think too much on that latter part).

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Well, you're treasure hunting! There's always risks in that. Hopefully with effort you'll do well. I've found some junk jewelry I liked better than the silver ones I've found.

Considering it's from eBay, I don't think I'd have gone that high. But I've still made my share of screw ups on eBay! So, who knows. You can always set up a table for yard sales and flea markets.

 

[insontis]

Definitely appreciate all of the sound, level headed, realistic comments to sit my bid happy ass down.

On the flip side, anyone else share the delusion of grandeur​ I had when I purchased this? Surely something in this mess has to hold a decent premium..

Scrap aside, surely there must be SIX $25 items I can pick out of this..

If the buckle is sterling, surely that's at least one.. cat people like cats, so I'm voting sterling cat brooch..

Not to stay exclusive to the sterling, but maybe the largest of the silver bangles, maybe someone that loves lapis takes the necklace at $25, but that's a stretch.. those earrings say $59.99, maybe someone bites at $25? Not sure what the bangle is on the far right but it appears interesting to say the least..

 

[trdking]

How does it go? F me once shame on you, F me twice, shame on me.
When I look at your photos, years of yard sale tables pass though my memory banks and the tally ticker says junk junk junk maybe. It does that because I have invested 40 years of training my brain by going over thousands of tables at yard sales. Today, I can spot a quality watch or a piece of gold jewelry while Im walking up the driveway. To cut it short. You have just paid for an education. Inspect every piece and learn from it. You paid for it Also understand that the person selling on eBay is just like you. As a rule they have bought this at yard sales and are looking to turn it for a profit. It has already been picked over before it is listed. Also understand that you are not the only picker on eBay. Thousands of treasure seekers are pouring over the listings just like you are. Unless the stars align and you catch a mistake minutes after you see it listed. chances are you have no good deal. I never buy resell items on eBay, I do use it extensively to make money. ( I have 2 full time employees that do nothing but list and sell on eBay) Find multiple day estate sales. Show up early the first day and cherry pick, show up the afternoon of the last day and bulk buy the rest for peanuts. Then list it on eBay You will do far better this way. Trust me

 

[trdking]

Definitely appreciate all of the sound, level headed, realistic comments to sit my bid happy ass down.

On the flip side, anyone else share the delusion of grandeur​ I had when I purchased this? Surely something in this mess has to hold a decent premium..

Scrap aside, surely there must be SIX $25 items I can pick out of this..

If the buckle is sterling, surely that's at least one.. cat people like cats, so I'm voting sterling cat brooch..

Not to stay exclusive to the sterling, but maybe the largest of the silver bangles, maybe someone that loves lapis takes the necklace at $25, but that's a stretch.. those earrings say $59.99, maybe someone bites at $25? Not sure what the bangle is on the far right but it appears interesting to say the least..

There is no doubt that with time you will make it back. But your effort costs money in the form of time. The basic rule of thumb is that you need to sell an item for 3 times what you paid in a reasonable amount of time so 1/3 cost of item 1/3 effort (overhead, table costs, time, cleaning marketing etc..) 1/3 Profit. If this math does not work, don't buy the item. That said, I like the horse earrings. the cat MEH see a million of em, the lapis, depends on the quality. Cheers and Keep on Pickin! There is money laying in the streets

 

[insontis]

How does it go? F me once shame on you, F me twice, shame on me.
When I look at your photos, years of yard sale tables pass though my memory banks and the tally ticker says junk junk junk maybe. It does that because I have invested 40 years of training my brain by going over thousands of tables at yard sales. Today, I can spot a quality watch or a piece of gold jewelry while Im walking up the driveway. To cut it short. You have just paid for an education. Inspect every piece and learn from it. You paid for it Also understand that the person selling on eBay is just like you. As a rule they have bought this at yard sales and are looking to turn it for a profit. It has already been picked over before it is listed. Also understand that you are not the only picker on eBay. Thousands of treasure seekers are pouring over the listings just like you are. Unless the stars align and you catch a mistake minutes after you see it listed. chances are you have no good deal. I never buy resell items on eBay, I do use it extensively to make money. ( I have 2 full time employees that do nothing but list and sell on eBay) Find multiple day estate sales. Show up early the first day and cherry pick, show up the afternoon of the last day and bulk buy the rest for peanuts. Then list it on eBay You will do far better this way. Trust me

I do agree that most people selling and buying on eBay are like me and that most buys are not below value. Surely garage sale, thrift store, etc buys are more easily found. I do find most of my eBay buys within minutes they are posted, mainly coins recently, but individual jewelry pieces as well. This is actually the most I've spent on a jewelry lot without knowing the precious metal weights (I've bought numerous as scrap price for the intent of resale.) This is a rare exception for me though. While it may be picked over already, I didn't get that vibe from this seller. They claim to not own a scale and were asking over double for the lot compared to what I paid. They also only had a few pictures posted originally and hadn't even separated out the metals (those photos were upon my request). It was an impulse buy for me for sure and I guess I was mainly considering resale value, not spot value. Normally I base my buys off of melt value as a safety net on eBay, but given the variety and number of items the treasure Hunter in me took over and committed to a bit of a gamble. Especially when looking at that "unsorted bit". Now I'm just trying to figure out where to get my money out of it. Granted, I just bought it and it hasn't even arrived here yet.

 

[insontis]

There is no doubt that with time you will make it back. But your effort costs money in the form of time. The basic rule of thumb is that you need to sell an item for 3 times what you paid in a reasonable amount of time so 1/3 cost of item 1/3 effort (overhead, table costs, time, cleaning marketing etc..) 1/3 Profit. If this math does not work, don't buy the item. That said, I like the horse earrings. the cat MEH see a million of em, the lapis, depends on the quality. Cheers and Keep on Pickin! There is money laying in the streets

Time is definitely a factor that I need to work on considering more. Of course I love picking the items that sell several times over the purchase price, but sometimes I think my boredom gets the best of me! Luckily this is more of a hobby for me than a source of income, but I'm definitely happy for any knowledge I acquire in the process.. I'd happily break even for priceless knowledge that makes my picking more profitable in the future.

 

[1320]

I'd throw it back up on ebay with a well crafted ad.....

 

[SCpicker]

Not sure what the bangle is on the far right but it appears interesting to say the least..

The bracelet on the far right is a tigers eye hinged bangle bracelet. With a little work I don't see you losing money. Although overall I think the profit margin is just too tight.

 

[releventchair]

Worse case ,keep the neat Mickey watch and look at it when bidding.

 

[trdking]

Time is definitely a factor that I need to work on considering more. Of course I love picking the items that sell several times over the purchase price, but sometimes I think my boredom gets the best of me! Luckily this is more of a hobby for me than a source of income, but I'm definitely happy for any knowledge I acquire in the process.. I'd happily break even for priceless knowledge that makes my picking more profitable in the future.

I make it a habit of not making Hobbies a business. You quickly lose interest in the Hobby I used to love Antiques of all kinds. Finding anything old was Magic. I was thrilled to death at a date nail or and old print or whatever. Until I bought an Antique Store Then everything was about what I pay vs what its worth and need to pay the rent. It ruined them for me.

 

[insontis]

I'd throw it back up on ebay with a well crafted ad.....

Well I was planning on doing that with at least a portion of it, although mainly individual pieces :P That may be the fate of the remaining junk though.

The bracelet on the far right is a tigers eye hinged bangle bracelet. With a little work I don't see you losing money. Although overall I think the profit margin is just too tight.

Thanks for the ID! I agree, I don't see myself losing money, but that isn't exactly the objective I was aiming for. Or rather - that's not what I normally aim for, but for some reason I aimed for this. Haven't received it yet so there's still a lot of speculation, but I've looked into a few pieces and their going rates and I think that I can clear quite a bit with a few pieces and get me close to even. That horse buckle in particular (from what I can tell) is likely the most valuable item in the lot. Selling/asking prices for those types of things are all over the place up to a few hundred dollars. Not going to be that optimistic, but $50 for it would sure make it a lot easier to get back to even. I still think that cat brooch can command a $20-25 BIN price tag, I've had luck with similar type items before and I don't see this one being more or less than what I've sold before, but it'll depend on the market and who is looking. The lapis - as trdking pointed out, will definitely depend on the quality, though I think the similar ones go for at $15-25 (of this sort of quality/size/shape). Worst case scenario I think those three pieces alone can put me around $80.. and then if I factor $10 for each of the nicer braceletsand $5 each for even half the remaining sterling it should put me pretty close to even..

That being said that just leaves the gold which is (mainly scrap and I would guess around 2 grams total), the GF/GP, the remaining costume and the "unsorted" pile. It definitely will be tight if I can't make at least my money back on the sterling, but I did have at least half of my wits about me when I bid on this - only half, mind you - but I did see some value here. I'll keep you guys posted and update you once I receive it and break down the "unsorted" bit.

 

[insontis]

Worse case ,keep the neat Mickey watch and look at it when bidding.

Lol, if it's that bad of a lot the Mickey watch is definitely getting sold at that point!

 

[Paleo_joe]

I consider it a good education to have to work to get my money back on something. It's the best way to learn. I cut my teeth buying on ebay to resell on ebay (trust me, there are "honey holes" where it can pay off). Now I do estate sales and if I don't buy the occasional bad deal, I ask myself if I am buying aggressively enough. No risk, no reward!

 

[insontis]

I consider it a good education to have to work to get my money back on something. It's the best way to learn. I cut my teeth buying on ebay to resell on ebay (trust me, there are "honey holes" where it can pay off). Now I do estate sales and if I don't buy the occasional bad deal, I ask myself if I am buying aggressively enough. No risk, no reward!

Definitely! And yeah there are steals on eBay all the time, it's just a matter of having more knowledge than the seller most of the time. And also knowing which sellers to avoid. For example I generally don't buy from professional resellers (most people I buy from have less than 100 feedback). If I do buy from someone who has a lot of feedback, it means I have reason to believe what they are selling isn't their area of expertise or I have seen several other items they are selling below their value (And I'll follow them like a shark).

 

[The_Piratess]

Too bad that they cut the eBay Bucks in half after the New Year as they really added up on large purchases.
Any good watches in the bunch?

 

[insontis]

Too bad that they cut the eBay Bucks in half after the New Year as they really added up on large purchases.
Any good watches in the bunch?

They did - but I waited until they had 8% ebay bucks back for this purchase, so $11+. It does suck they did that.. and they used to run 10% promos all the time and now it seems like just 8% anymore. There does seem to be a pocket watch in the last picture of "unsorted" as well as that mickey mouse watch with all the different countries on the face.. that one running seems to be worth $25, if it runs. I'll know more once it arrives - hopefully tomorrow!

edit: Of course after I post this eBay gives me a 10% off buying or selling promo, lol. Touche.