Back In The Saddle!

The PDXpicker learning to refinish furniture. We will update pictures throughout the process!

Done for the day

Today was a decent day. The Fitz and Floyd reindeer sold on eBay. Two other items did not. That’s ok because they will come with me to the Salem Collectors Market. The market is next to the Oregon Fairgrounds which is also having a bridal expo. I may bring some Fostoria Americana and some blue older things.

I need to coordinate with Kevin the shipping of our 2 sales (so far) from this week. Nothing interesting on Craigslist other than the guns I’ve flagged.

As for the ad front, yesterday I had 95 impressions today which generated 1 view. That cost me about 12 cents.

In the mean time I checked out some of the Etsy blogs and forums and posted. I joined 2 teams, and I added 4 people to my circle. This generated 5 views.

It’s going to take some work, but I will have an empire built on antiques!

Trying a little advertising

We had an sale on our Etsypage the other day. It’s a cute Sterling cigar cutter which sold for $18. We paid less than a dollar.

We’ve been averaging 10-20 views a day. I’ve decided to take the plunge and pay $5 for etsy advertising. That should get 4000 impressions per week. Not views, but impressions. This means they’ll show the links to people up to 4000 times.

I’ll share results as the week progresses. I’m hoping more revenue will be generated!

Good day part two

Our final sale of the day by far had the best value for our dollars. They are estate buyers/cleaners who don’t look up their prices. We’ll definitely be back!

We picked up an awesome Royal Standard typewriter. This typewriter is the first model Royal made. There are 3 models of Royal that are highly collectible, the Standard, #5 and #10. Researching this machine, I’ve found that collectors will pay quite a bit for this piece.

It’s up on eBay now!

It was a good day

Today was an awesome day for finds and new contacts. We went to an estate sale because they had historic guns. However, they wanted 4xs retail prices for them! All the collectibles were in bad condition. When I did get to checkout, the operator was kvetching about how all she sells is cheap household items and not the antiques. I handed her 50 cents for a ring case and left. The irony was not lost on me. I plan on using it for display purposes at sales and for Etsy pictures.

We stopped at 7-11 for some much needed caffeine and water. Mapped out our next sale and headed out. Part way down the road I saw a random estate sale sign and took a hard right into a group of condos/townhouse.

The house had a cute yet cranky 12 y/o kitty (occupational hazard). It was filled with some tchotchkes and what nots. Nothing grabbed me at quick glance. And then I did the slow look across the mantle. I see a clear item that looks like an eagle etched into it. I step closer, and I see on the base of the item a plaque that reads “With Deep Appreciation Richard Nixon November 1972”. (Picker Kevin loves Nixon by the way.) It’s a thank you gift from Nixon with the presidential seal given to Whitehouse aids and campaign contributors and it was marked $2! (Sadly it’s missing it’s original case and letter, together it books for $200.)

We beat feet and then we hit the final sale of the day. We got awesome items there. But, I’m not going to tell you about them yet. The best item needs some cleaning. Then we’ll get some pictures and share tomorrow.

This was all followed by late brunch and an extraordinarily long and needed nap.

Auctions are fun

Auctions can be great sources of goods and entertainment. They can be a source of loss and sadness. The risk/reward quotient is what draws many to the television auction programs.

Tonight I was inspired by the auction shows to do some searching for local auctions. I renewed our Proxibid account and caught a bit of an auction located in Aurora, OR. I saw an set of items that I think I sold to the consignor. It’s very likely that after fees they made nothing. Unless I sold it to the auction house. If that’s the case…no it can’t be my items!

I also I watched some legitimate graded by PSA and Beckett Mickey Mantle cards and a Willie Mays. They sold between $300-$600 each. Not in my price range, but fun to watch!

The trick to online auctions is knowing the terms of the auction house. In my experience never bid in an auction that won’t let you see bidding or results as they happen. Some houses charge bidders almost 20% in addition to the cost to the seller! Then there’s shipping costs.

Remember buyer beware, set spending limits, but have fun!

Learn, evolve or stay home

Hi. The Pickers are both still sick. We didn’t estate sales at all this weekend, however we have already had a bid on one of the items picked up Saturday night from the 2 boxes portion of the lamp deal.

What this week is proving that we need to keep our eyes open for deals constantly. And we shouldn’t be dismissive of items because we don’t know anything about them.

If quality is there, it looks cool, and it’s cheap, then buy it. The absolute worse thing that happens is you pull only your money out of an item when it resells, or you have something in your house that’s cool!

Best case scenario, you make a high percentage return. We’ve done that recently. When the worst case scenario happens, don’t get down on yourself. Remember the experience as a lesson and move on with your buying!

Aloha!

Sadly, I did not feel up to sales today. This doesn’t mean I wasn’t picking. I just kept myself in bed and scanned Craigslist in between naps.

Later in the afternoon, I came across a sweet Art Deco lamp by Nuart. I have yet to decide how that will be sold. When Kevin made the meet up call (I have nasty laryngitis today) he thankfully suggested we’d buy other items the seller may have. The gentleman said he’d bring 2 more boxes of goods from the estate.

We met up in Wilsonville, in the freezing fog. Since it was so cold, the gentleman sold us the 2 boxes for $20!

Now, not everything is an valuable item, and some things have already traveled down the trash chute. (Thanks Nathan) But I have 2 new things up on eBay.

A pair of mid-century Native American moccasins and a plastic Flamingo ukelele.

Now it’s time for me to pull out more blankets and get to sleep!

Sick of being sick!

Good evening picker fans! This week I have been remiss in my duties as a blogger and in adding items to our Etsy Page. I was almost over last week’s cold, and I started coming down with a different cold. Hence, I haven’t felt like doing anything.

However, I hope to rectify this slightly this evening. This evening I have posted 1 item to our Etsy store. It’s a really cool 14 inch Wild Rose Weller Vase. It has cool double handles. It’s 1930s awesomeness. We took it out to the Salem Collectors Market a couple months ago, but we didn’t find the right fans that day. I’m thinking Etsy will reach the right fans.

Earlier this week, I also posted a cool set of Pixie Elf Ornaments and wow, I have a bid. W00t! (I turned off my banner notifications on my phone and just realized it now.) Not too bad for being sick.

So Pickers, I leave you with this. Take vitamins, get shots, bundle up and stay dry. Go to bed early, because you have to wake up and buy antiques.

I miss you garage sale season!

We ventured out to 3 estate sales today. The first was an absolute mad house. There were many collectible items at slightly less than retail prices.

The problem being the operator didn’t keep crowd management in mind because he didn’t want to stand in at the door with the sign up sheet in the cold. So more than 100 people were allowed into the house in 15 minutes.

I was pushed many times and Kevin took an elbow to the eye. We picked up only 2 items, which we hope to double our money.

You see with garage sale season this doesn’t happen as badly. There’s more places for people to shop.