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Since this is a small community, I do not have near the reservations about adding advice and niches to look out for that I would on a place like Reddit.
My big BOLO are Edison Blue Amberol Cylinders. I look for these ALWAYS. Like most things, many of them are common and only bring a few $$ a piece. The great thing is they are all numbered! The low numbers are the common ones (though things like Christmas carols, patriotic songs, and other rarer titles still command good money). The real money is in the 5000+ series, and especially 5400+. Those were made as the cylinders were being phased out for records. They were made up until 1929. Anything above 5400 will command good money. If you can combine the number with a popular artist like the Georgia Melodians, then you will likely have a several hundred $$ item. The best one I found was Edison Blue Amberol #5713 My Sin – Fox Trot by Golden Gate Orchestra. There were only 109 ever made and that was in 1929!! it sold for $758 on auction. I probably could have made $1000+ if I listed it as a fixed price.
On top of selling, they are a really cool piece of history!!
Hope this helps someone and good luck!
Joshua
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Awesome!…I’ll be picking up auctions on the weekends coming up after Thanksgiving..Looking forward to all the treasures in the box lots!
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I hope you get some good things in the box lots! I probably source about 60-70% of my inventory from auctions at this point.
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same here–in my case about 80% of my merchandise comes from auctions–I love it, the local auction house went all online, and it is great for me, I can shop in my PJs and then the pick-up is only 15 mins away.
As for BOLOs–definitely bongo drums, I have sold every set I have found, I sell them for around $35, people love them for Tiki decor, etc.
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Mostly estate auctions since that is what I have in the area, but occasionally there will be a consignment auction or a collection auction that is limited to one item type. Estate auctions are nice for the variety, but sometimes it takes forever to get to the stuff I’m interested in. One local company does everything online which saves me some time since I’m not sitting onsite all day, but they will ship items so the audience of bidders is bigger. A plus for the online stuff is that I can usually do some good eBay research before bidding so I don’t spend $5 on something I think is cool just to find out they only sell for $10.
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I recommend looking out for NATURAL tool sharpening stones, (not the manmade ones) you can pick them up for very little money and when they are cleaned up they can make loads of ££’s or $$$’s If you do some research in sold items you will soon learn what to look out for.
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We’ve found a couple of these but they don;t sell well for us. What brands do you like to find?
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Regarding natarul sharpening stones, no brands just look out for one that are irregular in shape, quiet often they are in a wooden box, lift them out and look at the bottom and see if they look like a natural rock face. Always list them on the GSP as mine almost always sell to someone in Russia. I always clean them up of all the old oil contamination with Oxy Clean. I don’t know what you would call it in the states but its a powder that you add in with your washing detergent.
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Here are a few of my thrift-shop BOLO items. I might have mentioned these before, in the old format:
Monroe Salt Works Pottery: I found my first piece of this discontinued pottery at the dump, and have since found several other pieces at various thrifts. http://ebay.to/2iWZZLz
Old Spouter Pottery: I mention this because although a lot of it looks sort of kitschy and therefore might not catch your eye, it’s got a rabid following: http://ebay.to/2iWRUqg
Marblehead Pottery: I’ve only found one piece in the wild, but it’s a good name to know: http://ebay.to/2iuDCMr
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Thanks for the pottery BOLOs! Here’s another one that I found by accident and seem to run into often afterwards. Fischer Budapest pottery, or Fischer J. Budapest pottery. I love it because it’s very distinctive and it’s kind of ugly to most people so nobody will pick it up. But it’ll sell for hundreds on eBay.
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@Doublythumbs, thanks so much! I’ve never seen it in the wild (to my knowledge, anyway) but it’s definitely a good name to know. So understated, too! /s
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I don’t know how much longer this one is going to last but be on the lookout for: LILLY PULITZER STARBUCKS S’WELL SWELL WATER BOTTLE LIMITED EDITION. They may be at your local Starbucks though I hear that very few of them are getting these and the ones that did, people are buying them ALL. I already checked out the ‘bucks near me with no luck.
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Another BOLO is studio/handmade pottery. I do well with interesting pieces which don’t even necessarily have a recognizable signature. Good forms, interesting glazes (browns don’t generally do super-well, but YMMV) — I’ve sold many pieces to decorators and designers for reasonable money and often, studio pottery is overlooked at thrifts and auctions.
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Hi all. Today I went out to a nearby town and found a great item. I had never visited this thrift store before and as I was checking out their stuff I was appalled at how much they were asking for little knick nacks. $15 for a $2 item. As I was getting discouraged I kept thinking that Jay and Ryanne would continue looking just in case. In the back room I found this Juventino Lopez Reyes JLR Mexican Modernist Sterling Silver 925. Prices are all over the place 500-1300. I paid $12 and that’s all I bought there. Thank you for the weekly inspiration.
http://imgur.com/a/SHwuC -
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Ok but just cause you guys are so awesome!
Luxfer glass tiles. Check these out!!! Normally when you find them you find a TON!!! They were used in storefronts and warehouses before there was electricity. The prism tiles drew the sunlight into buildings further so they didn’t have to use as much gas to light the building. Next time your in an old downtown area of a small town look up above the door. If you see what looks like a ton of small tiles mostly 4″ x 4″ those are most likely Luxfer tiles.
The most valuable ones have designs on them and are said to be designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
I bought over 450 of them years ago for around .36 each and sold one tile for $125. The common ones I sold in lots of 5 for around $15-20. Still have a bunch, not selling them because they are so cool.
Hope this helps someone!!! -
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Hexidecimal adder!
I doubt I’ll ever see another one of these, but if you see one, GET IT!!
I found one last year at salvation army for $1, and within 24 hrs I accepted an offer of $100. Probably could’ve gotten more because I haven’t seen one on ebay since. Here’s what they look like. It was about 8-10 inches long I think.
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That is so totally weird. I would never have realized that! Now, will I ever see one? And remember to get it??? Here’s hoping!
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Oh wow, I haven’t seen one of those in a long, long time. If I found one, I’m sure my husband would want to keep it, (he’s a linux admin).
Mycottage, it’s an old school computer programming tool. Before scientific calculators were available and inexpensive, you relied on gizmos like this to help you reference addresses in memory.
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Panasonic pencil sharpeners
Was reading an article on a “Pencil Aficionado”. Still cant figure out how she affords a store front in NYC selling pencils, however, I digress… -
My search for mugs without handles led me to tea bowls, also called yunomi (everyday) or chawan (formal) and they’re big bucks if you can find the vintage ones.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dcat=37934&_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=hawaiian+tea+bowl
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There’s this device called an Addressograph that’s basically a card imprinter for copying raised text on ID cards or credit cards. Used in healthcare settings a lot. I keep seeing them everywhere (maybe unique to my area, but I don’t think so), you can usually get them for under $10 and they sell for the ballpark of CAD$100/USD$75 if working.
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Stumbled across these when researching photography. I’ve never heard of Meerschaum Pipes before but they can go for a chunk of money!
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Bullard hard boiled hard hats. Picked one up a couple weeks ago, didn’t think it was special. It is! Make sure you get the fiberglass not the plastic. If you can get a color other than yellow like pink they can go for 400$. I paid under 5 for mine and it went for 149$ almost immediatly which gives me a lot of sellers remorse, but I researched before I listed and thought I was on the very high end for a yellow one…
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What I am always on the look out for is military stuff. There is a lot of stuff out there and it is fun for me to do the research and think about who used it, where it was used and when. I am a history geek I guess. One thing that I always peruse the racks for are leather flight jackets. If you find a Cooper or Avirex they usually go for 100-150 bucks or so. I find them from 10-20 bucks–not HUGE profits but definitely worth your time–they always sell. Larger sizes are the better money makers L or XL
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Faucets are my BOLO right now. I found some used faucet set from an expensive brand called Grohe at a yard sale for $5. I listed it used “for parts” as is, stated that I didn’t even know if it was complete, and it sold fast for over $100. I shipped it in a flat rate box because it was heavy yet relatively compact. Even parts of nice faucets can sell (the sprayer for instance).
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Sea glass! This one doesn’t even require going to a sale if you live by the beach. We were just on a trip and found some sea glass so I thought to look it up on Ebay. Sort by “highest first” on solds if you want to see some mind-boggling stuff. DH and I agreed that a lot of it is likely made in a rock tumbler lol. The ones that say “surf tumbled” could easily be “surf tumbled” for 2 seconds after the rock tumbler did it’s job. The prices are insane for some of it. It literally looks like some of it was pulled out of a recycle bin and homemade…crazy.
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Bought a box of plastic dollhouse furniture over the weekend at a very packed estate sale. Everyone was fawning over the tin toys at one end of the room so I went in the opposite direction. I know nothing about this stuff but the box called to me. All of it was in good condition but a bit dirty. It was 50 bucks which is more than I like to spend… The brand is Renwal or Ideal, they seem connected and interchangeable in the dollhouse furniture world. I lotted it up into 29 listings. It was fun! Like a tiny house staging :). It started to sell right away! Not huge money but I should get at least 300 for my 50.
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Build A Bears (of any kind of animal…just as long as the y have the BAB) are a BOLO I just discovered…but UNSTUFFED. I’m constantly buying them at yard sales and thrift stores for between 25 cents and a dollar. My kids love the clothes for their own Build A Bears, and normally I just donate the stuffed animal back because they don’t really sell stuffed. Today I thought to look at unstuffed and sure enough, those sell decently well even used. My thought is to accumulate a pile of 10 or so and then make a “birthday party lot” for $100 or best offer. They are easy to unstuff. Just look for the part on the back seam where they “sewed” it with really thick string. Cut that string, remove the fluff and that’s it. They should be very light to ship too.
If you don’t have kids who are into Build A Bear clothes, you could sell the clothes too in outfits or in a lot…same with Build A Bear shoes. These all have tags in them from BAB so you can easily identify BAB vs. knockoff.
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J&R, I did a “search the forums” for BOLO and the past posts ended after page 6, although it looked like there were more pages. Is there another key word I could use? Thanks, I enjoy scavenging for new sales ideas.
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I see the search: https://www.scavengerlife.com/forums/search/bolo/page/5
Why do you think there are more pages?
I’m not sure where any extra ages we be.
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I want to warn others about something NOT to pick up. Vellux blankets new in package. Yes, the blankets are fuzzy and wonderful, but if they have been in someone’s closet a long time in their original packaging, they are a disaster. I bought one and wanted to wash before using. I found a receipt from the 1990’s inside. On the outside of the package it says long term storage in original package is not recommended. I put it in the washer, and all that was left afterwards were globs and globs of lint. Not even scraps.
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I’ll second the warning WBird posted, I had one of my own Vellux blankets do that once upon a time. They can kill the washer too, clogging the filter/pump/hoses.
They dry rot with age. So if you see one looking all warm and nice in the original package, do yourself a big favor and run away.
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