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I have been scavenging and selling on eBay part time beginning in 1999 and full time since 2003. I’m a newbie on the forum, and I just saw your video on how to refill the toner cartridge on a Brother laser printer. I have the same dang printer as you guys that I picked up for nothing on FB marketplace and I’ve only ever purchased one toner cartridge but now am going to buy some toner. Had no clue I could do that myself. Thank you!
p.s. cute cats
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Sonia, I too am familiar with that flatware pattern but do not know if it was named for our town – we are known as the home to Longwood Gardens and are also the Mushroom Capital of the world. We are about 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia and 12 miles north of the Delaware/PA border. Jay, I sell ANYTHING that I can safely pack and ship and since about half of what I sell is on consignment, I only take things that I believe will do better with me than they will at a local auction. I sell: antiques, sterling silver, collectibles, kitchenware, glass, pottery, china, dinnerware, clothing, accessories, books, tools, baby stuff, kids stuff, small artwork, jewelry, electronics, handbags, shoes, and so on. The list of things I have sold HAS changed a lot over the years, mostly because of shifts in market demand. I try to avoid the things that used to be ‘rare’ but are now flooding the market due to that generation downsizing. It was a phase that occurred with Hummel figurines about 10 years ago. Used to be you could get $30-50 each…now they sell in lots of 25-50 for that price. Lladros and Royal Doulton figurines are starting to go down that same road. 15 years ago, it was super simple to sell blue jeans for the entire family (men’s, women’s, kids) but now I mostly sell only men’s jeans. Women’s styles are too shifty and kids jeans are easily bought brand new at any WALMART ‘for cheap’. I source mostly from thrift stores (and clients) but will also go to an occasional auction or estate sale. Don’t know if you guys have heard about MaxSold but I almost went to work for them a few years ago and source from them when possible. It’s a good way to source if one of their auctions is being held near you. I think the biggest challenge I face as a 61 year old woman is staying on top of pop culture and styles and what millennials are looking for. I also wish I knew / understood more about the gaming market. Video games and equipment seem to be big sellers still but it’s a segment I never learned as we never had those things in the house because my kids weren’t interested in them. Thank you for adding me and I look forward to sharing and learning!
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JMiller:
Howdy.. We lived a ltttle west of Kennet Square in a small town called Chatham. Yep mushroom houses all over. Boy what a smell when they open them up and rotate that dirt. UUggh!We have 2 Kennett Square coffee mugs that we still drink out of a few times a week. I worked in New Castle, DE. It was about a 12 mile shot almost straight down from where we lived. I should have stayed up there at that job. A move to northern, KY turned out to be a bad decision.
Also Amish country up in Lancaster was always fun to visit.
Just thought I would say, Howdy.
Mike at MDCGFA in Atlanta
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Love MaxSold – I’ve been to dozens over the past three or so years. I had three pickups in the past week and a half. I also set one up for a friend last year with the pickup in early November.
I’ve thought about trying to get a job with them, but I like the flexibility of just working for myself right now.
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JMiller and Sharyn:
Tell me more about MaxSold. I have been registered on there site and verified as a bidder-buyer a good time ago but never participated. There seem to be a few auctions within a reasonable driving distance from us.
Would you guys mind filling us in on the pros and cons, what you like or dislike about MaxSold, merchandise, quality, pitfalls, etc., etc.
We have been hesitate due to not being able to preview and also if we bid on multiple items but end up with winning only one small, low cost item, then having to drive a long distance to pick it up. But intriguing.Thanks in advance for any info. on your experiences with them.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
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Of course am familiar with Chatham – very cute little ‘village’! As for MaxSold, I always hit thrift stores on my way back from picking up. I think the farthest I have driven to a sale was to just north of the DC area so talking 2 hours or so each way, but could also hit 2 or 3 stores on way back. 5 years ago, nothing was close by, now there’s an auction within an hour of me nearly every week. I did a set up for a MaxSold auction in Jenkintown, PA several years ago, so I knew what the contents would be like. I really had no intention of buying anything, but I went on the site anyway just to see how things were going and ended up winning some really cool 1970s fabric for $27 which I later flipped at David Rago Auctions for about $300 as well as some furniture which we put in my daughter’s Philadelphia apartment (4 pieces for a total of $1 plus tax LOL). Have also bought box lots of vintage craft and embroidery kits, etc, where I could piece the contents out. If there are scavengers in Canada who follow this page, I’m sure they are very familiar with MaxSold. Just another good sourcing option!
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Thanks for the overview. We will take another look and visit to the site and see what’s happening around here. Atlanta is large enough and the metro area so spread out that maybe it would provide another source. And as you said, on pick up day we can shop – pick the areas around the pick up point before and after the pick up.
Mike at MDCGFA
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Mike – Here is my strategy for MaxSold:
I’ll first check out an auction looking at location and pickup time. If it is too far or I can’t make the pickup, then I pass. I might look at what’s selling just for curiosity. Of course, this can get me into trouble. I found an auction ending this week that is a 2-hour drive. However, one lot has a 20-piece set of our dishware pattern, which is discontinued, of course. One bowl costs $40 through Replacements.com. I’m seriously considering the drive.
Then I’ll want to mark the lots I’m interested in and put them on my watch list. I have to login first. There’s a star next to each lot, and, if I press it, it will go on my watch list. If I’m not logged in, it will take me to the login page where I can login and then mark my lots. If I click on the lot to get a better look at the photos and description, there is a star there next to a word “SAVE”. Pressing that also puts it on my watch list.
Be sure to look at all the photos (at least for an auction that you are pretty committed to) because sometimes the description doesn’t mention all the items that are included. This is where you can really do well because some bidders don’t realize all the goodies that are included. These lots may not get bid up as high.
At the top of the website is a menu, and one of the selections is “Watch List”. Pressing that will show you all the lots you’ve marked. During the time that the auction is active, I’ll remove ones that get bid up too high.
I do not bid prior to the day of the auction end. During the last day, I’ll check on my watch list. If early bidders have started to bid up some of my items, I’m more careful about what I bid on especially if the drive is over 30 min or so. I’ll wait until the auction starts to end and then decide whether to just skip it or to go ahead. The start of the auction end is usually in the 7:30 – 9:00 PM time frame.
If the pickup location is not too far or if the bidding is not that aggressive, I’ll go ahead and put in small bids on the items I really want. Once the auction starts to end, I’ll enter in max bids. The software will bid $1 over anyone else’s bid until it gets to your max bid. If I get out-bid, I’ll decide whether to increase my max bid or not.
If I win an item and I know I’ll be making a trip, I might start to bid on lots I’m not as excited about, but I feel there is value. This is where I might get a lot for the minimum bid of $1.
Just make sure to login prior to bidding. You don’t want to be bidding at the last minute and have to login first.
Note that their auctions are a soft close. If you bid within the last 2 minutes, the timer re-starts back at 2 min (just for that lot). I try to get my bids in the 2-3 min mark. What kills me is when someone doesn’t get the max bid and soft close rules. They wait until the last 10 seconds, and then up their bid by $1. This can extend the auction end by tens of minutes if they just don’t get it.
Also note that the lots don’t all end at the same time. Usually they end in groups over a 15-30 min period of time. The length of time it takes for the auction to end depends on how many lots are there.
Keep in mind that you have to take everything you won whether you want it or not. If you leave something, you may get banned (at least for a period of time). I spoke to a lady in line once where a lot included a vintage typewriter and a filing cabinet. She didn’t want and couldn’t transport the filing cabinet, but wanted the typewriter. She called ahead of time and got permission to bid and only take the typewriter. Even so, the employees at pickup gave her a hard time. I think she was banned, and she had to call in and get it straightened out.
They also have assigned time periods where you can pickup certain items. The easy stuff is in the first time slot, more difficult to get to items in the second slot, and big items and furniture in the last slot. I find they are pretty flexible with when you pickup, but keep that in mind.
So, how’s that for a wall of text! If you play around and have additional questions, I’ll do my best to answer.
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Love it ! And I understood absolutely every bit of it. I have done numerous other online auctions but wanted to get the particulars of MaxSold so I was savy to how it ran.
I appreciate the outline of the process and the details. Perfect. That gives Susan and I a method to follow. And and stated above, on pick up day we can go very early, get in the basic location, then go to any estate sales that are running before MaxSold pick-up. Then after pick-up we can continue with any other estate sales that may be around or on our way back. Just make a whole day scavenging and picking out of it.
Walls of text don’t bother me. LOL I think Jay invented the term based on some of my replies. LOL HA 🙂 The devil is in the details so without wading into the weeds a well defined methology can’t be developed, which just leads to a whole string of follow up questions.
I have already mentioned this to Susan and we will take a look and see what’s around this area and give your process a try. Sounds fun, and much better than sitting 5 hours at a live auction and waiting for your item to come up on the block. This way, the kitchen and refrig. is at our finger tips and we can shop in our Jammies! 🙂
Seriously, appreciate the reply and your time.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art.
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