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Stumbling upon items we need personally while scavenging is always cool
Last week at an estate sale I found some unopened Harley Davidson 20/50 motorcycle oil. Generally motorcycle oil retails for $4 to $10 a quart and up. I believe this stuff retails for $6 a quart. I got 23 quarts for $18 and it came in a plastic storage tub as a bonus.
I also found an ILUV iMM183 clock radio Ipod dock with remote for $2. It a perfect size for my room and has great sound.
A while back I got a new in the box C22 Scotch Tape Heavy Duty Dispenser for $5. It holds the rolls of packing tape. I was smiling all the way home. Ah, the life of a shipping nerd.
Keep in mind, I wasn’t looking for any of these items when they found me..
Life is good.
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I love finding items that I use personally that I would buy at full retail, or pay big $ on eBay for.
My biggest “personal” find in the last year is 5 toner cartridges for the beast of a laser printer I have for shipping labels. I have an old oddball Samsung printer and they cost $100+ on eBay, and more at Staples and other office supply retailers – I bought all 5 for $5 each. I’ll hold onto them until my printer dies and sell the remainder!
My greatest personal find recently is that I have a vintage late 1960’s BBQ that I have lovingly restored by the grate was worn and it isn’t something that you can easily recoat. I’ve been looking for a new or better grate for years (couldn’t find one on eBay even at any price), and just happened upon one for $3! I would have easily paid $200+ out of pocket if I could get one even in worse condition.
The other items I like buying for myself are replacement remote controls or power cables for devices like my phone, TV, or laptop. I always lose them, or they eventually wear out – or get chewed by one of my cats. If I buy one for a device I have as I find them it is a good way to save money when the eventually die and to have a immediate spare on hand is always handy.
And as a seller of retro video games, I always play them before I sell them to make sure they are thoroughly tested for several hours before listing 🙂
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Recently I found a pair of like new Stuart Weitzman sandals that were just my size. I was planning on selling them until I tried them on… 🙂
I have also found clothing for family members. Like thick cotton bathrobes for just a few dollars, and most recently a cashmere/wool coat for the winter. That one was a bit high at $30, but it’s actually quite reasonable for a coat you’re going to use yourself. -
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I’ve found two Patagonia puffer jackets thrifting for myself essentially NWOT. One was one size too big, but black so I wear it anyway. It seems like our thrifts are more expensive out here in Cali for lower end items but there is a point where I think the indy thrifts are afraid to price too high. Some really quality, great condition items in the $20-30 range. However, they will go high on art – I guess they are more worried about it being secretly expensive?
I love to buy orchids and other plants at garage sales and Vietnamese glazed ceramic pots on Facebook or Craigslist. I’ve bought loads of children’s books and I’ve donated many to the school library when my kids are done with them. Not giving up on real books and I’ve sold a few complete series on Ebay lately.
Finally, my son is now a men’s large so I’m actually willing to look through the clothes and I’m building him a wardrobe. It’s really easy to find the same stuff I’d buy at Macys or a surf & skate so I can’t imagine paying full price.
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We buy items for us all the time. I bought a slide scanner for five bucks the other day. The missus loves kitchen gadgets, so we’re always buying choppers and dicers and what not. Most of my wardrobe is purchased while sourcing. Hmmm, the monitor I’m looking at right now, best one I’ve ever owned (which isn’t saying much admittedly LOL)….$20 at a yard sale. Desk chair I’m sitting on. The list of what we pay for retail for is probably smaller than the list of what we buy when sourcing. Some more stuff: Books, We are both big readers, and always buying used books. Tools. Lots of my tools have been bought at yard sales, thrifts etc.
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Found a nice wood office desk, with chair, for $50 at a yard sale. The seller even offered to deliver it to my home, 5 miles away! That find allowed me to sell my old office set, with bookcases, for $900. Nice swap!
Recently found a Calvin Klein mens jean jacket my size, for $3.50. Have been losing weight and my belts no longer fit. Found two at new size for 25 cents each-designer leather in near mint condition. Was standing in line at Goodwill a month ago, and realized my entire outfit that day, including shoes (excluding underwear) was thrift finds.
Also have a nice collection of unique coffee cups found for under $1 each.
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Yes, I feel like a broken record when people ask me where I got this and that… “the thrift store”. Nowadays mostly I buy things for ourselves and family members from the thrift store or eBay. Notables include: vintage wire fruit basket, nice sturdy baskets for toy storage, barstool for my friend, dark sheet to cover up things in my hatchback, nice cloth napkins, pillowcases, extra towels for wringing out handwashed eBay inventory, quilt used as a picnic blanket for park outings, snowsuit for my daughter, nice cardigan & skirt for me, awesome handmade tote bag, lots of cute, nice clothes for my daughter, niece & stepdaughters — brands and from stores that we would never in a million years shop at in real life.
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Oh wow, I’d keep that scale for sure. I hate when my scale maxes out and then I have to use the bathroom scale while holding the package. A 150 pound scale for $10 is a steal.
Pretty much everything we have at this point was either thrifted, found on the side of the road or found actually dumpster diving. It seems like we find things for ourselves whenever we go out sourcing. I call it “reducing our life costs”. I take the kids along too, and they are really starting to get it. It’s good training for the future. Let someone else take the sunk cost hit…you can pick whatever it is up for pennies on the dollar at their yard sale lol.
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I agree, I’m definitely keeping the scale. The other day, I had to mail a 45 lb item and had to use the bathroom scale. It required me to do something I’d been avoiding.. weigh myself. When you’re weight is going down, you run to the scale.. but when it’s going up, you hide the thing.
I’m a happy guy.
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SO owns a tavern, and the basement was flooded this spring, lost a lot of stuff. Among the casualties were the holiday decorations. I had enough spare stuff to take care of 75% of it, all except lights. We were just getting ready to go buy them, I decided to go out “curb shopping” the day before. Spied a couple 30 gallon totes at a house recently put up for sale, one full of broken ornaments, and some random decor, but the other was full to the brim with lights, over half of them brand new in dusty boxes, LED lights. Every single strand worked.
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I don’ buy much but when I do, I buy at the GW, SA or yardsailing.
This week, I bought a couple of wool Orvis sweaters from ebay. Turns out one has a moth hole though, which I was very disappointed about (but did not complain to seller). I’m planning to try to do some kind of fashionable patchwork on it…we’ll see if THAT happens.
Also got a couple of those square baskets from pottery barn that kids put toys in, I think. They have nice blue and white gingham linings. I could sell the baskets and linings separately on ebay for a few bucks but I “needed” them to put some books in. I still might sell the liners…we’ll see.
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