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Sometimes, my scavenge of the week is an easy pick. This week, I have a nice $20 multi signed mini baseball bat coming my way which should be a fairly quick flip to somewhere between $50 and $100 with one small tweak — San Francisco Giants in the title. All the players who signed the bat were players or coaches on the Giants. The consignor knew this — San Francisco Giants was one of the item specifics — but chose to put as many players names in the title (and subtitle) instead. I think that’s a suboptimal way of selling. Who’s right? Find out next on craig rex (hopefully) sells shit! (provided he lists it first…)
Most of the time, my best scavenges are a result of just doing the grunt work. 5 LeBron James cards for $4 total, sell each one in different formats (1 consignment BIN/BO, 2 consignment auction, 2 as a feature card in my curated team lots) for about $10 each. Autographed prizm of a top Mets minor leaguer (with a misspelled title) for $2.50, sell it for $10-15 once the baseball season gets in full swing. Autographed pre-rookie of the next LSU quarterback for $3, an easy $20 once it’s football season or $10 if I want to sell sooner. Finding the best of these deals takes a lot of time and some luck.
Last week, I had one of those moments where I had to stop and question my life’s choices for a beat. It was when I won this card for $1.25, which the Terapeak solds insist is an excellent deal, but I couldn’t help but think…
Cornhole? Is this what I’m doing now? Does this mean we’ve reached peak card? If not now, then when? Especially since we’ve already got pickleball cards (really) and too many pop culture (Royal Wedding) sets to name.
But there is a long history of weird cards being worth so money (this is my favorite) so, yeah. Cornhole cards. Add that to the knowledge bank.
What did you find this week?
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Weird cards? Nothing new. I had a sealed box of Desert Storm cards that I figured would be worth a mint one day.
not to mention every summer movie that came out in the late 80’s/early 90’s got a card set.I mean, what kid WOULDN’T want to trade a Maid Marion for a will Scarlett from the Robin Hood card set with their buds on a Saturday afternoon?
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I have a General Norman Schwarzkopf Desert Storm card autographed (probably through the mail — that was a big thing in the 90s and early 00s) which I need to get authenticated. Once I do, $30 (all-in including authentication fees) —> $100. Maybe at the next big local show (Philly) in March. I have a little New Year’s resolution to hit at least a few big card shows this year and really try putting in at least a few hours doing the grunt work there. That’s never been my best use of time, but it’s always good to get out there and see what you can find.
There is a pretty sizable market for ultra modern non sports cards, particularly the big pop culture franchises (Marvel, Star Wars, etc). I do well with older stuff like this 1971 Star Trek stamp. That’s my sale (through consignment) and I paid $6 for 2 complete sets of 12 stamps. This is the Enterprise was my high sale at $10.27. I can’t wait until my consignor runs a $0.75/no min fee auction promotion again, these $10 sales can add up quickly.
Its funny but I never really traded cards as a kid! I would go to the local hobby shop with my mom, or a show at the local mall, but I had my collection in binders and boxes and that was it. Eventually I found eBay as a teenager and a few trading platforms, and after a few years break in my dirtbag young adult years, that’s where I’ve been since 2009!!! 21K items sold. What a life
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I only scavenged one item this week, but it’s an item right up Jay and Ryanne’s alley. I feel like I recall a podcast where Ryanne talked about repairing one of these.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266681815228
Jura Ena 9 One Touch Automatic Coffee Center Espresso Cappuccino Latte Maker
It was $15 at Goodwill. At $15 I couldn’t go wrong even if I parted it out.
I tested it when I got home and it wouldn’t take water – a common issue for these coffee makers if they aren’t maintained/descaled. I would fix it myself but the replacement part is $50…and I really don’t want to. I just need to keep churning through my death piles.
The STR is pretty much instantaneous even in the “for parts/not working” condition category. I put it up at $250 and will hold out for $200+.
This machine was $1500 new!
https://www.1stincoffee.com/jura-ena9.htm
Someone is gonna get themselves a real nice machine after a quick fix.
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You can tell it is Grand Opening week up in here!
I’ve had my numbers post drafted all week itching to get it posted.
Anyways, I already sold this coffee machine for $200. This is about as good as it gets for sourcing a broken item!
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You want me to make a numbers thread? I’m itching to post my numbers from last week too, the post-Super Bowl auctions were a good chunk of my sales but there were plenty more and I felt like some good lessons learned as well.
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/235432235527 https://www.ebay.com/itm/335255595928 Out of my usual area, but I’m still checking Goodwill for new Christmas presents.
Sourced near Santa Cruz and on the central coast on the way home. Only bought a few things but it was interesting. Will hopefully have all of that listed by next week. We were up in Silicon Valley too but didn’t have time to source there. Probably is fab.
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Those are some cool games. Well, I think Monopoly sucks but I know that xyz Monopoly often has value at least. The first game looks neat. At a library sale I went to last year, they had a bunch of small indie card games and other types of board games for like $2 each. I have them sitting on a shelf. Last time I checked prices, they were like $10 each and I really ought to pile them all in a box and make a listing. I don’t know if I can sell a flat rate box of indie games for $100 (or $50?) but it would be fun to find out. Plus I have some old games that I haven’t played in a few years that are probably worth a few bucks. If I do a big spring cleaning this year, that’s the kind of stuff that will make me a few extra bucks with no investment. Win win!
I have never been to Cali. Well one time when I was a kid, but I don’t really remember it. Have you live in California your whole life? What is your favorite area to visit? How about coolest area to source from? I’m a big foodie person and obviously into thrifts, flea markets etc — if I ever make to the west coast (the best coast?), where’s the best place for that kind of stuff?
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@Craig lots of great food here. Where I live and the rest of So Cal is excellent Mexican, great Asian food in the cities. Sourcing while traveling is hit and miss. In places where sourcing is considered cool and it is crowded, sourcing can be very poor. Also places with a lot of big box stores. Luckily we have a lot of older people where I live and many others have to work a lot to live here. I find sourcing during the week is great. The young people are showing up a lot these days but they are mostly after things out of my niche.
Like Santa Cruz is picked over, but the mountain town where we stayed nearby was fun. It was crowded in the store. San Diego is tough with high prices but they have much larger stores. SF I imagine is pretty picked over. Places like SF and the Pacific Northwest large cities there are many people who are ok with buying second hand and know the value of things. All those chain stores have their own Ebay and auction sites. LA can be good maybe depending on where you are. Orange County I tried a little bit and found it disappointing.
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@Christine Thanks, this is all great to know. Mexican and Asian are two of my favorites in terms of comfort food. Chilaquiles, huitlacoche, banh mi, tom kha! I am a little spoiled with Philly which is an amazing food city. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life and probably would have left in the last few years (finances be damned) if there weren’t so many things to love about Philly. It might be time soon, but no matter where I live, I would want to come back to Philly as often as I can.
But sourcing is challenging in a high cost of living area as you noted. Good to know that sourcing during the week is good in Cali. That is already my favorite way to visit new places. Who needs a weekend getaway when you live a scavenger’s life and can take time off at your leisure?
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@Craig you’re welcome. I’m sure Philly has great food too.
We have a some very wealthy people and a lot of old people. Mainly older people moving here too from colder places. We also don’t have a lot of big box stores. So it makes for good picking in my city. Now that I am not working my day job, I am lucky to source on the weekdays when many people are working because the competition is increasing like everywhere. When I first started it was mostly men looking for records and metals.
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Ah we gonna talk food now huh?
Craig, if you want the ABSOLUTE BEST fried chicken you have ever had, go to CM Chicken in Philly. Authentic Korean Fried Chicken among other goodies. There are 3 locations in Columbus and we make sure to hit them up at least once every time we are there.
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@retro-treasures-wv Hell yeah I am into the food talk!!! I will add that to my list of Philly spots to try. I also need to try Doro Bet (ethiopian fried chicken) and Krispy Krunchy Chicken which is a gas station chain (love weird spots like this). This spring/summer for sure!
My #1 favorite Philly tourist spot to recommend is Reading Terminal Market, basically a huge food hall in Center City on the border of Chinatown. The kind of place everyone should visit once, it’s an experience. There is a good chicken place there called Dienner’s but a little too inconsistent to be the absolute best. Once I try the other spots I will give you the definitive rankings
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