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I’d suggest learn as you go when an item is in front of you. If you find something that looks interesting, research it. If you get a box of stuff, research every item in it.
Instead of trying to learn what MAY COME TO YOU, learn what is IN FRONT OF YOU at the moment.
I find it is best to learn about things you will come across often, then learn about things you may never find.
Another thing I like to do when I’m bored is type in a generic term like “New” or “vintage” in the eBay search, and then narrow the search to 25 or 50 miles away from my location and look at the sold items – it gives you a good general idea of what “local” items are selling that you may come across, and what your local competition is selling.
The video looks like very episode of American Pickers the last few years, just that it appears the previous owner is dead, where American Pickers somehow gets in weeks before the old guy dies.
I only watch Kirstie Allsop and Phil Spencer for my UK real estate shows, but the last few series has been 4+ episodes of follow-ups, and only 3-4 new people looking to buy – I don’t need to watch the same programme over again with a 1-2 minute update… C4 maybe needs to start a Millenial version of Location Location Location with younger hosts – the Australian version had some good younger hosts.
I’ll have to check out Grand Disasters though – just finished the new series of Selling Houses Australia and need some new real estate shows to watch instead of getting suckered into House Hunters…
As long as you are completely honest, you will never have any problems at the border. Just declare everything, have it documented, and pay any fees. For me, I only ship a few items a week to American buyers, even though I’m now only a 15 minute walk (yes, I can walk even though I’m in Canada) to the nearest US Post Office across the bridge in Niagara Falls, NY, I’ll just ship through Canada Post as the fees and any customs would eat up any savings on postage.
@Winchester38 – do you have a Nexus card, or is the border crossing in your area quiet? Nexus is awesome if you get it – I never wait at the border, rarely get asked anything, and it has other benefits at Canadian and U.S. airports to bypass security and customs.Glad your move is almost done – I’m still unpacking and getting organized at two locations…it sucked the life out of me and I only moved stuff 30 minutes and 4 hours away. Hope you are holding up!
I remember when I was in my 20’s and found this awesome recliner sectional sofa on the side of the road. I called up one of my friends to come pick it up in his truck and we dragged it in my 3rd floor apartment that was accessible only by stairs.
Big mistake…after going to bed I woke up in the middle of the night and my apartment stank like urine, I was alone, and couldn’t move the thing. I thought it was just a cushion and removed all I could, but turned out the whole thing stank. Probably a cat marked it over and over…
Luckily, I didn’t throw out my old furniture, but it was a lesson in dragging fabric/cushioned furniture home. Nowadays I’d also be scared of bed bugs.
Records/Cassettes/CDs seem to be Gen X’s version of Baseball Cards to Baby Boomers.
I remember taking my music collection to a pawn shop – probably 500 CDs, 250 or so cassettes, and about 100 albums and singles. Sold it all for 50 cents an item, with the odd item going for a few dollars. It was about the same price as a 2nd Generation iPod when they were new, as that is what I spent the money I got for my collection on.
I still have all the music, and it fits in my pocket now – just miss looking through the covers and listening to deep cuts.
I still just collect Air Miles and Optimum points. I’ve switched to Air Miles Cash as you can instantly cash in 95 miles for $10 at Shell, Sobeys, or Metro with no hassle. They are also adding the LCBO. I also get a lot of miles shopping at Staples or Lowes, but they won’t cash them in instantly for you. All the stores I like seem to take Air Miles, so it is worth it for me. Also they have other ways to get miles (like filling out surveys) that I do often at work when I have nothing to do.
I don’t like Loblaws, but sometimes the deals are too good to not go and get the Optimum points. Same thing, hassle free to cash in the points for $10 at the checkout, so the program is easy.
I’ve debated getting a credit card that collects the miles/points, but the annual fees are too high to get anything back based on my spending.
We have the same one for our cats – @ironman – it is the same vacuum that can be used as a hand held or a upright with the tube attachment.
We are on our second one. The first we bought in the U.S. and they wouldn’t cover the warranty in Canada, so we ended up buying another in Canada and swapped parts that way. Look for the “Animal” editions as they came with extra tools/nozzles (we got our Canadian one at Lowes when they had a no-tax weekend, sale on the vacuum, and racked up Air Miles on top of it).
Thanks for clarifying – This is a good technique…give them the label, wait a couple days for it to start showing up with tracking, if not, cancel it and get the refund.
Does it not only have to get scanned, but delivered for the buyer to get a refund?
When I get delivered returns, I typically get an email from eBay stating something like “the tracking on return XYZ shows that they item has been delivered – please refund your buyer as soon as possible”.
@AtomicStar – funny thing is, I have no clue what the brands are you are talking about, and if I was tasked to clean out a closet of women’s clothing, I probably would have donated it all myself.
That’s the great part about scavenging – there are probably 1000’s of items a year we all pass by, the are right in our face, and would turn great profit – but we just have no clue that they are worth anything to someone else.
We all have our specialties – if we both walked in the same thrift store, our carts would be full of completely different items with very little overlap. Lots of good stuff to go around!
Awesome goals – hope you achieve them! The two-week vacation seems like a fantasy I would like to come true one day for myself!
Yes – it is $21 Canadian Dollars – about $15/$16 US per hour. Minimum wage in the area I live is $14 CDN ($10.50 USD) – other areas are planning on going higher.
Plus making lower amounts of money in Canada gets you a lot of tax breaks, the government gives you money (about $100 to $150 if you are low income – under $40k a year) for sales tax rebates, and other initiatives are available to get money from the government depending where you live, energy credits, and of course healthcare and most prescriptions are free here.
I know a lot of people who work for minimum wage that can afford to have a decent lifestyle – they own homes, cars, and don’t seem to struggle if they are frugal.
Our local “Regional Police” has what they call “Safe Trading Zones” setup on the edge of police stations – basically a parking area with lots of cameras and a panic button like they have on college campuses.
I’ve used it a few times on pricey items, and avoided one buyer who didn’t want to go there to trade.
I think it is a good way to deal if your area has one – makes everyone feel safe and comfortable. I know my size and appearance is scary to some people alone!
@daisy – I’m taking my lemons and making ultra-premium lemonade. It’s going to be nice to be in control of my day to day and have more than enough income to frugally live off of. I’m moving to a real rural area where minimum wage is $14/hr, and businesses like McD’s can’t even open full hours because there isn’t enough people to work there. I saw an ad to work at McD’s for $21/hr for day shift as there isn’t enough non-retired adults in the area. Those numbers get me thinking of other places – I wouldn’t mind standing at a hardware store 10-20 hours a week for that type of money as back-up income and to socialize.
@Retro – I’m not a shoe guy, but there is a lot of weird “fluff” and “crud” I enjoy dealing with – it’s part of the process 🙂 I even have a box with my cleaning tools labelled “Turd polishing kit”.
