Looks like I paid market value for the goggles. I sold them for $49.00 – $3.97 eBay fee – $1.87 = $43ish. A loss of $7 – however, I’m happy that they are gone and I can forget about that buy.
The NES games I did far worse on. I purchased them for $30 and only sold them for $10. A loss of $20.
Total Loss: $27
$1,179 is my new total. Still up $179 but far from my goal of getting rich. I plan to learn from these lessons and get a new game plan.
After driving for 5 hours – I was about to enter my hometown and checked my local craigslist and thought I found a deal. Advertised, there were these snow goggles new with tags – which retail for $170 and the guy was asking $50. Well, I went over to the guys house and purchased the item rather quickly without due diligence. I was tired.
I took them home and looked through and saw minor scratches and swirls. Yeah, the FRAMES were new with tags – but this guy switched out the lenses with one season older ones. I wasn’t really mad at the guy – I was just mad at myself. I should have known to look better and say no or negotiate better. I put them on eBay at $.01 NR.
SECOND BAD BUY
I went to a garage sale and bought 11 Nintendo NES games for $30. Yeah, it seemed high but I was in a hurry again to meet up with the guy buying my bicycle. So, I just made the deal and hoped to a gem. I bought the NES games on a gamble because some rare or odd games and go for big money. So, I took them home and researched them – hoping my gamble would pay off and it DID NOT! Win some, lose some… I put them on eBay for $.01 NR.
I’ll be lucky to clear much money on either of these two items.
Current Total for the Month: $1,126 – That is $126 profit on 4 buys and sells. Better than a stick in the eye but still not that good.
While watching craigslist, I found a 1930′s bicycle in really decent condition. It definitely wasn’t a “rust bucket.” The guy was asking for $150 but told him I’d be a buyer around $100. After a couple days, we met up and I bought the bicycle.
I took the bicycle to my local bicycle shop and the owner fell in love with the bicycle. What made the sell even easier was that I had the story behind the antique. In all cases where possible, when buying an antique, learn the story of that item. After it was all said and done, I sold the bicycle for $300. That one deal yielded $200 profit! Up to $1,206 now.
So I sold the puzzle I found for $1 for $19.99 with free shipping. Since it has been a while since I’ve been shipping items off eBay – I didn’t realize how much shipping prices have gone up! It cost me almost $14 to ship a puzzle?! I only made $6 on the deal after packaging and shipping.
I learned a lesson from the $1 purchase and the $20 sell:
Since I have a full-time job and a full-time life – I need to not focus on small value items. I need to go BIG. Look for $100 -$500 items and flip them for double or more.
Total Profit: $6
I went to an estate sale today. I was there right at the opening at 9am and one step in the garage I could tell that the owners were smokers! I walked inside the house the whole place smelled of a serious smoker. I thought that everything in the place was a loss – however, after looking around I didn’t end up empty handed. I found a puzzle unopened from 1982 in the garage. The puzzle cost me $1 so I can’t go wrong. I just listed it on eBay for $19.99 with free shipping. Anything unopened and small enough to ship or collect is an automatic buy. I listed this item on eBay today…
I have another offer out on a vintage bicycle and I hope to purchase it today too. However, the seller is slow to respond so I’m not holding my breath.
After two ATM withdraws, I now have my $1,000 ready to purchase. I’m keeping the cash in a safe-deposit box that I can access whenever I want to purchase an item. Check out the picture of these $20 bills prior to placing in my box at the bank. I need this money to multiply!
I tried getting a head-start in the competition and worked craigslist. I live in a rural area without much craigslist activity but I travel a lot so I can always access other metro areas. I sent out about 5 emails providing a cash offer on items. I was interested in music equipment, antiques, and collectibles. Prior to making cash offers, I researched the items on eBay completed listings. I usually offered about 40% lower than eBay’s lowest auction sale for those particular items in the same condition. So far, no bites… I did hear one reply of “in your dreams…” But, I don’t give up so easily…
My plan is to start to get an idea of the best places to purchase items from at a discount. I’ve been researching some ideas on this topic. First, I need to get a subscription to my local newspaper to find where estate sales will be held. Also, I may need to purchase a craigslist.org app for my iphone – which will notify me if certain items show up for sale. Good deals on craigslist go fast – bad ones linger for longer than one hour. Those bad deals on craigslist may not be totally out of the question though – if days have gone by – the seller may be interested in hearing offers for their item. I plan to send out emails to those that have had no bites to see if they will pull the trigger for less. Lastly, I want to go to thrift stores and see if they have any high priced items that I can flip for big $.
I’m hoping to purchase my first item for around $300 to $500 or so. I want to get close to doubling that money right off the bat.
As far as my initial selling strategy, I don’t plan to be afraid of selling my item overseas. I will be checking into whether I’ll make more profits selling in America or selling in Canada, U.K., Germany, etc…
Rule 1: An initial investment of $1,000 is required on January 1, 2011. No additional cash can be added at anytime throughout this challenge.
Rule 2: I can buy items from anywhere (legal) and I can sell them to anywhere (legal).
Rule 3: The challenge ends on December 31, 2011. All sales must be completed by this date. Final analysis of the results will occur in early 2012.
