Cruising For Profit

Late last week I had a friend that finally wanted to learn the reselling hustle. I guess he had heard enough of my profits and got enough excitement to get going with it.

I had told him that the best thing to do on a Saturday morning is to go yard sailing and estate sale hunting. After telling him I would meet him at his place at 7 am, I went on gsalr.com and craigslist to make a map of the ones I though held the most promise.

There wasn't actually that many yard sales that I saw to be worthwhile, but what really tickled me was an estate sale. From the pictures it was obvious that the person who owned the estate was an avid computer programmer. It was as if every wall of his house was filled with computer software and programming manuals for what seemed like every computer program ever written. (I now know - from a filled out warranty card in one box - that he was a professor at the university teaching this subject)

From my experience, vintage computer software is a HUGE and relatively unknown category that sells VERY well.

Let's see what I got.

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• 5 Sunglass Cases ($5)
• Plymouth Duster Car Badge ($0.50)
• Two Vintage Buck Knives ($11)
• Bag of light bulbs ($3)
• Star Wars Republic Commando for Xbox ($2)
• Barrow Alaska Arctic Research Lab belt buckle ($2)
• Lutz Lettering Set ($5)
• Empty Tiffany & Co box (Free from a bundle)

Total in this pic: $28.5
Listed for sale on eBay: $329.25

All these came from yard sales except for the Xbox game (thrift store). The belt buckle sold almost immediately after listing.

I got the sunglass cases, Tiffany box, and a Wagners cast iron skillet from the same house. My friend, who was learning, ended up paying my cost for the pan at the end of the day so he could sell it.

I had given him the offer that he could buy any of my items (except for one) at the cost I paid. When I went up to pay, the lady said I could have the Tiffany watch box for free. So, yeah, nice. They sell for a lot - as far as empty boxes go.

Never underestimate every day consumables like light bulbs. This entire bag was $3 and now it is split up and listed for nearly $80!

Here is a bit of knowledge for you all. See those dots on either side of the 112? This means this knife is an older "ONE DOT" and highly sought after by collectors. Instead of a normal value of about $35-40, it is worth $80-85!

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Look at this beautiful picture!

Except for the books on either end, all the computer items came from that one estate sale.

• Three Books about antiques ($1.50)
• Two Apple Macintosh PowerBook 190cs, no power adapters ($16.50)
• Microsoft C Compiler ($7.50)
• Five other software ($10)

Total in this pic: $35.50
Total listed on eBay: $457.95 (Laptops not yet listed)

Microsoft C Compiler, Microsoft Visual Basic, and the Spartan 3A FPGA Starter kit already sold for a whopping $305!

I'm telling ya, vintage software people!

I bought an original power adapter for the PowerBooks off of eBay. If they both work, they sell for over $100 each. If not, I can probably make a profit selling them as "for parts or repair."

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I bought the US Army shoulder patches from another, smaller, estate sale for $7. I believe they are pre-1968 badges that sell for about $6-8 each. I decided to listed them all as a bundle at a big discount to that price to just sell them all. I didn't want to be bothered with onsie twosies.

In the special case at a thrift store I spotted this medical tools set. It was priced at $25.

A quick search showed promise, even if I could find nothing about this set specifically. It looked military but had no military markings. Anyways, I felt comfortable enough to pick it up after my friend passed on it.

At home, further research showed that just three pieces from this set sold for $125! Wow, I might have hit something big here. The bag appears to be similar to ones made for the US Army in WW1. The tools were made by Cullmann, and each is marked "Dr. Miller" in old typewriter-style font.

I like this. Miller is a common name, and doctors have money. I bet some doctor would like to have these for their office. A doctor with the last name of Miller would LOVE to have these (or colleagues, friends, family to give as a gift to him/her). Military collectors might like these. Antique medical collectors would like these. It hits a lot of markets.

Badges listed for $45, medical set listed for $455.

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Conclusion

It was a long day out, from 7 am to 3:30 pm. I think my friend learned a lot, but he sure has a lot more to learn. I mean I have been doing this for almost 10 years now. That is knowledge you can't learn in one day.

But the best way to learn is to get out there and hustle! Once you learn about a subject it will stick with ya. Then the next time you see that item, you know what it is worth.

I spent $96 on my items. They were listed for a total of $1,287.20 and I already sold $327.99 worth. Plus, the laptops are awaiting a power adapter for testing.

My friend picked up a few good items too. I feel that he will do well if he followed my advice to list the things right away.

How did you hustle this weekend? Were you out there snapping necks and cashing checks?