TREASURE HUNTING 101 - Long Read

[batmanmc]

cool . damn im jealous. have fun at teh pricing and good luck finding some good toys. mike

[theantiquetiger]

Went pricing today. Man, did they have ALOT of 3 3/4" GI Joe vehicles. There were about 50 in all, all loose, missing some parts. There were also about 50 figures. I didnt know the value of these things, so I guessed $10 for the small ones, $20 for the mediums, and $35 for the large, plus $50 for the Command Center and Aircraft Carrier. The 3 3/4" GI Joe action figures are sitting right here next to me. She wanted me to look them up, but there are so many, I wouldn't know where to start.

Does anyone know of any VERY RARE ones?

She told me I can pick out a few of them, but I told her there is no hunt, I really don't need any. I told her I want all of them and if I walked into the sale on the 1st day, I would offer her $400 for the lot.

The Transformers were not as big of a lot. There are about 10 G1 figs, but no boxes, weapons, etc. She did have one G1 Jetfire in the styrofoam, and I told her I just paid $165 for one in the box, so I priced it $50.

I wouldn't take payment for helping her, so I told her I will take all the literature for the GI Joes and Transformers. The guy had 3 boxes of just this stuff.

This is the cardbacks ID cards from the GI Joes, there are 73 different cards:





I also bought a box of records (I didn't search them) for $30. I don't think there is much in there from what I seen so far.

[theantiquetiger]

I decided to add some more hints and tricks on treasure hunting.

In this one, I am gonna touch on some tricks, good and dirty, to do at an estate sale, other places to hunt, and some other different things.

Tricks for Estate Sales

Besides doing the things I suggested in the earlier post about being nice, showing up early, offering a hand, etc., I know of some tricks (kind of dirty) that could help you out. After all said and done, everyone in line is after that Holy Grail. I have never done any of these, but it does go on. I have thought of doing the first one, and could have used it at the sale where I picked up the Thun'da comic book because I only had about 15 seconds to shop before my main competitor closed in behind me.

The first trick is to bring a blocker. The first 30 people at an estate sale in Baton Rouge are usually the exact same 30 people, almost all dealers, and all looking to find a great find to make a good profit. I know all these people and what they are after. There are two guys in my area who are after the same stuff I am after and we battle for the finds. A blocker is a good, not too low-handed, trick. I am 6'0" 240lbs and my brother is 6'4" 280lbs. If I was gonna use a blocker, I would use him. His job is to just simply walk slowly behind me, giving me just a few extra seconds to get as much as I can. Like I said in the other post, grab everything you can and look later. You can always put it back. To use a blocker, you have to learn where in the house the item you are after is located, and be the 1st two people or so in line. You head for the item and the blocker keeps others back for a few seconds, simple as that.

The second trick I feel is bordering on stealing, but it does go on. All estate sales mark the items to half price on the third day or after 12pm the second day. I know some people will find something on the 1st day, but it is priced too high, cutting into their potential profit. They will actually hide the item in the house some where and come back and get it after it goes 1/2 price. This may or may not work because when I shop an estate sale, I hit every nook and cranny, and so do alot of people, so the item has a very good chance of being found anyway. I also don't do this because I am looking for finds that will pay off in the 100x more than I paid for them, not 3 or 4 times more. This kind of profit is for the dealers who are in it for a living, not treasure hunters.

Other tricks to hunting are general tricks just for hunting. For example, a good place to look for stuff is inside old books. I have found alot of great finds tucked away inside other books, such as old military money, other books, vintage letters, etc. Like I said in the other post, if it looks personal, tell the estate company/garage sale holder before taking it. Look in the pockets of the clothes/purses/wallets/luggage in the closets. You can also find some great stuff here, old movie/sporting event tickets, vintage jewelry, etc. The only money I ever found was a couple dollars (all new and gave to the sale), but I did find some old military payment coupons (good collectibles).


Other Treasure Hunting Spots

There are a few other places to hunt. Two that come to mind are On-Site Estate Auctions and Self-Storage companies.

There are hardly no On-Site estate auctions here, I have only seen one in the 5 years I have been hunting. My best advice for these auctions is to learn who your competitor is, find out what they are after, and work a deal out so atleast one of you gets a good deal.

Self-Storage Companies are another place to find a great find. These will require alot of money and alot of time. When some one does not pay rent on a storage unit, the company is supposed to place a public notice 30 days out of the up coming auction. On the day of the auction, you are allowed to look in the door only, not search the unit. I have never done one of these because it feels more like a business move more than a hunt, but I have heard of people finding some great finds and making alot of money from these auctions. This is were my friend found the 6 vintage Air Jordan's, mint in the box. When looking and bidding on one of these, pick one item you can see, i.e. TV, riding mower, etc. and make your bid to match the value of that item. So if you win the unit, you can sell that one item and the rest is all profit. Never bid on anything you cannot see, or you will lose you butt on these things.

If you have any questions (and a few people have), ask me here or PM me, I will help if I can.

[batmanmc]

the storage is a great idea.

[theantiquetiger]

HardyGirl's post about your favorite post made me go looking for this one.

[almitysufx]

I have been to one storage unit auction. Got nothing, but they ran it a little differently than yours. there were about 20 bidders and they allowed us to brows through the units. If there was a box or an item you had more interest in you could bring it out and they ran bids on anything brought out before running on the unit. It made for a long day.

[hobub]

Awesome thread and great reading.

[Adam West]

Thanks for sharing.

I would really like to get to some estate sales and do what you do but don't seem to have the time.

I have had a lot of luck at local church auctions. Because of the wide diversity of people in the congregations; all kinds of strange and interesting things show up.

I find that the antique dealers go after the typical stuff like furniture, china, etc. so I generally stay away from it because I'm really not familiar with it. I also stay away from what I call recent collectibles like Longaberger baskets, Dept. 56, and that sort of stuff. There are always people in the crowd that have a vast knowledge in it and seem to always go crazy for the stuff.

My best church auction find of all time was a WWII Nazi helmet. It was one of the strangest items I think I have ever seen at a church auction but then thought it probably belonged to someone involved in WWII and brought it home as a souvenir. Most people had left the auction by the time it came up and because of the nature of the item....very little interest.

One other person bid on it against me but I ended up with it for $50. I like collecting military type items so I decided to keep it. I was at an Antique mall recently and saw what appeared to be the exact same helmet that I have at home. The person was asking a little over $3,000 for it and my jaw dropped open. I need to do some additional research on it and see if it is the same style helmet but mine was definitely nicer condition than his and I know for sure mine is not a fake.

There are also some great deals on Ebay if you really know what you are doing and willing to take the risk. Over the years, I have really become a bit of an expert on Anri woodcarvings. There is a specific nativity set that I am very familar with and know how much the figures sell for generally. Since they are so pricey, most people can only afford to purchase a figure or two at a time. I will purchase entire sets and usually double my money by selling them piece by piece. My most recent purchase was a nativity set with a manger that I knew someone wanted and was willing to pay a lot for it. In fact, the last manger he saw sold for around $2,000.

I ended up buying the entire set with the manger for $800. I emailed him and asked him if he wanted the manger for $900 and he quickly snapped it up. After all fees, I am even on the set, he feels good about the deal because he saw one for twice the price. I could have held out and tried to get more but I broke even just selling the one item and now have a bunch of figures that will easily bring in another $500 or so and I was able to sell the manger within days of purchasing it so I feel good about it.

This little bit of knowledge has been helpful to me and I literally stumbled on it by chance. I purchased a set in which I only needed a couple of figures for my own collection and then sold the rest on Ebay piece by piece. It was strange that I saw myself doubling and tripling my money just by splitting up the set and it really didn't matter that the item was just sold on Ebay a week earlier.