TREASURE HUNTING 101 - Long Read

[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.

[hobub]

Awesome thread and great reading.

[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.

[theantiquetiger]

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

[batmanmc]

the storage is a great idea.

[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.

[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.

[batmanmc]

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

[theantiquetiger]

OK, I got a great phone call today, what would you do?....

Several estate companies have asked me to come work for them to price their toys and sports items. I always told them no because I would just be cutting off my supply line of great finds that they don't know about. If I priced them, I wouldn't feel right if I marked something too low inorder to just buy it and sell for a large profit.

With this being said; I learned of an upcoming sale with tons of toys and its on a day I have to work. I called the company because the owner has asked me several times before to help her. She told me she really needs me and I would get 1st dibs on anything I want. She told me there are "boxes and boxes of toys, including Transformers, GI Joes, Model Airplanes, and other action figures.."

She says the way it works is if I price them accordingly, I can get the pick of the litter. She said she is not expecting ebay prices, because she does sale mostly to dealers, and she likes to take care of her regular customers.

I will be there at 10:00 tomorrow morning. I am glad she is letting me do this because I cannot make the sale, but I am not sure what to expect. What if I walk in and see a wall full of G1 Transformers or some really great Mego items.

What I think I will do is if there is something along these lines, and it quite possibly be, that I will offer to take everything and place it on Ebay for a commission.

I am not sure what to expect!!!

[mitchedwards]

Thanks for the post. The tips were very helpful.

I kind got burned out on Estate sales this last month. I'm going to take my new found knowledge and give it another shot.

[megoat]

Thanks for the tips, I always knew that vintage clothes were big in Japan, but didn't really know what kinds. I really should do some reseach on this for the next time I go over there, I can fill up my suitcases with the good stuff and make some money to blow on Japanese toys.

No problem. But good luck. I hit 25 thirfts, 20 yard sales, an estate sale or two PER WEEK and am lucky to dig up a few items a month that sell big ($100+). Stuff goes for big money cause it's scarce, but when you do find it, it's cheap.......

[cjefferys]

The big $$$ in vintage has always been the Japanese market. Old work wear, denim, biker wear, 50-80's sneakers, military jackets etc etc. is where the real action is. Huge timeline involved here. Teens through the 80's, most of the action being mid century stuff......

While some stateside ironic hipster may blow $30 on some 80's parachute pants, A japanese kid will give you $750+ for a clean first edition 506XX levi buckle back jacket......

Thanks for the tips, I always knew that vintage clothes were big in Japan, but didn't really know what kinds. I really should do some reseach on this for the next time I go over there, I can fill up my suitcases with the good stuff and make some money to blow on Japanese toys.

[theantiquetiger]

I nearly forgot to tell you about one of my most favorite finds. It is the find that finally proved to my wife, that my hobby wasn't a waste of time and money, and doing nothing but bringing home smelly junk. I had a couple medium finds of $100 or so, but still just keeping my head above water

The on line auction site "Stealitback.com" had just been under way for a few weeks and I saw something strange (Like I said, I like strange stuff).

There was a poorly listed box of "50+ hotel keys." There was only one picture of about 10 keys. There were no bids and I won it for $10 and the shipping was another $10 or so.

Friday afternoon, me and my wife pull up the driveway and there sat the box. She goes off on her rant again, "What garbage did you buy now?", "Quite wasting money!!", etc.

This was my last chance, so I bet the farm and told her if I don't make money on these, I will stop my crazy hobby then and there.

I sat down and started listing them just a few minutes later. The 1st key was from the old MGM Grand from Vegas. I put a $20 buy it now, and it lasted all of 5 minutes while I was listing the 2nd MGM key. This key also last 5 minutes with a $20 buy it now, the same buyer. The third MGM key was hit in 5 minutes for $20 again. So, in 15 minutes, I had tripled my money. I called my wife in and was gloating from ear to ear.

There was a fourth MGM key that I didn't put a BIN, it went for $60.

After all said and done, the keys were mostly from hotels along Route 66, some other older Vegas casinos, and Hwy 1 in California. There were around 80 keys in all, and I ended up making over $300.

My wife never gave me any lip again about buying "junk" and dragging it home to sell.

[Marvelmania]

Keep it coming. I find all this very interesting. Thanks to all who have posted so far.

[megoat]

Hey vintage clothes experts ... what does a wool pendleton skirt from the late 50's go for? And misc. late 60's "house wife" style dresses tend to go for? My mom kept all sorts of her clothes when she was thinner thinking she could wear them when she lost weight ... she still can't wear them and she almost gave them away a few years ago but I told her hang on to them and see if they have value ... I just don't know where to find out the value on this type of stuff, I tried eBay but I don't know what the heck I was looking at

-Russ

Unfortunately, women's vintage is not one of my strengths. I've tried but I have never been that successful....

How much would a pair of the 6-color high top form the 80's pull now? I had 3 or 4 pairs of these things in high school. Of course, mine wouldn't be mint like these because I wore the soles out of them.

Not sure, i've never sold a pair. Are you talking about a multi color pair of hi top chucks? Hmmm. But even well worn chucks still have value. I've gotten $75 for pairs with obvious wear.......

BTW, that patched leather jacket is awesome!!!! I would have guessed it would have gone for that much.

Actually, that is simulated leather patchwork. The jacket is made of cotton denim. The money in this jacket is because it's essentially a Lee Denim chore jacket with an outrageous pattern. Most actual leather patchwork jackets don't even come close to $400....

BTW, all those clothing items I showed were sold to stateside and Japanese DEALERS. These items will actually be marked up in value for the Japanese market......
__________________________________________

When people talk about vintage clothes, they are referring to mostly "flower child" clothes from the 60's and early 70's. It also refers to disco clothes from the late 70's. These two types are the hottest things going.

Something that is a very good find are some of the original Michael Jordan's Air Jordan shoes. I have found any, but a friend of mine found six mint in the box. He paid $20 a pair for them and sold for around $300 each.

Well, i suppose everyone has a definition of "vintage clothes" but mine is decidedly different than yours. Also, I'll have to disagree about the "hottest thing going" as far as dollars are concerned. The big $$$ in vintage has always been the Japanese market. Old work wear, denim, biker wear, 50-80's sneakers, military jackets etc etc. is where the real action is. Huge timeline involved here. Teens through the 80's, most of the action being mid century stuff......

While some stateside ironic hipster may blow $30 on some 80's parachute pants, A japanese kid will give you $750+ for a clean first edition 506XX levi buckle back jacket......

There is big money in some Hippie gear. Any items made by Peter Max for wrangler is big dough. East West leather jackets are beaucoup bucks etc etc. ....

Air Jordan's are hot, and always have been. That whole market was initially driven by the Japanese over 10 years ago. Crazy money was being thrown around back then. Things have calmed down since. And it's a worldwide phenomena now. I sold a pair last summer for close to $600.....