Eden Elephant

18 years ago

I wanted to share my junk with you, I went to a garage sale, and older lady and in a box was a stuff animal it was an elephant and when it wound up the head went side to side and played the tune you are my sunshine. I asked her how much and she said it was 25 cents, actually debated if i should purchase the item. I do ebay so I thought oh I will just put it on for $5.00 and see if it sells if it dosent ill take it to the goodwill, It was made by eden toy comp. When I brought it home my husband was like that is such junk I cant belive you would even buy it. So I listed it on ebay and it sold for $155.00. guess who had the last laugh, not my husband.

Comments (8)

marilyn_c
18 years ago
Woooo Hoooo!!!!! I love stories like that!! Congratulations!!
neetsiepie
18 years ago
I've bought things at GS for pennies and later turned them into the original art pieces I make. Sometimes they get broken up or taken apart.

One day I found out that a piece I drilled holes into and sold for a nifty profit was actually a piece of pottery from the MacKenzie-Childs company that sells for over $100. I paid $1 for it. Turned it into something that I sold for $25. Coulda ebayed it and turned a HUGE profit. Oh well!
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tradewind_64
18 years ago
Yay Awbrey! That's awesome. Especially the part about teachin' the hubby that you have the vision...now he won't be so quick to question future oddities! And just think, now you have $155 to fund an enormous amount of garage sale-ing. A few goodies like that and you have a completely self-sustaining hobby!
Kelly_68
18 years ago
I am wondering if anybody who gets the 'big score' ever thinks to go back to where they bought it from and share the profits (they obviously didn't know what they were selling and could maybe use the money more than you), or do you all just think you snooze you lose?
lovesjunk
18 years ago
Kelly_68:
This isn't utopia. The seller offered the item for sale and set the price.

Congrats, (and no guilt trip) Awbrey.
tradewind_64
18 years ago
Kelly, I have hit the big score a couple of times. No, I did not go back. IMO, the seller got what their asking price for it, and just because I had the knowledge and connections to resell it, well, the score is all mine, frankly. Now...if I found a precious ring in a pocket of a shirt or purse I bought...that would be a different story (for me)...but only if it could be traced back to the original seller.

Do people who buy cheap real estate and flip it to someone who will pay more go back to the original owner and cut them a check? If Awbrey's buyer has clients who will pay $500 for the Eden Elephent, should they give Awbrey a cut of that? Fiddlesticks. I bought a bakelite bracelet at a thrift shop for $0.64. Sold it via ebay for $1100. The woman who bought it owned a very exclusive antique shop in Beverly Hills and said that she could sell it there for book value, which was over $5000. Well, I could probably use the five grand more than the woman who lives in Beverly Hills, but if she tried to give me more money, I would think she was nuts.

Hope all of you hit the big score soon, even if it's something of mine...more power to you for having the know-how!
marilyn_c
18 years ago
I agree with Tradewind. You don't develope an eye for collectibles over night. It takes a lot of looking, reading,
talking to experts, etc. After awhile, you can tell a bakelite bracelet that is worth big bucks from a plastic one that is worth nothing. And like she says, there will always be items that we pass over because it is hard to know about every little thing. Those of us who haunt junk shops, trash piles, thrift stores...love finding our little treasures. You have to go through a lot of "stuff" to find the good stuff...but it is out there. Happy searching, y'all!!
joyfulguy
18 years ago
I think that, while I wouldn't have given the original seller half of the difference, I'd have at least condsidered sharing some of my good fortune with her.

Nearly 4 years ago I spent a couple of months with my old step-uncle who'd had no children through two marriages, after his second wife died, for he'd had three hip replacements and severe pain through lower back, hip and leg and kept cattle in the barn though he was in mid-80s.

When his wife was there, if he didn't return from chores in an hour or so, she'd investigate - but no one in the house, no investigation and some of us were concerned that he'd fall into a snovbank and freeze. So I stayed till his cattle went out to pasture.

He and my brother, who'd bought Grandma's farm, had worked together for several years, 30 years ago, till my brother moved far away due his son's health needs. He was killed in a car smash when his 3 kids were just on the edge of being teenagers.

I suggested to old step-uncle that it might be a good idea, since brother's family had known some tough years, to leave something to my brother's kids.

He was considering it, but died before he acted on it.

He left me a bequest.

I cut a cheque to each of my brother's kids for part of it - thought it the fair thing to do.

We used to kid old uncle, telling him that we figured that he was trying to find a way to take it with him.

I guess he didn't succeed.

ole joyful

Eden Elephant

Comments (8)

marilyn_c

neetsiepie

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