Monday, June 1, 2009
An Interruption in the Journey
Life has a way of throwing us curves that place our best laid plans on hold. In the midst of my learning how to conduct an internet business last year, illness decided to appear. Two major surgeries in fifty-nine days changed my focus in life. Business was put on hold and time devoted to recovery. It has been nine months since the last surgery and things are beginning to get back to "normal" -- that is, if there is such thing as normal. Now to get the business back on track!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Current website work
Well, I have been writing about past events that have brought me to the present. So just an update as to where I am now. I am currently working on my website,
treasures2yourdoor . It is definitely being a learning experience. I am having to learn a on of stuff about vintage glassware, depression glass, etc. Of course the one item I am selling that I am not having to learn about is the horse tire swing. Any way check out my site and give me suggestions on how I can improve it.
Sharon
treasures2yourdoor . It is definitely being a learning experience. I am having to learn a on of stuff about vintage glassware, depression glass, etc. Of course the one item I am selling that I am not having to learn about is the horse tire swing. Any way check out my site and give me suggestions on how I can improve it.
Sharon
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Don't Be Greedy Continuation
I just realized that I did not finish my account of buying eight storage units. First off, these storage units were about an eight hour drive from my house and we only had two pickup trucks with us. Eight storage units will fill two trucks, a 20' trailer AND the largest U-haul truck you can rent.
In order to get everything packed in the vehicles, we were unable to keep the units separate and we did not think to mark the boxes with identifying marks. Therefore, when we got home and started sorting through all the stuff, we could not throw anything away that appeared to have a missing part because we did not know if that part would show up later in another box. It only took a year to to sort through and sell the stuff.
The main lesson I learned... Never buy that many units at one time. The "fun" of the project quickly is gone and it becomes plain WORK!
Sharon
In order to get everything packed in the vehicles, we were unable to keep the units separate and we did not think to mark the boxes with identifying marks. Therefore, when we got home and started sorting through all the stuff, we could not throw anything away that appeared to have a missing part because we did not know if that part would show up later in another box. It only took a year to to sort through and sell the stuff.
The main lesson I learned... Never buy that many units at one time. The "fun" of the project quickly is gone and it becomes plain WORK!
Sharon
Thursday, April 10, 2008
A Little More About Rocks
Now if you find yourself with a big bunch of rocks, don't be in hurry to sell them to the first person with $100. They may be getting a really good deal. Did you realize that some people pay good money for rocks -- especially if they are all catagorized, clean, and in some cases shiny.
The person who purchased the storage unit that was full of rocks learned lots of lessons on that one. He sold the rocks too cheaply not realizing that they did have value. Then he had an adventure with the box that he accidently kept. It was a box of geodes - sort of pretty. So he thought he would see if he could sell them at the flea market. This is how he related the story...
I was sitting in my booth during a lull in business. A woman walked up to me and demanded to know where I had gotten the geodes I was selling. She was rather rude and bossy acting. I asked, "Why do you want to know that?"
"Because these look like MY geodes and I want to know where you got them!"
"What do you mean 'your' geodes?"
"Someone broke into my house a few months ago and stole my rock collection. It was worth thousands of dollars. These geodes look like the ones I had. WHERE DID YOU GET THEM?"
"I bought them at an auction in a town about 2 1/2 hours from here."
"Oh, then, they are probably aren't mine. Sorry to have bothered you."
My friend now wonders if perhaps he did sell a stolen rock colletion worth thousands of dollars for a measley $100!
The person who purchased the storage unit that was full of rocks learned lots of lessons on that one. He sold the rocks too cheaply not realizing that they did have value. Then he had an adventure with the box that he accidently kept. It was a box of geodes - sort of pretty. So he thought he would see if he could sell them at the flea market. This is how he related the story...
I was sitting in my booth during a lull in business. A woman walked up to me and demanded to know where I had gotten the geodes I was selling. She was rather rude and bossy acting. I asked, "Why do you want to know that?"
"Because these look like MY geodes and I want to know where you got them!"
"What do you mean 'your' geodes?"
"Someone broke into my house a few months ago and stole my rock collection. It was worth thousands of dollars. These geodes look like the ones I had. WHERE DID YOU GET THEM?"
"I bought them at an auction in a town about 2 1/2 hours from here."
"Oh, then, they are probably aren't mine. Sorry to have bothered you."
My friend now wonders if perhaps he did sell a stolen rock colletion worth thousands of dollars for a measley $100!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Watch Out for Rocks
When taking that two or three minutes to look at a storage unit and decide whether or not you want to bid on it, there are several things for which to watch. Neatly stacked boxes that are labeled usually mean that at one time someone valued this stuff. Then if the boxes are stacked in an orderly fashion from floor to ceiling, chances are you will find good items for resale.
Now about those boxes. If they are labeled, read the label. If this looks like a great unit and none of the other regulars at the auction are being a little slow in their bidding, before you jump in and shout out that highest bid, read the labels AGAIN! If the boxes are labeled "agates," etc. you had better be a rock hound. Those boxes have the strong probabilty that they will be full of ROCKS. Rocks are VERY heavy -- even if they are small boxes. Then if by chance you are having to clear out this unit and while you are loading your trailer with these back breaking boxes and it starts to rain..... well, you know what happens to cardboard when it gets wet. It has a tendency to disinegrate. Then instead of boxes of rocks you now have PILES or rocks.
Yes, this actually happened. Thankfully I was not the one who was excited to get the bid, but I did know the person who did. Now the rest of the story is..... rocks are worth money if you happen to know the right people. Don't just offer them to the first person who comes along for $100.
Next time the rest of the rock story.
Now about those boxes. If they are labeled, read the label. If this looks like a great unit and none of the other regulars at the auction are being a little slow in their bidding, before you jump in and shout out that highest bid, read the labels AGAIN! If the boxes are labeled "agates," etc. you had better be a rock hound. Those boxes have the strong probabilty that they will be full of ROCKS. Rocks are VERY heavy -- even if they are small boxes. Then if by chance you are having to clear out this unit and while you are loading your trailer with these back breaking boxes and it starts to rain..... well, you know what happens to cardboard when it gets wet. It has a tendency to disinegrate. Then instead of boxes of rocks you now have PILES or rocks.
Yes, this actually happened. Thankfully I was not the one who was excited to get the bid, but I did know the person who did. Now the rest of the story is..... rocks are worth money if you happen to know the right people. Don't just offer them to the first person who comes along for $100.
Next time the rest of the rock story.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Don't Be Greedy
Now if one storage unit is good and is profitable, doesn't it make sense to buy more. Well, yes, it does --- as long as you don't become too greedy all at one time. First, do you have enough room to store and sort through more than one unit.
Now I have access to a really BIG area, but i learned the hard way, Do NOT buy eight units all at one time -- especially if you are eight hours from home and have to rent a U-Haul truck to get them home. But if you are brave and do something like that there are some tips that might help. I'll get to that on the next post.
Sharon
Now I have access to a really BIG area, but i learned the hard way, Do NOT buy eight units all at one time -- especially if you are eight hours from home and have to rent a U-Haul truck to get them home. But if you are brave and do something like that there are some tips that might help. I'll get to that on the next post.
Sharon
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Storage Units Are Not for the Faint-Hearted
Okay. So now you have been brave and purchased your first storage unit. You have high hopes and dreams. The number one being that you will be able to sell the stuff for a profit! You have it to your home, garage, or barn. This is where the feelings of being overwhelmed surface. It is one thing to have a "ton" of your own stuff, but it can be overwhelming to have a "ton" of stuff that once belonged to someone else. You have absolutely no idea what you will find in the boxes.
Sorting through a storage unit of stuff is not for the faint-hearted. REMEMBER you are dealing with items from someone else's life. They may not have the same values as yours. You may want to protect your children from view points that may not be the same as yours by not letting them go through the stuff. If you are a person that is easily shocked, you probably don't want to be in the business of buying and reselling units. The reading material that you find in storage boxes may not be the kind you would allow in your house.
I remember in the early days of my adventure there was one unit we labeled "The Porn Unit." Oh my, it was a shocker. Everything in the storage unit was neatly boxed and the boxes were stacked high. I won the bid for $25.00. I was sure we would find a lot of good stuff to sell. Probably everything in the unit would have sold, but I WAS NOT WILLING to sell it. There were boxes of porn material. Then there was more of it interspersed in the boxes of regular household stuff.
Now here is another valuable lesson. When going through a unit, if you find questionable literature and items that you want to destroy, put them all in one trash sack or area. Don't spread them out through the general garbage. That way you know exactly where the stuff is that needs to be burned because you don't want to put in the curbside trash for some kid to find and be warped for life! This leads to another valuable lesson.
Magazines DO NOT burn EASILY! Don't think you can drop pounds of magazines into the trash barrel, drop a match, and they will just disappear in flames. It doesn't happen. You just about have to burn them one at a time. If you are planning to shred them, you better have one more heavy-duty shredding machine because they will burn up the cheap ones.
Well this unit was not a total loss. It did contain many good items that I was willing to sell. Collectibles from this unit convinced me that there was good money to be made on eBay. Between the eBay sales and the garage sale, I made a really nice profit. Though I must admit, my hourly wage was significantly lower because it took to much time to burn the magazines.
Coming in the next posting ----- Watch out for the rocks!
Sorting through a storage unit of stuff is not for the faint-hearted. REMEMBER you are dealing with items from someone else's life. They may not have the same values as yours. You may want to protect your children from view points that may not be the same as yours by not letting them go through the stuff. If you are a person that is easily shocked, you probably don't want to be in the business of buying and reselling units. The reading material that you find in storage boxes may not be the kind you would allow in your house.
I remember in the early days of my adventure there was one unit we labeled "The Porn Unit." Oh my, it was a shocker. Everything in the storage unit was neatly boxed and the boxes were stacked high. I won the bid for $25.00. I was sure we would find a lot of good stuff to sell. Probably everything in the unit would have sold, but I WAS NOT WILLING to sell it. There were boxes of porn material. Then there was more of it interspersed in the boxes of regular household stuff.
Now here is another valuable lesson. When going through a unit, if you find questionable literature and items that you want to destroy, put them all in one trash sack or area. Don't spread them out through the general garbage. That way you know exactly where the stuff is that needs to be burned because you don't want to put in the curbside trash for some kid to find and be warped for life! This leads to another valuable lesson.
Magazines DO NOT burn EASILY! Don't think you can drop pounds of magazines into the trash barrel, drop a match, and they will just disappear in flames. It doesn't happen. You just about have to burn them one at a time. If you are planning to shred them, you better have one more heavy-duty shredding machine because they will burn up the cheap ones.
Well this unit was not a total loss. It did contain many good items that I was willing to sell. Collectibles from this unit convinced me that there was good money to be made on eBay. Between the eBay sales and the garage sale, I made a really nice profit. Though I must admit, my hourly wage was significantly lower because it took to much time to burn the magazines.
Coming in the next posting ----- Watch out for the rocks!
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