Treasure Hunting
One of the many things Kim and I like to do is to go treasure hunting. When I say that, I mean flea markets, yard sales, trade shows, auctions, and estate sales. We love to hang out in the antique stores or little stores filled with miscellaneous items. We have found through the years that there are many treasures to be found in these places. We would like to share some ideas, tips, and stories of our years of experience treasure hunting.
Finding Treasures
My wife and I differ on what we look for in these places. I head straight to the tools; she heads to the jewelry and craft items. I remember a time when we found this silver looking log about 8 inches long. You could open it up and it was hollow inside. It was unusual and I felt there was something to this piece. I was positive it was silver as it had a stamp on it. Three things happened at that moment. It had a silver stamp, the price was marked $12.00, and alarms were going off in my head, telling me this was worth something. The silver alone I knew was of value. I whispered to Kim, this is a good deal. I had a no idea how much of a good deal. Once we got home, we did some investigating. Come to find out this log was worth 140.00. We ended up selling the silver log and made a nice profit.
Another time I bought a cardboard box that contained 25 ‘no name’ purses that were brand new at an auction. No one at the auction would bid on the box of purses and I was able to get the whole box for $15.00. Most of the people at the auction were men and I could hear the giggles as I won the bid. The joke was on them. I took the box of purses to the flea market the next weekend. I placed the box at the end of the table and on one of the flaps on the cardboard box, I wrote in big letters ‘beautiful new purses’ $5.00 each. Within hours, all the purses were sold. I made my money back tenfold.
Bartering
Most of the time there is room for negotiation. Most swap meets/flea markets have items that are not written in stone. Sometimes you will be able to offer the buyer a deal and tell him you will buy ten of those items if he will go down in price. He may have marked an item $5.00 but since you are buying ten, he will go down to $4.00. There are times a seller has a price in mind, and will not be willing to negotiate. They have set the price as low as they will go. I carry my phone with me and will sometimes take a picture, looking it up on the internet to find out its value. This has helped many times.
Trading
There may be times when you are able to offer a trade, one item for another. One time I traded some foreign coins for several “Case” pocketknives. The foreign coins were not selling well but I was able to sell the pocketknives much quicker for a profit. Trading has been around since the beginning of time. I do have to say…be fare! You many think you are getting away with a great deal, but there is a difference in getting a good deal and taking advantage of a poor unsuspecting soul that does not have clue. Trading is exchanging one item for another, generally with the same value.
We hope these few tips may help you in your future treasure hunting.
Kind Regards,
Roy and Kim Thompson
RK Treasure Center
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