Sometimes stars align and you just know you’re on the right track. Here’s a perfect example from just yesterday, plus a bonus sale from today summing to $525 in revenue.
A few months ago, I came across the typical scene of clear plastic recycling bags indicating that someone just moved out or passed on. When I find this, I also check the black garbage bags that are often adjacent to see if their belongings may be there as well. They often are, and sometimes contain the really good stuff. This is how I find a lot of my jewelry and gift cards.
In this case here, I went through several back bags of what were clearly an elderly man’s belongings, and came across a few framed pictures. In the set of mostly vintage animal photos, was this...
I think it’s a man rowing a boat on a lake or river.
What do you see?
It’s not common for me to take art because I usually can’t read the signature to identity the artist and they take up my hands to carry. Since this name was semi-legible, and the frame was reasonable to carry, I took it to research more back at home.
It was a good thing I did. Sometimes I get a good feeling about a find and this was on the money. It was definitely unique and genuine. Whether it was worth money or not was a gamble with only upside when it’s free to take.
It turns out that this signed sketch from 1971 was by a famous US painter who painted over 5,000 pieces. He died a year later. His paintings sell at auction for quite a bit. Some auction sites show previous sales ranging up to around $250,000. Many are tens of thousands.
Without anything to lose, I listed this online for about $300 and let it sit. It attracted about 9 watchers, and I gradually lowered the price to try to trigger the sale. I guess the right buyer hadn’t come by yet. I’m patient. I wait.
Yesterday morning I got a message from someone asking if I could rush ship it to them by a certain date. This is usually a sign that the buyer wants to give this as a gift, so I asked to build rapport.
After the sale for $255, they replied that this was indeed a gift for his sister that married into the artist’s family, making himself a third cousin. He tripped on the listing and wanted it right away. He said that they have several of the artist’s works, but this was particularly unique. Tada!
This information made this feel pretty special for my effort. Sometimes the value isn’t in dollars. Here I am saving a famous painter’s signed sketch from just before they passed away, and somehow getting it back into the family’s hands who will treasure it.
Luck? Fate? Who knows.
I’m just glad that I can save precious stuff like this so that it and the artist’s essence can live on.
I’ve had several sales connect some distinct dots to show me that I’m doing the right thing at the right time. I can’t save everything, but I do what I can, and it adds up. Sales like this recharge my drive to do more, even when it’s late, cold, and I’m tired. Doing this helps others, alive and gone. That’s rewarding.
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If you’re still here, I’ll add a bonus sale from today. After trying to sell these individually on local apps, and getting several low-ball offers, I decided to put them up online. In fact, I told the last haggler on FBM that he motivated me to list them online where I could get market price, and I’m glad I did.
Of the 6 Apple Airport Express devices found in a bag on an afternoon I went to a doctor’s appointment, 5 sold together to one buyer for $270. I didn’t list the 6th because it didn’t have the original power cable. It’ll be easy to sell that individually.
Proof:
Pre-shipment tonight:
What I like about this find was that I refused to go home after my doctor’s appointment until I found something I could sell for more than the cost of my visit. After walking for about an hour and finding only a few PS4 games, in a neighborhood I rarely visit, I hit my goal. That’s the lesson.
Goal set. Goal hit. Goal executed.
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For those interested in the numbers, the net revenue for these two sales in the last 24 hours was $525. After fees and shipping, my net profit was $433.
Not too shabby, especially when they have some backstory to them to add value for me.
Thanks to everyone for supporting my new wave of blogging here so far. I’m happy that people remember my efforts and are still around to keep me motivated to share.
Matt