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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
 Posted - 06/10/2007 : 20:00:09
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I went to a yard sale yesterday and looked over the odds and ends that offered.
The seller had a bag of knobs for cabinets or drawers for sale 25¢ each.
I picked one up and noticed the weight of the knob, (it was solid brass.)
I bought the whole lot of 32 knobs for $7 and weighed them, it took 7 to equal a pound in brass (about $3 a pound as scrap.)
I also picked up a pair of brass candle holders for a dollar (each one weighed 1 pound)
My perspective towards going to yard and garage sales has changed, I no longer look for just interesting items to buy, I now keep an eye out for cheap scrap to buy and then resell.
Anyone else have luck at the sales?
I should have chosen "Cut-n-Paste" as a forum name, since that is what I do, mostly.
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1641 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2007 : 08:00:08
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I have been able to buy lots of sterling silver below scrap price at garage sales, e-bay, and even flea markets (you would think they would know better). Old tarnished jewelery sometimes kinked or broken is typically marked between .25 and a 1.50 and prices are almost always negotiable down from there.
Very occassionly I strike gold, but most people seem to know not to sell gold at garage sales. I have never thought about other metals, but I think you may be on to something. An auction on a box of old hardware could be a great buy these days as I doubt anybody is thinking of the scrap value when bidding... Heck now that I think about it, I bet that I have seen some clearance deals at the hardware store selling for less than scrap.
Tools of the trade would include studying up on hallmarks (there are some tricky ones besides the common ones), monocle (unless your eyes are better than mine), gram scale or learn to estimate weights, cheat sheet ("what's a gram of 12k gold scrap worth?" etc...), and experience telling fakes from the real deal. |
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2007 : 08:09:43
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I bought a few heavy brass lamps at garage sale last Summer. Not only do they work, but they are worth much more for their scrap value than what little I paid for them.
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Fanaticism is doubling one's efforts, yet forgetting one's purpose.
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NiBullionCu
Penny Pincher Member
USA
168 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2007 : 14:50:02
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Be careful with brass candle holders. (or silver ones for that matter).
The base may be weighted with a plaster/cement substance. |
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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2007 : 17:45:48
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One tool of the trade to have is a small magnet.
I bought what appeared to be a brass candlle holder for a dime, it turned out most of the components were brass plated steel, though a little was real brass so I broke even on that buy.
I should have chosen "Cut-n-Paste" as a forum name, since that is what I do, mostly. |
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2007 : 10:29:32
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| I visited an estate sale a couple of months ago and they were selling a sterling silver napkin holder for $8.00. It had the ugliest fruit shaped design I'd ever seen but it weighed about a pound. Needless to say, now I get to stare at it every day. |
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wavecrazed
Penny Sorter Member
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2007 : 16:39:49
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aluminum wheels, stainless steel, scrap all kind of stuff. sometimes they put it out by the curb if they dont sell it.
scrappin" all over |
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2007 : 18:00:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Crash
I visited an estate sale a couple of months ago and they were selling a sterling silver napkin holder for $8.00. It had the ugliest fruit shaped design I'd ever seen but it weighed about a pound. Needless to say, now I get to stare at it every day.
How do you guys know if it's sterling other than seeing it marked as such? If it is marked how come others miss it?
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Fanaticism is doubling one's efforts, yet forgetting one's purpose.
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1641 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2007 : 07:03:58
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Pretty much all sterling is marked, but I doubt that many people are familiar with even the most common marks. Not everything is obviously marked "sterling", but rather it could marked with 925 or an even more obscure mark.
That being said, I would guess that not being able to read mint marks is not the major part of the problem. Somebody selling a heavy sterling napkin holder for $8 dollars most like knew that it was sterling (or it would have been even cheaper). So the problem (or opportunity) is that people just don't know what sterling is worth.
On the flip side I have seen lots of sterling marked way to high at garage sales. So people are either over or under estimating its value.
Personally I have found that finding big sterling objects at garage sales is pretty rare (at least around where I live), but finding old tarnished and/or broken unwanted jewelry is fairly easy.
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Crash
Penny Pincher Member
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2007 : 10:52:04
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| That's exactly right, Horgad, the napkin holder was marked with 925, otherwise I would have had to guess. It was the only time I've ever found a deal as good as that. The family of the person that passed away was just interested in liquidating all of the deceased's treasure/junk. The only reason I can imagine that no one bought it before me is because it's so ugly and they just passed on it. |
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cakesea
Penny Sorter Member
51 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2007 : 20:20:04
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i was just at a yard sale today and i got a sterling silver fork for free. the woan had it marked at 25 cents and i went up to pay and she said that i could just have it. at another place i went and bought 4 pounds of lead fishing weights fo a buck i figure the price per lb of lead was about a buck last time i checked so why not. im going back tomorrow to pick up a lot of stainless steel they had a whole set of forks knives spoons and servingware such as serving spoons for 4 buck and im also gonna pick up 2 gold rings 18 kt gold rings for 5 bucks
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1641 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2007 : 07:45:07
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What does your fork weigh? I'm guessing it must have what about $8 worth of silver in it? In any case, great find.
I scored a very light hollow pair of 10k gold earrings for a quarter. Although only weighing about 1.4 grams, they contain about $12 in gold. ($658 troy ounces / 31.1 grams * 10K / 24K * 1.4 grams)Too bad that I had to go to about 10 garage sales to find them...
Also missed out on about 4lbs of brass. It got picked up and bought right in front of me...I was about 30 seconds late to the party. |
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Garage sale/yard sale scrap
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