Last week I had 30 auctions running that ended last night. Everything that was listed had been purchased at either a garage sale or a thrift shop. Here’s how they came out.

1. Four volumes of the Charles Scribner’s Sons series of books by Theodore Roosevelt published in 1926. I paid $1 each for these at a local thrift shop and they all four sold for a total of $52.50. Not quite the $25 to $30 each I had been hoping for, but still a nice profit on a $4 investment.

2. How I Turned $1,000 Into Three Million In Real Estate sold for $52.60. I paid $.25 for it at a local thrift shop and it ended very close to the $50 I’d expected.

3. Another thrift shop purchase was ten different vintage 45 records in their original sleeves. I paid $.50 each for them, or a total of $5. Only four sold, but those four brought a total of $58.48. I’ve lowered the starting bid on the remaining six to $5.99 and will relist them beginning tonight.

4. Three Stampin’ Up! boxed sets of stamps. I paid $2 each for these at a garage sale for a total of $6. All three sold for a total of $38.01.

5. A beginner’s Selmer Bundy clarinet in it’s case brought $41.00. I had paid $10 for it at a local garage sale.

6. A book titled The Day Of The Bonanza that I’d purchased at a garage sale for $.50 brought $9.99.

7. A lot of 117 different Louis L’Amour paperbacks purchased at a garage sale for $15. These sold for $60.01 which was considerably less than the $100+ I’d been hoping for.

8. Another garage sale find was a book The Metropolitan Museum Of Art purchased for $.25. It sold for $11.50.

9. An Interview magazine with Mick Jagger on the cover. My cost had been $1.00 from a call-back that resulted from other garage sale purchases. It sold for $9.99 and is on it’s way to Paris, France in today’s mail.

Total sales from these items comes to $333.98. Total cost was $42.

Here’s what didn’t sell:

1. The remaining six 45 RPM records mentioned above. My cost for these totals $3 and, as stated above, they will be relisted with a lower starting bid beginning tonight.

2. A copy of The Virginian with Frederic Remington illustrations. I paid $.50 for it at a thrift shop. I still feel it should bring $10 and it will be relisted tonight with the same starting bid.

3. Another book - Growing Up On Bald Hill - a memoir of growing up in a small North Dakota town. I paid $.50 for it at a garage sale and will relist it tonight at the slightly lower starting price. It should find a home.

4. Two Fine Homebuilding Annuals that I paid $.50 each for at a garage sale. Since they didn’t sell on eBay I’ll be putting them in my TIAS.com store for $8 each.

5. Another book - The Art Of Maurice Sendak Selma Lanes - A $.50 purchase at a garage sale. This book will be relisted tonight at a slightly lower starting bid.

6. Two needlecraft pattern booklets that had been tucked inside a lot of vintage Miniature magazines I’d bought to be placed in my TIAS store. I didn’t realize they were there until I started placing the magazines in the store. There was no cost for these and they will now be put into a special folder in the auction management service I use. The next time eBay has either a free or $.10 listing day they will be relisted with $2.99 starting bids.

The total cost of the unsold items is $5.50 bringing my total investment in the 30 items listed to $47.50. Overall, that’s approximately a 600% profit before ebay and PayPal fees. The sell through rate was 56.7% which is a little low. Normally it runs between 65 & 70 percent for fresh garage sale inventory.

Beginning tonight I will have 52 items going live on eBay to end next Monday evening. These will consist of the items I’ve picked up at garages sales and thrift shops in the last week. I’ll probably also add the records I bought at the auction sale yesterday on Wednesday as 5 day auctions to end next Monday also.

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