I am sorry to write that we lost a friend yesterday. Gary passed away about noon on Tuesday June 23rd following a massive heart attack with no previous warning.

We know that this sight and computer auctions were a big part of his life and so wanted to let anyone out there know what had happened.

The Funeral is Sat. June 27th at Stennes Funeral Home in East Grand Forks, MN with visitation starting at noon and aslo Friday from 5:00 to 7:00pm. The Obituary will be in the Grand Forks Herald Thursday June 25th.

Thank you for any part you may have played in Gary’s life.

–Gary’s Family

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Two summers ago, the 30″ walleye to the left was tied for the largest walleye caught out of the resort we go to each year in Ontario, Canada. Last year didn’t produce anything larger than 25″ but with a little luck we can make the fellow above look small this year.

We leave early tomorrow morning and will be back home sometime Saturday the 20th. The weather forecast up there for next week looks a little damp, but it sounds like the fishing is good right now.

In the meantime I have 39 Challenge auctions that will start Sunday evening and run through the 21st.

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The fifth week’s auction ended Sunday night with 24 of the 35 qualifying items selling for a total of $535.45 and a sell-through rate of 69%. I don’t remember my reasoning, but I put a BIN of $24.99 on one of the items and that sold within 24 hours for the BIN price. Amazon sales accounted for an additional $110.73.

Most things this week ended pretty close to where I’d expected them to except for the premiere issue of Domino magazine which could easily have brought another $40 to $60. Overall though, a few other items did a little better than expected so it pretty much washed out.

After the fifth week of the Challenge here’s how things look:

I don’t have any auctions running this week because I’m leaving for a week’s fishing in Canada on the 13th. Purchase from last week and this week will go live on eBay on the 14th and end on the 21st after I get back.

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Whether you realize it or not, at one time or another you have likely been exposed to a plastic canvas Kleenex box cover. They can be found in millions of homes across the country. And, while those Kleenex box covers may never be big sellers on eBay, there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people around the world addicted to the plastic canvas craft.

And, these crafters aren’t making just tissue box covers. They are stitching away on purses, doll houses, refrigerator magnets, coasters, along with things you would never even think of. They spend a lot of money on patterns for their next creations and are constantly on the lookout for new patterns.

The most frequently seen patterns are four page leaflets although you will also find pattern booklets ranging from eight or ten to two dozen pages in size.

Used patterns can be found at garage sales, thrift stores, and book sales, often for $.10 or less per pattern. These patterns can be turned into nice profits on eBay if you know what to look for, how to buy them, and how to package them.
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Auctions for the fourth week of this year’s Challenged ended on Sunday night with 25 of 44 items selling for a sell-through rate of 57%. That’s still not as high a percentage as I’m used to, but it’s certainly better than what it was the last two weeks.

Auctions accounted for $723.23 in sales. That, plus a $39.99 fixed price listing, brought my total gross eBay sales to $763.22 for the week.

For another week, there were no really large sales. The highest priced item was $46.00 for one of the PC games. The two Nordmaendene i Amerika books were a real disappointment selling for $36.01 and $31.01 respectively. Roughly $15 less than I paid for them. I’ve had several of these over the years and previously all had sold for a minimum of $150 each.

After the fourth week of the Challenge here’s how things look:

The fixed price item that sold was listed with free shipping so the $4.72 figure under incidental fees is my shipping cost for the books

Here are the Challenge items I have on eBay this week:
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The first month of the 2009 Garage Sale Challenge is complete. Sales have been respectable but I certainly didn’t buy the kind of items I did last year during the first month.. That lack of bigger ticket items is reflected in the fact that my net profits for the month are down between $400 and $450 from what they were last year.

Here’s a list of the top 10 best selling items, with ties, from this year’s Challenge. Hopefully the list will give readers some idea of the kind of things that can be found at garage sales and thrift stores that sell well on eBay.
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