I Don't want to be flamed. I have a honest general question for everyone here ....

@src3collector I really am interested in that whole field. The estate sales and storage auctions. Ive never been to one YET. I do know that its nothing like the TV shows where they find boxes and boxes of Gold and diamonds everyday. Also I'm jet like you . Taking something apart is just how Ive always been. When I was a little kid. I would take apart all my toys or electronic equipment and rewire it or just put it back together. Actually I would love to start a business where estates hired me to come in and clean out a whole house and get it ready for resale. I went to school for 5 years in HS for construction technology and business management ... Granted it was a HS program. The amount of info and tools I learned I have been able to utilize all throughout my adult life. I also can totally relate to the NOT having a boss.... I always hated the passive aggressive way a manager would talk down to me and say "why did you do this or that"" My reply was always rude and not polite. I was a little rough around the edges. I grew up with a big italian upbringing and Have close family friends that are part of that big italian family in Boston . When a pos boss would think I was going to be scared of them threatening me with being fired and Id say something like IDGAF ill slap the taste out of your mouth.!! HAaha they never liked that but they would respect me .... Sorry Im ranting. I just hear ya loud n clear w NO BOSS and NO LIMITS on the money you can make..



Thank you for your response.

DayV

Originally Posted by dayvirus

@src3collector I really am interested in that whole field. The estate sales and storage auctions. Ive never been to one YET. I do know that its nothing like the TV shows where they find boxes and boxes of Gold and diamonds everyday.

Haha, nope nothing like the shows, except for maybe the beginning and bidding part, after that though is another story. You rarely find that one magical item, and if you do you can't just walk into any store and just have them appraise it. The worst offense is how easy they make it look. It makes people think they can just buy a locker, find a valuable item, sell it right away and make tons of money. What they don't show is all the hard work and nastiness involved. You have to dig through ALOT of trash, and that trash doesn't just magically disappear, you have to do something with it. I've had many units where probably 90% of it was absolute junk and garbage. Plus all the dirt, dust, mold, mouse/rat turds, hazardous chemicals (that are usually leaking), rotting food, bugs, spiders (one time I brought a Black Widow into my garage unknowingly), used sex toys, stained whitey tightys. The only positive critter I brought into my garage were some gecko's. I didn't mind them at all since they eat bugs. Selling the stuff you find isn't always easy either, you have to put up ads, deal with flakes, etc.

Anyway, I don't mean to rant, it obviously does have its good side too, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. I will say this though, the auction part and the bidding is alot of fun at times and can give you a bit of a rush. Problem with that though is you can easily get carried away and into a bidding war and overpay.

But back to the topic, this site and scrapping has helped me tremendously with what I do. So far I've been able to avoid having to make trips to the dump which would cost me more money and instead either bring in money or get rid of stuff on craigslist. Probably the best example is a unit that was FULL of old telecom boards and equipment and looked like absolute garbage (nothing was really hidden either). Most of the buyers out there would have just taken most of it to the dump and didn't want to deal with it, which worked out for me as I won the unit for a mere $10! Processed most of the boards, shipped it out to a buyer on this forum and got a check back for almost $700! And I still had some sellable items and larger items that I needed to work on.