About a year ago, I was out on my very first garage sale stop of the morning. As I pulled up to the house, I took note of a lot of interesting "man cave" stuff in the front yard. Included in the guy stuff was this enamel Coca-Cola sign, which was just laying in the grass. It was a classic Coke sign, measuring four feet long and a over a foot wide. Jumping out of my truck, I zoned right in on the sign and grabbed it! My first instinct told me it could be a reproduction. I figured there was no way I found a classic Coke sign this easily! But after some close examination, I started to believe it was, as the old commercial said; "the real thing." It had some age to it, and there were some small serial numbers in the bottom corner.
At this point, you may be wondering why I didn't just ask the seller if the sign was real? While that seems like the obvious thing to do, I don't like asking that question. Asking a seller if an item is genuine, can be tantamount to telling him to price it way-high! Garage sale picking is like a game of poker-you never show your cards! In fact, when asking for a price, you should act like you're practically bored with the item. It's as if you're doing the seller a hugemongous favor by taking the piece of junk off their hands! When the seller sees you're not getting all excited over his item, there's less of a chance he'll overprice it.
Putting on my Lady Ga-Ga poker face, I looked over to the seller. He was still busy bringing even more stuff out of his garage. Finally getting his attention, I asked what he wanted for his Coke sign and braced for his response. He gave me a quick glance and said, "Give me twenty for it." I was a little shocked! I thought even if the sign was a reproduction, twenty bucks was still a good deal! Knowing a good price when it's lobbed to me, I quickly peeled off a twenty dollar bill and scooted off with my latest, greatest find!
After I arrived back to the Moneyinthegarage studios, I did some internet searches and verified the Coke sign was authentic. It harkened back to the late Fifties-a perfect vintage era. Now it was time to make some money! On any given day you'll find thousands of Coca-Cola signs listed on eBay. Many sellers ask big money for their signs with a fixed price listing. These same signs will just sit on eBay forever, due to the high price. I don't like to go this route. My philosophy is to get things sold quick! To do this, I like a good, old fashion auction. In an auction, the market determines the final sale price. Keeping with my free market philosophy, I listed the old Cole sign at a below-market price of only $50 dollars.
Once the auction started it became obvious people like their Coca-Cola. My sign saw immediate bids and watchers. (That's why auctions are cool. It's like playing the state lottery-everyone thinks they have a chance to win!) For the entire seven day run, the Coke sign ticked steadily northbound. On the seventh day it rested........at $168 dollars! A pretty good haul for only a twenty dollar investment!
My Coke auction did great. But while I like the auction format, other folks favor fixed pricing. What do you prefer?
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Great find! I love when I have a hot item and it attracts lots of bids! I just got a store and am still learning whats best to put on auction and what to put as fixed price. But it is fun watching a popular item as it goes up in bids!
ReplyDeleteMarci-A good auction is a blast isn't it? I really like when it comes down to the last minute and the "snipers" jump in. The bids can jump 10-20-30 dollars with each snipe! It's a rush!
DeleteThanks for checking in and good luck with your store... Dude!
I am on Ebay burnout right now and taking a BIG break. I tried to do a store, but I think too much FP was burning me out. Though I had sales, the excitement is just not as much fun. I closed my store because I like Ebays "50 free". I am with you. Autions are a rush. I need a good rush in my life to get back my ebay spirit!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya. Although it's not as fun as it use to be back in the early days of eBay, a good auction still gets the juices flowing!
DeleteGood luck with the auctions and thanks for the great comment!
....Dude!