While I was away, I came across a thread pertaining to a lady who bought a Rubbermaid laundry basket at a local yard sale. Check out her effusive comments on making this find....
"This weekend I was very pleased to find a Rubbermaid "Hiphugger"
laundry basket in superb condition. My old (20 years plus)
no-name-brand laundry basket was falling apart at both handles and along
one side making laundry more of a chore than it should have been.
Under the edge of a table at the yard sale I spotted the nice large
laundry basket still with the original paper label showing no signs of
wear in the bottom of the basket. There was no price marked on it. The
two people who were having the sale laughed. They had stuck it
under the table after they used it to store pillows. I thought they didn't want to sell it, so I started to put it
back under the table where I found it. Then they said, "If you want it
you can have it for $1."I did not try to negotiate a lower price (I have "some" sense of
decorum). I happily paid the dollar, took hold of the laundry basket,
and pranced all the way back to my car with it "hugging" my hip. LOL"
This lady's obvious joy over something so mundane as a laundry basket got me to wondering. Could I be missing something here? Are Rubbermaid products a hot item we all should be looking for at the garage sales? Turns out, the answer is a definite maybe!
I began my research by looking up Rubbermaid "hip hugger" laundry baskets. I discovered that while they are a quality product, you won't get rich flipping them on eBay. A brand new hip hugger laundry basket can be bought at Sears for about $12 dollars. Don't get me wrong, everyone could use an extra laundry basket that costs only a dollar. But when it comes to Rubbermaid, there are better items to look out for at the garage sales.
So while that lady who bought the laundry basket may have been overly excited about her find, she did demonstrate that lots of people like Rubbermaid products. If you're at a garage sale and spot a Rubbermaid product, it's at least worth a quick eBay look-up on your mobile device. You just never know-the right Rubbermaid stuff can be flipped into big cash dollars.
Have you made money flipping Rubbermaid or similar products? Share your story with us in the comment section.
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I've sold 1 Rubbermaid item - a 2x4x6' outdoor shed. It was here when we bought the house 12 yrs ago. We used it to store our trash cans for 10 yrs, then the city provided us w/rolling trash carts that are too large for the shed. Took the shed apart, powerwashed it & sold it for $125 on craigslist. They sell for around $300 new. This one was 12+ yrs old but it was still in great condition, even after sitting in the FL sun for that long. Long live Rubbermaid! :)
ReplyDeleteGreenJeans - Nice! Everyone can use a storage shed, even one that's over ten years old. You just gotta love Rubbermaid, right?!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the story.....Dude!
Right now aIm into vintage Tupperware for resale and personal use but I will be looking for those Rubbermaid sets.
ReplyDeleteHope you find some!!! : )
ReplyDeleteI still can't access your site from moneyinthegarage.com
ReplyDeleteScott- I think it's officially fixed. Try it out and let me know. Thanks for letting me know....Dude!
DeleteGlad to see you're back Dude, I missed you. I was so excited a couple of weeks ago and went to your blog to tell about my first ebay flip and you were gone :( But now that you're back I'll tell you. I went to a garage sale and there was a scanner for Janome sewing machine. The tag said $100. I picked it up thinking it said $1 and when I realized it was $100 I quickly put it down. The lady said 'Oh, no it's not $100, you can have it for $2.' I didn't know anything about the scanner but do know that Janome is a very expensive sewing machine so I bought it. Checked it out to make sure it worked...it did, so I put it on ebay with a starting price of $35 or a buy it now price of $50. It sold in only 3 hours at the buy it now price...woo hoo!!!!! Now I'm hooked and am on the lookout for more garage sale items to make a quick buck. Thanks for the inspiration. Cindy
ReplyDeleteCindy-Thanks it great to be back "on the air" so to speak! You made a nice score, turning 2 dollars into fifty in just three hours-I'll take that any day of the week!
ReplyDeleteYou just never know what you're gonna find in the thrift store, that's what makes it so fun. Well, that and the money, right? Lol!
Thanks for the nice comments and keep coming back for more.....Dude!