Let's Have Some Fun - Items You Bought and Wished You Hadn't!

[tunicaslot]

Tired of the doom and gloom here.

Let's hear about items you bought - whether thinking you would score big - or items that were more than you bargained for getting them ready to list.

This past week - I hit paydirt - at least for me - went to a block sale and a couple of people had their clothing for 50 cents each - name brand - knew I could turn it over quick as long as it was priced right.

Came home to take pics and list when I felt something in the pocket of the first item - a fleece jacket. Turns out someone had stuffed tissue in it and had washed it at least once without taking out the tissue. Now I don't know if you guys can relate to this - but lots of women can! It was in little balls and completely covering the pocket - I cleaned and cleaned trying to turn the pocket outside in - but boy was it deep - duh - it was a kangaroo pocket. It took me a good 1/2 hr to clean out the mess and the mess left all over the fleece, table and floor. I thought about just ditching it a couple of times but I had already put so much work into it and it did fetch a good price.

I will definitely slow down and check out pockets next time.

[candd205]

I checked out your listing. I can't believe they haven't sold too. Here are my suggestions, (take them or leave them) Add more pictures. Make the first picture a photo of all 9 of them lined up neatly 3 by 3. Then add "Lot of 9" to the title.

[klassic*kids]

Have some real duds hanging around from when I first started selling,  Too many to count.  I soon might resort to .99 auctions.  There's got to be a buyer for some of them, somewhere.

[a_c_green]

I once bought a vintage automotive tuneup meter at an estate sale, one of those metal boxes with a big sweep-needle meter in the center and a row of knobs down one side. Looked very nice, fair price, great resale potential on-line. Couldn't wait to get it home.

I hooked it up to my car for some basic testing, and... hmmm... the needle only sweeps a little past half-way up the dial and stops, regardless of what setting I use. Doesn't seem to be hitting the dial anywhere, nothing's bent, rusted, etc., and yet the pointer will not go all the way over to the other side.

Finally I squint at the base of the needle, where the needle shaft emerges from behind the dial, and... something's sticking out. The base of the needle hits it on its way up the scale. Ah-ha! I go in for a closer look, and... it looks like... ewww, it really is: the arm of a dead spider. Just one arm, stuck through the hole in the dial, presumably waving for help many years ago, maybe wiggling the needle in an S-O-S fashion, I don't know, but unfortunately the spider had expired in that location, and lucky me, I had to do a full round of meter surgery to get the carcass out. 

It did, I am happy to say, get the price I was hoping for. (The meter, not the spider.) "Cleaned and rebuilt!" I said in the description. 

[candd205]

I am so glad you mentioned that I could have figured out a way to recoup my loss by finding someone who can use them for arts and crafts. That is what I should have done. I did try a little, searching the internet for ways to use old records. Couldn't find anything I liked, but someone else could have been creative enough to do something wth them. Yes, I feel guilty for just tossing them. But to be honest, they made me feel bad every time I looked at them. I was kicking myself every time I saw them. So, out of site, out of mind, and I got a good story to tell. I did think of a way to use them after I tossed them out. I could have used the undamaged covers to mail things that shouldn't be folded in. They could have been cut to size as needed to use this way.

[tunicaslot]

I probably could have done that -  DH says I have no common sense - I'm book smart - high IQ - but when it comes to common sense - forget it - I'm dead in the water! And I have to agree - I've done some pretty outlandish things  - when the simplest solutions were right in front of me!

[pinkrose442savings2018]

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@tunicaslot wrote:

Tired of the doom and gloom here.

Let's hear about items you bought - whether thinking you would score big - or items that were more than you bargained for getting them ready to list.

This past week - I hit paydirt - at least for me - went to a block sale and a couple of people had their clothing for 50 cents each - name brand - knew I could turn it over quick as long as it was priced right.

Came home to take pics and list when I felt something in the pocket of the first item - a fleece jacket. Turns out someone had stuffed tissue in it and had washed it at least once without taking out the tissue. Now I don't know if you guys can relate to this - but lots of women can! It was in little balls and completely covering the pocket - I cleaned and cleaned trying to turn the pocket outside in - but boy was it deep - duh - it was a kangaroo pocket. It took me a good 1/2 hr to clean out the mess and the mess left all over the fleece, table and floor. I thought about just ditching it a couple of times but I had already put so much work into it and it did fetch a good price.

I will definitely slow down and check out pockets next time.

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Such a trooper...have had a few of these's item's myself...no easy way to rid of the mess...but a lint grabber helps very well...:)   

[wolf*song]

I'll try anything, at this point, thanks!

[bigoljim47]

Many years ago went to an Estate sale. One room was filled with thousands if not million of postage stamps, some in catalogs and boxes full of them needing to be organized.  The other room was filled with collector plates still in their original mailing boxes. You know the ones you purchased through TV ads. I offered the man $1 each and I would take them all. Biggest mistake I ever did. In all there were 300 plates.  After sorting, describing and listing, it took me 1 week.  Selling was slow and After having them listed for a year I was down to 50 plates and now 5 years later they are still in my ebay room. For the amount of work I put in on those plates I could have gone to work at walmart and made more money.

[dhbookds]

Well, there is the 5' long/2' wide stuffed cloth catfish..........50c, that the Better Half "couldn't resist"........the boxes of old magazines.......and the box ceramic S&P shakers that were free.....and about worthless.......and the HUGE PINK PIG, paper mache that's lurking somewhere.  That's only within the last couple of wks.  

A couple of years ago, I bought a box of 20 Church Plates for $1 for the box.  We made over $250+ on them over time......since then, the cheap "boxes" have been almost irresistible. 

@ymeagainlord  We sold some of the big green molded ceramic Xmas trees with lights for $80+ last year and no trouble shipping.....tho they were heavy, people will pay it.

[mscarlett1450]

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@hollysfinds wrote:

When I first started selling we didn't have a phone with internet,

so we bought some things that I wish we hadn't.

This thread is funny because just today I was looking at a set of china I bought back then.

I haven't had the heart to get rid of it because it's a really nice set of china,

but it does not sell at all.

So, there are a few things setting around here in boxes taking up space

that I really should donate.

I'm much more selective now, lol.

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Funny because I also have a box of really nice china in a cute pattern.  Unfortunately no one else thinks it's cute.  I've been holding onto it for about a year so I think it is time to donate it.

[llllady]

In the late '90s or early '00s, I was excited to win an auction for a Royal Quaker Oats cookie jar.  I think it was around $80, and back then, they were going at auction for over $100.  Well, all I can say is that every time I look at it, I curse it out.  These days, it's going for about $15 to $20...tops.  OUCH!

[wolf*song]

We need a "Swap Meet" on the forums for the **bleep** we can't sell.  *L*

[fern*wood]

Three tubs of Precious Moments in their original packaging.  I thought they were nice items and an easy ship since the styrofoam inserts were all there.  Sounded good if only they sold.  My hubby looked them up when we got them home and told me they sold for "precious little".

I ended up selling only one on ebay out of about 150 figurines and the rest sold on CL.   I never look at those now without cringing.

[llllady]

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@ymeagainlord wrote:
I know the feeling = (

One of them is china like yours, and the other is one of those honking big white ceramic Christmas trees with lights. Not a "bad buy" (and I got it free anyway) but just the thought of shipping it gives me bad vibes and stops me listing it.

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I also bought an 8 QUART Friendship Pottery mixing/dough bowl. Don't remember how much it weighs, but suffice it to say, it's a lot!  I store rolls of packing tape in it.   What was I thinking, eh?

[divwido]

There's a reason they are nicknamed Exploders.