My Top 5 Garage Sale Finds
3. Commemorative Elvis Doll: Fairly recently the Discovery Channel flew me out to San Francisco to show their viewers that I really can do what I say I can do with garage sale finds. While filming, I came across a highly collectible, commemorative issue Elvis doll. The doll was brand new and still in its original packaging. I bought it from the gentleman running the sale for $20. I was positive I could resell it, and after a quick check on my smart phone, I saw that the doll was worth $290 on eBay. Because of the time restrictions of the show, I chose to sell it to an antique store, making a little over $100. If time had allowed, I'm sure I could have sold it for much more online.
2. Tin Toy Ambulance: One of my learning experiences came at a time when I wasn't quite yet an expert on tin toys. I was very excited to have found a tin toy ambulance and the seller was so proud of it that I was sure I couldn't go wrong purchasing it for $65. I really felt it was a good price. When I arrived home and did a bit of research, however, I realized that the toy was either faded or had some sort of smoke damage. It was essentially a completely different color than it should have been. I realized then that because of my lack of research, my $65 purchase was only worth about $20. I have since learned that taking the time to do your research before you buy can make the difference between a great buy and a terrible one.
1. Iron Man #1 Comic Book: I discovered one of my earlier finds during my younger years. Being a teenage boy at the time, I was only interested in baseball cards and comic books. I would rummage around and buy as many comic books as I possibly could so long as they were in decent condition. On one hot Saturday, all of my searching paid off. I found the comic book of all comic books: an Iron Man #1. Even though this comic book wasn't in perfect condition, it was still in good enough condition to be worth a lot more than I paid for it, roughly 50 cents. The same comic book is now worth between $175 and $250 depending on where you look. Though I could sell this comic book for a significant profit, I decided to keep it, and it is still in my collection today.