Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the
Day:
Secrets from the Garage Sale Millionaire
By Farnoosh Torabi | Yahoo! Finance – Tue, Nov 13, 2012 2:16 PM EST
As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and Aaron LaPedis is living proof. Over the years he’s been so successful buying and reselling other people’s unwanted items, he’s earned the nickname The Garage Sale Millionaire and even written a book about it. His most recent gem: photo negatives of Elvis Presley’s famous appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show — the one where Sullivan told him he couldn’t shake his hips — that he hopes to sell for six figures.
I recently visited LaPedis in his hometown of Denver to learn how to spot valuable items.
What’s Hot and What’s Not
My first lesson came during our visit to his local Goodwill store. There, LaPedis found a signed graduation speech by President Lyndon B. Johnson. While the signature couldn’t be authenticated on-site, if it proved to be real, LaPedis was certain it could fetch at least $100. For a purchase price of $5, he was willing to take the risk. Later, a quick call to a local appraiser proved he was right.
Along with signed presidential memorabilia, the best items to consider purchasing for resale value, according to LaPedis, include fine art, antiques, Beatles or Elvis collectables, coins, toy trains, rare books, antique firearms, antique furniture, china and some baseball cards and comic books.
You should avoid purchasing the following items: autographed sports memorabilia (since so much is fake), antique rugs, old newspapers and magazines, or fad collectibles such as Beanie Babies. His rule of thumb is that if something’s been mass-produced, even if it’s historic, it’s not going to fetch much money since there are likely many more still in existence.
To read the entire article from Farnoosh Torabi | Yahoo! Finance:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/secrets-from-the-garage-sale-millionaire.html
Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. -Mother Teresa
No comments:
Post a Comment