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I usually crawl into the dumpsters on Sunday morning behind the malls when the stores are closed and scarf up all the bubble wrap, Styrofoam, and foam rubber that is available. I have only purchased three cardboard boxes since 1985 and have shipped hundreds of items.The furniture stores and stores that sell a lot of imported decorator items are the best but be careful of broken glass and ceramics. I also jumped in one once(in the 1980's) and was trapped for ten minutes until I piled stuff up and got myself out...what stories. lol My point? Cut your expenses. Buy low, but fair...sell or trade low, but fair. Have fun. Give others a break every now and then and don't expect to make a living from it. The market fluctuates. This stuff has little or no utility. Sure it's cool, but it doesn't actually do anything. Be realistic. I have bought and sold thousands of antique vending machines, jukeboxes, signs, etc. over the years and it is all just STUFF. I understand that some of it is more valuable due to demand, but it is still just stuff. Have fun. Dave

Last edited by Catauladave; Sun Jun 23 2013 04:03 AM.

Dave Jones
It's All Just Stuff
Please use For Sale forums to sell

Please - NO offers to Buy or Sell in this forum category

Statements such as, "I'm thinking about selling this." are considered an offer to sell.
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Anthony,
Thanks for your open letter and honesty!
Your sincerity shows and I hope the best for you and your business. I started as a picker like you 14 years ago and now Im a collector and I also buy and sell alot of signs.
Not too many can say THIS is ALL they do for a living, BUT I can.
Good Luck!
If you ever have any questions or would like advice, Feel free to ask...
Tom VanHolten
219 778 3155

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No two businessman are alike in their business style. Having said that; all successful businesses share some very basic fundamental principles. I won't bother restating them as they have been addressed numerous times in this thread by others already.


Dave GILL,
Dave's Garage & Memorabilia, Inc.
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Just going to respond to All instead of individualizing each response.

First off,, thanks to all the people who welcomed me in and see where im coming from for the most part.

I am taking all of this constructive criticizm into consideration. In business its great to hear out everybodys opinion because no two are alike usually. Even if some of the responses are still critical, i know that for every bunch of apples you will always get a couple bruised ones. In the letter i wasnt trying to complain about all the fees and expenses i was just stating reasons why my starting prices are high. Thats all.

I work very hard and put in wayyyyyy over full time hours doing this, and i freaking love it!! I take care of my customers though. For those people who want something bad enough and who dont want to go out to try to find it (picking) then all they have to do is click a button and it will show up on their doorstep. I make their life easy because im the one who does all the leg work.

Also, i have to mention.. I never met a collector who doesnt sell. 2 Things ive learned is that everything has a price and everything in this world is negotiable. Ive boughten items out of peoples private collections before from very reputable collectors in this business (not naming names). So i agree to to a point with the person that said "this site is made up of 99% collectors and 1% dealers" but in reality everyone buys and resells. Were hardwired as humans and also as Americans to be like that.

Im done posting though most likely..I will probably just be using this site to educate myself more and more now.

Keep the thread going!!

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Anthony, your post was so long that I was too tired to read any of the responses. : ) I hope they were not typical of some I have read here in the past made by, I'm guessing, grown men sounding like a bunch of old biddies.

I don't know how you could have stated your case more clearly and maturely. Every day I see the results of people who jump into business thinking every penny that comes through the till is money in their pocket, they having no true concept of COGS. Those doors soon close. The other end of that is the peanut gallery observer who thinks that every penny that comes into the till of a business is money in the greedy owner's pocket. Once again, no idea of COGS. This group smirks knowingly when the doors close.

I think you are on the right track with a Buy it Now concept. I think I replied earlier that it is hard to tell what you consider to be a lowball offer when the initial price is perceived to be in the stratosphere. A BIN format should clear up that issue.

Good luck. I hope you are able to survive and flourish.


Collecting the Mississippi companies:
Billups, Southland, Rose Oil,Crystal Oil, Barq's
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everyone on here buys, sells, & trades at some time or another. we all have overhead. and so do the thousands of competitors you have on ebay selling the same sign or something similar.

stick to whatever game-plan you prefer, but trying to convince yourself that you are in a different position than others is naive.

my advice, buy what you want, and ask prices that are comparable to the market. use proxibid, ebay, liveauctioneers, shows, swap-meets to help determine those prices. if you have an item that has value and ask a price that represents that value accurately, your item will sell... no matter the medium used.

if you ask too much for an item... the only real excuse would be that you are in too deep on that piece and hoping to find someone desperate for the item. (I think we've all been in that boat before)


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Dave,

Yes I actually sat down and discussed the idea with a few people and got some opinions. The call was to change up the business strategy a little bit and see how the response is. We shall see if this is successful.

Thank you,

- Ant

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Just love reading these.


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Shipping boxes and packing for free.... Guys if you have a Bodyshop near you stop by and see them for boxes and packing materials. Most of my parts at my shop come in boxes of all different sizes with packing. I have never had to buy any for shipping items and I still have to pay for a cardboard recycling dumpster that gets unloaded twice weekly...


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Mike

Always Looking for any Pure Oil and Sunoco Items.
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Mike,

Unfortunately that does not work well for us.

2 potential issues with used cardboard

- Potential Infestation
- Soggy wet boxes or not strong enough card board

We buy pallets of boxes brand new from our supplier. In addition to boxes we buy Ply-wood, shrink wrap, packing tape, fragile labels etc.

We really choose to go the extra mile for our customers. I would feel wrong asking alot of money for an item and cheaping out on average packing materials. That is just my general opinion. But you do make a valid point...profit margins can be increased if we were to get used boxes but then I feel the quality of my service and reputation of customer satisfaction goes down. I get messages all of the time on ebay regarding customer concerns with packing before we ship out. If someone shells out an excessive amount of money for a sign, they want a good packing job.

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Well you just stated if someone shells out "an excessive amount of money" for a sign they want quality packing.

Yes, that's true (and a de facto admission of excessive pricing)

I've used discarded carpet padding from a local carpet store in town and I tell you it's some of the best FREE packing material available.

In today's economy, with your prices, I very seriously doubt customers expect brand new labels and boxes. Customers want reasonable pricing and a package to arrive safely at their door.

Buying brand new materials to justify your pricing isn't the best way IMO

PS: stating your Gulf sign on EBay is "100 year old" Victorian style sign isn't the best way either. But I digress

Last edited by DCpate; Tue Jun 25 2013 07:50 AM. Reason: Stupid autocorrect

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Just wanted to know if any of you let ups pack them for you? For the price of a five dollar box it sure saves me a substantial amount of time and effort. Plus they have gotten pretty good at it.

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I will edit that for you on ebay. It is about 100 years old. I will add the word about. I believe it to be from the 20s to 30s right?
Originally Posted By: DCpate
Well you just stated if someone shells out "an excessive amount of money" for a sign they want quality packing.

Yes, that's true (and a de facto admission of excessive pricing)

I've used discarded carpet padding from a local carpet store in town and I tell you it's some of the best FREE packing material available.

In today's economy, with your prices, I very seriously doubt customers expect brand new labels and boxes. Customers want reasonable pricing and a package to arrive safely at their door.

Buying brand new materials to justify your pricing isn't the best way IMO

PS: stating your Gulf sign on EBay is "100 year old" Victorian style sign isn't the best way either. But I digress

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Most of the signs I ship are usually big. I maybe can look into it.

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victorian references the era of queen victoria... which ended in 1901... the sign is not that old


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