Let's Make A Deal!

When I was a child I loved watching Let's Make a Deal which was a very popular television game show airing in the United States. The original and most widely known version ran from 1963 to 1977.

The premise of the show is pretty simple. Host Monty Hall picked wacky dressed up people from the audience and offered them various choices which would either end up winners or duds. For example, contestants were offered a choice between $750 or a what could be behind Door #1, 2 or 3. Contestants were stuck asking themselves "Should I take the money now or choose Door #1 and end up with a shiny new car or a box of dog biscuits?"

You can check out more about the show on the The OFFICIAL Let's Make A Deal website!

I'm always looking for stuff that I want or can sell on eBay or to someone else. In an earlier post OLD Hand Hewn Beams Rescued From Dumpster! I talk about beams and a door that I rescued from a beautiful old house that was being torn down in our community. Remember...it was stuff that someone was throwing away that they were kind enough to give to me for FREE.

I was planning on using those old beams in my next house until I talked with Ken Wheeler. 5wheeler@tds.net

Ken is a master craftsman who designs and hand-crafts the most incredible furniture that I have ever seen. I can't say enough about Ken and his ability. Check back in the near future for a post highlighting Ken's furniture.

He told me in general conversation that he is making beds now. Out of old beams. With old bead board. And stained glass inserts in the headboards that have a light behind them. Hummmmm...

Guess what audience? It's time for Ken and Dana to play Let's Make A Deal!

As a Treasureholic, it's all about the thrill. Finding, selling and trading and not necessarily in any particular order. Sometimes you don't have to exchange cash and trading/bartering is just as good or better!

I have beams, Ken needs beams. He does restoration work. I have an old desk that needs to be restored.

We met, and I offered him the beams. After much pacing and head scratching, Ken chose door #1.

He headed back up the mountain with the old door from the Tryon house in the back of his pickup and said he would easily trade it to another Treasureholic, who owns a salvage business, for $100.00 worth of old barn siding. That siding will be turned into unique, rustic birdhouses and furniture that will find homes in beautiful log cabins here in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

He told me he was going to charge me about $100.00 for the restoration work on my desk and door #1 would be a fair trade and cover the cost.

I don't recall ever watching Let's Make A Deal and seeing two people pick the same door and end up with a wonderful prize. Do you?

What's your best trade? Email me: treasureholic@gmail.com

The Treasure Hunting Gene

In my last post, I mentioned that I felt sure that Treasureholics share a Treasure-Hunting gene.

I know it has to be that way because my Mother, has "it" bad. She's passed it down to me, and there is no doubt that it has to be a dominant gene!

When I look around, there are thousands of others just like me and perhaps you are one of them. Believe me, we have plenty of company--at garage sales, auctions, flea markets, metal detecting meetings, find your own gem and gold mines, pawn shops, swap meets, estate sales, trash piles, dumps, and antique malls.

We are all fighting for the same parking place at 6:00 am in front of the most promising garage sale driveway hoping to be the first one to snag the best items. We're looking for something that the owner has priced for 50 cents that will sell for a hefty profit on eBay or to an individual.

Some of us didn't even wait until the day of the sale and knocked on the door the night before asking if we could scan the items and be the first one to preview the treasure.

As I'm snagging neat stuff, I'm going to write about it and tell you what I've done with it after I've hauled it home. If I've sold it, I'll let you in on the sales price and tell you what the person who's bought it is going to do with it.

I'll bet you can glean something out of it that you can take to the bank and email me treasureholic@gmail.com to tell me about your find.

Happy Hunting!

Reader ID's the item in the last blog as a Heel Plate!

NEWS FLASH!!! NEWS FLASH!!!

My thanks go out to Chris Phillips who emailed me about the "What is it?" metal thing that is shown in the picture on the last blog entry and I think we have an ID!

Here are Chris's comments about the item:

"I would say you dug a heel plate. Leather shoes of the 19th and early 20th centuries often had these fastened to the bottom of the heel. At first I thought that the heart shape cutout was a woman's shoe but I have seen similar ones in military camps. Some are merely in the shape of a horse shoe. I had seen photos of dug heel plates over the years in detecting magazines and internet forums. Try "heel plate" in a google image search. The best and fastest way that I have got my "what is its" identified is through the Treasurenet.com forums. This site is truly impressive. It's probably the biggest metal detecting site on the net. I have had people from all over the USA and Europe help me identify my relic finds."

With Chris's help, I started searching online to see if I could find out more information. My first search target was eBay. I went out to eBay, plugged in "heel plate" into the "Buy" search category and found a seller who has a store called The Soldier's Heel.

Here's the link to this seller's eBay store - http://stores.ebay.com/The-Soldiers-Heel I sent him an email and asked him if he knows anything about the heel plate that I found. I haven't heard back yet, but when I do, I'll post his response for everyone to see!

I also Googled "heel plate" and didn't find a match for old antique designs or references.

If you have any information about the heart shaped design on this heel plate and it's date and significance, please let me know!

I'm trying to put a match to an old pre-civil war fort and it's location so your comments would be greatly appreciated! treasureholic@gmail.com

BIRDFOOT HAS BEEN SEEN ON eBay!

Everyday is treasure day around here! Yesterday after work, my child and I decided to head over to a local area to walk the trails and gravel road. It was nice to spend some time together getting a little exercise and enjoying the nice weather. While we were walking I was looking for interesting things...you know the "T" word.

We cut across a field and I noticed that the wild bird foot violets were in glorious bloom. If you're not familiar, take the time to do an online search and see how beautiful they are. It's also a great time to look for them in your area and I do hope that you find some! I would love to hear about your search so please let me know how it goes.

Bird foot violets are native to our area and they are pretty unique as violets go. You don't see them that often and they are realitively small so you have to look. What will catch your eye is the colonization that is most evident when they are in full bloom. When left undisturbed, they group and spread and paint a big swath of blue/purple color in the landscape. Most people who see them think they are violas or johnny jump ups which are very common domesticated plants. If you look closely, the bird foot violet is true to it's name because the leaves are split and look like little bird feet.

Pat Arledge, who was my neighbor and who knows a great deal about native plants, showed me one that she had transplanted from somewhere in the mountains to her yard and it had a beautiful creamy white outer color with a bright yellow center. She said the yellow ones were rare. (Insert Angel singing noise here.) So, I've been on the lookout for yellow bird foot violets ever sense.

As I walked over to admire the patch, guess what caught my eye??? Yellow bloomin' bird foot violets! (Try saying that one five times fast.) They were right in the middle of the blue/purple patch. Of course I hooked an immediate right, headed straight for them, bent over and was thrilled!

In addition to being beautiful, there are so many things that you can do with violets. People dry them and use them in potpourri, soak them fragrant oil, put them in containers in the bathroom, press them and make beautiful framed pressed flower pictures, incorporate them into home made paper, sugar them for confectionary decoration and on and on and on.

I was wondering how long it would be until the yellow ones developed seed pods. I would love to make a return trip and harvest some seed and plant it in my garden. If I timed it right, next year I could sell some yellow blooming bird foot violet plants on eBay. I made a mental note and we moved on.

It was getting late and the sun was creeping down behind the mountain so we headed for the Denali with a handful of bird foot violet blooms.

When I arrived home, I searched for the birds foot violets and found the blue/purple ones all over the net. BUT I haven't found a posting for a yellow one yet. If you find one, please let me know!

I checked out eBay and there were no bird foots listed. Because I have access to bazillions of the blue/purple ones that grow wild on a friend's farm I decided it would be worth a try to see if I could sell some. So now it's true, a bird foot has been seen on eBay.

I Sell Stuff on eBay That Doesn't Cost Me A Dime!

There are so many great things about selling stuff online!

What I like best is to find ways to sell stuff on eBay that doesn't cost me anything upfront or even at all! It takes a little work, a little research and sometimes you get a little dirty but trust me, it's $$$ in the PayPal account! Basically it's my way of Treasure Hunting for items that I can sell online without coming out of pocket until it sells!

My venue of choice is eBay. I've been successfully selling stuff under my eBay Seller id i-ebiz since April of 2002 and I just love it! http://myworld.ebay.com/i-ebiz

I automate my listings as much as possible so I can list items and have time to get back to treasure hunting. More about how to sell on eBay in later posts.

So what am I selling now, where did I get it, and how much did the items I am currently selling cost me?

Here's what I'm currently selling:

Japanese Maple Seedlings - Pictured on my Blog Site!
You get 7 for $15.00 plus shipping (buyers pay $5.00)

Where did I get them? The house we are living in has the most beautiful Japanese Maple tree in the front yard that I have ever seen! The seeds fall from the tree in the Summer, germinate and naturally grow into the prettiest little Japanese Maple Babies without any intervention or assistance from me. People are buying them and are very pleased with the quality. They have the most beautiful leaves and color in the Fall! I think most of them are being made into Bonsai trees.

What did they cost me? Zippo. Ten minutes of time to pull up three orders. I walk out of my home office (I can see them right now.) search around in the ivy, carefully pull them up so I don't damage the root system, put them in the McDonald's cup that I had Diet Coke in that day and take them upstairs to pack for shipping. I ship them US Postal Priority Mail (If you ship USPS PRIORITY you get FREE SHIPPING BOXES - that's another post.) and pack them in wet paper towels and zip lock bags that I buy on sale at Dollar General.

Rare Black Bamboo - Phyllostachys Nigra
You get three to four rhizomes for $25.00 plus shipping (buyer's pay $7.99)

Where did I get them? My church is planning an expansion and owned the lot next door to the church. An older home was raised and there were beautiful plants in the garden that many of us have rescued. There is a lovely grove of this rare black bamboo. The bulldozers have pushed it up and loosened the soil. I just go over - it's 5 minutes from my house and dig up rooted sections/rhizomes, bring them home, cut them and pack them in wet newspaper and paper towels and put them in a garbage bag that is tightly tied. They ship in the long FREE triangular USPS Priority Mail Shipping Boxes that you can order FOR FREE on this link. http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=13354&productId=26002&langId=-1

What did they cost me? Zippo, again. OK, I have to get in my truck (I drive a GMC Denali Pickup - Black and lots of Chrome and I LOVE IT - that reminds me of a funny story that I have to post one day!) and drive over to the church about four miles away and tromp across the lot, dig up the bamboo, take it home and prepare and pack it. Oh yea, I do have to make a trip to the local post office which is 2 miles away.

Best Organic Hair Conditioning Treatment I've Ever Used
You get about 15oz. of this Great Hair Stuff for $19.95 plus shipping (Buyer's pay $5.00)

Where did I get it? I haven't purchased it yet for re-sale. I have purchased it for my own personal use and it's exactly what I say it is! It's made a huge difference in the condition of my hair. So how am I selling it? I list it because I believe in this product. I'm listing it because I know I can get my hands on it when it sells and it's readily available. It's the best conditioner I've ever used and think it will do well for me on eBay. Until it sells, I don't have any cost in it at all. When it sells, I'll buy it and ship it to the buyers. No upfront cost. Minimal cost after the sale. A decent profit for a little work.

What did it cost me? I'll make about $10.00 per shipment. This item is a new listing for me. If it takes off, it will be worth the little bit of time it takes to purchase it and repackage it in zip locks. If it's spotty, and doesn't sell, then it's time to replace it with another item that I've found treasure hunting. I've found over the years that I can do pretty well re-selling a product as long as there is a demand for it and there is enough margin for me to make a profit that's worthwhile.

You Choose Your Initial - Monogramed Charleston Gates Door Mat
I'm selling two sizes of this mat for $34.99 each plus shipping (Buyer's pay $9.95)

Where did I get them? My Brother-In-Law's family owns a cocoa mat manufacturing business here in South Carolina. They sell wholesale to distributors and retailers. I asked if I could sell some of the specialty mats on eBay for them. I just listed them last week and have already sold one and had quite a few questions about the mats. They are single pack, single ship and are screen printed to order with an initial of the buyer's choice.

What do they cost me? Nothing but the eBay listing fees until it sells - which apply to all eBay listings no matter what the item you list costs you to sell. You still pay an insertion fee which is customary for most online auction houses. Here's the deal here. The manufacturer owns the inventory. You set up the relationship as a distributor and get the benefit of wholesale pricing. They pack and drop ship the item to the buyer. You collect the cash from the buyer and email the order to the manufacturer. It's EASY. You just list the item and push the paperwork through. Most companies will even set up an account for you and bill you net 30. So what am I making on these mats? About $19.00 per sale. Again, this is a new treasure listing for me. It's a great item and I hope it does well!

Benefits of this type of "Treasure/Listing"

• You collect the cash up front from the buyer!
• You manage the product when it sells
• You spend your money if required only when it's sold
• You don't end up with dead or unsold inventory if it doesn't sell
• Profits are generally higher!

Here are the total sales for the items listed above. Everything that sold with the exception of 1 item were plants. AT NO COST TO ME. I dug them out of the ground. Who says money doesn't grow on trees?

Last 7 days - $204.99

Last 30 days - $319.99

Do you have a similar success story finding treasure like I do? Have you made money on the side buying and selling something that you are passionate about? Let me know! I'm really interested in your stories and I would like to mention your successes on my blog! treasureholic@gmail.com