BAM!

BAM! That's right! I sold the clubs! When I first looked at them, they looked pretty good. The guy wanted $50 for them, but I don't know much about golf, so I had to try calling a friend to find out if it was a good deal. He wasn't there, so I figured I should just pass them by to be safe. A few minutes later, some guy comes by and looks at them (it was a garage sale). He talked very well of them, but said he already had some clubs. I followed him in the crowd and asked him how good a deal it was. He said the bag was probably worth that much. So I go back and tell the guy that $40 was a better price and he went for it. The best part was when his wife says, "Mom's gunna be mad at you, she wanted $80 for those clubs.", and the guy responds, "she's not the one sitting in the hot sun all day." LOL - I ended up selling them for $100, so I guess she was right. I found a crappy 3-wood for $.50 and threw it in the bag for good measure. I found a 1 wood, also, but it was for the wrong hands. Someone would probably notice I think. So now I have $149.50 and figure I'll withdraw my original $10.

Now I have to figure out what to do with my $139.50. Any ideas?

One Golf Set

Ok, I picked up a set of golf clubs this weekend at a garage sale. I think this guy was tired of sitting in the hot sun because he let them go pretty cheap. No drivers though, but I found a crappy 3 wood to throw in the bag. Hopefully I can flip these quickly.

Dead End

I found a Signal Generator for free. The guy said he didn't know if it worked or not, so I figured I could just hook it up to a scope at work and check it out. It was outputting something, but it was mostly garbage. Doh! Dead End. At least it was free. Back to the classifieds...

450% !!!!!!!!

Holy crap! I just sold the de-humidifier and I made 450%! Now that it's sold, here's the story...

I was surfing the local for sale web page and found a "humidifier" for sale for 20 bucks which had barely been used. No picture, no write up, no details, no nothing. Well, I figured it was probably one of cheap mist machines that usually go for 20 bucks or so, but I asked for the model and manufacturer anyways. It turned out to be a de-humidifier that Canadian Tire sells for $169+tax. It isn't a bad unit as it will de-humidify 1000 square feet. I called the guy up and it turns out that it was his former room mates who moved away. He was just going to throw it out, but figured if he could get 20 bucks for it then that would be nice. Yeah... nice for me baby! I went to see it and it was in great shape. I paid the 20 bucks and it only took 5 minutes for me to sell it for 90 bucks at my work. In fact, someone else said they would have bought it for $100, so it looks like I didn't even get the full value out of it. I guess I figured that since I only paid 20 bucks, it couldn't possibly be worth more than 90. There's another lesson for me. I should at least TRY to sell it for more than I think it's worth just in case it is. I can always drop the price later. Remember, I have NO pressure to sell.

Now, what do I buy for 90 bucks or less? Back to the classifieds.

Stay tuned...

One Little De-humidifier

Ok, I've made my second purchase. I basically ignored all my rules because it is too large to sell on E-bay again, and it is somewhat seasonal, although it is actually for THIS season this time. Also, not everyone wants it, but at least not many people have one so people are more likely to pick mine.

Let me introduce you to "One Little De-humidifier". After checking the internet, I believe this guy was selling this WAY too cheap and I couldn't resist buying it. I'm going to try to see if I can get $80 for it. Ambitious, but I think I can do it based on the surfing I have been doing.

If you want to make me an offer for "One Little De-humidifier" and want to pay shipping (or live in Ottawa) then e-mail me at onegreenpaperflip@hotmail.com

Garage Sale Backfire

Well, I figured a good way to find cheap stuff for resale is going to the local garage sale. I learned a good lesson about garage sales. Make sure the profit you expect in the end is worth more than the stuff your wife will buy. I didn't find anything to flip, but my wife found a nice VHS tape and a book. DOH! They weren't very expensive, but I can see where this is going. Garage Sales might end up costing me more in the long run. Maybe I'll stick to the classifieds.

I have a big lead on my next purchase. I'll post more when the deal is done!

Shazam!

That's right baby! The sale has been completed and I am the proud owner of a $20 bill! I have officially entered the world of wheeling and dealing! Awesome! Now I have to find something to buy with my $20 (or less) and flip that too. I think I was a bit lucky to get rid of that snowboard. No one else has been interested, and since it's June I don't blame them. I'll have to be smarter this time.

Ok, time to re-think my strategy and stick to it this time. Here is what I am looking for:

- Something small so I can offer cheap shipping on Ebay
- Something being sold cheaper than it should be
- Something lots of people want so i won't be stuck with it for a long time.
- Something people would buy from anyone
- Something that is not out of season.

now I just have to think of what that might be.

Sold Again!

Yee Haw! I just got a call from someone that saw my ad on the local free webpage. That snowboard is SOLD! $20!!! That's 100% profit. Awesome! I was afraid that I'd have to start approaching kids at the local tobogan run, asking, "Pssstt... hey kid.... wanna buy a snowboard?" I'd be wearing a trench coat of course, with the snowboard hanging on the inside.

Ok, before I get too excited the exchange won't happen for a few days. Anything can happen in a few days, so sit tight and cross your fingers. I can't believe I'm excited over making 10 bucks, but this is how it started with Kyle at One Red Paperclip. This is the equivilant to his fish pen and now he's up to One Movie Role. My on stage appearance with Our Lady Peace is only a few trades away!

Sold! Er.... Not Sold!

So I posted the yellow snowboard at my work and I had many calls in the first few hours! I was thinking, "Great! I'll be rid of this thing in no time. And I was right... for a while. Someone came by and purchased it. She didn't know much about snowboards and she was my co-worker and all, so I told her she could bring it back in the next few days if it turned out not to be what she wanted.

DOH! Then she calls me back after her expert friend looks at it and I find out that this is more of a kids toy for the local park hill, rather than a decent snowboard for the ski-hills. I guess there's supposed to be metal on the sides to carve through the snow. Crap! No wonder they were selling it so cheap. This may be harder to get rid of than I thought. Now I have exactly what I was trying to avoid. A cheap item that costs a lot to ship, making ebay virtually not possible. I'll have to sell this locally. Sigh.... Well, I guess I can't expect to do this without learning a few lessons on the way.

Lesson 1 - Know what you're buying before you buy it. It's better to let a good deal go by than to get stuck with something you can't sell.
Lesson 2 - Stick to your plan. Cheap items need to be light to sell on ebay to minimise shipping charges.

I'm still hoping I can get $20 for this thing. I still think it would be cool for some kid. But what do I know, eh?

One Yellow Snowboard

Well, I made my first purchase. I ended up finding a free web page, where you can post items for sale in Ottawa. Here - http://www.forsaleottawa.com/ There was a snowboard listed there for only $10. Now I know I said I wanted something small, so the shipping charges wouldn't be big for a cheap item, but come on... a snowboard for $10? I jumped at the chance and am now the proud owner of one yellow snowboard. I figure I should be able to get at least $30 for it. I mean, it's not exactly a top of the line snowboard, but it is in good condition. A good first time board I think. It's about 130 cm long, which apparently is important in the world of buying and selling snowboards.

If you want to make an offer for One Yellow Snowboard and are willing to pay the shipping (or live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) then e-mail me at onegreenpaperflip@hotmail.com. I think I'll try to sell it on a few free local web sites first, but if it's not working then I'll start my first Ebay Auction. Hopefully someone out there wants a snowboard in the middle of the summer.

One Ten Dollar Bill

Hey!

I was surfing the net and ran into this cool site. http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

This guy started with a paperclip and is trying to make trade after trade until he ends up with a house! How cool is that? When I saw this, I thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” So I thought of something different, but I have to say that Kyle at One Red Paperclip is my inspiration! I hope he gets his house some day.

Well, I couldn’t steal his idea outright, so mine is similar, but a bit different. My idea isn’t to trade for things, but rather to buy something and sell it for more money. The money I make from that will go toward the next item. As my money pool grows, so will the things I buy and sell for. So.... Really... I am using green paper (money) to flip items (to flip something means to buy it and sell it really quick for a profit). Of course my site should naturally be called "One Green-Paper Flip", which is a great play on words from One Red Paperclip! I'm a genius! (Actually my wife thought of it. Thanks snookems!) We'll just forget the fact that Canadian money is mostly not green.

My first thought was to do all my buying and selling on Ebay. This is a good medium, but after taking a quick look, it was obvious that when I was buying things, the shipping costs would kill me until I reached high value items. So for now at least, I will look for good deals locally, and then turn around and sell them on Ebay and other cheap selling boards.

The other thing I need is a starting place. To start with one red paperclip is cool, but the ebay fees would likely kill me. And besides, who is going to want to pay for shipping for a red paperclip. So to get over the Ebay fees, I think I’ll just start with some seed money… maybe something like $10. After a few items, I’ll “withdraw” my $10 from my trading account. To turn $10 into some huge amount (like enough to buy a house) would also be pretty cool.

So, there you have it. It is Currently June 1st, 2006 and I am sitting here with my $10 seed money on my desk. Now I just have to come up with a strategy.

I guess I need to find something that people want… don’t want to get stuck with something forever. And it should be something small so that the shipping fees are small. I mean who wants to pay $30 in shipping fees for a $10 item?Wish me luck. Maybe some day I’ll be as famous as that One Red Paperclip dude. I’m not really an Alice Cooper fan, but I could handle it if I ended up on stage with say, Our Lady Peace!