There have been some cool changes at the Floating Patio – the wifi which I’m using now and Scott’s added a Verizon amplifier so cell phones now work on the lake. Scott’s also added some really nice new patio chairs and outdoor heaters. The Floating Patio looks great.

A boat just launched, an avocado and lime green retro fishing boat called the “Fish Assassin.” Other than that, I still don’t have much to say unless you want to hear me bitch and I’m sure you don’t so I’ll just shut the hell up.

Franklin Mint die cast sold on eBay for profit

You’ve seen the show American Pickers, they scour the country looking for lost treasures.  The funny thing is that they seem to run into hoarders.  We discovered that people who hoard possessions tend to have storage units.  We love the show because we used to do this for a living, and let me tell you picking is one of the funnest things we’ve ever done.  When you discover that you bought an old painting at a garage sale for $5 and can sell it for $5000, it’s hard to describe the thrill that brings.  We were small time pickers in comparison – we didn’t have a warehouse, in fact, we had our house stuffed to the gills with treasures we had found.  We picked everywhere but our favorite and by far, the most lucrative picking anywhere is the storage auction circuit in Las Vegas.  See, there is a mini storage on every corner in Las Vegas and they routinely auction the contents of these storage units to the highest bidder.  We were storage pirates and it was the funnest time.  We once picked up a small unit – from outside the unit, all you could see were stacks of white boxes.  They were neatly stacked and it raised the interest of several Las Vegas storage pirates.  The bid went up to $600 and I was just praying that they weren’t empty boxes and sweet Jesus, the boxes were full.

These three 10x15 units sold together for $2000

We had a container full of Franklin Mint die cast cars.  As we unwrapped the pristine packages and started to get to the bottom of this mystery storage unit, it turned out it was inventory from a Franklin Mint dealer and he was getting divorced and his soon to be ex-wife didn’t pay the storage bill.  Ouch.  We sold each of those cars 75 cars on ebay with prices ranging from $50 – $150.  We made at least $4000 profit off that one storage unit.  Another mysterious unit – that made us instant eBay powersellers was another strange story.  A woman in Bakersfield hired a moving company to deliver her household contents, including art, antiques, jewels, and other treasures back to their family home in New Orleans.  While the truck was in transit, Hurricane Katrina hit and her treasures were loaded into three storage units in Las Vegas.  She paid the storage bill for quite some time but fell ill and while in the hospital, her children drained her bank account and the storage bill went delinquent.  It was a strange day in Las Vegas as her storage contents came up for auction.  All the main players were at another auction!  We bought her treasures for $3,000 and resold the contents for over $20,000.  We sold antiques, art and collectibles all over the world.  It was truly exciting and we were the Las Vegas storage pirates!

Here’s the thing about American Pickers.  They do this thing where they pick an item, say how much they paid for it and what it’s valued at but what you don’t see is just how hard it is to sell this stuff.  There’s picking and then there’s selling.  Selling collectibles and antiques can be very challenging.  There’s an enormous amount of research involved and finding a “real” buyer versus a reseller is extremely challenging.  It’s a fun business and easy to get into as there are these little treasures everywhere.  Susan bought a hot-wheels car for .05 cents and sold it on eBay for $100.  I bought a first edition hard cover book at a garage sale for $1 and sold it on eBay for $100 so it is something absolutely anyone can get into.  But the research is crucial and I took the time to lay it all out in a book, specifically about buying and selling.  This is a must read for anyone considering entering the picking market.  Get your copy of it today and you’ll thank me later.

Jeff is a guest on Scott Live on YouTube (warning: could be considered a little dry – crunchy dog food for you!

When you undercut the market so severely you accomplish several things.

a.  You cheat the client. This is the worst point. That’s right, the client who’s once-in-a-lifetime special day has just been handed to the cheapo wedding photographer is not going to be well-served. A true professional photographer has skills that Uncle Harry doesn’t. The better the skills the more longevity in the business and the better the chance the client is going to get images they want to come back for.

Read the original article here.

This article is worth a read for anyone considering offering cheapo wedding packages.

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