This weekend I had an out of state film crew in wanting to film me doing what I do. This meant that they wanted to follow me to garage sales, estate sales, auctions and anywhere else I’m able to make money buying and selling. For all of you buyers and sellers out there, I’m sure you can guess that having a film crew watching everything you do and say adds a lot of pressure to the situation. You can’t always guarantee that you’ll find a great item on demand. Needless to say, I was extra observant everywhere I went.
On Friday, I decided to try out my local Goodwill store, living garage sales for later in the weekend. I don’t visit Goodwill as often as I should, so I’m not in the loop on new shipments and items like I am at other locations; essentially, I was walking in without any idea of what I might (or might not) find.
I took my time, looking through each of the isles, scanning over everything. When I reached the art and frame section, I saw my big break. Low and behold, they had a beautiful piece of original artwork. I wasn’t familiar with the piece, but it looked like it could be worth something, so I busted out my smart phone. I did a quick search of the signature in the corner and realized that it was definitely worth a more than the $40 sticker price. I wasn’t sure yet how much it would be worth, but I knew it was definitely going to be a gem.
I took my find home with me and immediately did a more thorough internet search of the artist “K.S. Ringi.” I soon learned that the artist in question was a Swedish artist named Kjell Sorensen-Ringi, who passed away in 2010. His unique painting style appears to be more difficult to come by, but based on the pieces I did find, I would have to say that given the size and condition of the piece I purchased, the value could fall anywhere between $500 and $900. Even with the cameras rolling, I was able to find a $40 purchase worth over $500. Not bad for a high pressure situation!
This just goes to show that even though the economy has improved slightly, this doesn’t mean there aren’t deals to be found. I will say, however, that if you want to find great deals, you need to make your visits a regular habit. If you like garage sales, you need to go garage-saling on a regular basis. If you like pawn stores, you need to visit your favorites regularly; the same goes for flea markets and auctions. I may have gotten lucky on this trip, but you really can’t visit these spots just once a month and expect to stumble upon something every time you go.
So get out in the beautiful sunshine and hit those sales!
Good luck, and happy hunting!
-Aaron
To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at [email protected].
Leave a Reply