Recently I went hunting for odds and ends that I could re-sell at a garage sale or on E-bay. Not being that knowledgeable on collectibles, I go by intuition and luck in making my choices. Most of the items I buy for re-sale
cost me less than $10.00. If you are familiar with the term "economies of scale," you can see why I will never get rich with this approach. Anyway, how does a tattoo kit enter this scenario?
As I pawed through one antique shop, an attractive wooden box with with a tiny brass latch caught my eye.Maybe it was the words on the top of the box that caught my attention. They stated, "Cow Tattoo Kit." It was priced $25.00. Now I knew that cows kept up with the latest trends and fashions, but a cow tattoo kit? I was mesmerized. I opened the box and there was the neatest ear tattoo kit a cow ever saw. No, I didn't know that cows had their ears tattooed for identification purposes but years ago it was the thing to do. The complete contents of the box included a bottle of ink, two small
containers filled with letters and numbers, and a pliers-like hand tool for tattooing the cows ear.So here I was infatuated with a $25.00 dollar item
which was considerably over the budget of a junk buyer like me. With trepidation, I made an offer of $20.00 for the kit which was promptly accepted, and I took my trophy home. As I drove by the area dairy farms
on my way, I gazed at the barns and envisioned a cow tattoo expert at work. Infinite designs danced through my head: EAT MORE PORK was one I imagined a a cow might request. My kit, however, was not to
be used in any tattoo parlor; it was destined for E-bay.So many times you think you have a winner for Ebay,but this time I was convinced that I had one with this attractive box and unusual contents. I opened the bidding at $20.00 but before long, bids from around the country drove the price over the century mark. The winning bidder paid $113.00 for the kit.
A few days after I mailed the kit to the winning bidder, I received a beautiful letter praising me for the fine item I had sold them. These people owned a large farm and collected farm memorabilia. The nice thing about selling items to collectors like the farm family who bought the tattoo kit is that they are usually thrilled to acquire your offering.Everyone ends up a winner, and how can you beat that?
http://www.amazines.com/article_detail.cfm/10157?articleid=10157
