Raulandpinboy
<font color=blue>Table-dancing auctioneer<br><font
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2001
- Messages
- 1,705
So today I was off doing my Saturday morning thing, and then I passed a pawnshop I had not been in for over 2 years.
You see before Ebay I used to buy all my computer equipment and tools for my company at pawn shops. I had also stopped going to them after I discovered that they take advantages of people down in their luck, by offering to buy their possessions for a fraction of its worth then selling it at twice what they bought it at to instantly double their profits.
Also my buddy was a sales clerk at a pawnshop, and he said they offer you an amount they know they can double, and sell it right away. The most you would get for a brand new $1200.00 laptop is $500.00 because they know they can easily sell it for $1000.00 and they will mark it up $1150.00 so when you offer them $1000.00 theyll take it and you think you just pulled one over on them.
Today I thought what the heck lets see what they have since I have yet to buy anything for Donna for Christmas (I hope she does not read this) and I wanted to see my buddy if he was still there, so I went inside and saw the usual 1000s of CDs (which they will only pay you a $1 for if you sell it) 1000s of movies and DVDs stereos and TVs.
My buddy was there and said hey are you still into Disney stuff? I said does the sun rise in the morning? like Duh!!! What a question. He then said this is about to come out of pawn, it was pawned about 3 months ago and the owner never came back for it.
Then he pulls out the Star Wars limited edition 250 Mickey Yoda event logo watch still sealed in its box.
I said it was cute, but what is the asking price? I always ask what the asking price is, because I always offer less.
The total damage So get ready for this $70 for the watch, I offered $60 and it was a done deal.
Now in way I feel bad because somebody needed cash in a hurry and pawned the watch, the most they got was $30.00 if they took $60.00. They could have sold it on Ebay for three times that, they probably thought they would come back and get it out, but never did. This one hit home because this person and myself had something in common, we were both at the Disney MGM Star Wars event, and we both loved this watch. I never got one because they sold out.
Things like this are the reason why I stopped going to storage lot auctions, because people store their goods and then something happens, and they cant pay the fees, the owners of the storage bldgs. will then sell the contents of the storage container to recoup the unpaid rent.
The contents are mixed and sold at auction in a process called box lots. It consist of a bunch of boxes on a pallet, you bid on the pallet with about a 100 other people. The highest to bid gets it. The auctioneers will always sometimes touch on your greed centers by writing in sharpie bedroom stuff, or kitchen items, then they yell out oh oh a box marked bedroom that could mean jewelry because we all know jewelry is kept in the bedroom right folks, or kitchen that means silverware then the bidders go nuts and bid more.
Why do they do that? Because they get 10% buyers premium, which means they make 10% of what they sell, the more they sell the more they make.
I have bought several of the so called box lots, and what I find inside can make you cry, sometimes personal effects like family pictures, things like war decorations from a veteran of WWII. I have found wedding albums, a wedding dress, anniversary items, and yes even last wills and testaments along with tons of personal papers.
What gets me is this, the auctioneers dont care about the people attached to these items, and most of the people that buy these items dont care either. They will without a care in the world rip the pictures out of frames, and sell the frames. Sell the war decorations on Ebay, take the personal things and throw them away, and sell the value items only. So a lot of peoples personal items end up in a land fill.
There are those like me that will try to find the owners and give the items back to them, but its very hard. The internet helped immensely, but in my 10 years when I did this I only found two people in about 50 that I tried to find. The reason for this is some of the items came from storage lots that stored for nursing home patients now deceased with no next of kin left to collect the items, or in one case I purchased some of the contents of an apartment of a gentleman that was sent to prison and got three consecutive life sentences. The sheriffs office then boxed up his possessions and they were sold at auction to help to repay the state. How do I know this because of the documents I found, and then searching for his name on the internet.
I have gone on and on and my point is this. No matter how bad it looks try to remember there are and always will be someone less fortunate than you. Think of how this person felt having to box up his personal family possessions, and now know that some stranger will end up selling it on Ebay or throwing it away without a care in the world. Think of the person that had to pawn that watch that they paid over $100 for and now are settling for $30.00 think how that person felt knowing that they could not go back and get it.
If I ask for anything this Christmas it would be this.
If you know a friend that needs help, offer it before they get to the point of having to sell some of their personal possessions at a pawnshop or anyplace else, most people are to proud to ask so if you know they need it offer it to them first.
If you ever go to an auction selling somebody elses possessions pick an auctioneer that actually cares, and offer you a place to bring back personal item you find in the boxes and they in turn will try to contact the original owners, there are a few out there that do this.
If you do get someone elses memories try to contact them or next of kin, you owe them that much.
This holiday lets all try to help others that need it more than we do, I have asked my friend and families to instead of buying me things to make a donation to the Casselberry Christian Sharing center. They help family in need, and this thanksgiving fed over 150 people. They do one special thing that I love which is they always give wrapping paper ribbons and bows to families that get toys for the kid during the holidays, they want the parents getting the toys to wrap the gifts and give them to the kids as if it came from them. I think that is awesome.
Remember some people hate the holidays because they cant provide the same for their families as other do.
Ill end it with this the two people I found in my search for personal property, one was the granddaughter of a man that played pro football back in the 1950s I found his wifes scrapbook that had everything he ever did in it, including a piece of his uniform and ticket stubs to the games he played in. She died in Florida and the book was thought to be lost forever.
The other was a woman that got divorced, the ex husband had stored everything she owned in a storage lot, she moved away to get resettled, and he did not pay the fees, the storage lot company did not contact her so she lost everything inside. When I contacted her and told her who I was, and what I had she thought it was a cruel joke and hung up on me twice. She later called back and apologized I was able so send her most of her personal pictures most of them of the kids, and her parents wedding album that meant more to her than anything else on the world along with the things from the wedding.
As for the watch I dont really want to keep anymore as I could not enjoy it. I plan on selling it on Ebay and the proceeds will go to my favorite place the Christian Sharing Center.
You see before Ebay I used to buy all my computer equipment and tools for my company at pawn shops. I had also stopped going to them after I discovered that they take advantages of people down in their luck, by offering to buy their possessions for a fraction of its worth then selling it at twice what they bought it at to instantly double their profits.
Also my buddy was a sales clerk at a pawnshop, and he said they offer you an amount they know they can double, and sell it right away. The most you would get for a brand new $1200.00 laptop is $500.00 because they know they can easily sell it for $1000.00 and they will mark it up $1150.00 so when you offer them $1000.00 theyll take it and you think you just pulled one over on them.
Today I thought what the heck lets see what they have since I have yet to buy anything for Donna for Christmas (I hope she does not read this) and I wanted to see my buddy if he was still there, so I went inside and saw the usual 1000s of CDs (which they will only pay you a $1 for if you sell it) 1000s of movies and DVDs stereos and TVs.
My buddy was there and said hey are you still into Disney stuff? I said does the sun rise in the morning? like Duh!!! What a question. He then said this is about to come out of pawn, it was pawned about 3 months ago and the owner never came back for it.
Then he pulls out the Star Wars limited edition 250 Mickey Yoda event logo watch still sealed in its box.
I said it was cute, but what is the asking price? I always ask what the asking price is, because I always offer less.
The total damage So get ready for this $70 for the watch, I offered $60 and it was a done deal.
Now in way I feel bad because somebody needed cash in a hurry and pawned the watch, the most they got was $30.00 if they took $60.00. They could have sold it on Ebay for three times that, they probably thought they would come back and get it out, but never did. This one hit home because this person and myself had something in common, we were both at the Disney MGM Star Wars event, and we both loved this watch. I never got one because they sold out.
Things like this are the reason why I stopped going to storage lot auctions, because people store their goods and then something happens, and they cant pay the fees, the owners of the storage bldgs. will then sell the contents of the storage container to recoup the unpaid rent.
The contents are mixed and sold at auction in a process called box lots. It consist of a bunch of boxes on a pallet, you bid on the pallet with about a 100 other people. The highest to bid gets it. The auctioneers will always sometimes touch on your greed centers by writing in sharpie bedroom stuff, or kitchen items, then they yell out oh oh a box marked bedroom that could mean jewelry because we all know jewelry is kept in the bedroom right folks, or kitchen that means silverware then the bidders go nuts and bid more.
Why do they do that? Because they get 10% buyers premium, which means they make 10% of what they sell, the more they sell the more they make.
I have bought several of the so called box lots, and what I find inside can make you cry, sometimes personal effects like family pictures, things like war decorations from a veteran of WWII. I have found wedding albums, a wedding dress, anniversary items, and yes even last wills and testaments along with tons of personal papers.
What gets me is this, the auctioneers dont care about the people attached to these items, and most of the people that buy these items dont care either. They will without a care in the world rip the pictures out of frames, and sell the frames. Sell the war decorations on Ebay, take the personal things and throw them away, and sell the value items only. So a lot of peoples personal items end up in a land fill.
There are those like me that will try to find the owners and give the items back to them, but its very hard. The internet helped immensely, but in my 10 years when I did this I only found two people in about 50 that I tried to find. The reason for this is some of the items came from storage lots that stored for nursing home patients now deceased with no next of kin left to collect the items, or in one case I purchased some of the contents of an apartment of a gentleman that was sent to prison and got three consecutive life sentences. The sheriffs office then boxed up his possessions and they were sold at auction to help to repay the state. How do I know this because of the documents I found, and then searching for his name on the internet.
I have gone on and on and my point is this. No matter how bad it looks try to remember there are and always will be someone less fortunate than you. Think of how this person felt having to box up his personal family possessions, and now know that some stranger will end up selling it on Ebay or throwing it away without a care in the world. Think of the person that had to pawn that watch that they paid over $100 for and now are settling for $30.00 think how that person felt knowing that they could not go back and get it.
If I ask for anything this Christmas it would be this.
If you know a friend that needs help, offer it before they get to the point of having to sell some of their personal possessions at a pawnshop or anyplace else, most people are to proud to ask so if you know they need it offer it to them first.
If you ever go to an auction selling somebody elses possessions pick an auctioneer that actually cares, and offer you a place to bring back personal item you find in the boxes and they in turn will try to contact the original owners, there are a few out there that do this.
If you do get someone elses memories try to contact them or next of kin, you owe them that much.
This holiday lets all try to help others that need it more than we do, I have asked my friend and families to instead of buying me things to make a donation to the Casselberry Christian Sharing center. They help family in need, and this thanksgiving fed over 150 people. They do one special thing that I love which is they always give wrapping paper ribbons and bows to families that get toys for the kid during the holidays, they want the parents getting the toys to wrap the gifts and give them to the kids as if it came from them. I think that is awesome.
Remember some people hate the holidays because they cant provide the same for their families as other do.
Ill end it with this the two people I found in my search for personal property, one was the granddaughter of a man that played pro football back in the 1950s I found his wifes scrapbook that had everything he ever did in it, including a piece of his uniform and ticket stubs to the games he played in. She died in Florida and the book was thought to be lost forever.
The other was a woman that got divorced, the ex husband had stored everything she owned in a storage lot, she moved away to get resettled, and he did not pay the fees, the storage lot company did not contact her so she lost everything inside. When I contacted her and told her who I was, and what I had she thought it was a cruel joke and hung up on me twice. She later called back and apologized I was able so send her most of her personal pictures most of them of the kids, and her parents wedding album that meant more to her than anything else on the world along with the things from the wedding.
As for the watch I dont really want to keep anymore as I could not enjoy it. I plan on selling it on Ebay and the proceeds will go to my favorite place the Christian Sharing Center.
