The antique Filigree bracelets are awesome!Wow... beautiful jewelry.... great guy for not taking advantage of her
They had me put the cash in 2 separate envelopes so each one could carry part of the money. (I paid everyone back then in cash). I ended up selling these sets for right at $5000.
I did a similar thing years ago when I had my own store buying and selling guns, jewelry, coins, gold & silver. I had a lady call me and said she had some silver to sell and needed just $250 for groceries. I asked her to describe over the phone 1 of the pieces. She said it was a 5 oz bar of Sterling Silver and she had a bunch of them. I told her it sounded like she had more than $250 worth and to please bring them in for me to look at. It was approx 30 minutes later when I looked out the store window and a lady approx 60 years old was carrying what looked like a very heavy wooded box. I went to the door , took it from her and she said her husband was coming with another box. I went out and carried it in too. What these were was a complete set of fancy proof Sterling Silver bars of all the US 50 states and a complete set of all of the US presidents. They had (88) bars in total all in fancy presentation cases. She and her husband just kept saying they just needed around $250 for groceries until the next month. I could have easily have paid them $250, $300 or even $500 and they would have been very happy. They had right at 440 oz of Sterling silver with them. I can't remember the exact figure but I paid them just over $4000 for them. They thought I was crazy
Crazy story but true.
Gary from Oregon
Wow, that is an impressive score, but I can't say I would have paid that much. I pay whatever someone asks. The reason I do this is simple. I do not own a store. I pick up items at garage sales. Most of the garage sales I go to I don't buy anything. Maybe 10% or 15% of the sales I go to I buy something. Usually, the item I buy does not make me much. So, it is a very rare sale that I make a large amount of money. I also work part time driving around a guy for $12 an hour. On the days we work, we work 10 or 12 hours a day, so my take home after taxes is around $100. Obviously, that job is really easy. There are many times when I go to sales, drive around all day, and I don't buy anything. Actually, buying at sales is more work than just driving around the guy all day, and I might make nothing. So, to make up for the days I make nothing, I need to have those days in which I make a good score. Also, garage sales are seasonal and just 2 days a week, you simply do not have much time to find items. In addition to this, going to sales requires gas and wear on tear on your vehicle, all of this needs to be factored in. Also, unless you have someone you know that will pay you full retail price or full melt value on something, you will be forced to pay ebay and paypal fees, all of which eats into your profits. I don't know of anyone, with the exception of store owners(which requires additional capital), that makes a good living picking. It is always just extra money. I know, one out of a million people will find that old rare item that is worth a fortune, but most will not. Therefore, whenever I can make a good score, I will. As long as both parties walk away happy, I am fine with that. I will not spend 1,000 dollars to make 100 dollars. With all the time and work involved with that, it is far easier for me just to drive the guy around, and I won't have to spend any money to do so. What you did was very kind. What you paid for the jewelry shows your class and integrity, and I can respect that. But, for me, there has to be some real money in the game, or I just do not care. My job is not to inform people at garage sales that they priced their items too low.
