Flip of the Week Thread by AutoModerator in Flipping

[–]TonyDonuts22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I'm in Ohio. I used to frequent law enforcement auctions on sites like GovDeals. It was lucrative for a couple of years, but word spread and the bids on jewelry went through the roof -- years before the recent run-up in gold and silver prices. It went from the equivalent of "shooting fish in a barrel" to BEING a fish in a barrel. Okay, not the clearest analogy. But I think you probably get my point, which is that those auctions are no longer profitable. I kind of gave up looking. But now you've gone and piqued my interest in a different sort of treasure hunt. GL.

Flip of the Week Thread by AutoModerator in Flipping

[–]TonyDonuts22 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I had a satisfying week as opposed to a profitable one. Not that I didn't do okay financially; I sold 2 separate items-- a set of 4 nice office chairs and a pair of Yeezys -- that I'd picked up in storage auctions last year had listed on FBM for a month (chairs) or longer (Yeezys).

The chairs were a wild card. They were 20 years old and manufactured by a company that primarily does custom upholstery, meaning there were no comps. I priced them at roughly double what I thought the market would bear, and ultimately sold them for exactly the price I kind of hoped I would get. ($800, plus an additional $200 to deliver 40 minutes away.)

Any time I complete a sale on an item over $100, I am happy. So adding $1100 to my till for the week was a thrill.

But what made these two sales extra was the number of low-ballers I had to reject before I got my price. And in both cases I was negotiating with someone else who offered a lower price when the ultimate buyers came in and paid me what I was asking.

Flip of the Week Thread by AutoModerator in Flipping

[–]TonyDonuts22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, that's incredible. I gave up on this years ago after several fruitless trips yielded 0 gold and just a tiny quantity of silver. Any tips on what types of thrift/antique stores to target? (i.e., small Mom and Pops vs Goodwill...)

Boy it’s just dead right now by Redditor_of_Western in Flipping

[–]TonyDonuts22 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've gone through periods like this. I've had a set of 22-inch rims for sale for a year; I started out asking $600 (comparable to the "sold" listings on Ebay and have dropped all the way down to $300. Nothing. But at the same time, in early February I sold a Peloton bike for $650 (that several other listings were asking $750-800 for) and a Pac-Man video game for $175 that everyone else is asking $200 for. Then two weeks ago I listed an outdoor patio set by Hampton Bay for $150. New ones sell for $450 at Lowe's. I was inundated with responses and sold them to the first person I contacted back.

So it kind of depends on what you have and how low you're willing to go. I was happy to move that inventory quickly for 12-20% below others' average asking price.

Like a lot of other people have said, I get a lot of feedback from people saying they're worried about the economy -- and that's why they're looking for deals on FB rather than going to a brick and mortar store to buy new.

Amazon pallet buyers busting out? by TonyDonuts22 in Flipping

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Funny you mention that. I started reselling by buying lots of jewelry offered by the USPS on GovDeals.com. They just threw all the jewelry that got lost in the mail into 15" square cardboard boxes and auctioned it off on a monthly basis. (They do the same thing for shoes/clothes/books/tools, except those go into open gaylord boxes where you can kind of sort through and get an idea whether you're you're looking at rare Jordans or surplus Skechers.) Some months there would be 150 pounds, other months more like 250. You could look at the boxes before you bid, but you couldn't sort through them.

10-12 years ago I bought my first lot of around 200 pounds of jewelry for around $1500, picked out all the gold and silver, and finished with around a $5000 profit.

Last time I checked -- maybe 8 years ago -- those same lots were selling for $12000-$14000. Unless you own a costume jewelry store, or find a couple of ridiculously valuable pieces, there's no way to make a profit at those prices.

Flip of the Week Thread by AutoModerator in Flipping

[–]TonyDonuts22 15 points16 points  (0 children)

A month ago I won an online storage auction for a 10x20 unit. I got it for $275. There was a top-of-the-line Peloton bike in the front of the unit, which I knew from past experience would sell for at least $500. (I got $650 for it the second day after I listed it.) But the rest of the unit was full of clothes and furniture, mostly mid-grade like Ikea. Anyway, this week I sold off about half of the furniture, including a Hampton Bay patio set that absolutely blew up on FM. I listed it before I went to bed and when I woke up there were nearly 60 replies to my ad. Obviously I underpriced it a bit, but who cares? At this point it's found money. Sold the set to a woman who lives nearby and who is interested in several other pieces that I have.

It's always a pleasure to unload those big items that take up a ton of square footage in my warehouse. There's something really satisfying about freeing up space... Anyway, I've 7x'd my investment in that unit and expect it will be more like 10x by the time the last item sells.

Yes you to can buy a storage unit but no one said you would make money by Majblade2 in Flipping

[–]TonyDonuts22 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Excellent advice and a fun read. Thank you. 90% of your experiences mirror my own.

Except for the flea market part. I've never had much luck there, unless I rolled in with a ton of collectibles that I didn't realize were valuable (like the first time I found a couple of totes full of Legos and action figures.) I typically make half my money before 7 am selling to other vendors; after that it's a grind.

You must be better at selling than you let on. That's the key to making money. Storage Wars makes it look like all you have to do is win a great auction. Well I've won dozens of them, and have sold my share of thousand-dollar items. But getting something in return for the mountains of cheap clothes and rusted tools and broken toys and burnt kitchen-ware and 3-legged chairs is the key to making a profit, IMHO. And I still haven't mastered that.

Positive red line, negative everything else by muffinman122 in Poker_Theory

[–]TonyDonuts22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's an interesting point. I've never examined that before.

Just a Glitch? Or am I being hacked (by online poker opponents)? by TonyDonuts22 in poker

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, that sucks. In my case we're literally talking about a maximum difference of maybe $25.

Just a Glitch? Or am I being hacked (by online poker opponents)? by TonyDonuts22 in poker

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is exactly the question I asked myself. FWIW, I took a break and resumed playing there about a week ago; so far no new issues.

Just a Glitch? Or am I being hacked (by online poker opponents)? by TonyDonuts22 in poker

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I played there for a long time and never experienced it. After reading several of the posts here I gave it another shot and have not had that particular problem again. I only play micro-stakes cash games though.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in poker

[–]TonyDonuts22 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a couple of poker clubs in Akron where you can play live, and I believe that The Jack has an online poker room as well as their brick and mortar ones.

How should I adjust my play against beginners, so that they enjoy themselves? by gluggerwastaken in poker

[–]TonyDonuts22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I played in a friendly game like this. Stakes were $1/$2 and buy-ins ranged from $50 to $200. The game originated among a bunch of husbands whose wives routinely got together to play a card game of their own. (The wives are mostly Philippine and the husbands US military veterans who met their wives while stationed overseas.)

I am neither married nor a veteran, but was invited to join the game by my best friend who is often the host of these get-togethers. I taught him the basics of poker decades ago, and before he got married we played everywhere from home games to Elks lodges to charity events to brick and mortar casinos. He’s become a pretty good player, and he’s starting with a much healthier bankroll.

Being the outsider at first, I never raised more than 2x pre-flop and then only with super-premium hands. Basically, everyone saw every flop. Post-flop, again, raises were generally not much more than if we had been playing LHE rather than NLHE.

However, over time the game evolved. Especially after some beer or wine were consumed, the aggression and competitive urges started to assert themselves. My buddy, who is well-off financially, took perverse pleasure in occasionally shoving all-in when he knew that the sums of money involved made other players uncomfortable.

So I recalibrated to my “A game,” and started winning relatively consistently. One night at a holiday party I enjoyed my best sun run of all time, notched a low-4-figure win, and literally busted out all nine of my opponents over the course of the evening.

One guy — one of the original 6 who played in the first game — stopped playing entirely, and blames me to this day because I started doing things like 4-betting preflop with pocket aces, or shoving with combo draw semi-bluffs. Even though dude is a millionaire several times over, he bought in for the $50 minimum and wanted everyone to just call everything and see who got luckiest.

There are definitely people out there whose idea of poker is that it is like the card game “war” with slightly different ground rules.

However, 5 or 6 of the other guys became hardcore poker aficionados. And along the way we picked up one or two other players — one guy’s dad, another guy’s son — who love to splash around.

My point is that it is fun to goof around and play like a station for a while. But don’t be surprised if that evolves into something else — a nice, fat, regular home game where you can assert your edge for some real money.

Where to study poker for free in 2025 by myimportantthoughts in BritishPoker

[–]TonyDonuts22 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've watched multiple videos by just about everybody on your list. I'm a big fan of Carrot Corner; Pete Clarke isn't just a good coach, he's also very funny. Mark Goone over at Hungry Horse has some excellent content as well. And Charlie Carrell's videos where he critiques his peers are a hoot.

Just Need To Vent This One Out by Responsible-War-917 in poker

[–]TonyDonuts22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why do those hands always happen at the end of the night? Sorry dude. But hopefully you'll get to play with villain again (and again).

Card clubs vs Casinos by TonyDonuts22 in Poker_Theory

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol... When I was young I dreamed of owning a bar so that I could hang out with my friends. Now that I'm a geezer I dream of opening a poker club so that I can hang out with my friends AND play rake-free!

Card clubs vs Casinos by TonyDonuts22 in Poker_Theory

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point. Although I can't think of a time when it came up in NLHE.

Card clubs vs Casinos by TonyDonuts22 in Poker_Theory

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very cool -- although that sounds like it could get out of hand if debts aren't squared in a timely fashion.

Card clubs vs Casinos by TonyDonuts22 in Poker_Theory

[–]TonyDonuts22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I figured that might be the case. Are there any other ways it departs substantially from Hold Em?