EstateSales.NET Is 10 Years Old! (July 2012)

As some of you may already know, EstateSales.NET turned 10 years old this month (July 2012). We decided to have a little contest and give away some prizes to reward our customers for a great first 10 years (and to see all the cool things they've found at estate sales).

We had our customers send us their favorite finds from estate sales using Facebook, Twitter, and email. We had so much fun looking over all of the things people have purchased over the years and reading about how they found them and why they are so special--from pieces of history to items that are just plain fun. Our staff looked over the finds from all over the country and selected 20 “top” winners who received $25 Amazon gift cards, a travel mug, and a funny bumper sticker. They also selected 50 more winners who received a travel mug and a funny bumper sticker.

We'd like to share these pictures and stories with you as well so you can enjoy them just like we did. Thanks again for a wonderful first 10 years! We are looking forward to what the next 10 will bring!

Stories That We've Received...

Thanks for a great first 10 years! We can't wait to see what you have found! To start us off, here is a picture from Dan McQuade (the founder of EstateSales.NET) with one of his finds:

found this neat Arts & Crafts lamp at an estate sale about 5 years ago in Memphis, TN. It was in pretty good shape, just needing to be rewired. I promised Dot to have it done before we move into our 1882 building at the end of this year (not that I have been putting it off or anything). I remember paying $45 for it and thought it was worth much more. It is to me and that is what I always tell people, "Buy what you like, because if you are a reseller and get stuck with it you will always like it." Best of luck on your next estate sale hunt.

• Dan M., Frohna, MO

About a year ago I was scrolling through the estatesales.net website and came across these crushed velvet chairs! I was CONVINCED they would go immediately so I called my Mother and asked her to go RIGHT AWAY as I was at work. They ended up giving them to me at such a reasonable price and everyone looks at me like I'm crazy but I LOVE THEM! They are in perfect condition, and not only are they my favorite color, but they are also in King/Queen style! How sweet is that! Anyway, these chairs have become such a conversation piece in my home and I just love estatesales.net for it! Thank you! Happy birthday!

• Lauren M., Southfield, MI

This is my treasured find.....two WWII foot lockers that belonged to two brothers..... I have a love for all things WWII because of my Grandfather who served in Europe during that time. What was so great about these is they had the historical value but also had the colors of my beachy room and they went with everything so perfectly! They are such a wonderful conversation piece! In fact I just recently gave the name of these sailors to a friend of mine. She is checking with her dad who was also with the coast guard and served in WWII. He is a local guy as was these brothers. Waiting to find out if they might have known each other! Thanks for the chance to share! Love your website and sales......off to more now!

• Cheryl K.

About a year and a half ago I went to an estate sale with my lady friend as a fun date. We looked over all at the treasures they had. I instantly found something that caught my eye. A national cash register. Sure it was pretty beat up and wasn't one of the fancy ornate one, but I liked it. She did as well. There was an old manufacturer card inside the register's drawer. It showed the companies home address at Dayton Ohio. My lady friend is from Ohio. That just sealed the deal. We made a quick negotiation and the register was ours. Victory! I tinkered with it some to get the drawer working and the keys working the right way. Ding! Here is your change maam. I use it at my bar to make people laugh and remind them they need to pay the house for a drink. People always ask about it and we gladly tell them the history. The best part is that lady friend is now my fiancée! So I really lucked out with that estate sale, I got two great finds! - Michael M.

I love milk glass and it all started when I when to an Estate sale I found on EstateSales.NET, I'm hooked and try not to miss a sale I go as for as 95 miles away to go to one of your sales..... I love EstateSales.NET

• Donna B., Diamondhead, MS

Congratulations on your 10th anniversary!

Thought I'd share just one of my all-time favorite finds - no, not the brand new Dyson Animal vac for $200... no, not the 3 piece handmade wooden bookshelves with custom corner unit for $60... No, not even the old oxidized copper sundial for $5...

What you'll find attached here are a few snaps of a completely ridiculous, totally 70's, oversized decorative wooden fork and spoon set. I'd been joking with friends about "spooning," and I thought it'd be really funny if I found some ugly spoons on one of my weekly estate sale excursions - and the next time I went to visit them I'd hide them all over the house for them to find... eventually!

As it also happens, I was just back from Florida, where I saw a really neat totem pole in a local antique shop, and instantly decided that my small backyard really (REALLY!) needed to have a totem pole. (Just not one too big to fit on the plane, and not one that cost more than my week's vacation!) But you know how it is once you get an idea in your head...

Well, lo and behold, the next day I stumbled upon the most fantastic thing ever - the fork and spoon set. I bought them for $20, thinking I'd prop them up near the dining table on the deck and invite my friends over for dinner and a good laugh. As I cleaned them up, I realized that the bizarre carved figures sort of resembled a totem pole... and I immediately fell in love with these hideous things.

Pic 3 is a before and after of sorts. Pic 2 is a close up of my "handi-work" so far. And pic 1 is a shot of just one of the unexpected uses of a gigantic wooden fork (namely, threatening your guests!) I started out attempting to paint a "realistic" totem pole, but then boredom kicked in and I had much more fun painting modern versions of the ancient totem. So if you look closely, you'll see pearls and heels, glasses, etc. on the spook. The fork will feature bikinis, a border collie, and who knows what else.

So yes, I both proudly and shamefully admit that my favorite find is still this ugly, ugly, ugly, outdated casualty of home decor run amuck, soon-to-be yard art pair of "decorative" utensils. If nothing else, I hope you have a good laugh! To me, these goofy things are what the fun of estate sales are all about - the rare and unexpected, frivolous delight that often rivals the great antiques and more "substantial" finds I bring home!

I look forward to your 20th anniversary! - Val H.

My wife and I have been hitting estate sales for years and every week I use EstateSales.net to map out all of the sales in Houston. My most recent score is this 1951 Schwinn (with skip-tooth 'sweetheart' sprocket) picked up from the original owner's estate. I always love the stories that come with items like this one…apparently the owner received this bike as a reward for selling the most newspapers on his route back in the early ‘50s. Me being a bike collector, I can tell you it's rare to find a 60+ year old bike, especially one this original (the only non-original parts are the grips) and complete! I'll do a mechanical restoration on this and leave the original patina! Thanks

• David R., Houston, TX

I went to an Estate Sale in a "bad" part of Detroit. There were a lot of burned down houses and it is an area known as drug areas. I could not get anyone to go with me because the area was so bad. Finally my son went with me. I only took my driver's license, insurance and $42. I saw pictures and counted 45 tea cups in the pictures. I went there and my heart sank because 28 of them were still there with 15 minutes left of this sale. Most of the cups were $15 and up. My $42 was not going to go far. I said to the seller, I would love to buy every cup, but I don't have that much. He said how much do you have and I said $42, and the seller said "SOLD". I almost had a heart attack, lol. I grabbed them up as fast as I could and he threw in some tea pots. This was for my daughter's bridal shower. I came home and looked up some of these cups and they are priced at over $100 each. I love going to the Estate Sales. I have the website on my Favorite's Bar.

• Lynn R., Detroit, MI

My favorite pick.. estate sale auction end of last year. bought several albums filled with Star Wars cards for $50. Brought them home and several were autographed by the actors! broke them all up into lots and sold for over 20x profit! congrats on the anniversary and for the service! Here's to the next 10! cheers!

• Steve C., Jacksonville, FL

In summer of 2011 I had just been married and moved into my first house and didn't have that much money to buy furniture. Some friends came over and saw my huge living room with nothing in it. They suggested I try an estate sale, which I had never done. As retirees they really enjoy going to estate sales on a weekends and told me how fun it would be and an affordable way to furnish my house. That's when I found estatesales.net. My best friend from Florida came to visit the following weekend and I took the Friday off work. We headed to our first sale, stood in line and experienced our first "informal ticket system". It was really something! I didn't understand what was going on at all, and why they were handing out post-it notes. I was intimidated because everyone seemed to know the system but me. (it's a year later and I feel like an old pro by now.) Anyway, that weekend we went to every estate sale listed on estatesales.net in a 30 mile radius and picked up some cool items like a $5 name brand crystal figurine. By Sunday, just as one sale was closing, we found this buffet. My friend, who is alot pushier than I am, offered $125, a little less than 50%, and they said yes! We literally wrestled this gigantic thing into my aunt's small SUV (carried by me, my friend, my mom and aunt who are in their 60's). I can't believe we were able to pick it up, but it's in mint condition and my favorite piece of furniture I own. Well worth the trouble. It was the first big beautiful piece of estate sale furniture I owned, and much nicer than I could have afforded new. Since then I've furnished my "formal living room" with all estate sale pieces and everyone that comes into my house marvels at my beautiful furniture. Little do they know that if I hadn't discovered estatesales.net, the room would still be empty!

• Jessica M., Rockville, MD

Good morning! I have attached a picture of my very first find at my very first estate sale! I had never been to an estate sale until recently. I found estatesales.net about a month ago and signed up. We were notified of a sale near our area and decided to check it out. I found this corner stand that I utilize in my kitchen. I had been looking for this item in this size for YEARS! I have a large corner stand that I use all the time and wanted something smaller. I'm sure I paid much less than I would have in a retail store. Thanks EstateSales!

• Marsha S., St. Clair Shores, M

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I don't just attend estate sales, I also run them for a living. I've been listed on estatesales.net as a gold customer since 2007, and it has been well worth it. These daisies are one of my favorite things to have sold. They came from the home of a hoarder extraordinaire, a real collector of everything imaginable. Fortunately, since she never threw things out, she also had a large collection of memorabilia from her third husband, who had been a world famous juggler, who had previously been married to a world famous woman magician from the 30-50s. It was a fascinating sale.

• Nanette H., Bullhead City, AZ

January 2011 I was looking on estatesales.net and found what I had been coveting for years, pictures of Fransiscan Starburst plates. Sale opened on a Friday, I arranged a vacation day with my boss and started my planning. I would get to the house at 1am in the morning, surely there was no one there that was crazy enough to camp out in cold January for some dishes. I pack my chair, my warmest clothes, blankets and then drive to the location. As I pull up to the house, I see someone jump out of the car and get to the house before me. I almost cried, I took a day off work and didn't sleep for these plates! I get out of the car to see if the guy who got there first was after the same things I was and of course he wanted the plates! We start to talking and it turns out I "knew" him.. We had previously emailed back and forth on other mid-century finds and he often sells stuff. After sitting in the cold together for several hours, he agrees to allow me the pieces of the collection that he already owns, he would just take the items he needed for his collection. We then devised a game plan to help each other grab the other items that we wanted from the house. We ended up having a great time that day, sitting in the cold and scoring everything we wanted from that sale. We now regularly go estate sailing together, often pairing up to help each other out. Not only did I get a great set of dishes, I got a great friend out of it!

• Kristie J., St. Louis, MO

This is a shelf in my office that contains only items collected at estate sales found on estatesales.net. My favorite are the two 'gil hiben' knifes in the back. They were found at a downtown HB sale. I saw them and just had to have them. Funny thing was I went to look at a coke cooler (that was sold before I got there) ended up buying the knifes and a couch (wife was shocked) I truly loving getting an email telling me I have a sale coming up local. My goal is to fill this entire bookcase with collected estate sales items over the next year. Thank You and good luck on the next 10 years!

• Dan N., Huntington Beach, CA

I'm proud of my first apartment thanks to estatesales.net. One of my favorite areas is my guest bathroom wall. The two 70's decoline floral medallions that I found in Long Branch, NJ, remind me of the Beaux-Arts detailing on the Astor Hall ceiling of the new York Public Library. On the right is a beautiful hand painted floral hook found at an estate sale in Rutherford, NJ. It just happened to be the exact color of my bathroom and a unique and special piece. There I hang my towel, nice and close. No one would ever believe that these three pieces cost me all of $15! Thanks for helping me make my apartment fab!

• Kristine S., Jersey City, NJ

We walked into this estate sale and the home was all decked out in white marble and gold accents. Let me first say, it's not like the home was in a ritzy area. The owner had champagne taste no matter her budget though and it was a really fun sale to check out. I just knew by the decor I would find some fun jewelry. I collect cocktail rings so I was especially hoping to find a nice one. By the time I made it into the room with the jewelry, my husband was already there holding this ring. He just knew it would be my pick and he was right! I find that with a cocktail ring this large and glitzy, you don't find an occasion where it isn't appropriate. I was really excited to do a little research and find that, while it's not real gold or stones, it is worth 5-10 times what I paid for it. Not that I would ever part with it of course, because it is my favorite estate sale find!

• Laura S., Hixson, TN

The chair that started this whole collection is in the middle, peeling paint and all. got it for $1.00 because the seller thought i was going to finish her botched paint job, but i love it just as it is - there must be six different layers of colors on this... what character!

• Jean B., Elgin, IL

Check out this $17 dingy vinyl chair that my cousin Joyce helped me find buried in a basement. (From EstateSales.NET: Before and After pictured...Kim wrote a whole article which we will be sharing when we go live with our new blog.)

• Kim D., Fairfax Station, VA

I LOVE your website! Since my husband and I retired, we set aside every Thursday or Friday to go to some of the great sales your have on your site. We drive 2 hours into Denver to hit 6 to 10 sales a week. I have gotten so many cool things! But my latest cool find was a Singer sewing maching table. We were at a sale in Denver about a month ago and were about to leave. We saw a storage building that we had not explored, so we went out there and starting digging around. Underneath a huge pile of "treasures" I saw this great Singer sewing machine table. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to dig this thing out! It was covered with spider webs and dirt, but I had to have it!! We finally got it out and there was no price. So I took it to the sales table and negotiated a price of $18! What a find! And it looks great in my house! Keep up the good work, Estate Sales, Net! Love you, mean it!

• Lisa D., Como, CO

This is one of the COOLEST ITEMS I have found at an Estate Sale. I did some searching, and there is not much information on it, but it is said to be the FIRST EVER Hand Held Blow Dryer! Made by US Racine Universal Motor Company in 1920. This blow dryer is very heavy, all chromed out and looks like a vintage microphone. It is in FANTASTIC condition, has a stand, and STILL WORKS :o) I had it appraised, and the appraiser told me NOT to sell it. It is the only one he has ever seen. I bought it from a estate sale in Royal Oak MI for $5.00 along with some other VERY AWESOME stuff. (Found this sale because of EstateSales.Net - THANK YOU!)

• Jacqueline S., Sterling Heights, MI

I purchased a 1936 Yearbook from Wiley College in Marshall, TX and little did I know it was probably the only one left out of the 10 that were made. Back then, only the well to do had enough money to purchase a yearbook. After the purchase I found out there was a movie coming out in December called The Great Debaters with Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and other great actors! I did a search and found the screenwriter, Bob Eisele and sent him an email. Much to my surprise, he called me the next day and was interested in purchasing the book as well as Denzel's wife who wanted it for his birthday! Long story short, I decided to keep the book and have stayed in contact with Bob Eisele. I promised him one day he could have the book with the stipulation that he come to Tyler to get the book himself and he agreed. I'm looking forward to one day meeting him! We were on the local news and when Forest Whitaker came to Tyler to support the Obama campaign, my husband carried the yearbook in for Forest to see and ended up signing autographs along side Forest to the people who had seen him on the news with the book. We now keep it in a safety deposit box until Bob decides to make a visti! We did take it to the Antiques Roadshow when they came to Dallas and they could not give it a value other than "priceless"! The condition is excellent and the pictures really are priceless!!

• Cindy N., Tyler, TX