My sweet wife is a lover of yard sales, flea markets, and estate sales. When I retired from GE in 2003 I owned neithr a cell phone or a computer. I didn't feel either was needed and maybe they were just added expense. With my new found time and not having to leave our houe each morning at 6 am, my wife suggested that I might get a computer and join the eBay scene. It would be a great way to possibly make a few extra dollar and liquidate some of the yard sale finds that had begun to clutter our basement. Making some money after not having a weekly pay check seemed like a great idea.

I called up the DELL folks and told them about my plans and they suggested a computer with all the necessary amenities that I might need. Since my PC experience was much limited, I enrolled for some classes at the community college to learn how to use my new computer and invested in a cell phone. Both have been learning experinces and I am still learning.

In a few months I had learned enough to begin using my new found technology and put it to use by opening an eBay account. Soon I had made my first sale and it continues to be fun but not too profitable. We still go to yard sales, estate sales, and flea markets in search of the illusive. There are no Stradivarius violins out there and some of the things we have bought that didn't seem to be saleable have been placed on eBay and returned nice profits.

Those who are really into the yard sale,estate sale, and flea market scene are people just like us. I have found that many load their SUV or pick-up truck regularly to make a trip to some jocky lot for a morning of selling. It is a lot of work, loading, unloading, pricing,however, the people (potential customers) who come by andsellers who might be setup on either side or across the flea market are amicable people. and usually by the end of the morning most have managed to make enough revenue to at least pay for their spot in the flea market. and have had the priviledge of meeting and making friends with a variety of people.

I have found estate sales to be a bit different. Many time vendors and dealers alike rush into the homes where the sale is being conducted and push and shove, grabbing the items and stacking in a greedy way. I hope we never progress to those methods. Most estate sales have a lot of good merchandise, after all the owners must have felt their own things had value or they wouldn't have purchased it in the first place.

Someone has said one persons trash is anothers treasure. There is a lot of truth to that statement  and for me I am still looking for that trreasure whatever it might be.