Trash or treasure

Say bye-bye to my old garbage!

May be somebody can fix those old bentwood chairs... Not me! 

News from my boat

Yesterday I was trying to pull the full tank out to see what was underneath. To my great surprise I learned that the tank was full of gas. 30 gallons of gas to be exact!!!

Now I need to get the gas out of the tank somehow... So today I made a trip to the Home Depot to buy me a big container and a siphon hose line. I never siphoned gas out of anything, but I sure did see how it was done and it did seem pretty easy. Well to make long story short - the stupid siphon line from HD didn't work; almost ended up with a mouth full of gasoline; and still nothing worked. It got dark so I will need to get back to draining gas from my boat tomorrow. But for now I'll be sitting watching YouTube videos on how to siphon gas the right way; maybe I'll learn a thing or two ;))

Stay tuned...

Vintage Treasures in Local Thrift Shop

Collecting antiques and vintage stuff is becoming my passion. I am beginning to enjoy the hunt, even though I don't always find what I want. Last weekend we hit up a few garage sales. I was looking for something special, but all we found was a bunch of useless crap that people just didn't want or couldn't bear to throw away. My wife is skeptical of the whole thing. I'm not sure she likes going through people's junk and maybe she is a little shocked because it doesn't seem like something I would be into.

My trip was starting to feel like a waste of time, but on my way back, I found this little thrift store near my place. I scored some vintage dolls in unique costumes. For example, there is a little chimney sweep doll and a few in different style dresses with cute little hats. We found some interesting ceramic plates, too. Maybe my wife is convinced now because she kept a few things for herself. The rest I put in my online store for those of you that aren't having any luck at garage sales.

Dream Boat Restoration Project

I can’t believe it, but I am the owner of a boat! My brother gave me an 18' boat and it’s all mine. It’s so amazing. I can do anything I want to it. I am truly a lucky guy. He had the boat for a while and I was always telling him how much I liked it, but I never imagined he would just give it to me.

Honestly, I have very little experience with boats and boating, so I have to learn a lot. I am reading everything I can on the subject, but any advice about boat restoration would be much appreciated. That’s right, guys. I am going to fix her up, so she’s seaworthy.

Even though it’s 20 years-old, it has a really cool vibe. I am going to custom design the interior using vintage materials and details, like wood-paneling and brass accents. I want to maintain the same style, with retro pieces like boat trunks, an old anchor, the quintessential captain's wheel etc. I haven’t thought much about upholstery, but I have seen a few examples of nice teal and cream colored fabrics. I already have quite a few things I would like to use for this project. I can always take the extra stuff and sell online through my new favorite marketplace as you know www.offerbyu.com. I bet there is some vintage marina-style boat stuff to buy online, so if anyone has a lead, let me know.

This will be quite a project and if it turns out really nice, I can sell it. There seem to be a lot of boating aficionados who collect custom made retro boats and are willing to buy online. Although, the idea of sailing around America or somewhere exotic holds its appeal. That kind of adventure you can’t simply buy online. I will have even more to learn if I do that, perhaps there are classes that I can take about boating to get ready for a trip like that. Maybe there are some readers out there who can give me some advice, share stories, or point me in the right direction. I could take my boat on one adventure and then decide to sell online. I’ve actually seen people selling boat like this http://www.offerbyu.com/offers/Water-Sports/yes/id/72820151059437982910 from MASSACHUSETTS, so I know it’s possible.

Well, I am getting ahead of myself. I have much to do before I can even dream of sailing away on it. Right now I should be drawing up some plans and setting up a work station. I will post updates as soon as I make some progress.

Wish me GOOD LUCK!

My store on OfferByU.com

Follow me here, my staff will not be removed till selling!! WOW!! I have not pay listing fee every month like on stupid Ebay!

http://www.offerbyu.com/mystore/JohnsAntiqueStore

How I started my online antique store

Over the years my family loved to collect all kinds of junk, vintage and old antique things. My grandmother had a garage full of these, at the time to me seemed, as useless things. She had everything from antique furniture, vintage dresses, old military hats from my grandfather, old lamps and photo frames.  You name it – she had it.  Now, that she is gone I the one who end up with all these old things that are now sitting around taking up all my good space. I want my Garage and Attic back people, I felt like screaming some times.

So I decided to do something about this. I was thinking to myself what should I do with all this; I didn’t want to throw it way, after all some of these antiques might be worth some money. I spoke with my good friends, may be they had an idea which would help me to get rid-off these junk. As I expecting, I got mixed directions. Some recommended to sell on www.Ebay.com, some told me to try out on www.Etsy.com, and others told me to sell all my stuff (and believe me when I tell you, there were tons of it) on www.OfferByU.com. I never heard of OfferByU before, but I was determined and decided to give them all a try. 

So, there I was ready to take on ecommerce and selling online. Not wasting any time I began my research on which was the best website for me to sell one. I started with Ebay, which I felt was too pricy and complicated for me. And since I never sold on this site before there were tons of restrictions. Etsy seem to be OK, but I still do not like paying some much commission on sale, I want to make money not give it away to these sites.

So then I started to research this OfferByU.com website. It looked cool, easy to navigate, and took me less than a minute to set up an account. To my pleasant surprise, I didn’t have to pay any listing fees and check this out - NO COMMISSION on sale. I was like Whatttt!!!!! It can’t be!!! These guys are crazy!!! Oh and guess what – open communication between buyer and seller, meaning that buyers could contact me directly and I could do business with them offline if I wanted to.

To my surprise this was exactly what I needed a place where I can sell free, anything that I wanted and their mobile version was so easy to use I could take my new ecommerce business on the go. Anywhere I went I could list inventory and manage my sales. Wow, a marketplace that works for me and not the other way around.

I think I found a new place to list all my future items for sale. I am even thinking now about signing up for their Premium Account and starting my own E-Store, which is super easy on to do OfferByU. And it is super cheap. 

I in conclusion I want to say that selling online is no easy, and you have to find what works for you. Take a look at all pros and cons, don’t become a hostage of some market tells you what to do and how to run your ecommerce sales. This is America and in America you have a choice – I choose OfferByU.com!