The Garage Sale Millionaire: Make Money with Hidden Finds from Garage Sales to Storage Unit Auctions and Everything in Between, Revised and Updated

Self-Valuation

The main benefit to valuing items without any outside assistance is that you maintain lower overhead costs. The only cost associated with self-valuing items is your personal time spent valuing items and perhaps buying a book or two to assist you with the self-valuation process. Used books are available at truly extraordinary prices at Alibris (www.alibris.com). Of course, if you do opt to hire a professional to value items for you, there are fees and expenses involved. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to save some money valuing items yourself, but on certain occasions when you aren’t confident you’re capable of making an accurate evaluation or appraisal on your own, using an expert could very well be the best course of action you could take. I will elaborate about using a professional to value your items a little later on in the chapter.

Million $ Tip

Use more than one source to value your treasures.

A. This is a 1700s-era Boatgun (although it does look like a Blunderbuss). This is my favorite weapon. Its value is $4,500 to $7,000.

B. This is a collectible, replica western sidearm. I found it at a gun auction for only $195!

Self-Valuation—The Traditional Way

The simplest, most inexpensive way to research and assign a proper value to your collectibles is to visit your local bookstores and libraries. There’s an amazing selection of books available to help ...