How Does This Picker Start His Day

I have found "keeping head on a swivel" comes in handy more then one way. Yes when I am out and about your always looking for signs of opportunity. I.E. Yard sale signs, estate sale signs, etc. There is a better way to keep your head on a swivel and that is the internet. I am a early riser and living in Florida, you can normally find me on my front porch by 5 a.m. drinking coffee. I check emails first, EBay, then if there is nothing that needs attention I go hunting from my chair.

This is not always possible if you specialize in some area's. For what I like to pick it works pretty good. Now it also depends on the day but I am religion on looking for my next opportunity. You have to be if you want to survive. It helps being relentless in the amount of things you find compared to the other pickers. Remember you are not alone in looking for stuff.

My List Of Picking Websites

Craigslist - The first place I check. Have to see what was posted overnight. Remember to check surrounding area's also looking for unvalued items. My best war story this year is I woke up extra early one morning (4 a.m.) and popped open Craigslist and finding nothing I checked surrounding areas and found this piece.

That's right its an Kurt Ostervig Rosewood drop leaf table. The people were older, early risers and posted it 10 minutes before. I ended up being the first to email them....repeatedly...and they honored first come first serve. It came with 4 chairs that were unbelievable and they wanted 350.00. It pays to check for unvalued stuff in your area and surrounding area's ....a lot.

Estatesales.net - This site of course helps you see what sales are in your area and lets you pin point your targets and manage your efforts better. Look at the pictures, see what you like make your plans and route up for the days of the sales. Remember to develop relationships with the people running the estate sales so you wrangle some better opportunity's down the road. They are people to and it helps them some times for you to be a resource for stuff left at the end.

StorageTreasures.com - This resource I have not used a lot yet but it is cool and could be a resource for stuff. The trick is you leave a deposit and have to cleaned out the locker in 24-48 hours and be swept clean. This means you need the storage to do this without affecting your regular picking.

Well these are just a few of my head on a swivel places I start my hunt at. Soon I will cover thrift shop secrets I use to score there. Have a great day. Take care everybody.

Smile for the day........Space Coast Style