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Anatomy of a Thrift

I was intrigued by this lot of yarn, tools and books at the online auction as soon as I saw it. The listing title was "Mixed Craft Lot 5.8 lbs Yarn Bulk Crochet Hooks Set Quilting Sewing Books" and it was my kind of lot.

When I'm thinking of bidding on a lot online I study and evaluate the photos as to the condition of the items and the potential value to see if thrifting them without being able to see them in person is worth it. The better the photos are, and the more details I can see, the more informed my decision is.

The hooks are probably an economy set off Amazon, but they're still in their plastic sleeves, and the case is nice. They also probably came as part of a set that included those yarn needles and stitch markers. The price for these is anywhere from $7 to $30, depending on the manufacturer and what came with the hooks originally.

Now the yarn displayed in the listing photos: here we can see eleven or twelve skeins, and nearly all of them look unused.

Another seven or eight skeins, also in good condition. I'll guess that there are eighteen skeins total, and most are unused. Average price per skein could be somewhere around $5.00; that's a possible value of $90.00 in yarn alone.

The books are what clinched it for me. How often am I going to find a lot that caters to both my love of crochet and quilting? The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt book is one I've been interested in reading, and retails for $30.00 new. There are seven more books on quilting as well, and I'll look up the prices on them when they arrive.

I started the bidding on this lot with a minimum bid of $9.99. I preset my maximum bid to $14.21, which despite the value is all I wanted to pay for it. One bidder bid against me about a half hour before the end of the auction, but didn't knock me out of the running, and then dropped out, so I won the lot for $14.21.

Why did I want to pay so little for the lot? The other charges factor always add to the cost. I won the bid for $14.21, but I also had to pay $16.69 in shipping and $3.50 in handling, plus $1.24 in tax, for a grand total of $35.64. You need to consider the total cost of acquiring online thrifted lots before you bid. Also remember to check and see if there's a shipping estimate and a handling fee statement so you have a ballpark idea of the total price ahead of bidding.

This lot has a potential value somewhere around $150.00 to $200.00, so $35.64 seemed very reasonable to me.

When the lot arrives I'll take pics of all the items, see if my estimates on value were right, and price out everything else to come up with a retail value total, and then we'll see if I got a real bargain. :)

Image credit: all the images in this post came from the original auction listing on ShopGoodwill.com.

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