estate sale/ceiling fans

i saw that there is going to be a estate sale for 2 days and i dont have any money but i was going to go look around anyway to see what they have. i was thinking of giving the person my number and what i take since its close by. sometimes on the last day they just want to get rid of stuff instead of hauling it back in. has anyone had luck with estate sales getting stuff for free at the end? i was wandering how much brass is on a ceiling fan?

I have not pursued any estate sales, so no reply to this item.

Regarding brass on everyday type ceiling fans, generally speaking, none. Maybe on high end fans?????

The pull chains normally are.

98% of fans are the typical stuff, steel cover, fan motor, cast blade attachments. Every now and again though, you get lucky. I remember one fan that was almost all brass except the motor. Another was cast aluminum for the cover.

A ceiling fan is not much. Here they classify it as a light motor and it pays $0.07, so a 20# fan would get you $1.40. Ok, I am going to put this as nicely and delicately as I can and I don't mean to be insulting. If you do not have enough money to buy an old ceiling fan from an estate sale, you do not have enough money to buy Ramon noodles for dinner. I hunt garage sales with $100 in my pocket and another three in the truck. If you don't have $20 to burn... TO BURN, you need to learn to budget your money more effectively. There would be enough change under my floor mat to buy a ceiling fan I was getting to scrap.

For me, garage sales MAKE ME MONEY. Take $20 and put it in an envelope.
Only buy from a garage sale;
TO BUY SOMETHING TO SERIOUSLY IMPROVE YOUR LIFE (and many times, I will replace the garage sale purse money used for personal use with money earned for living expenses)
or SOMETHING YOU THINK YOU CAN FLIP TO MAKE MONEY.
Take what you make and put it back into your garage sale purse. DO NOT USE GARAGE SALE PURSE MONEY TO BUY BEER AND CIGS! ONLY PULL MONEY OUT OF THE GARAGE SALE PURSE TO GET MORE MONEY TO PUT INTO YOUR GARAGE SALE PURSE.

I have put thousands of dollars away that is there to use to put into anything I think I can flip to make money or to purchase investments I believe will be a store of wealth AND IT ALL STARTED WITH A $20 BILL.

Originally Posted by t00nces2

A ceiling fan is not much. Here they classify it as a light motor and it pays $0.07, so a 20# fan would get you $1.40. Ok, I am going to put this as nicely and delicately as I can and I don't mean to be insulting. If you do not have enough money to buy an old ceiling fan from an estate sale, you do not have enough money to buy Ramon noodles for dinner. I hunt garage sales with $100 in my pocket and another three in the truck. If you don't have $20 to burn... TO BURN, you need to learn to budget your money more effectively. There would be enough change under my floor mat to buy a ceiling fan I was getting to scrap.

For me, garage sales MAKE ME MONEY. Take $20 and put it in an envelope.
Only buy from a garage sale;
TO BUY SOMETHING TO SERIOUSLY IMPROVE YOUR LIFE (and many times, I will replace the garage sale purse money used for personal use with money earned for living expenses)
or SOMETHING YOU THINK YOU CAN FLIP TO MAKE MONEY.
Take what you make and put it back into your garage sale purse. DO NOT USE GARAGE SALE PURSE MONEY TO BUY BEER AND CIGS! ONLY PULL MONEY OUT OF THE GARAGE SALE PURSE TO GET MORE MONEY TO PUT INTO YOUR GARAGE SALE PURSE.

I have put thousands of dollars away that is there to use to put into anything I think I can flip to make money or to purchase investments I believe will be a store of wealth AND IT ALL STARTED WITH A $20 BILL.

I don't do the garage sale thing(yet), but your advice is absolutely 100%. I work out of a "kitty" also. It can be referred as working capital. Put it back and you'll have the cash for (insert choice), instead of "f$$$, I don't have any money."

Once you have a little surplus in your account, invest in some decent hand tools. Than power tools. Or vice versa, as needed. Make some more money and put it back. Money makes money.

Originally Posted by HipoGear

Excellent advice Toonces. It takes a certain level of commitment I have not yet developed myself. Seems there is always some more important need for that money.
Usually food, heat, electric, car repairs, veterinarian, etc.

I applaud your discipline and aspire to get there myself.

Estate Sale update:

We had a very good two days for this area. The house is on the lake, on a dirt lane, at least an hour from any real city. So we were sure that we wouldn't have much traffic.

We got rid of about two thirds of the stuff. Didn't sell any of the bigger ticket items ($300 was the the most expensive items). But do have a woman coming on Monday to take the stackable washer and dryer for $100 each. Total sales for the two days was just over $1200.

I have several items I will sell on Ebay or Craigslist over the next couple weeks. But all in, I think everyone was very happy to find great new homes for all of her memories.

Got it. The way I look at garage sale and scrap money is that I cannot count on it at all. Every penny I get is found money and I cannot plan my life around finding money.

Nice job on the sale.

Originally Posted by HipoGear

Excellent advice Toonces. It takes a certain level of commitment I have not yet developed myself. Seems there is always some more important need for that money.
Usually food, heat, electric, car repairs, veterinarian, etc.

I applaud your discipline and aspire to get there myself.

Estate Sale update:

We had a very good two days for this area. The house is on the lake, on a dirt lane, at least an hour from any real city. So we were sure that we wouldn't have much traffic.

We got rid of about two thirds of the stuff. Didn't sell any of the bigger ticket items ($300 was the the most expensive items). But do have a woman coming on Monday to take the stackable washer and dryer for $100 each. Total sales for the two days was just over $1200.

I have several items I will sell on Ebay or Craigslist over the next couple weeks. But all in, I think everyone was very happy to find great new homes for all of her memories.

agreed

Garage sale arbitrage is something I've looked at doing but never taken too seriously. I spent a lot of time at yard sales when I was younger and had time and disposable income. But as eBay and Craigslist have chewed up most of the decent secondhand market, I find it harder to get anything with resale value from front lawns and these thrifty yanks don't like to let anything go for below 75% of OEM pricing. No shortage of old Tupperware and Christmas decorations but I sure don't find old silverware like I once did. They also don't believe in taking stuff in out of the rain, apparently. I know there is good stuff, somewhere, but I don't have an entire morning to dig through wet Rubbermaid totes full of Cat Fancy and Runner's Digest to find it. Plus, population density in VT is pretty low so making a day of "garage shopping" might yield only a handful of stops. If time and fuel are factors in your considerations of your net costs, be mindful that, even though you are enjoying the drive on a sunny weekend morning, technically, you are at work and everything you do is at your own expense.

I have had luck doing arb at the local charity thrift stores. It's hit and miss but if you pick things which you know generally escape the eye of discerning staff (board games, for example), it's not hard to triple your money, at least.

Originally Posted by mike1

i saw that there is going to be a estate sale for 2 days and i dont have any money but i was going to go look around anyway to see what they have. i was thinking of giving the person my number and what i take since its close by. sometimes on the last day they just want to get rid of stuff instead of hauling it back in. has anyone had luck with estate sales getting stuff for free at the end? i was wandering how much brass is on a ceiling fan?

Some are converting the ceiling fan motor to wind generator.

I previously brought a couple of them home from the dump, neither were permanent magnet motors, magnets are part of the modifications. One I brought home this afternoon of you turn the shaft you can feel it cogging,so I know its a permanent magnet motor and will need very few mods.

Don;t let the brass fool ya, it's only anodized over cheap metal, probably non magnetic but the weight of those parts would be a dead give away.

Originally Posted by mike1

i saw that there is going to be a estate sale for 2 days and i dont have any money but i was going to go look around anyway to see what they have. i was thinking of giving the person my number and what i take since its close by. sometimes on the last day they just want to get rid of stuff instead of hauling it back in. has anyone had luck with estate sales getting stuff for free at the end? i was wandering how much brass is on a ceiling fan?

What is the outcome?

Originally Posted by HipoGear

My understanding was that for wind generation it needs to be a DC motor. Using an AC motor would limit your ability to correct or store the energy. I know that treadmill motors are often used.

Can use either DC or AC the latter is more preferred as its possible to transmit power over further distances using less expensive wire while DC current has much loss over distance and requires much heavier cables to distribute the power.

Thomas Edison promoted DC power, George Westinghouse with his AC current prevailed.

The most efficient wind generators used for small off grid operations produce AC current, the AC current is rectified to DC near the battery bank.

Automotive alternators in fact produce 3 phase AC current which for charging a battery is converted to DC before reaching the battery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_H...nerating_Plant

Originally Posted by t00nces2

A ceiling fan is not much. Here they classify it as a light motor and it pays $0.07, so a 20# fan would get you $1.40. Ok, I am going to put this as nicely and delicately as I can and I don't mean to be insulting. If you do not have enough money to buy an old ceiling fan from an estate sale, you do not have enough money to buy Ramon noodles for dinner. I hunt garage sales with $100 in my pocket and another three in the truck. If you don't have $20 to burn... TO BURN, you need to learn to budget your money more effectively. There would be enough change under my floor mat to buy a ceiling fan I was getting to scrap.

For me, garage sales MAKE ME MONEY. Take $20 and put it in an envelope.
Only buy from a garage sale;
TO BUY SOMETHING TO SERIOUSLY IMPROVE YOUR LIFE (and many times, I will replace the garage sale purse money used for personal use with money earned for living expenses)
or SOMETHING YOU THINK YOU CAN FLIP TO MAKE MONEY.
Take what you make and put it back into your garage sale purse. DO NOT USE GARAGE SALE PURSE MONEY TO BUY BEER AND CIGS! ONLY PULL MONEY OUT OF THE GARAGE SALE PURSE TO GET MORE MONEY TO PUT INTO YOUR GARAGE SALE PURSE.

I have put thousands of dollars away that is there to use to put into anything I think I can flip to make money or to purchase investments I believe will be a store of wealth AND IT ALL STARTED WITH A $20 BILL.

i dont like ramen i do like the chow mein teryaki beef its more but i think it does not taste like salt like ramen does icky. i also dont drink beer or smoke nasty habbits i do have a donut addiction i think lol and the iced coffee quarts you get at walmart are good to=)

Originally Posted by Breakage

Garage sale arbitrage is something I've looked at doing but never taken too seriously. I spent a lot of time at yard sales when I was younger and had time and disposable income. But as eBay and Craigslist have chewed up most of the decent secondhand market, I find it harder to get anything with resale value from front lawns and these thrifty yanks don't like to let anything go for below 75% of OEM pricing. No shortage of old Tupperware and Christmas decorations but I sure don't find old silverware like I once did. They also don't believe in taking stuff in out of the rain, apparently. I know there is good stuff, somewhere, but I don't have an entire morning to dig through wet Rubbermaid totes full of Cat Fancy and Runner's Digest to find it. Plus, population density in VT is pretty low so making a day of "garage shopping" might yield only a handful of stops. If time and fuel are factors in your considerations of your net costs, be mindful that, even though you are enjoying the drive on a sunny weekend morning, technically, you are at work and everything you do is at your own expense.

I have had luck doing arb at the local charity thrift stores. It's hit and miss but if you pick things which you know generally escape the eye of discerning staff (board games, for example), it's not hard to triple your money, at least.

yeah some board games are worth a ton and they are making a comeback i saw on the news so that i would think would make them worth even more since people are playing them again=)

Originally Posted by alloy2

Some are converting the ceiling fan motor to wind generator.

I previously brought a couple of them home from the dump, neither were permanent magnet motors, magnets are part of the modifications. One I brought home this afternoon of you turn the shaft you can feel it cogging,so I know its a permanent magnet motor and will need very few mods.

Don;t let the brass fool ya, it's only anodized over cheap metal, probably non magnetic but the weight of those parts would be a dead give away.

yes since brass is heavy