If anybody feels like being on the losing end of one of these deals, I just bought a house and need to fill it with stuff.
Best "steal" you ever bought?
- Thread starter CyFan61
- Start date
I've had a few cars:
All of these were craigslist. My secret is I list it at about $1000 more than what I think it is worth and let them talk me down. Or in the case of the Dodge Ram, they accept!
I now drive a 2009 Nissan Murano
Other random stuff:
- First car, 1997 Ford Ranger, bought it for $1000. (125k miles) Was totaled in a hit and run, and the insurance gave me $2800
- Second car, 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 V8, bought it for $500 from a guy because his son got a DUI and wanted to teach him a lesson. Put 40k miles on it over 3 years and sold it for $2,000 (had almost 200k miles on it when I sold it)
- Third car, FREE minivan if I could fix it. It needed new sparkplugs. So $40 worth of spark plugs gave me a 2000 Ford Windstar which I just sold for $5,000 (had 50k miles)
All of these were craigslist. My secret is I list it at about $1000 more than what I think it is worth and let them talk me down. Or in the case of the Dodge Ram, they accept!
I now drive a 2009 Nissan Murano
Other random stuff:
- $200 hookah I got for $70
- $1,000 laptop I got for free (government salvage). All I needed to do was re-seat the RAM and it worked. It was a brand new laptop otherwise.
- $600 TV I got for $175 on Black Friday (my one and only BF purchase)
- Dorm Fridge found at move out time
- Assortment of furniture found in the Craigslist "free" section
Purchase from Scheel's about 8+ years ago. Their cards system was down right as we were getting run up for around $800 or more.
They didn't even have a manual "swipe" machine. So the manager wrote down my card info. I told him "I think you got those numbers mixed up" when I saw he has transposed some digits. He gave me a "I know I got it correct".
Ok dude. We left and I checked my card every few days for that charge for about a month. Never showed up and they never tried to contact us. I would have went back to handle it and let them know, but he was a bit of an *** when I tried to help him so it's his fault.
They didn't even have a manual "swipe" machine. So the manager wrote down my card info. I told him "I think you got those numbers mixed up" when I saw he has transposed some digits. He gave me a "I know I got it correct".
Ok dude. We left and I checked my card every few days for that charge for about a month. Never showed up and they never tried to contact us. I would have went back to handle it and let them know, but he was a bit of an *** when I tried to help him so it's his fault.
Best steal of my life? I got $4 and a cell phone once. Ended up costing me a lot more than I had expected.
My wife and were out there because she needed some cheap picture frames for work. Found a like-new card table and chair set for $15.
Similar situation about 6-7 years ago. Sears repair and service outlet. The long row of 'used' lawnmowers. One of them pretty far from the door has it's tag marked $38.00. Thirty-eight dollars? This was a front propelled, 6.5 HP Craftsman that looked like it had been used maybe 3-4 times. I chortled and rolled it inside and asked the teenage clerk to ring me up. He called his manager over, and the manager to his credit hesitated for a moment as he digested the price but quickly said "Ring him up. The tag says what it says." Somebody had clearly left a digit off the tag, as most of the others were in the $240 to $400 range, most with oddball prices.
I also got a great deal on a treadmill there, again something like $200 in the 'scratch and dent' area from the same Sears service outlet. This treadmill was listed with a couple of others, and down low, pretty small was marked "damaged box - refused". This was an $1100 treadmill. I confirmed that it still had the same warranty and bought that pretty darn quick, as the wife had been on me for a year to buy a treadmill.
I got in the habit of dropping by that place every month or so, but I haven't found any more deals like those. I probably got that manager fired.
Wife has found some ridiculous wall art at different times. Very, very nice framed prints and painting-reproductions for $5 or $10. Not hotel garbage either - nice stuff. These are items where the frames alone would be $50 or $75 retail.
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My wife and I were looking at options to redo our bathroom. We needed a sink/vanity and were looking at Lowes. There was a nice wood/granite top one for about $375...we were not looking to spend anywhere near that, but a sales guy came over and I saw it was the last one. I asked if they offered any discount for the display. The guy got the manager and came back and said, "can you take it home tonight? If so, $30." One of those deals that to that manager he was just trying to get the area cleared out....but nothing was wrong with it, so we bought it.
Got the last Traeger lil' Texas Elite grill from the Coralville Scheels for $500 last year, assembled with a cover, just after Christmas. Retail is like $800 plus the cover. Granted, you can usually haggle with the independant dealers, but it was a good deal. Not world class, but considering how much I've used it in the last 8 months, I've got my money's worth.
I have a laserdisc player with no movies. So you have me beat. Those movies though, will be valuable someday if they arent already.
In college I worked at a car wash in Ames (The one of Duff Ave next to Jiffy Lube and Target). Anyway, my boss wanted me to install a remote car starter and said he would pay me $100 to do it (he had already purchased the device). Instead, I told him that I would take the old air compressor in the back of the car wash that was no longer being used since they upgraded the car wash equipment. He agreed.
I spent an hour installing the remote starter on his car and got a $700 air compressor (in really good shape) as payment. That was 2001 and it's still running strong today!
I spent an hour installing the remote starter on his car and got a $700 air compressor (in really good shape) as payment. That was 2001 and it's still running strong today!
My old employer was building a QT in Bethany MO. Wound up with a bunch of sheetrock left over. Borrowed the company truck, and a couple guys, went down and picked it up on the weekend. Rocked my entire basement and still have a couple sheets left in my garage I've used for small projects.
Hmm....I'm wondering if I know you...I worked there as well, although earlier than 2001.
I worked there from 1999-2001. The owner when I worked there had just purchased it from the guy who built it and the Jiffy Lube originally. I knew a couple of the previous owner's sons who were in college/ high school at the time, but still worked at Jiffy Lube after their dad sold them.
I ordered a 42" Panasonic Plasma from Best buy back in 06 it was around $700 bucks but it came with a cheap surround sound/dvd player and a $200 mail in rebate.
I went to best buy after I ordered it online to pick it up from the store. They were charging me $70 for delivery so I asked them to refund it since I was picking it up and they refunded that back to my card.
The next day I got a email that said my TV was ready to pick up. I just ignored it. When it came time to to send in my mail in rebate I didn't have a receipt because it said I needed to pick up the TV still.
So I called their 800 number and talked to the guy and explained that I picked up the TV already from the store. He told me it looked like what happened was that they canceled my order and just charged me in the store. So he canceled my online order.
I had a feeling he was wrong but who was I to argue with him. I checked my credit card statement for a while and nothing. It turns out the charge he was looking at was the $70 refund back to my card. So best Buy paid me to take the TV off their hands. I sold the cheap surround sound/dvd for $100. I went ahead and sent in the rebate with the receipt I had from before I picked it up just to see what would happen and I got the $200 rebate.
So in the end I got paid $370 to take a 42" Panasonic plasma TV
I went to best buy after I ordered it online to pick it up from the store. They were charging me $70 for delivery so I asked them to refund it since I was picking it up and they refunded that back to my card.
The next day I got a email that said my TV was ready to pick up. I just ignored it. When it came time to to send in my mail in rebate I didn't have a receipt because it said I needed to pick up the TV still.
So I called their 800 number and talked to the guy and explained that I picked up the TV already from the store. He told me it looked like what happened was that they canceled my order and just charged me in the store. So he canceled my online order.
I had a feeling he was wrong but who was I to argue with him. I checked my credit card statement for a while and nothing. It turns out the charge he was looking at was the $70 refund back to my card. So best Buy paid me to take the TV off their hands. I sold the cheap surround sound/dvd for $100. I went ahead and sent in the rebate with the receipt I had from before I picked it up just to see what would happen and I got the $200 rebate.
So in the end I got paid $370 to take a 42" Panasonic plasma TV
I got a 5 year old 42" JD rider with bagger for free a couple months ago on Craigslist. The guy took it to a local repair shop and they told him it had a broken camshaft and it would be $850 it fix it. I figured, no big deal it is $80 part. Winched in onto a trailer and took it home. When I got there I noticed that the air screen on the flywheel was full of hickory nuts, so I took it and the cowl off and vacuumed out about 3 pounds of nuts and other squirrel nesting materials. I pulled off the valve cover and turned the flywheel and the cam appeared to be fine, so I put it back together, charged the battery and it started right up. Great deal for me. Obviously someone wanted to sell a new mower.
I worked for the original owner. Trying to remember exactly when I stopped, prolly spring '99.
I picked out a 60's era skate board and a wall-mount single shelf out of the neighbor's garbage can last Wednesday morning. Over the weekend I sold them for $15 at the flea market.
Yes, I have no pride.
Yes, I have no pride.
