It stands about 5 feet tall, has a pull chain made of teak wood. Made by the W.H.Woolums Mfg Co, St Petersburg. FL. There is not much info available on this maker so I don't yet know what it is worth. I found one similar on ebay that sold for almost $300.00.

What makes me decide to buy something? Sometimes it is experience, sometimes it is luck, sometimes it is just a feeling that I get. Sometimes I see something unusual and just take a chance. It may pay off or it may cost me. Either way, I learn from the experience and put that knowledge to work for me sometime in the future. That's what it's all about. If you buy things you know about you can hedge your bet. Whether for fun or for profit, you don't want to spend too much money on an item, especially if you hope to sell it and make a profit. I have bought half a dozen old lamps in the past few years thinking they may be valuable only to find that nobody was interested in buying them at auction. When I buy an item that is not worth what I paid for it, I either have to keep them, put them in my own garage sale or donate them. Since I have limited space, I usually donate them to Goodwill and get a tax write-off.   

I will speak of auctions later.  For now, most Garage sales I visit have a lot of kids stuff. Cribs, highchairs, playpens, toys, and clothes. These sales rarely have anything I am looking for. But you never know. I have found some great deals here too. You just have to look past the baby stuff and see what else is at the sale. I recently bought a flute for $10 at a sale filled with baby stuff.  The brand name is Gemeinhardt, it is a student model M2, silver plated. It sells on ebay for $50 to $75. August is a good time to sell musical instruments on ebay since many parents are trying to save money on band instruments for their kids who will be heading back to school in September.  Some items are hot all the time, like old rare coins. Other items are seasonal, like items designed for holidays. Some items are hot for a short period of time and then are never hot again.   I have a 12" GI Joe doll of Bob Hope in his famous USO tour outfit. When Bob Hope died a few years ago this item was selling like hot cakes on ebay for $80 and more. A month later it was only selling for $40.Today it's only worth about $20 which is what I paid for it when it was new. I waited too long to sell it for the maximum profit. I thought it would be worth more if I held onto it longer. I was wrong, but I learned from the experience. You need to be aware of this type of trend and use them to your advantage. Buy things in speculation if you think you know what will happen in the future. Just be prepared to wait until the timing is right to sell your items. If you miss the window of opportunity like I did with Bob Hope, your chance to make a profit may be over.

Knowing when to sell certain items is important. Air conditioners sell well in the summertime and heaters sell well in the winter, this anyone knows. I just mentioned the best time of year to sell band instruments in the few weeks just prior to school starting.

When you are out shopping at garage sales, you may be tempted to buy things that you are not knowledgeable about. I was tempted a few months ago to buy a large lot of iron-on patches for $100. I knew nothing about the iron-on business but thought I should take a chance. I bought them thinking I could make a return on my investment, but after doing some research I found that they were as easy to sell as I thought. I still have them and am still working to figure out the best way to make a profit with them Learn from my mistakes: Don't buy items that you have little or no knowledge of, unless you are willing to take a long time to recoup your investment or risk losing your investment entirely.

Sometimes you will find an item at a garage sale that you know is worth far more than the price they are asking. In this situation you may be compelled to pay the seller whatever they are asking for the item. This happens to me all the time. I get so excited about the item and the low price attached to it that I don't bother to dicker on the price. My excitement costs me money. I could have offered them a few dollars less and they probably would have accepted my offer. Even if they said no to my offer, I could have acquired the item by paying the price they were asking. Learn from my experience: Always offer the seller less than they are asking. If they refuse, offer them a little more. If they still refuse and you really want the item, agree to pay them what they are asking. Moral of the story: It never hurts to ask!