Million Dollar Steps: STEP NINETEEN: Trains, Insulators, and Typewriters

$2,118.40 becomes $2,159.90

So I got busy with other responsibilities last summer and fall. But as soon as the cold days returned and the holidays were over, I found myself searching listings again for the chance of a lifetime to buy low and sell high.

I've been busy with this project the past few weeks. Sometime in the future I may clean this up and put an entry for each item but in the interest of time, I'll just list a bunch of them here.

These items started as a bulk purchase at an estate sale last spring. 1947 Lionel Train Set with 5 Cars, Cast Iron Locomotive with Real Smoke and Whistling Coal Car + 3 Glass Telephone Insulators + Vintage Typewriter

I bought this at an estate sale. It belonged to a now-deceased hoarder. A couple had bought the house as is and offered the contents to the surviving family. They didn't want anything. I think I paid $200 for the train set but she also threw in a typewriter and 3 cool glass telephone insulators. I had a local train buff repair the locomotive so it would smoke again and get the whistler going on the coal car ($35). Total investment: $235.

3 Deep Purple Telephone Insulators - sold for $45

1947 Lionel Train - sold for $162.50

1928 Remington Portable Typewriter #3 - sold for $81

STEP NINETEEN: Bought for $235, sold for $288.50
Profit on these items: $53.50
(and a whole lot of fun teaching kids how to type and use a dangerous smoking train)
Project Profit: $2,159.90

Now this next section I'm going way off base with my approach. I decided not to buy anything but rather to clear out some closets and sell a few things we no longer needed. I know this totally violates the intent of the project and if you feel strongly that I should remove these figures from the total, just tell me so. I'm kind of making this up as I go.