Have you ever wondered about the value of things that you keep in your garage? Or if other people have a hidden treasure hiding in their garage sale that they just don’t know about, perfect for you to discover and make a profit from for yourself? Well, some people have managed to do that by buying some of the strangest objects you might imagine. Not your usual garage sale buys in the slightest.
So, what are some of the weirdest things that people have found in their garages that turned out to be a treasure?
16th Century Oil Painting
Have you ever watched the comedy series Are You Being Served? British comedy at its finest and the reason one man decided to buy a random painting, because it reminded him of his favourite character from the series. It was only later that he chose to translate a French inscription that he discovered it was actually a 1573 painting by the painter Francois Quesnel. Having it appraised he found that it was worth an estimated £5,000!
Not bad for a painting reminiscent of a sitcom.
Original Avengers Artboard
For comic book fans, this will create a great sense of jealousy. One little girl ventured to a garage sale and discovered some uncoloured drawings, wanting to colour them in she had her stepfather buy them for her. However, before he let a crayon touch paper he had the thought that perhaps the drawings would be worth something. They were: around $48,000. Unfortunately, they had also been reported stolen and arrests followed (though they were later released).
Declaration of Independence
Kind of. It wasn’t the official declaration locked up behind many layers of security, only accessible to the likes of Nicholas Cage, but a version of it. Many writers have a first draft, but the Declaration of Independence is perhaps one of the only documents with around 200 copies. John Quincy Adams commissioned 200 copies in 1820 to ensure it remained intact and independence was preserved no matter what, which this garage sale find just happened to be. Worth a reported $477,000: it seems there is a price for freedom after all.
Ancient Treasure
Looking for a new fruit bowl to act as the centrepiece of your dining table? Well, be careful what you put into your £2 garage sale finds as you may accidentally be using ancient treasure. Instead of a pretty bowl, it was actually a 1,000-year-old Chinese treasure. It’s quality and intact state meant that it sold for approximately £2.2 million… a profit made one million times over.
At Lock Up Garages, we specialise in providing garages for rent up and down the country. If you would like to find out more about any of our services, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team by calling 020 8882 8575 and we will be more than happy to advise you further.
With temperatures rising, it’s essential that your possessions are safe inside your garage. After all, the heat can ruin them easily and when you put things in storage, you want them to be safe at all times; the last thing you want is to be constantly stressing about whether or not they’re getting damaged!
However, no amount of careful thinking will help if you are storing items that should never be kept in a garage. We have already looked at some of these items, such as books and wood, so what else shouldn’t you store in your garage?
Wine
This beverage always needs to be stored in the appropriate place, which is why many wine lovers invest in their own cellar. However, you don’t need to build a cellar in your home in order to keep your wine safe – you just need to avoid storing it in the garage, especially in summer! When wine becomes too warm, the taste won’t be the same. In addition, both the wine and the wine can expand, which will allow air to enter the bottle and, of course, ruin the wine!
Vinyl Records
You might not have a lot of space in your home for your vinyl collection, but your garage should never be on top of your list for storing records. Mice and other critters nest in celluloid, and mould and mildew can grow on the surface of the vinyl and on the paper case, completely ruining them. Also, the heat will ruffle and coil the materials, rendering your records useless.
Mattresses
Again, it might seem like a good idea to store old or unused mattresses in the garage (out of sight, out of mind), but this couldn’t be further from the truth! Mattresses become exposed to a variety of unpleasant things while there, from rodents and insects to dust and humidity. No matter how insulated the garage is, you still run the risk of damaging the mattress.
Paintings
Storing paintings in a garage is also never a good idea, especially if they’re valuable! With the humidity and heat levels always present inside garages, you would be exposing them to differences in temperature and wetness – this, of course, will not do your paintings any favours. These delicate items should be stored in more appropriate locations, in order for them to not become damaged.
Garages are great places to store (nearly) everything, so take a look at our lock-up garages and how they can help you keep your possessions safe and organised!
