BIDDING FRENZY POPS UP FOR YARD SALE TOASTER.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

LOW PASS - A toaster plucked from a barn for $20 during a community yard sale fetched $5,100 on eBay: a rare find that sparked a bidding frenzy at the end.

Charlotte Crawford of Springfield was among first-day shoppers at the "52-mile Yard Sale" last month along Highway 36. One of her stops was a farm between Low Pass and Triangle Lake, where she spotted a vintage toaster among the items offered for sale.

Crawford paid cash for the transaction and doesn't know the name of the woman she bought it from. It was marked for $30.

"But it was all dirty and yucky, so I talked her down to $20," Crawford said. "I feel guilty now - I had no idea it would be worth this much!"

Crawford, a 25-year "garage saler" who has resold her finds on eBay for several years, came home and did a little research. She learned that the antique appliance was a Toast-O-Lator manufactured in 1939 by the Crocker-Wheeler Toaster Co.

Crawford also learned that its "picture window" feature - with 5-inch by 4-inch glass panels on both sides - was rare, making the toaster more valuable.

She placed it on seven-day auction, setting the low bid at $9.99, but reserving the right to keep the toaster if it didn't get $300.

"As soon as I put it on there, I started getting calls," she said.

After talking to several toaster collectors, she realized that this machine was uncommon even among picture-window models.

"Most of them just had tiny, little peek-in windows, not these big ones," she said.

But she didn't realize how much that distinction was worth until she logged on to eBay and watched the last hour of bidding.

"I saw the price jump from $300 to $455 to $810 to $5,000," she said.

At the last second, a Minnesota collector topped even that, claiming the toaster with a bid of $5,100.99.

Crawford expects to receive his cashier's check today.

"He has over 400 toasters, and he's never seen one of these," she said.

CAPTION(S):

Charlotte Crawford discovered this antique toaster with large windows was rare and worth much more than the $20 she paid for it at a yard sale. "I saw the price jump from $300 to $455 to $810 to $5,000." - CHARLOTTE CRAWFORD, GARAGE SALE SHOPPER TURNED E-BAY SELLER