What Sells On eBay: Fur hat, Wire recorder, Phono cartridge, Boombox

some of my sales from the last week or so:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/514749329/antique-edwardian-black-silk-beaver?ref=shop_home_active_7

bought at a local auction for $25, sold for $95

https://www.etsy.com/listing/482221070/antique-opal-and-blue-gemstone-princess?ref=shop_home_active_12

bought for $60 all in at a local auction, sold for $125

https://www.etsy.com/listing/279926514/1970s-salton-hotray-food-warming?ref=shop_home_active_3

Thrift store find for $5, sold for $30

https://www.etsy.com/listing/502023436/green-yellow-swirl-creamed-spinach?ref=shop_home_active_17

part of a jobber lot from an online auction, cost was about $10, sold for $55

My husband was just saying that he wanted to part some things out. I have to juicers that I want to part out too. You can make more $ parting out sometimes than selling an item outright. I’ve seen sellers that only sell parts and do extremely well.

I recently found some old CDs of mine from the late 90’s that I wanted to play only to find out that my CD player isn’t working. Luckily I see the little ones at the thrifts all the time and can pick one up if hubby can’t fix it.

Thanks for posting your video Steven.

Steve, Oh my, the wire recorder brings back memories! Some years back, I was in a production of South Pacific, and the props manager was having an awful time finding a wire recorder. He had gotten a hold of a reel to reel tape recorder, but we pointed out that any WWII vets in the audience would recognize that as impossible LOL So I told him I’d try to find one. There’s a guy not too far from me, used to sell TVs and stuff. He was already semi-retired when I paid him a visit. He took me across the street from his shop (which had file cabinets stuffed with manuals, as well as all sorts of gadgets) to his storage shed….which was like a museum of old electronics, except totally disorganized with stuff piled everywhere. But he knew just where to find a WWII era wire recorder. As I remember, in working condition. I offered to buy it or borrow it, but he wouldn’t sell…but he did loan it to us for free.

I really should pay him another visit…..not sure he’s still around though.

Amazed by Steve’s sales, as always!

Some of my favorites from last week:

Vintage Bartlett Cookie Jar – Bought for $5 and sold for $95 the day I listed it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Bartlett-Clown-Circus-Cookie-Jar-Orange-White-Glass-Rare-Mid-Century-/332153534431?rd=1

Mid-Century Wall Clock – Bought for $5 and sold for $60. I love this! If it didn’t have a cord, it would be hanging in my kitchen.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mid-Century-Robert-Shaw-Lux-Wall-Clock-Turquoise-Aqua-Blue-Retro-US-made-/232236051569?rd=1

1950s Letterman Sweater – I don’t remember what I paid for this, but it was kind of a lot (for me). I think around $20. I’ve had it listed forever and happily took a $150 offer.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Wool-Letterman-039-s-Sweater-with-Leather-Elbow-Patches-Red-1950s-Rockabilly-/331475434855?rd=1

Vintage Saddle Stirrup Clock – Paid $1-2, sold for $34.99 the day it was listed. This one was fun because it went to the wife (widow) of an actor/hall of fame cowboy. Looks like it was made for her.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tooled-Leather-Saddle-Stirrup-Clock-Western-Cowboy-Decor-RARE-/332157452896?rd=1

Here are my sales & shenanigans at the Weigh & Go along with auction angst.

I had another pretty good week of sales last week. A lot of items that I’ve listed many months ago sold. Here are some highlights…

Last summer at an auction, I bought a Star Wars Millennium Falcon model from the 1970s. In good condition, these things sell for $70 to $100. Mine was far from good. But I took it apart and listed each piece individually (luckily they all have imprinted on them the individual part number). This piece sold for $15.
1979 Star Wars model part

This pair of manuals came out of a huge box of garage type manuals I bought last year. The whole box cost me a dollar. I’m kicking myself because there was another same sized box of them I could have gotten for the same price. I’ve made over $200 on that box so far. So now I know to buy things up everytime I see them. This pair sold for full price of $50.
Garage Bearings Manuals

I spent a little too much initially for this Aultman Buckeye Akron Cast Iron Tractor Seat… $45. I acquired this at one of my first auctions and was still learning. Turns out it was a reproduction of the original. But I cleaned it up and put a new coat of paint on it and took a BO of $90.
Antique Tractor Seat

Here’s a fun little sale. I get this sealed-in-package microfiber washcloth at a Goodwill Outlet. Probably cost me a few cents. I recognized the penguin character from a random YouTube video I watched years ago. I thought maybe there might be a sort of cult following of the little show. I think I was kinda right. This sold almost immediately for my asking price of $10. Maybe I should have priced it higher, but who would have known? I was happy with the sale.
PINGU Penguin!

Thanks, Steve! Love that wire recorder.

This was our best sale this week. Took forever to pack them up. Paid $15 at auction which included the table. We’re keeping the table for now. These are going to Brooklyn NY.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Vintage-MidCentury-Beige-Cosco-Kitchen-Dining-Folding-Metal-Chairs-Card-Games-/112297368285?rd=1

Got this for 50 cents a couple weeks ago at an estate sale, sold for $45:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Blue-Metal-Thermos-1-Quart-1-Liter-Glass-Lined-USA-Made-King-Seeley-/112332676972?rd=1

Vera Neumann scarf, paid $1, sold for $18:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-VERA-NEUMANN-Square-Scarf-Polka-Dots-Dark-Red-Gold-Yellow-21-034-x-21-034-/112022962478?rd=1

Nice that Steve was able to sell a winter hat. I bought a few hats recently from an online auction. I expect not to sell them until the fall, but you never know. I have some fur ones that I haven’t listed yet. I think I’m going to take them to a fur store to determine exactly what they are made of – I think maybe mink.

Here’s a few of my interesting sales from the week:

I bought a book lot from an online auction that included a number of Freemason books. A few were old code books specifically for NJ. It all looked like gibberish to me, but someone in Texas bought two of them. Here is one from 1947 that sold for $18 – I paid $1 each:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182484332211

Here is an embarrassing mistake for me. Just some nice espresso cups, not very valuable, but I forgot to add shipping. I must have started with a listing that had free shipping, and did a sell similar. Now that my store is more established, I’ve decided I can stop with the free ship, but I’m not going to change what I have already listed. Anyway, I ended up a dollar or so in the hole, but I did get the feedback “best deal ever!”. yup.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182484811868

From a box lot of brass and metal stuff at an online auction, I paid $1 for this brass pedestal, sold for $29:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182372298648

A potential buyer sent me a longish note saying that she had a bad experience with an experienced seller who didn’t pack a platter very well and mis-measured it as well. She wanted me to ensure her that it wouldn’t happen again, but she did want to buy mine, a 14″ Stangl platter. I sent her a note (of similar length) explaining how I double-box and so on. She did buy it, it somehow got to her house from NJ to GA in two days, and she sent another message about how great it was and how well I packed it (whew!). The point is that some sellers are a bit crazy and some are very reasonable, and you just have to use your common sense as to whether to interact with them or not.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=182444399260

I was interested to see that wire recorder. I’ve never really thought about what existed prior to magnetic tape since it’s always existed in my lifetime. (My father used a real-to-reel player before upgrading to a tape deck).