Trash to Cash. A podcast about making a living on eBay.
What Sells On eBay: Vintage electronics, Vintage Advent Speakers, Car parts, Models
Love those Vintage 70s Advent speakers. Steve is truly a scavenger willing to re-foam, clean up and pack/ship these audio relics for a great sale price of $300!
Steve – I wonder how your shipping through the GSP is going to work. Have the speakers been received and shipped out yet? I once had a set of large books that needed to be in two boxes, but eBay doesn’t have a good way in which to calculate shipping for more than one box. I called them, and they said that I couldn’t really set it up properly for the GSP because they would then under-calculate the shipping from Kentucky to the international location. I ended up selling them within the US.
I had a very slow week of sales and really don’t have much to show. Here is one thing that is interesting: my neighbor moved out recently, and I noticed they had boxes of books at the curb. I got the OK to take them. I lotted up 9 books having to do with management and sold them for $26, which includes about $4 for shipping. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183266712141
I have a set of rims where I want to ship in two boxes, but I set up the listing for US only. Maybe I’ll call and find out if I can use the GSP somehow. They could be shipped in one box, but it would be too heavy for me to handle.
It wasn’t very busy last week when I opened my store back up from the hiatus. But I did manage to make a few okay sales. Here are some of the highlights…
I received a message while moving from a guy who was really interested in this carousel slide projector manual. So I responded back that I’d be opening my store back up in a few days. Sure enough, it was the first thing to sell on that Monday morning. $25 for something that I found in the throw-away pile at work. Carousel Slide Projector Manual
Next up is my big sale of the week. I acquired this Kodak No. 2A Brownie Model C box camera inside a set of drawers along with a bunch of other odds and ends, all for $22.50 (each sellable piece cost me $4.50). Box cameras are hit or miss, usually missing. But this one was nearly pristine and came in a limited edition green color, so I knew collectors would want it. It took a couple months, but I finally took a best offer of $69. Green Kodak No. 2A Brownie Model C Box Camera
My dad gets really excited when I tell him about things that I’ve sold. It just amazes him for some reason. So he’ll give me old electronics that he brings home from work that would have gone in the trash. This old vacuum tube was one of them. I didn’t have a way to test it at the time of listing, so I only listed it for $15. I got really good feedback so it must have worked well. Hytron Electronic Vacuum Tube 6L6GC
I went all in on a huge lot of N-scale model trains at an auction for $125 (each sellable item came to about $2). They haven’t been selling as well as I had hoped. Maybe I set the price (and my expectation) too high. Maybe in a few months, I’ll lower some prices and see what happens. But this pair of Bachmann motorized trains finally sold for $50. With that sale, along with some other things I sold from that lot, I’ve made back my cost so everything else will just be icing on the cake. Bachmann N-Scale Model Train
Hey Doubly – My mom gets excited about our sales too. She gets a huge kick out of it so I forward all of our Sold emails to her. Do you share those with your dad?
Every time I come home to visit, my dad ask to see some of the things I’ve sold. So I’ll go through on my phone and show him all of my sold items. I love how amazed he gets at some of the sold prices for things that he wouldn’t have given a second thought of throwing away. And it helps him understand that this can one day be more than a part time side gig; that there’s legitimate income in this “hobby.” He still goes on and on about how I shouldn’t quit my job because of security and benefits and health insurance and so on. But at least now I think he’s starting to see the possibility.
Sold these embroidered quilt blocks. Paid up a bit @ $12 but they sold very quickly after listing. The old ladies at the indy thift love this kind of stuff.
You can’t beat dogs playing poker I paid a buck because the old ladies at the indy thrift hate this kind of stuff. Prices were kind of all over the place for these prints, so I’m happy with $65.
Finally, 1950s paper hankies are the kind of thing I probably shouldn’t bother to pick up, but can’t resist. Glad they sold.
This week I had a wave of death-pile-wouldn’t-ever-buy-again cartoon coffee mugs move out. Very pleased and it’s a nice reward for being stubborn about listing the early stuff I bought when I was new to Youtube. Have a great weekend.
I love seeing your cat and dogs play together. It’s so funny to see you cat playfully attacking your dog! I don’t think he knows what to do with her. She seems like she’s the boss around them
Steve, just wanted to echo Djett’s comments. Love your videos for the knowledge you share and the animal antics at the end. The Lassie music on a recent one made me LOL. Thanks SO much for making these every week.
Had some good sales last week, just a low volume of them. Back to lots of listing today and tomorrow, before hosting a yard sale on Saturday to (hopefully) move lots of random stuff (some eBay stuff and some personal stuff, and some mother-in-law stuff). Hoping for some cash to help purchase some new couch covers for an Ikea couch purchased off Craigslist – white doesn’t work in this house!
16′ pool pieces-got this entire pool for free from a guy I had given my old propane grill too. Turned into a good business connection. It will part out for more than the cost of a new pool. Got my inspiration here after listening to the podcasts about parting old computers. I’ve sold 5 pieces in a week. 60 similar pieces. https://www.ebay.com/itm/323329738288
My bread and butter seams to be power tools and battery chargers. I find these all the time for a buck or 2. I paid $35 for a 7 piece Milwaukee tool kit which I have mostly sold–this is one of the last pieces https://www.ebay.com/itm/323316455937
I had my first book sale on a German book, but that was just over a week ago. Comps seemed to be half of my price, but the printing in my book was old and cool so I followed the advice and priced where I thought was way too high. It sold the same day listed for $90–I got 6 similar books for $15 total at an estate sale. https://www.ebay.com/itm/323326967347
Awesome Henry J, Steve! The buyer is probably an old school drag racing fan. And thanks to everyone else who posts their sales – I learn some new things every time.
Sales have been very slow but here are a few recent ones of interest:
Tobacciana used to be a solid and quick seller for me back in my days of selling at flea markets and antique cooperatives but it is surprisingly slow for me on eBay. This Italian restaurant porcelain ashtray was a thrift shop buy at $3 and took about a year to sell for $30 plus shipping. https://imgur.com/ZHnRLmA
This US Army Master Parachutist Badge (aka “jump wings”) was $1.50 at an indy thrift in a military town where this type of thing is common and can be sourced cheaply. EBay sold prices are all over depending on age, maker, metal composition, and condition. Always many for sale on eBay so there is competition but many sellers do not bother to take a close up photo of the back or interpret what markings are found to help establish value for collector buyers. This one is a cheap “pot metal” standard version of the type currently available at any PX but made by a rarer government contractor long out of business (Antaya Bros Inc of Attleboro MA) so I could get $20 plus shipping for it, if I waited long enough. It took 9 months to sell. https://imgur.com/U3Kt65u
There was recently a discussion about focusing on smalls to sell on eBay. I have many of them stashed away in my personal version of Jay’s death piles, this 1939 World’s Fair lapel pin being an example. Many smalls are low profit and long tail, the advantage being that they’re easy to pack and ship and have a zero return rate. There’s tons of this stuff out there, in box lots at auctions and in eBay’s wholesale lots category, so it’s pretty easy to buy only having pennies in each item of the lot. This took 5 months to sell at $10 plus shipping. https://imgur.com/kqxFk7q
This is a beat up Turkish Army M35 Mauser rifle bayonet and scabbard of a type manufactured in the millions between WWI and WWII. The “AS.FA” stamp on the pommel helps identify it as Turkish. Aside from that, Turkey made countless variations of these (many were modified versions of bayonets from Germany and other countries). Most Turkish bayonets are found in heavily used and abused condition so I had no trouble paying $30 for it at a gun show knowing I was sure to at least double my money relatively quickly, despite its condition and that it’s probably one of the least desirable and most common variations. It sold for $70 plus shipping in about a month. The Mauser is a bolt action rifle, so there are no concerns with eBay’s “assault rifle” accessory prohibitions. https://imgur.com/Qn6qPZm
Hi my name is Elizabeth and I’m actually a quiet member of the forum. I started selling on Ebay around the middle of April and I wanted to start making videos on what sold. Actually, I’ve made my first one and I would like to share it with the scavenger community.
I’ve posted it on my YouTube account, which has nothing to do with Ebay and so I’ve made the video unlisted. I thought it would be nice to see how things evolve from a newbies point of view. I hope you agree.
Thanks for the video, Liz. I also bought several Starbucks mugs when I first started out about two years ago. I think you actually didn’t do too bad with that one.
Also, I won’t take my phone into my bedroom. I don’t want to wake up every time I get an eBay notification! When I’m staying in a hotel room, I’ll turn notifications off.
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