Nice sale on that album holder! I don’t see these around too much anymore. It was a slower week last week, but I made a few notable sales…
So I bought this really cool folk art cabinet made from wood cheese boxes at an auction, and inside were a bunch of goodies. One of which was this old Ford Model T ignition key. I usually keep old keys in a box and sell them as a lot when I get enough to make it worth it, but this one was special because it had a number on it. I suppose it was keyed for that ignition number or something. It didn’t take too long to sell for $15. https://www.ebay.com/itm/303001778411
Same auction, I bought a box lot of little thingies and goo gahs. I got the whole lot for $40 (each sellable item was $1.67). One of the first things to sell was this unopened package of prophylactics (yes, condoms). Now old condom tins can fetch a big price, but these looked relatively newer so I tried an auction style. They sold for the opening bid of $10. https://www.ebay.com/itm/303000711437
Here’s my big sale of the week. These came from that same lot above. They’re patriotic license plate bolts made by Kastar. If these were in better condition, I would have put them up for over $100. But alas, they were pretty rough. I auctioned them and they also sold at opening bid of $80. https://www.ebay.com/itm/303001771708
This sale goes to show that you never know what might sell, so it’s best to list everything! This hotel shoe shine mitt came out of a box lot of ephemera. Each sellable items from that lot came to $3.46. It sold within an hour of listing it! I guess someone had a search saved for that hotel or something. Sold for $15. I would have priced it a little higher if I’d have known. https://www.ebay.com/itm/303010184857
Hi Doubly,
I make a bit of a thing selling keys on Etsy, also discovered that older condoms sell and yes, they don’t have to be in tins! Very cool sale on the shoe shine mitt, and I had NO IDEA on the License plate bolts…news eyes open for that…I’ve seen them down here in old veterans retirement land!
I also had a couple after-Christmas game sales. This Civilization board game was on commission for my friend who had the online auction last year. It was purchased in the 80’s, but never used. The game pieces were “unpunched” (learned that word from one of Steve’s previous What Sold videos). It sold for full price of $79. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183494361856
This Super Bowl XXVII hat is no big deal except that it sold to someone in France! Paid $1, sold for $17. So, an American football fan in France, or someone who just wanted a unique cap? http://www.ebay.com/itm/183184997018
At an online auction in December, I purchased a cookbook lot at the minimum bid of $1. I saw several older fund raiser type cookbooks, which can sell pretty nicely. When I got them home, I found a 2006 LA Weight Loss cookbook that was a companion to their program. I did a search, and that program appears to not be in existence any more. I figured someone had to have stayed on the program and would want the cookbook. Sold in about a week for $23. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183596549562
I bought three vintage Monopoly game sets at a garage sale this past summer/fall for $2 each. The other two have already sold at OK prices. This Great Britain version sold at a better price of $33. http://www.ebay.com/itm/183384907361
Sometimes we talk about how our eBay sales prevent stuff from ending up in landfills, but here I can prove it. My husband and I were at our recycling center in the fall, and he spotted this miniature TV set from the 80s sitting in the electronics dumpster. It worked, and I sold it for $35 to someone in Korea. Maybe he is collecting Korean made electronics? http://www.ebay.com/itm/183373878718
I haven’t had a chance to watch the video yet, but look forward to it later. Thanks Steve. It was a pretty slow week for me. I was not listing in December, so I did not expect much.
I picked up around 25 EAGP goblets at an estate sale for $0.50 each (they were in the kitchen being sold as regular water glasses). These things seem to be very long tail on eBay. This one went for full price of $38. https://www.ebay.com/itm/192411822436 (I am now in the middle of photographing the rest of my glasses).
Just before Christmas, I turned down an offer of $150 for this early Peter Mook resin sculpture. My auto-accept kicked in last week and the sculpture went out the door for $300 plus shipping. This was a super lucky $10 find at my local thrift store. https://www.ebay.com/itm/192749659302
Stoneware mugs like this souvenir of Berlin fit under the heading “Stuff I Bought When I Was New to the Game, That I Will Never Buy Again”. So glad to see it sell… for any price. https://www.ebay.com/itm/192685682704
I’ll try to answer for Steve from where I stand. Hopefully, I get things right.
I follow Steve’s store, and he did sell the cookbook on eBay. You can search for some of the items he has sold recently and find his store that way. Some people don’t like to link to their store on this forum.
I did notice that many of the similar cookbooks sold on auction, which perhaps did not get the seller the best price. Some buyers don’t like auctions, so they pay the asking price. Some have the impression that a higher price means better quality or customer service.
He is the only one to list the book number (9008) in the title, so that might have helped in searches. He is also very professional in his listings, writes more than the average joe (including myself), and mentions that he is retired USAF and that he has been selling on eBay since 1999. Any of those things can help him get better prices.
I find that just comparing previous sold prices doesn’t tell the whole story:
a) the shipping is adjusted to your location – for me, I get some whacky shipping rates to Canada that don’t give me the true total cost the item sold for. Something may have sold for $20, but shows $80 shipping, but may really have cost the buyer $25 total.
b) detailed descriptions, such as Sharyn points out with the book number can drive sales. People may be looking for something very specific in their search, and if you are the only one with the description that matches, they will miss the others. That is why I never copy other’s descriptions – always create your own version.
c) Location – as with the shipping example, location can get you higher sales. For myself, if I am the only one in Canada selling an item, I can ask for more then others selling the item Internationally to get a in-country sale.
d) Sketchy listings – a professional, unique listing always will get me to buy over someone with a stock photo and minimal information. I’m not going to pay double, but I will pay a small percentage (maybe 25% ish) for an item from someone trustworthy then a new seller that has a sketchy listing, no feedback, and may be in China. If I really want the item in time, I will pay for the reputation of the seller to come through with it and not risk it at all. This past Xmas I risked buying a gift for my wife from two sellers that were fake or didn’t come through because I tried to get a deal – the third purchase from someone with high feedback and reputation came through at a higher cost.
e) Vague listings – as a seller/buyer of electronics, you can spot a problem with the item just by the listing. If they can’t even plug it in to test it, then it probably doesn’t work. If someone has a listing with defects listed (scuffing, XYZ is broken, etc) I trust that those will be the only problems with the item. I’m not going to pay anything for an item someone couldn’t be bothered to test or may be incomplete.
Completed sales are a great guide, but always use your gut for pricing – if you have a good reputation, good items, good descriptions, and are honest, it will pay off with higher prices in the long run.
It looks priced right to me. There are currently no copies listed on buy it now for any lower than his sold price. The most recent one to sell sold for $50, so even more than his copy. There is only 1 1976 printing listed right now on Ebay for $50. There might be differences in recipes or binding in different years printed for this cookbook. This specific edition might be more desirable than others, I don’t know.
Prices on books like this might also go higher during the holidays. It’s cyclical.
Hello Liz, others have agreeably crystallized my thoughts on this (thank you).
Nearly 20 years of selling and buying on eBay has given me the valuable experience in what details to include in my listing descriptions although I’m still always learning, tweaking and improving.
My approach is to not over sell the item, if you put in the right keywords someone will find your listing and they already know what it’s for so there’s no sense in making your listing look like an advertisement from a catalog.
I keep superlatives in my descriptions to a minimum if used at all.
Joe Friday said it best, “just the facts mam”.
Ryanne and Jay taught me years ago that it’s best to be honest, don’t raise expectations and in the end the customer will feel their purchase was better than described.
The scenery for the dogs and I improved with that last snowfall but uncharacteristically for So. Dak in January it’s been melting the last couple days with temps in the 40’s….it won’t last, spring is a long way off.
Thanks for the info. I am a librarian and we get books donated daily. Far too many for our little book sale room and volunteers can handle. Sadly, the custodians end up throwing away boxes of older books… we are located in an affluent area and i bet some valuable titles are tossed… anyway, I always keep an eye out for interesting books. I can take whatever I want. Last month I grabbed a box set of Land of Giants off the trash pile. I brought it home because I thought my husband might like the wooden box… but i did a quick search and saw it had some value! It was missing the cardboard outer sleeve but i still got $78 for it! I also picked up a rare Andy Warhol book valued at $400! (i’m keeping it)
Yeah, climate change has really altered our weather here on Long Island… it was 60 degrees on New Years day. Crazy!
Thanks @catmom, I had no idea that my local library might have valuable books in their sale room. I guess I just overlooked it because I am only in and out to pick up what ever we have reserved. Cheers, Daniel.
Good day trash elves. Sharing a few vintage sales of items, nothing really high dollar.
I’m a sucker for this type of vintage tablecloth. Pro resellers have them up super high at flea markets here. This one was in good shape without stains, paid $4 indy thrift. If anyone knows how to get out yellow food stains from these cotton printed tablecloths, please let me know. Can you safely soak in Oxyclean? I find them pretty often with stains.
Took a best offer of $30 on this item from my parent’s house. There were not many solds and it was not marked so I put it up pretty high. Took about 9 months to sell.
I paid a bit too much for these at the indy thrift xmas sale vintage hotpads at $6, but they sold very quickly.
This is the third or fourth Jabara NY vintage linen set I’ve sold. Paid $6 same indy thrift. They are a bit plain looking and this one was made in China, but still sold two in a month.
Think I did mention this before, but I’m able to sell vintage Pyrex lids pretty well. Far easier to pack and ship than the dishes and usually cheap. I had some less desirable Pyrex I sold on Facebook, and I’ve almost liquidated all of the lids on Ebay. Pyrex sunflower lid
Couple of duds – cow pitcher (free from Parents’), wool blanket nice condition and soft but took forever to sell.
Home › Forums › What Sells On eBay: Empty tequila bottle, Turntable, Hat case, Cow Head Bell, Album holder, Magazine rack.