What Sells On eBay: Cassette decks, Reel tapes, Iroquois China, Hats, Typewriter

Thanks for the video, Steve! I still haven’t tested and listed the typewriter I have.

I don’t know that I should show this sale because the buyer has already started a return, but the situation is kind of interesting. This is a brass stool that has dents, scratches, and other defects that are fully described. The buyer wants to return it because the legs are welded on and don’t screwed off. I don’t mention anything about how the legs are attached in the listing, but the buyer says that they are “supposed to screw off”. She wanted to repair the stool by pushing out the dents. According to the Facebook group “eBay for Business”, I will have to fully reimburse her if she returns the item. I’m pissed. Sold for $25 with a counteroffer. I only paid about $1.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183949395199

I thought I would get good money for this vintage printer tray, so I paid about $24 for two of them. One sold a while ago. This one is larger and more expensive to ship. I finally took a counter offer of $32.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183761361740

This is a Judaica tile plaque for showing the direction of prayer inside a home. It should be installed on the wall facing the direction of Jerusalem. It sold for $73 to someone in Jerusalem, Israel. I wonder what wall they are supposed to put it on?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/184069185835

These wood salt & pepper shakers were a surprise to me that they were worth decent money, but I have had them for about a year. Someone messaged me that they would pay $30, so I extended the offer. I paid less than $1.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183486425342

I found this set of cards for a Japanese anime series in a case with other pins, patches, and so forth. I used a function on Google Translate where you can draw the letters with your finger and the program tries to match it with a letter in the selected alphabet. I was finally able to translate one of the anime character names, and that helped me figure out which series it was from. I paid pennies, sold for $39.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183628179916

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by Sharyn.

Another informative video, Steven. Great sale on that boat light! My week was busy with all kinds of sales. Here are some highlights…

I bought a box lot of vintage Christmas decorations at an auction for a bit much ($35 for lot, each sellable item came to $2.69) but I knew a lot of the stuff would sell quickly at around this time. In it were a few little packages of these vintage Christmas ornament hanging hooks which I was about to toss in the trash but something compelled me to see if they sell. Well they sure do! I listed these five boxes for $30 and they sold rather quickly.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303354689549

From a different box lot came a smaller box of these Gurley Christmas figural candles. There were over a dozen in all, but I’ve been selling them individually for $10 each. I’ve only got a couple left. They’ve been a popular item this year. I probably only have pennies into each one.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303349121003

I, too, sold a blue typewriter last week. Mine was made by Sears. I paid $30 for this one at an auction, though the lot included an old WW2 almanac which already sold for $75. It didn’t take long for this typewriter to sell for full price of $150.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303253174027

Here’s a quick little tip. If you find one of these metal Foley jar openers at a garage sale or in one of those kitchen utensil boxes at the thrift shop, pick it up if its cheap enough. These have always sold rather quickly for me. I price them at $18, even if they’re a little rusty like this one was.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303383967434

I missed the last oval auction and there were some vintage ornament lots, those do bring surprisingly good money, nice catch and sale.

Cool finds up there. TFS. I haven’t posted in a while so sharing some vintage items I sold in the recent past.

Just took a best offer on this Hawaiian Art Pottery Vase of $50. Took a long time to sell for some reason. Went back to Hawaii. Picked up at a thrift store for about $8.

Took a / made a best offer of $60 on this retro Silver Pine Atomic Franciscan Platter . Love it. I found an odd lot of this china on my second pass at rummage sale, $2 apiece. If I had found the whole set I might have kept it to use.

A tiki mug! I love genuine tiki but hardly ever find any because it’s very popular here with other pickers. I almost kept these but really I have a small collection of mugs and don’t need any more. Found at GW, $3 apiece. Sold quickly offer to watcher @$25.

Multiquantity Target Goodwill find. Elf on the Shelf Clothes Paid $1 on sale day and $2 after that when I went back for more. Sold super quickly on Mercari and Ebay. Should have gone all in on sale day but didn’t because it was a boy outfit. This is the second year I’ve found these elf accessories at GW. If you don’t have kids, the poor parents need to change the elves each day so new outfits are in demand.

Happy picking!

Thanks for your informative video Steve. In the Venn diagram of what you sell in one circle and what I sell in another circle, the only point of intersection is hats. That is good for me, because I learn every time I watch your vids, so thanks.

This past week I had a few interesting sales: I got this vintage Nike key chain at an estate sale in the last hour after three days of selling (one of my favorite times to visit estate sales). It costs me 20 cents because I scooped it and four other things up and offered a dollar. I sold it in less than 24 hours for $34.50 + $2 for shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193256849862

At the same estate sale, I picked up some Old Curiosity Shop ceramics – $15 for 28 pieces. I sold several pieces right away including this gravy set for $24.50. (I may have priced it low as I just shot from the hip on price). https://www.ebay.com/itm/193251782366

The little thrift store down the street put their Christmas stuff on 50% off sale a few hours before I got there and scooped up a few Spode pieces. These two bowls came to me for $1 and sold for $14.50 + shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193251908236

I have been lucky with vintage bar ware. When I find it, it almost always is priced for a dollar or less per item (last day of estate sales) and when it is valuable – it can do nicely. These Georges Briard glasses sold for $80. https://www.ebay.com/itm/192752322158

Easily overlooked in Christian thrift stores are academic tomes on biblical history. These things sell like text books, and can usually be had for a buck or two. This pair sold in 24 hours for $38.50 + shipping https://www.ebay.com/itm/193250004520

A trick I learned from Steve (THANKS!) is to part out a game that is incomplete (or even a complete one). I sold 6 horses from this game for $7.50 + 2.00 shipping each. https://www.ebay.com/itm/193069569314

I have probably mentioned it here before, but I bought $500 worth of underwear at Costco when it was on sale for less than $6 each and have been selling it in ones and twos for $18.50 each since. https://www.ebay.com/itm/192751006886

Best wishes to all for a Merry Christmas or whatever mid-winter celebration you enjoy.

Sharyn, I have one of those stools. The basic shape is the same, with a concave base and decorative underside, with vents. The legs on mine do screw off. A neighbor of my was an Egyptologist and told me that it was for incense and that the top of the base should also be removable, as this is where you would put the incense. I cannot confirm that, but this is what she told me a while back. My base does not come off, it is welded. My neighbor tried to remove the top of the base, but to no avail.
Good luck with that sale. I hope the buyer does not return it!