Sale of the week November 3-9, 2024

[craig rex]

I didn’t expect much out of last week, so I ran a 20% sale through the middle of last week and increased it to 25% through this past weekend. So my sales were a bit more of a grind than usual, quite a few sub-$15 sales. But I hit around $1000 in gross sales which is what I’m always aiming for, and pretty happy to move out some slow moving stuff.

This Charlie Scott signed Boston Celtics basketball sold in just over two weeks, $35 net and my COGS was $9.

This multi signed 1952 Lancaster Red Roses baseball yearbook took just over two months to sell, and went to the area I always expected it to go, near Lancaster, PA. $41 net and my COGS was $11.50.

I bought a lot of 10 of these Rafael Santana 1986 New York Mets certified autographs for $13 and I sold my second one this past week. Simple little $10 and $15 sales, but they add up. Love buys like this.

This Orland Smith Historic Autographs Civil War cut signature cost me $12 on the consignment site I use and sold for $22.99 after fees. Listed since July. Not hugely profitable, but I really enjoy selling little pieces of history like this. These types of cards make it much easier to grind through buying and selling hundreds of $2 —> $6 type of consignment flips every week.

A couple years ago, I purchased 3 of this 16×20 autographed So Taguchi World Series photo for a whopping $5 with combined shipping. Then I stuck them on a shelf and forgot about them. Finally got one listed, and even though shipping was an expensive pain, my net was still $11.92 and I have two more photos to list. A lot of sellers in the memorabilia and autographs space take shortcuts with items like this. I have found that I can make fairly quick sales on large items from pricing reasonably, taking pictures of the actual item (as opposed to stock photos) and shipping using the appropriate supplies (instead of spin the wheel of weird shipping practices). It’s a nice feeling to figure out a listing and shipping method which works.

What did you sell this week?

[ChristineR]

These had a lot of character – aka pretty rough condition.  Good sale over $100 https://www.ebay.com/itm/235819208766 Sold right after my store refresh.

[craig rex]

Sold right after my store refresh.

This is the way of eBay right now. Just getting the ability to send offers to new (or “new”) buyers is huge for completing extra sales. I’ve found that key step for me in the end, sell similar price is to reprice stuff. 9 items out of 10, I never want to hold out for a slightly higher price as much as I want it sold.

[Retro Treasures WV]

I had a surprising amount of sales this week considering I was on time away for a few days for a business trip.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266925935327

SEVENDUST 2000 Tour T-SHIRT Size XL Metal Rock Band

Sold on offer for $70- paid $1 at a yard sale.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266884837713

Gucci Leather Sandals Slingback Mens Size 11

Sold on offer for $95. Hoarder item.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266420776776

Vintage Sklar Chrome Sterile Medical Caliper

Slow sellers but the vintage medical equipment haul from 2 years ago really pays off over time.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266960902806

Hugo Boss Mens Black Wool Striped Suit Set 40R USA

Will I ever buy suits again? Probably not. Do the right ones sell well? Yes! This was one of the items my kids listed 100%. They get a 10% commission on this sale, so $7 on top of the $2 they got for listing it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/267002811568

Saxon Homeschool Math 6/5, Student Text Book

A surprisingly high dollar sale for a book from a free lot my wife picked up at the library one day.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266743629989

Nike CTR360 Libretto II FG Soccer Cleats 454344-104 Women’s Sz 9.5 Men’s Sz 8

Sold on offer for $75. Paid $8 at Goodwill. Loves me some cleats sales. I sold 3 pair of wrestling shoes this week too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266471309564

Paperboy Arcade Original Manual with Schematics

This was from my personal collection. I used to have a Paperboy arcade but I sold it about 6 years ago. I bought the original machine non-working for $50. The fix was stupid easy – one connector was bad. Of course, knowing how to identify that one connector is the trick. I sold this rare machine for $2500! It’s worth even more than that now. I hope Arcade1up does a paperboy some day. I love our Tron arcade 1up – another machine I used to own and sold for a stupid amount of money.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266560752226

Banana Republic Brown Chunky Lug Sole Leather Wingtip Lace-Up Shoes Sz 11 D

Quality shoes sell for good money. These are some really well made shoes and they sold on offer for $65. Paid $5. I am forever indebted to Jay for turning me on to used shoes so many years ago when I stumbled onto Scavengerlife. It was a game changer! I have around 1000 active shoe listings now!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266299669293

Another pair of shoes I paid $5 for and sold on offer for $70. Paid $5 at Goodwill.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/267046845632

Sega Smash Pack 1 & 2 Twin Pack PC Windows Sega Activision – Sonic Shining Force

I keep an eye out for games at Goodwill but they rarely turn up. This one was decent. Sold on offer for $18 and sold quickly. Paid $3.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266894184374

My Little Pony MLP Toy G3 Lot of 20 2002 2004

I got this big bag of My Little pony at Goodwill for $8. I did a quick search to check for any rares or standouts, and decided to list it as one big lot. Took an offer of $70.

[craig rex]

Paperboy Arcade Original Manual with Schematics

Oh, man, I still boot up Paperboy emulators every so often when I need that nostalgia hit. I had no idea you were into arcade games! Tell us more about your collection, please. And big sales over time. Such an interesting niche. I’ve never dealt with them for space reasons, but I’ve known a few people who bought and sold arcade cabinets and they always have stories.

You’ve been doing well with your lot listings lately, I’ve got to step up my game with some of the odds and ends I have lying around. Cards and card supplies, books, media, sports memorabilia, signed photographs. Maybe I’ll shoot for two lot listings each day this week and see how that feels.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Currently I just have a few:

• Roller Coaster Tycoon Pinball (My wife’s machine.)
• Slugfest Pinball (The “dream machine” I always wanted to own as a kid)
• Arcade shooting cabinet (It is a generic cabinet with a pull out drawer so I can swap out multiple arcade shooting game boards. I have Police Trainer, Sharpshooter, Area 51, and Maximum Force – all the best 90’s arcade shooters)
• Arcade1up Tron

I do still have a multicade cocktail Ms Pacman I’ve never finished. Someday I suppose!

At my old house (and with FAR fewer kids!) the entire basement and garage was a big arcade & entertainment space. I started collecting in 2006/07.  I enclosed the garage at one point to make it a fully functional space. I had so many games that I kept an AutoCAD layout of my space so I could rearrange the games into the most efficient layout without actually moving anything if I got something new. At max capacity I had 6 pinballs and 24 video games. I kept everything full coin op and kept a tub of arcade tokens in the room to play with. I was constantly buying, fixing, and selling games. Before I did ebay reselling the way I do now, I did arcade reselling. Buy a broken game for $50, fix it and resell for $500+ depending on game. I’d buy parts lots and break up/resell the parts. I’d buy big lots of coin mechs, fix them or mod them and resell individually. I would even fix games for other people at my house or at their house/business and charge by the hour. I was “cheap” at $40 an hour. Seriously, that was cheap for a skilled arcade tech! So many games I wish I still had but money and space was finite so no single game or pinball stayed for too long.

Then eventually games got too sparse and expensive, and I had more and more kids so I just didn’t have the time or passion for it anymore. We rarely even turn the ones we have on. I keep the tron in the living room so the kids do play it somewhat regularly.

At the house we currently live in the most I had in the gameroom was 4 pinballs and 5 video games.

The real Tron and Paperboy I had I do wish I still had but…they are SUPER heavy and hard to move around. I also lived in constant fear that they would break – parts are SUPER expensive and in some cases unobtanium. I was also concerned that my kids would leave them on without me there and something would break in a way that caused a fire. I’ve always had a rule that the games can’t be on if I’m not there in case something goes wrong. These are after all very old commercial machines not meant for home use. It takes alot of specialized knowledge to fix and maintain them.

That’s the best aspect of the arcade1up machines or even a MAME machine – they are meant for home use. The Tron one is extremely nice and a very comparable experience to a real machine. I’ve played some of the other ones and they’re all well made.

Oh did I mention MAME? If you’ve never heard of MAME, you are in for a google treat!

[Sharyn]

My store was soooo quiet. Only six sales! However, a few of those were pretty darn good, so my numbers aren’t that bad.

My mom brought me some books that her library was getting rid of. This book on Alexander Calder has really nice glossy photos of his art. I’m assuming that’s why sold prices of the hardback version were $450 and higher. This one was softback, so I listed it at $399. Buyer bought it at full price, and I upgraded to Priority and added in extra insurance. I love how many of the items my parents bring me from Florida end up back there. The book is now in Naples, FL.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186740824607

I saw this Downton Abbey mug at a small yard sale a month ago for $1. Maggie Smith just passed away in September. (Great actress with an awesome career!!) I figured it would be a quick sale. Sold for $19.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186731871611

Earlier in the year, I purchased three Bordallo Pinheiro items at a yard sale, which I listed on Etsy. This large platter was $10, and I sold it for $89. I always like this brand. They are made in Portugal, and the cabbage style is very popular.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1731792394/large-bordallo-pinheiro-oval-serving

[craig rex]

This book on Alexander Calder has really nice glossy photos of his art. I’m assuming that’s why sold prices of the hardback version were $450 and higher. This one was softback, so I listed it at $399. Buyer bought it at full price, and I upgraded to Priority and added in extra insurance.

Wow, Sharyn, what an awesome sale! It is wild how expensive some book prices get. The best one I ever sold was this perfumes book (not my listing obviously) which I sold for $225 quite a few years ago. Found it on a library cart for $2!

[ChristineR]

I loved Maggie Smith. Such a talented actress in many beloved roles.

[Antique Frog]

I just remembered she was the protagonist in “The Lady In The Van”. Based on playwright Alan Bennett’s memoir, the story of a woman who squats in his driveway in both senses of the word. That’s a film I never want to see again. 🙂

[Author]

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