What Sells On eBay: Phono cartridge, Sony CD player, VHS re-winder, Hot Wheel set, Amateur painting

[Ryanne]

 Post your What Sold video in the forum>>[See the full post at: What Sells On eBay: Phono cartridge, Sony CD player, VHS re-winder, Hot Wheel set, Amateur painting]

[Idahoarder]

My favorites from last week:

Kawasaki Mule Hat – Definitely a heavily worn hat, I got this at a small-town community yard sale for $1. Sold for $100!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332372556439

Mack Truck Hat – Another good hat from a yard sale. Paid $.50, sold for $52.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332521902221

Abraham Lincoln Print Curtain – This beauty is what went to some big-time celebrities this week. Oh how I wish I knew what they were going to do with it! Purchased at the Goodwill bins for about $2-3 and sold for $89.99.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332156742976

Rolodex Refill Cards – I learned to look for these here on the podcast, so I paid up at $5. Sold for $49.99. Thanks for the tip!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/332513093740

Nothing too exciting yet this week, but I’m sure it’s coming!

[ice_queen]

Steve (or any other electronic nerd). Would you buy a Panasonic tape-a-vision thingy (VTR) nv-3020 without a cord (so no way to even plug it in) for $15?
I have no idea what it is, but it looks cool 🙂

I looked it up and only one has been listed and didn’t sell, so I didn’t buy it (and I know nothing about it). But it peaked my curiosity.
I have a photo will post later.

[Steven S]

That looks like a B&W pre Cassette VCR. Probably worth some good money if working as there may be some folks out there with tape and no way to view it. We had one in high school to tape games, this was mid seventies.
The power input looks to take a somewhat common two prong cord but you could jerry rig something for test purposes. Of course you would need a reel of tape to test working condition.

[Anonymous]

Steve, thanks for making me feel warm down here in Georgia! Don’t know how you guys get through the winter.

[Inglewood]

If I wanted an item without a cord, I would buy it. Pretty easy to make your own cord or wire electronic items directly if they are missing cords, you know what you are doing, and make it safe.

[So Cal Joe]

Untested electronics… Unless you have special knowledge and abilities, I’d stay away from it, especially if it’s large or heavy.

[AdventureE]

I would offer that if something cannot be plugged in to see if it works, how would you sell it – as a functioning item or for parts? If you sell it as a functioning item and note that it has not been tested because there is no cord to test it, I believe you open yourself up to a return if the buyer cannot find a way to make it work even if they think they can when they buy it. I would agree that if one does not have the knowledge and/or abilities, it may be best to stay away from it.

In his videos, Steven notes that he tests electronics on sight before buying them if he can and if he can’t, he knows enough to take a chance on a purchase. You will notice that because he knows how to flip electronics, the chances he takes (if unprofitable) get covered by other electronics he has flipped.

[The Thrift Raider]

This is my January video, I sound really depressed in the beginning, lol. I was really tired the day I recorded it.

[The Thrift Raider]

Oops, didn’t actually post it! https://youtu.be/_sGaF92lQrc

[Doublythumbs]

Another slow week last week. Made a few alright sales. Here are some of the notables…

I picked this old R&F Coal Co. mining hard hat up at a thrift store one day on a trip to Amish country in Ohio. It wasn’t a particularly good hard hat (I’ve learned to look for the fiberglass ones). It was just a cheap plastic one. But I figured with the old coal logo it might be worth something to someone. I paid $3. It sold for $40
R&F Coal Mining Hard Hat

I bought a whole box of these Libbey NASA glass tumblers at an auction. I only paid a couple bucks for all of them. Unfortunately, the eBay market is flooded with them. This was the first set I sold for $16. I’ve got 2 more whole sets and a bunch of individuals. But what is really curious is that there are certain ones that will fetch a really good price because of a misprint. They made these I believe right around the time of the Apollo 14 mission. One of the astronauts wasn’t able to make it onto the shuttle, so they had to reprint all of the glasses. I guess some of the misprinted ones made it out and they’re highly sought after.
Libbey NASA Apollo Glasses

My stash of watch and clock repair parts continues to make money. The latest item to sell was this lot of used clock mainsprings. A lot of these clock parts are used by steampunk artists for cosplay and jewelry. I sold these for $25.
Used and New Clock Mainsprings

Finally, for the highest sale of the week. This antique mortise lockset doorknob combo came out of a box of all kinds of hardware. I actually pieced this all together from all the misc. hardware in the box thinking it would sell for a bit of money on it’s own. I was quite right! It cost me almost nothing and I took a best offer of $50.
Antique Mortise Lockset

[Steven S]

The original command module pilot Ken Mattingly on Apollo 13 was replaced by Jack Swigert last minute due to an exposure to German measles.
I just bought two Apollo 11 glasses that look like service modules.
I interested your set, do you have both Apollo 13 glasses?

[Doublythumbs]

Ah yes, you’re right. I read about the reason Mattingly wasn’t suppose to be on the Apollo 13 glasses when I was listing these. I only have the one design (the most common one).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302577379572

[ChristineR]

Sharing some sales, no home runs – just bread and butter – but a butter dish that was a winner.

Have two full boxes of flatware I never get around to listing. I don’t know why not because it usually does well for me. This sold quickly (twice, first buyer didn’t pay), paid $8 at my favorite indy thrift. https://www.ebay.com/itm/332531129960

I adore Holt Howard midcentury items and I buy anything I find. The look always stands out to me on a shelf. Paid $4 at a rummage sale and most of the photos didn’t successfully load into my listing but they sold anyway. https://www.ebay.com/itm/332362302508

From the death piles emerged some Dansk dishes. This was the best piece, paid $3 https://www.ebay.com/itm/332522343863 My family has broken two butter dishes in the last several weeks, so I get it.

Sharing this item just because it makes me remember that I am doing well to anticipate the holidays by a couple of months. Next up is Easter, so I need to get that box out. Paid .99 https://www.ebay.com/itm/332514407485 As you can see, I’m not on team all white background for smaller items and this is part of my overall strategy of using Pinterest.

I need to get back to listing bigtime. It’s been a pretty major break in the action.

[Sharyn]

Some of my more interesting sales this week:

I saw this framed print of Joan of Arc at the auction, and just thought it looked cool. Paid the minimum bid of $5, sold for best offer of $95. Photos don’t look that great because I haven’t figured out how to deal with reflections.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182791089653

I had purchased a large number of new overstock books in the spring last year. I bought them for the Tarot card sets, which sold wonderfully well. But, I was stuck with all these lower priced books that were selling one at a time. I lotted up some books under various subjects and sold them with make offer. A few sold here and there. But, someone decided to buy two of the science bundle and one of the history bundle without making offers. Love it! 39 books for $73. I paid about 20 cents per book. Early this week, I packed up most of the remaining the books and donated them to an inner-city program.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182693142626
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182693148873

I had read a bit here and there about selling Legos. You can sell them as a complete set or organize them by color, size, function, etc. I wanted none of that work. I took my son’s Legos that he no longer wanted along with several manuals and a few other building toys, and sold it as a unorganized mess. It sold for $44. The guy who bought it forgot to change his address, so I had to print out a new label and run out to FedEx before it was shipped out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182902356543

[Beverly – Far Out and Fabulous]

All those looks from Midge are “open the frickin door!!!”

Thanks, Steve. I love seeing all the electronics you sell. I always am attracted to the old gas company items.

After my dad retired from the Air Force, he had a Union 76 gas station through the 70’s in the little beach town of Carpinteria, CA. He lost it in a mud slide after the hills behind the town burned, much like the one recently in Montecito, CA. The mud came right through our neighborhood, wound down the street not taking out any houses at all, but all ended up in his little gas station. That little gas station kept us well taken care of through Jr. High and High School, my responsibility was to total up all the receipts with an old tape adding machine and to keep the coffee/hot chocolate machine clean. It was a good time. I wish I had some items from that gas station, but it all got wiped out.

Sales have been slow and mostly inexpensive unexciting items, but here’s a few anyway:

Ruana Knives book signed by author, $2 at a garage sale, sold for $45: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112740154605

Outlander (the STARZ series) Tshirt and other stuff from its first Comicon, sold for $29.95: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112793714824

Department 56 Village Trees from my own stuff, originally paid $16, sold 3 sets to same buyer for $11.99 each $35.97 total: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112738026602

[Steven S]

Cool/sad story about your gas station, I worked at a couple in the seventies while in high school and then in the late 80’s I owned a Texaco full service with repair bays, great memories.
Union 76 Truck/Car travel stops were an oasis when I first started driving cross country in an 18 wheeler as ther weren’t that many truck stops in the 70’s.

[Temudgin]

Thanks for your video, Steven! I created a new thread on Random Thoughts to post a couple photos of my Alfa you asked about. Some recent interesting sales of mine:

This new, open box OEM MOPAR Rooftop Kayak Carrier was $6 at an indy thrift but missing its special tool (hex end with a hole in the middle) to mount the brackets. So I added a safety bit that fit and a cheap handle I had laying around (stating in the listing that it was not the original tool), printed out the instructions I found online to include, and put it up for $90 plus shipping. It took a month to sell and is going to Brazil by Priority Mail because the package weighs in at 5 lbs. (I don’t use GSP.) Shipsaver for a long time did not insure packages going to Brazil but recently changed their policy. When that happened I added Brazil back to the countries I ship to. I guess I’ll find out if their new-found confidence in Brazil’s postal system is well deserved, though in past years going back a while I have shipped to Brazil and never had a problem.
https://goo.gl/mgd1RL
This handmade Henry Bergeson Moontide Kaleidoscope was a family item that had not been unpacked in the last couple moves but eventually made its way into a box destined for Goodwill. Fortunately I took a closer look at it and pulled it out. The artist only signs with hard-to-read initials (“HTB”) and the year made so it took some creative research to figure it out. Fortunately Bergeson still has a website and is well known, if you’re a kaleidoscope collector. Which do exist, apparently. I’ve no idea how we ended up with it though I hope it was a yard sale find because I hate to think someone paid retail price for it. It sold for $220 plus shipping in about two months.
https://goo.gl/pvxSP4
This sale of an NOS film camera filter for $20 (going to the Czech Republic via First Class) isn’t very exciting but I wanted to point out that vintage photographic stuff is a very active category and easy to source. I find that even the most random little pieces, parts, and accessories always sell. Of course the values vary, and many things might only be worth a couple bucks so not worthwhile to list individually. But I’ll list even a 9.99 plus shipping type item individually when it’s easy to list and packs in three minutes, going 1st Class, when it sells, and I have next to nothing in it. If you see an old fashioned camera shoulder bag while sourcing, check to see what’s in it because it might be full of stuff and even if there’s a camera in it, the seller may not have a fresh battery or know how to check function or couldn’t be bothered so the price might be right. And if the camera appears to be worth it, get a battery, download an instruction book (easy to find online), test it and sell it as functional if you can. Sell all the accessories and stuff separate.
https://goo.gl/Un1RN5

[Temudgin]

Great gas station memories. I worked at an Esso then Exxon in the early 70’s myself. It feels funny now to drive through New Jersey and have your gas pumped for your like the old days (state law, apparently), but they don’t wash windows or ask to check fluids and tires like we used to. I worked there during the ’73 gas crisis. That was pretty wild.

[Sigilini]

Ugg slippers, retro style red shoes, embroidered USA Flag pillow, vintage TV repair manuals, Norman Rockwell cups, wood panels and salvaged wood balusters.

[Author]

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