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07/24/2017 at 12:32 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 320: Spinning Plates, Keeping It All Going #20676
Loved the convo & analogy with spinning plates and keeping everything afloat. I totally have felt this over the past couple weeks with having an emergency flight down to Florida last weekend, driving down to Philly for a friend’s “white coat ceremony” for medical school, plus working 50+ hrs/wk at my “real job”. I obviously love the sales listed below on eBay plus some photo projects I picked up via Etsy, but there’s been no break recently.
Week July 16-22, 2017
Total Items in Store: 911
Items Sold: 28 (2 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $153 (15.9% of sales)
Total Sales: $963.51
Highest Price Sold: $119 (1960s Disneyland Oil Can)
Average Price Sold: $34.41
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $120
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 18 sales, $467.18 (48.5% of total sales), $11.52 fees (6.0% of sales)Another really great week, even with two higher dollar sales that had high COGS (the Disneyland Oil Can above that i paid $50 for and also the lot of Beatles 45s that I mentioned on the What Sold post that I bought for $40). I’m really becoming a believer in Promoted Listings – I hate to pay any extra fees, but I look it as reinvesting my TRS discount back into the business since they mainly offset each other.
On Friday, headed down to my friend’s “White Coat Ceremony” in Philly, which is a major milestone for those in medical school. It signifies that they are heading into their final year and are done with in classroom learning and are moving into actual field work on real patients. I actually turned it into a scavenging trip too – was answering a message from LetGo and just casually checked what was around me and found a great lot of old rock records: about 50 Dead, Zepp, Bowie, etc that I paid $120 for. After I inspect all of them in greater detail I should be able to list for about $1200, but even on the low end I should be able to get $650 for all of them. Also, tax write off on all the mileage!
07/20/2017 at 4:23 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Hats, Briefcase, Glass mugs, Fender amp, Jansport, Hood emblem #20559Whoa – you sold one for $100? When I went through sold items, I didn’t even expect to get the $30! My 600-X sold and sill have the 600 listed… loos like perhaps the 400 is the hot/high priced model?
07/20/2017 at 4:06 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Hats, Briefcase, Glass mugs, Fender amp, Jansport, Hood emblem #20557Steven, still amazes me some of the little tiny parts that you’re able to scavenge & sell! Great stuff!
My interesting sales of the past 7 days:
c1960s Disneyland Railroad Oil Can
Showed this a couple weeks ago when I found it at a sale. Immediately fell in love with it and priced it high; the most recent ones had sold for only $60-$70 but I priced mine at $130. Took a best offer of $119 today.1950s View-Master Model E with Box & 35 Reels
I started to get nervous that this wouldn’t sale or that I’d have to put it on clearance sale. Bought the lot for $10 at a sale and listed for $60. Finally sold today on a 20% off sale for $48.1960s Burnt Orange 45RPM 7″ Platter Pak
Always pick these up if they’re cheap. I currently have 4 in my store and this one sold for $40, paid $3 I think.Zenith Space Commander SC 600-X Color TV Remote Control
Such a cool looking little piece. One of the first wireless remote controls for a TV. I’m sure it doesn’t work anymore, just looks awesome. Paid $1 at a sale and sold for $30.(12) Beatles 45s Singles Lot
Paid up for these with one of my records guys – he goes to Goodwills & fleas all over but hates selling online, only sets up on his stoop down the street from me. He’s an old hippie. Negotiated him down to $40 for this book and sold for $100. One of the many things in my store that I’m not making 10x my money one, but it’s high quality and drives a lot of clicks & interest.YALE & TOWNE Brass Padlock Lock with Key
Part of the vintage & antique padlock cache I found a few weeks ago. Paid an average of $3 per lock, this one sold for $30 best offer.07/19/2017 at 11:14 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 319: Being Adults, Making Decisions #20493QQ on your candlesticks… are they matching in lots or are they mismatched? I love buying brass candlesticks as well because they’re generally so cheap. I sell matching pairs separately and then will lot up mismatched singles.
07/17/2017 at 10:39 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 319: Being Adults, Making Decisions #20425So sad you’re not coming to NYC anymore! Was going to propose maybe a day or 1/2 day of going to estate sales with you!
Week July 9-15, 2017
Total Items in Store: 932
Items Sold: 21 (2 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $77 (8.9% of sales)
Total Sales: $864.37
Highest Price Sold: $199.99 (c1908 Bausch & Lomb Microscope)
Average Price Sold: $41.16
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0
Promoted listings test: 13 sales, $560.43 (64.8% of total sales), $31.57 fees (5.6% of sales)Another great week of sales for me. Because I haven’t seen the summer slowdown yet, I’m really starting to wonder if the Promoted Listings are driving things.
Two big sales this week, the microscope above (off to Portugal) and also an estate lot of slides, photos, and 8mm film reels off to Paris for $180 best offer (paid $10)!
No picks or listings this week. Got some news that my uncle/godfather’s health took a turn for the worse last week and headed down to Florida last minute Friday to see him. Also talked to his brother who lives nearby that is the executor of his estate. If the worst does happen and he passes, his brother will need to sell his house & contents so I went over and pointed out things that might be worth more than they think. Showed him the value of some stereo equipment that he assumed was outdated, records, old 35mm camera & lenses, and a few other odds & ends. It was pretty enlightening to him that anything was of value, so glad I could pass that knowledge on under the circumstances.
Those glass slides are incredible. I’ve only ever come across glass slides once (at a reasonable price). Been finding a lot Kodachrome slides recently that sell very well. I’ve been doing lots though – entire families or themes by grouping.
Great sales and looks like a beautiful day for a walk with the pups.
Some good sales over the past 7 days for me:
1937-50 Zippo Lighter “To Dad”
Zippos are quite collectible, especially if you can date them. If they’re cheap enough, I’ll buy any Zippo and then try to date them once I get home. I paid $2 for this one because I knew this was an old logo. Was able to date it pre-1950. Sold for $50 best offer.c1908 Bausch & Lomb Microscope
Paid $35 for this about 3 weeks ago. Got a couple of low ball offers from folks here in the US that I countered and never heard back on. Sold for full price, $200, last night to someone in Portugal who also paid $75 for Priority International Shipping. I used so much bubble wrap on this thing so it wouldn’t get damaged. Fingers crossed.c1976 Canon AE-1 Camera Owner’s Manual
Bottom of a box lot fun! Bought a box lot because it had a lot of slides and camera accessories and was pleasantly surprised to find these at the bottom. Only paid $10 for the whole box and these sold for $20.Collection of Family Estate Slides, 8mm Movie Reels, Photos
The real reason I bought the box lot mentioned just above. Sold for $180 best offer and they’re on their way to Paris to a professional photographer & graphic designer.(24) 1986 Centurions Lot
Mentioned this on the Sunday post – bought a box of 80s toys at a sale for $100. Transformers, He-Man, Voltron, etc. These were in there too and sold within an hour of listing for full price ($70), on their way to Canada.07/12/2017 at 11:11 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 318: Spending Money Should Be Painful #20302Yeah, sometimes sellers just need to see that you’re serious. Show them that you don’t want something for nothing, but at the same time that you can’t pay full “value”. And that you’re willing to take the whole lot from them at once at a discount – out of their sight/mind, and your problem now. 🙂
07/12/2017 at 8:40 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 318: Spending Money Should Be Painful #20297Yeah, that is awful. If the guy really needs everything out within 2 weeks, no way he’s selling 30-40 pieces for top dollar that quickly. I would have said something along the lines of being there right now with $1500 cash in my hand – instead of taking 3-6 months to sell everything on eBay.
07/10/2017 at 3:12 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 318: Spending Money Should Be Painful #20195I also love that I had it on sale on eBay, but full price on Bonanza. 🙂
07/10/2017 at 12:03 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 318: Spending Money Should Be Painful #20182For me, personally, since this is not my sole source of income spending money is not painful for me. I’m actually doing this so I CAN spend money relatively freely. Mine & my wife’s jobs cover the bills/necessities, and then my sales are pretty much all “play money”. Could be used for vacations, entertainment, nice dinners, etc, or in the case of late last year a contribution from my eBay sales put us over the top to do our bathroom renovation.
Can’t wait to listen on the commute home this afternoon!
Week July 2-8, 2017
Total Items in Store: 953
Items Sold: 34 (2 Amazon, 1 Bonanza)
Cost of Items Sold: $93 (8.8% of sales)
Total Sales: $1,060.83
Highest Price Sold: $140.24 (K&E Keuffel & Esser Deci-lon 10″ Slide Rule 68 1100 with Leather Sleeve)
Average Price Sold: $31.20
Returns: 1 (buyer was very apologetic about it and is paying for the return shipping, only a $20 item)
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $282
Number of items listed this week: 32
Promoted listings test: 20 sales, $432.68 (40.8% of total sales), $26.58 fees (6.1% of sales)Another tremendous week for me! Still counting my blessings because I know this can’t keep up at this pace, albeit I would love it to!
Some of my top sales this week included the slide rule above on Bonanza, WWII Sharpshooter medals, and a Dr. Spock record. Otherwise, it was just high volume of bread & butter items priced $20-$40.
Picks this week were fantastic. Went to two sales and even though the pictures looked great, I didn’t expect to get the good stuff because I wasn’t early in line. Boy, was I wrong – light turnout maybe because of people headed on vacations, etc, but I’ll take it! At the first sale got a box lot of 1980s toys that included Tranformers, Thundercats, Master of the Universe, Centurions (sold within the hour of listing), Voltron, and a handful of others – paid $100 for the box and already made $70 back with the rest listed at $980 total. The second sale also netted some amazing pieces including 850+ Kodak slides, an awesome Victorian photo album, a 1960s Disneyland Railroad Engineer oil can, and more – spent $120 there and have everything listed for $1200.
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This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
07/06/2017 at 11:18 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Cateye glasses, Merrell boots, paint pallet, devil costume, 1970's steam iron, Carhartt jacket, concert T-Shirt #20095Another strong start to the week. I expected a slow weekend into the holiday, but sold 15 items Sun-Tues. Here are some interesting ones:
(3) WWII US Army Sterling Silver Expert Sharpshooter Marksman Medals
Bought these about 3 weeks ago at an estate sale for I believe $6 total ($2 each). Just sold minutes ago for $60 best offer + $51 shipping to Hong Kong.c1971 Walt Disney World Monorail White Border Contemporary Resort Plate
I find these quite often. Back when it opened, the Disneyland Monorail was so ahead of it’s time I bet every family needed a piece of Monorail history. This white boarder version – based on my research & what I’ve found in the past, there are at least 3 variations of borders – red, white, blue. Paid no more than $2, sold for $40 full price.(3) Vintage 1950s Pre Embargo Cuba Silk Embroidered Handkerchiefs
I took a risk listing these as I know eBay doesn’t love Cuban items, even if pre-embargo that aren’t dated. If they pulled them down, I wouldn’t have been too upset as I only spent $2 on these. Sold within about 2 weeks for $25 best offer.(6) Vintage Carvel Hall By Briddell Fruit & Cheese Knives
I’ve had these forever, probably close to 3 years, and I have never received an offer. Had these on sale for up to 50% off and no bites. Jumped at a $50 offer received. Paid $5 at an estate sale in late 2014.c1970s Original Ford Mustang II 2 7/8″ Clothing Badge Patch
Mentioned that I found this last week. Paid $2 total for this, two Mustang Cobra patches, and a Mustang Cobra center wheel cover. Thank to those of you that helped me identify and price in my other post – I upped my price and accepted a $27 offer (I originally had this listed for $20).Vintage Fisher Space Pen AG7-SH Original Astronaut Chrome & Gold Shuttle
Bought 4 of these back in February at an estate sale. Paid $10 each, and have sold 3 thus far for $50, $60, and $60 respectively. This is the original model that was taken into space starting in 1968 on Apollo 7, not some of the newer lower end models. I’m seriously considering keeping the last one for myself.-
This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
I’ll see if I can dig through and find some of tiki matchbooks. There are a big few tiki bars in NJ that have been around forever, especially at the beaches.
Here’s a good article with some of them.
Chan’s Dragon
Donovan’s Reef – this was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy, but rebuilt and up & running again
Jakeabob’s Bay – also destroyed in Sandy & rebuilt
King Bennie’s
Lake Mohawk Tiki – kinda lame cause it’s actually on the country club propertyO heck yeah, I remember my epic MOTC vs. GI Joe vs. Transformer vs. Star Wars battles with my neighbor. And if you died, you got buried. Well, my mom was PISSED, made me go dig up my GI Joes out of our “graveyard” that was under a tree between mine & my neighbor’s yard. This is why those toys are so valuable now, because they were played with hard and mostly destroyed.
I love vintage matchbooks! My wife saw a HGTV show or something with a huge glass bowl of them as decor, so she told me to keep an eye out. Within 2 weeks, I had 500+ that I couldn’t have paid more than $5 for. She sorted through them and kept the “cool” ones (Windows of the World, Tiki, old Vegas, hotels from exotic places, etc) for display in a tall glass vase, and uses the “junk” ones (wedding favors, unbranded, convenience stores, etc) in life.
Question though – for the ones you’re selling, do you remove the matches? Just like perfumes (which, personally I’ve had no problem shipping even internationally), there seems to be mixed info on if you can list and how you have to ship.
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This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by
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