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06/01/2017 at 11:21 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Star Wars glass, electric eraser, brass fireplace screen, jean jackets, vintage Texas Instruments calculator #18872
WTH can Burger King cologne smell like?!?!?!?
06/01/2017 at 9:40 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Star Wars glass, electric eraser, brass fireplace screen, jean jackets, vintage Texas Instruments calculator #18866Whoa… I know prop houses don’t usually care how much they pay for shipping, but did they really pay $92 for overnight shipping of the tablecloth?!?!?!
06/01/2017 at 9:39 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Star Wars glass, electric eraser, brass fireplace screen, jean jackets, vintage Texas Instruments calculator #18865Great stuff as always, Steven! That cat has the LIFE!
Some of my interesting sales in the past 7 days:
Convoy’s Christmas 1986 Pipe
Mentioned on the Sunday post that I picked up a pretty big lot of tobacco pipes at an estate sale – there were several people checking them out, so I stepped up and offered $300 for all 30. Researched and put 5 in a lot, 16 in a lot, and then the other 9 were a bit higher end so I listed individually. This one sold for $45 best offer.Peterson Captain Pete XL80 Pipe
Another pipe form the lot sold for $75 best offer. 2 sales, $120 thus far in the first week. Should be a decent pipeline for the next few months.1939 The Park Central Hotel New York World’s Fair Parchment signed by La Guardia
Super cool piece that was actually at the bottom of a box lot. The Park Central Hotel is pretty upscale and back in 1939 was probably on the level of like the Plaza or Waldorf Astoria. This was a parchment signed by the hotel manager at the time as well as the mayor of New York City, Fiorello H. La Guardia, welcoming guests to the 1939 World’s Fair. I considered sending it in to have the signatures authenticated, but spending the ~$75 to do that wouldn’t actually add too much value to the piece. I listed it at $100 and it sat for over a year with no action – got an offer for $35, countered at $75, accepted their counter of $60 because the week has been kind of slow.NOS NEW Ronson Varaflame Atomic Gas Candles
These have sat forever, probably over 2 years. I had them listed for $100 and Ryanne I know you guys had a set listed for like $250 at one time. Absolutely no interest in them, so I had them on clearance and then took a $25 offer just to move them. Still a good deal for me, paid no more than $3 for them.c1933 Russell Finest Club Quality Whist Playing Cards
Love playing cards. These were in amazing condition for their age and came with two Jokers and the rare rules card. Box in perfect condition too. Sold within 2 weeks for $40.48 Star Annin Defiance 2’x3′ Flag
I also love non-50 star flags. Buy them up anytime I see them. This one is a rarer size, a small 2’x3′. Usually find 3’x5′ at the smallest. Paid maybe $5 for this and took a best offer of $85 on it. It was so cute folded into the traditional triangle – fit easily into a little 8×10 padded mailer. 🙂05/29/2017 at 9:36 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 312: Is eBay Removing Old listings? #18712Week May 21-27, 2017
Total Items in Store: 920
Items Sold: 18
Cost of Items Sold: $65 (14.4% of sales)
Total Sales: $451.94
Highest Price Sold: $65 (Temple of the Dog Concert T-Shirt)
Average Price Sold: $25.11
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $340
Number of items listed this week: 31
Promoted listings test: 7 sales, $139.98 (30.1% of total sales), $7.57 fees (5.4% of sales)Decent week, but the second half was dead. When I posted in What Sold on Wednesday, I already had 17 sales – but that means only 1 sale Thurs-Sat. Still a good week, I can’t complain.
Only went to one sale this weekend, but cleaned up. Bought an entire tobacco pipe collection for $300 and listed separately & in groups for approximately $1000. At the same sale too, bought a box of playing cards for $10 total and listed the decks separately for $450.
Taking advantage of the day off today, digging into my death pile while my wife is still asleep and before we head out to bbq this afternoon. About to put on the show while I list.
05/25/2017 at 4:26 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Motorcycle wheel, Matchabelli cologne, Pendleton shirt, Radios, Vintage fan, Airplane kit #18576Also, I use RN/CN guidelines to help determine age. It’s not a perfect system, but should give you a ballpark of true vintage vs. reproduction.
05/25/2017 at 1:22 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Motorcycle wheel, Matchabelli cologne, Pendleton shirt, Radios, Vintage fan, Airplane kit #18556Sure, if you find the real vintage stuff from late 80s/early 90s, we’re talking hundreds of dollars.
For “Grunge 101” here is a good history. And the Wiki explanation.
There’s probably the bands you know of:
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
Alice in Chains
Screaming TreesAnd the ones that preceded them/influencers:
Dead Kennedys
Black Flag
Mudhoney
Green River
Mother Love Bone
Malfunkshun
The Melvins
Skinyard
Sonic Youth
And Sub Pop was the local record label that broke most of them prior to going mainstream.And then side projects/super groups:
Temple of the Dog (Pearl Jam & Soundgarden)
Mad Season (Pearl Jam & Alice in Chains)-
This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
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This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
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This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
05/25/2017 at 9:36 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Motorcycle wheel, Matchabelli cologne, Pendleton shirt, Radios, Vintage fan, Airplane kit #18542I’m not sure who first introduced the blog to tarot cards a few years back, but I’ve had great success with them too… pick them up whenever I see them and have sold decks for up to $250. Definitely a BOLO forever.
05/25/2017 at 9:34 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Motorcycle wheel, Matchabelli cologne, Pendleton shirt, Radios, Vintage fan, Airplane kit #18541Steven – that cat looks like it’s had one too many beers out in the sun! Just falling asleep anywhere!
This week has been really good in terms of volume of sales – so far Sunday-Wednesday I already have 17 sales. However, they’ve all been lower dollar items – 13 of the 17 sales have been less than $30. It’s all good though, at least the eBay faucet hasn’t been turned off!
Here are some of the more interesting things I’ve sold since last Wednesday’s post:
(2) Temple of the Dog Posters & Temple of the Dog Tour T-Shirt
All of these are from the 25th Anniversary concert I went to at Madison Square Garden in November. Most people are familiar with “Hunger Strike“, but Temple of the Dog was a tribute “supergroup” made up of former Mother Love Bone members after their front man Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose in 1990. Mother Love Bone was set to be THE band coming out of Seattle – not Nirvana (who had released their first album Bleach to moderate success), not Pearl Jam (who didn’t even exist yet), etc. Pearl Jam was formed out of former members of Mother Love Bone and Temple of the Dog was fronted by Chris Cornell, who was Andrew Wood’s roommate in Seattle and in his own up & coming band, Soundgarden (who hadn’t even released their first album, Badmotorfinger, yet). Brief history on how important this time was in the history of music/rock and the anniversary show was the first time they ever toured together – and that’s why I bought the extra merch for resale… I did not expect Chris to pass this soon and in no way shape or form wanted to take advantage of his death, but all of these sold over night as the news broke (posters for $100 each and the t-shirt for $75). RIP Chris, you will be missed.Vintage 14″ Oval Mirrored Vanity Tray
These were actually my mom’s from the 60s. She had three that she gave me to sell. Cute little items that you can put on a vanity, bathroom counter, dresser, etc to hold perfumes of other decorative items. I’ve had these listed for over 2 years with absolutely no interest or offers even through sale periods. All three sold to three different buyers within 24hrs for $20 each. Not sure if they were featured in a show or if there was a blog that wrote about them, or whatever, but glad to move them.c2007 Johnnie Walker Blue Label Wooden Bottle Chest
Johnnie Walker Blue Label, for those that don’t know, is a premium scotch brand – usually costs about $175 per bottle. During the holidays, they have special gift packaging. This one was from 2007-08 based on the tag on the bottom. Got it at an estate sale about 2 weeks ago on the last day when they were having people “fill up a bag”. Paid no more than $1 for it. Sold quickly for $30.05/23/2017 at 5:35 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 311: The Summer Slowdownâ„¢ is Here #18469R&J – forgot to congratulate you guys on selling those lamps! Not sure if you remember, but about 18-24 months ago I called in because I found the same lamps at an estate sale and they had your listing taped to them… the estate sale had them marked at $1500 with your listing as reference that they were worth $2500. 🙂
05/23/2017 at 1:56 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 311: The Summer Slowdownâ„¢ is Here #18450O, thanks so much! I didn’t have any trouble identifying the ones I found this weekend, but a couple years ago I found a major cache of individual unit & regiment pins that took forever to research. Paid like $50 for the whole lot and I’ve easily made over $1000 – these are the last I have left.
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This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
05/21/2017 at 8:33 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 311: The Summer Slowdownâ„¢ is Here #18295Week May 14-20, 2017
Total Items in Store: 908
Items Sold: 15 (2 Amazon, 1 Bonanza)
Cost of Items Sold: $108.99 (23.02% of sales)
Total Sales: $473.48
Highest Price Sold: $100 (Temple of the Dog Concert Poster)
Average Price Sold: $31.57
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $446
Number of items listed this week: 56
Promoted listings test: 5 sales, $69.99 (14.7% of total sales), $4.23 fees (6% of sales)Steady week, but things do seem to be slowing down. Will be interesting to listen to the show tomorrow morning and see what you guys have experienced.
Two big sales of the week were on Friday after the news or Chris Cornell’s death was announced. I went to the Temple of the Dog show at Madison Square Garden and bought 2 extra posters for resale. They didn’t have a ton of interest for anything higher than purchase price ($35) since the show in November, but they both sold immediately Friday.
Picks were pretty good on Saturday. A lot of bread and butter stuff – records, silk scarves, playing cards, and decorative trinkets. My favorite finds were these three sterling silver WWII medals for Marksmanship, Sharpshooting, and Expert – picked for $2 each (basically the value of the silver) and listed together for $75. Slightly less quality but exponentially more volume than I’ve found recently. 56 listings in a weekend is pretty great for me – I usually do about 20-30 per weekend. Caught up on a bit of backlog as well, since my eBay room was starting to turn into a disaster. Also got me over 900 items for the first time in a while.
05/18/2017 at 8:44 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Hat stretcher, Chicken cast iron pans, Classroom record player, B&L Vagabond sunglasses, Olympia typewriter #18190Some good sales over the past two weeks (instead of just this week) since my post was lost in cyberspace last week 🙂
1960s The Beatles Record Case
Mentioned this on one of the Sunday posts, but this was amazing. I got this from a guy that sources & picks himself, but hates eBay/online sales. He usually just sets up on his stoop and sells on nice days. Since I bought from him a couple times, he told me that he’d call me first when he gets something good. He called me about this Beatles record tote – I’ve seen them at the 45rpm/7″ size, but never large. Even on eBay only one had sold in the past year. I paid $40 for it, expecting about $150 until I did my research. Listed high at $500 since it was the only full sized version listed(thanks Ryanne!) and jumped at the $400 offer. Buyer in Canada left glowing feedback.c1980s Boston Celtics Satin Jacket
Got this and 3 other jackets at a sale about two months ago. Last day, about two hours before closing they were taking offers on everything. Hanging in the garage were 4 jackets, a bit dirty – 3 Celtics and 1 Red Sox. They were marked $40 each, I offered $10 each for all 4 and they took it. I knew I’d have no problem selling, but on the spot couldn’t tell if they were actually vintage or “vintage-look”. Went home, researched the manufacturers and RNs – this one turned out to be 1980s, the Red Sox was actually 1960s (sold within a week for $200). Because they were true vintage and were worth it, I did something I generally don’t do – washed them. Sold for $200.1930s-1940s Erskine Boar Hear Shaving Brush
Not a huge sale, but something that was in the bottom of a box lot and couldn’t have cost more than $0.10, sold for $20.(2) Vintage 1970s NY Giants Smoked Glass High ball Glasses
Another sale that isn’t making me rich, but another good pipeline item. Find these from time to time, a regional product that was a gift with gas purchase from Sunoco in the early 1970s. In my region I find Jets, Giants, and once Redskins. This was actually from a fresh case of them someone had. Paid less than $1 each, been selling slowly but surely for $15/pair.(6) SEALED NEW c1971 TDK Endless EC-30S Audio Cassettes
I sell a good number of cassettes like Steven. These are likely the oldest I’ve ever had. I didn’t think much of them when I bought them, but did like their age. Maybe paid $2 for all of them, sold for $70 best offer + $30 shipping to Australia.-
This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by
Brian Treasures from Grandmas.
05/16/2017 at 12:24 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 310: Am I Selling on eBay the Wrong Way? #18106O yeah, there’s definitely a learning curve. I learned from R&J there is a collector market out there for them, but like anything else, I had to dig into some resources.
First, if in the pack still, is there a tax stamp (or partial tax stamp)? For a very long time and up until 1965, playing cards were considered only for gambling and thus subject to a import/export tax. Could be a penny a deck or other amount over time. Here is a good resource for what tax stamps look like.
Second, if they are US playing cards, look at the bottom of the ace of spades and there should be a letter & number code. That should narrow it down to a year based on the code. Here is a chart to explain that system.
Third, who is the manufacturer and what do you know about them? A little long winded once you dig into all the extra links attached in the article, but here is a cool history of playing cards and some manufacturers.
And last, outside of all of these other factors, is there anything cool about them? One of my biggest playing card scores ever was finding a deck of Disney’s Bambi playing cards manufactured by Nintendo in the 1960s. Yes, that Nintendo. Before breaking into the video game business, they made other games, especially playing cards. Here’s some info on that.
Hope this helps with a crash course in playing cards. I by no means am an expert, these resources have just helped me spot interesting things out in the wild. I didn’t have any idea what I found this weekend until I brought it home, but out and about it looked interesting and was incredibly low risk at $0.25 or so.
Good luck!
05/15/2017 at 4:42 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 310: Am I Selling on eBay the Wrong Way? #18058Yeah, if you see it, take a look at a couple things to determine which edition/state… all of which I determined only after buying the book. First is easy – when was it published (the only one I knew) – 1964 with no other dates = good. On page 72 is the biggest offender, a rather racist depiction of the Oompa-Loompas. The movies have them as an orange skinned fantasy race, but in the original printings they are African pygmies that Willy Wonka steals for his slaves. That was omitted from later editions. Other key features are an no ISBN, $3.95 price on the inside flap, six lines of text on the last page (instead of other amounts, all of which determine edition). Mine had everything going for it except those lines of text – mine only had 4 lines of text, meaning it was third state. Still great, but a true 1st edition/1st state with dust jacket would have commanded $1000+.
05/15/2017 at 1:07 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 310: Am I Selling on eBay the Wrong Way? #18040Congrats Brian! I myself just crossed $100k in sales all time last month after about 3 1/2 years.
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