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I wish I was a fly on the wall in the World’s Fair gift shops… I’ve found some really strange gifts over the years. Seems like they branded everything.
Some interesting sales this week:
Husqvarna Snap Back Cap
http://www.ebay.com/it191831640698
Not vintage, new/unused. No tags, so probably a promotional item. Got 2 of them at an estate sale for no more than $1. Sold for $20 best offer.1964 Fireball XL5 Metal Thermos
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201621520439
I always pick up old Thermos when out and about because usually they are damaged/lost and people need them for their lunch boxes. I paid up for it, $10, and sold for $60 best offer.Vintage Fisher AG7-SH Space Pen
http://www.ebay.com/itm/192032201483
Fisher has made dozens of different models of Space Pens over the years after their popularity grew. Some are super cheap and can be found for $5-$10 retail, but this is the original model just like used in the Space Shuttles – all chrome with a gold colored Space Shuttle. Bought 4 at an estate sale for $10 each, this is the first to sell for $50 best offer.Hand Carved Polish Antelope
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201621363379
This was another item originally posted for my store when my grandmother passed away. I picked her house when we were having the house sale/yard sale 1) for things I wanted to keep and 2) that I thought were too valuable for the yard sale… to date I’ve sold over $2000 worth of trinkets & decor from her house (I’ve been tracking them separately) that I probably wouldn’t have gotten more than $50 for at a yard sale. This sold for $25.Awesome sale on the PJ poster! I’m a huge fan, would you mind posting a link to it? Might have sold this week as they were just announced as R&R HOF inductees for 2017!!!
Are the floors & walls wood or the tile that looks like wood? I think I mentioned last week we’re considering the tile that looks like wood for our second bathroom reno that we’ll be doing later this year.
Week January 8-14, 2017
Total Items in Store: 700
Items Sold: 18 (2 Amazon, 2 Bonanza)
Cost of Items Sold: $91.00
Total Sales: $882.43
Highest Price Sold: $225 (vintage tarot card deck)
Average Price Sold: $49.02
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0Awesome week for me. Two sales of $185+ really helped out, but otherwise the week was very steady too. Surprised when I saw two payments come in from Bonanza… hadn’t had a sale there in nearly two months.
No new listings will hit for this post before 1/14, but I’m sitting here listing while listening to the show… feels great to get back on the horse after not listing for a good 6 weeks. To your point about having good sales vs. the holidays, I looked back at my numbers and the past two years January I’ve had more sales than in December. I’d say it’s probably because most of my items are vintage as opposed to NWT in package. Some people are opposite.
I love getting personalized feedback! Makes me feel like I’m doing something for the greater good while also making some cash in doing it.
Yeah, if they are the same family or something I’d sell together as a lot. If there are interesting things like Disneyland in the 1960s or landmarks before they changed, I’d separate those out.
First half of the week has been pretty good so far, with some of these highlighting the sales over the past week:
Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot Deck
http://www.ebay.com/itm/192005621253
Took the advice of someone on this forum to check out tarot decks. Bought this one at an auction for $20 and was nervous I overpaid. Sold today for $225 + express shipping so they have it for an event on Saturday.500+ Family Negatives
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191860234656
Mentioned this on the Sunday posting, took a best offer from Paris for these photo negatives. I bought a box lot of them for $20 about 7-8 months ago, sold some professional modelling negatives that I deemed “special” a couple months ago for $175 and then I took a best offer on these of $200.Vintage Schieffelin Moet Chandon Saloon Bar Lamp
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201621384004
This was one of the first things I ever listed, close to 4 years ago. It was actually in my grandmother’s house in the bar my grandfather built in the basement. This was something that got me started, along with a few dozen other things that I thought were too good for the yard/house sale we had. It’s where I got the store name of “Treasures from Grandma’s”. I listed this for $200 and have had it on sale more times than I can count, all the way down to $100 and had no interest. Well, this goes to show that listing it and forgetting can work and it just takes the right person to come along – sold for $175 to someone in Canada.(4) Vintage 1960s Bermuda Plastic Swizzle Sticks
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191399033800
I mentioned my swizzle stick pipe line… bought a lot of probably 1000 a couple years ago for no more than $3 and broke them up in to like groups that have been selling over the past few years. This group of 4 Bermuda sticks sold to someone in Bermuda for $20 + $18 shipping.1939 New York World’s Fair Photo Album & Memories Notebook
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191591464835
Being in/around NYC, I find a lot of Worlds Fair stuff. Some of it is crap/trinkets, but this is one of those things that I thought was really cool. Notebook has some photos from the Worlds Fair, plus room to write about what you saw. Only one page is written on. Bought this at an estate sale for $10 and sold for $50.@ShortandStout – that stairwell is incredible!!!
@Steven S – you can get different color grouts to 1) match/compliment and 2) hide dirts. For our bathroom, we actually got epoxy grout which is stain repellent and also doesn’t need to ever be resealed over time. Of course, it’s a little more expensive.
Perhaps the bottoms have no markings because they’ve been resoled? I looks like the heels might have been taken off, resoled, then reattached?
Love that tile that looks like wood! We’ve already picked that out for our second bathroom for later this year! I think it makes it feel like a spa/sauna.
It contributed a little bit, but it was a very expensive renovation. eBay probably contributed ~10% of the cost.
Wow, I couldn’t even imagine the sink in my stomach if I got a return request for $1600. Listening to the podcast now to see how you handled it.
Week January 1-7, 2017
Total Items in Store: 714
Items Sold: 13
Cost of Items Sold: $99
Total Sales: $514.97
Highest Price Sold: $200 (collection of family photo negatives)
Average Price Sold: $39.61
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 0Good week, driven by that collection of photo negatives. I’ve had them for about 6-7 months, sold the most interesting ones in a lot of their own – some professional modeling negatives – and the rest were family vacations, christmases, birthdays, etc. Had them listed for $300, got an offer for $100, countered at $250, and then accepted $200. Paid $10 for the lot, so real nice ROI on that. Headed to Paris now.
Other good sales included two RA buys – a Waterford limited edition champagne flute bought after Christmas last year for $30 at Home Goods sold for $65 and the last pair of those Coach gloves sold for $60.
Also, the bathroom renovations are done and the final cleanup & touch ups are being done right now. We moved back into our bedroom over the weekend, so my eBay space in the second bedroom is available again. As soon as the final cleanup is done, I’ll post a video of the final product… I also have a TON to list as it’s been over 5 weeks now since we’ve been displaced. Very excited to get back on the horse.
2016 Recap:
Gross Sales – $23,131.23
Avg. Price Sold – $48.60
Total COGS – $5,583.04
Avg. Price Paid – $11.75
Net Profit After COGS, Fees, etc – $14,133.47
Net ROI – 253.15%
Cost of Donations (thing purchased but unsold, donated for a tax write off) – $306.62Biggest scores (highest ROI):
– (40) 1930s & 1940s National Geographic Maps – paid $1, sold for $200 for 16900% ROI after fees
– (5) Sealed Maxell MX-S 100 cassettes – paid $0.45, sold for $80 for 14800% ROI after fees
Biggest scores (highest price sold):
– Vintage Cartier Sunglasses – paid $280, sold for $950
– Dolce & Gabana Sex/Love Sweatshirt – paid $30, sold for $260
– Bakelite Poker Chips – paid $100, sold for $260
Worst buys (calling out my mistakes too):
– Jeff Koons Puppy Scultpure – paid $158, sold for $110 (-41% ROI after fees)
– Art Deco Saucer Set – paid $185, sold for $130 (-29% ROI after fees)Summary & 2017 Goals:
I envy a lot of you out there that have been able to quit your day jobs or retire or support a family on your selling. I’m not there and likely won’t be for some time, partially because of storage limitations in our urban condo and partially because my wife & I do make a very decent living that will be infinitely difficult to match. This is a hobby/side hustle for me that supplements our incomes. My profits have paid for long European vacations (10 days in Italy & a long 4 day weekend in Ireland) and helped fund our master bathroom renovations (light at the end of the tunnel, will share a completed video once we’re 100% done).In 2017, I’m going to continue to focus on limiting the junk/under $20 items I buy and focus more on higher quality/dollar items, even if the high % ROI is not there. I am completely comfortable buying something for $100 and selling for $200 or $250, buying something for $500 and selling for $1000. I’m focusing on finding things that interest me and have a history, which is half of the reason I love doing this. If I ever lose interest on the researching & learning, it’s likely I’ll stop the buying and selling.
Good luck to everyone out there and here’s to a wonderful 2017!!!
