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Hey everyone! I LOVE selling old razors. Usually they’re super cheap and they take up almost no storage space (which is key for me). Gillette razors are certainly the most popular and are usually easy sells depending on year & model. Sometimes oddball or no longer producing companies are the biggest draws so it’s important not to pass them up – I’ll buy any razor less than $5 (and am all over box lots).
The reference above is one of the best for Gillette specifically. Below are some others that I use to identify models or other makers:
Same date coding system, but also links to photos: http://www.renaldo.us/grbd.php
Photos of tons of different models: http://www.mr-razor.com/
Hi Cristina! Are you north or south Jersey? I’m north Jersey in Hoboken and work in NYC… maybe our paths have crossed?
LOL, toilet bag. Jay emailed me and asked the same question, hilarious. I don’t know what I call them dopp kits, perhaps because my dad (and uncles, grandfathers) were all in the army and that’s what they called them there?
Yeah, we’re very excited… we have a huge master bathroom in our new place but the bathroom was blah. We worked with our contractor and in 4-5 weeks will have a new master suite – custom shower, free standing soaking tub, 4 new closets, massive vanity, and some great marble-looking tile. In a place like Hoboken, we’ve found that things like this really set condos apart and add a premium to the value. We’ll see.
Store Week Nov 27-Dec 3, 2016
Total Items in Store: 777
Items Sold: 19 (1 Amazon)
Cost of Items Sold: $82.00
Total Sales: $681.45
Highest Price Sold: $195 (Starrett Caliper)
Average Price Sold: $35.87
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $140
Number of items listed this week: 45Pretty good week for me. Lots of smalls that will likely be gifts, lots of weird & quirky things, and then the big sale was the Starrett Caliper. Several years ago I picked one up cause I knew tools sold well and I had never seen something like this. It sold immediately and for way more than I anticipated, so it was added to my BOLO list. I’ve bought several over the past 3 years, this one I picked up a few months ago for $15 and it sold for the $195 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/191867257194).
May have gone out for my last pick of the year. We’re having our master bathroom gut renovated so we’re living out of the second bedroom which is also my eBay room/photo studio. Good thing I have my death box so I can at least list something to keep the pipeline full.
Listening to the podcast now!
I had some slower sales for the previous 2-3 weeks, so I tried something… I started doing “1 day” sales because the last day you have something on sale a timer shows up on that page. I’ll do a group of things, usually in similar categories, for one day so the timer on the page says “ending in xxxx”.
This week I’ve sold at least one thing per day from the things on sale. Coincidence or actually a result of the sale? Who knows?
Thanks! It was a shock when I found it. Totally didn’t belong where I found it in a box of junk deep in the basement. Gives me hope to continue to dig!
Awesome stuff as always Steve!
Some of my interesting sales over the past 2 weeks (since I didn’t get a chance to post last week):
1980s Cliff Engle NY Jets sweater:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201681299083
Found this in a box in the basement of a hoarder sale. Thought it was simple so retro looking I was going to buy it regardless of brand and then I saw Cliff Engle Made in USA on the tag. Cliff Engle made all of the sideline sweaters in the 80s and they are quite popular (and expensive) now. This one was a bit dirty likely from being in that box for 25+ years and I sold as is without cleaning. Took a best offer of $80 (paid $1) because I chose not to get it cleaned. More pristine sweaters can command up to $200 (http://ebay.to/2gpvGP1).Starrett Caliper:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191867257194
I usually avoid tools cause their not really my area of expertise but a couple years ago I bought a caliper & micrometer just cause it looked cool & intricate. Sure enough, when researched I found that they go for big money because they are fine precision tools. I’ve had several over the years, this one I bought at a sale for $15 and sold for $195.1943 Naval Tachometer:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191846280949
Bought this at a sale for $10 because it was labeled as being from the Navy during WWII. It has the original box & paperwork so I took a chance on it. Had it listed for $100 for a few months and there wasn’t much action, so I took an offer of $60 for it.1982 Iron Maiden record:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201661998643
Have I ever mentioned that I love selling record? HA! Sold relatively quickly for $35. Metal always sell well because they had more limited runs than pop records, plus they were usually played HARD.Vintage Annin Italy Flag:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201723464682
Have I ever mentioned that I love selling flags? HA again! I find American flags all day long, but this was the first time I had seen a vintage, foreign, high quality flag. Bought it for $3 and sold for $50.1933 AG Ryley safety razor:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/192026634005
Have I ever mentioned that I love selling safety razors? HA for a third time! Foudn this in a razor box lot I bought. I’m very familiar with Gillette and many of the other popular brands, but this is one of those oddball makers. Very little found about them, but they were in Cleveland/NE Ohio and didn’t last long. Put this up for $60 and immediately got several lowball offers on the day I listed, held out and sold for full price within a week.1970s Colibri enamel lighter:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191979996117
Bought this for $1 at the flea market simply because of the maker – Colibri is a high end maker still around today and research showed this pattern was from the 70s. Still sparked so with a little TLC & fuel should work again. Sold for $40 to someone in South Korea that paid another $45 on top of that for Priority shipping.1937 King George & Queen Elizabeth Coronation dish:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201423355278
Picked this up on the last day of a estate sale for $1 or less just because I thought it was awesome being so old & porcelain. With research, came to find out it wasn’t crazy rare, but still sold for $25.Parkinson’s Fine Duck Quills tin:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/192006118407
I’ve been starting to get interested in old advertising tins. This one was cool to me because it was at one time full of duck quills used for writing (before pens were mass produced). The sale I bought it from seemed to be a collector base don the volume of tins and this one stood out (and was cheap for $1). Sold for $20.Nov 20 – 26
Total items in store 760
Sales 19 (9 Amazon)
COGS $296.44
Highest Price Sold 1943 Naval Tachometer
Total Sales $994.69
Average Sale Price $52.35
Returns 0
Intl Sales 0
Spent on new Merchandise $0
New Listings 9Awesome week volume & total sales wise. Avg sale price on eBay was low, but high on Amazon (all sales were $74-$99) – but that also came at the expense of COGS – eBay COGS were at 15% while Amazon COGS were at 33%. Good mix though paid off.
Didn’t do much in my store this week with the holiday. My wife & I hosted 12 people – my parents, her parents, my brother & his wife, her sister, and 2 friends that were going to spend it alone. We made it clear in advance that there would be a not politics policy – it was well know that there would be deep red & deep blue in attendance, so nothing one side would say to the other was going change the minds of the other side and vice versa. Everything went off without much of a hitch and everyone had a great time.
At the end of the day, this is R&J’s blog and the topics therein can be dictated by them.
Really great post, Eve. Political leanings, whether for better or worse, have recency bias (who said what yesterday vs. what happened 20 years ago), personal employment bias (person A has a great job so is good but person B lost their job so they’re upset), coverage bias (Obamacare has been good for some while not good for others), etc.
Yes, ballet flats are a thing… in urban areas, women (learned this from my wife) love them because they are bend-able/fold-able to throw in a bag or purse. Trying to wear heels on your 20 block walk after work is out of the question and changing into sneakers is not an option for those that still want to have a complete look. Ballet flats are the perfect middle ground for them.
November 13 – Nov 19
Active items in store 763
Sales 10
Total Sales $350.46
COGS $19
Highest price sold $70 1980s Cliff Engle NY Jets Cardigan
Average price $35.05
Intl Sales 2
Returns 0
Spent on new inventory $160
New items listed this week 15 “new”, 26 “refreshed” old onesIt was an improvement over last week, but still not the volume I had anticipated. The Cliff Engle sweater sale was awesome – found it in a box in a basement at an estate sale and they told me to just take it. I knew it was good simply because of the maker (Cliff Engle made most of the on sideline sweaters for coaches in the 1980s – Mike Ditka’s Bears sweater from the Super Bowl is probably the most iconic, but he made them for all teams). I probably could have sold this one for $100+ if I got it dry cleaned, but sold it as is instead.
Going out sourcing was a last minute thing but I came back with a couple good scores – 200+ keys from a municipal worker in NYC (I listed by maker including Corbin, Eagle, and Yale), some 1960s Disney children’s records still sealed, and four new in box Fisher Space pens (the nice chrome plated models actually used on the Space Shuttles).
Listening to the show now!
1) Download the YouTube app
2) Click the button in the lower right corner that looks like a camera
3) You can record directly from there or upload an existing video 🙂Great stuff, Steve! I pass on all that old old stereo equipment when I see because of the storage space needed… seeing your videos I want to get rid of everything else in my store and only do the electronics.
Some of my interesting sales over the past week:
c1930s Gillette Somerset safety razor:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201717670118
Just listed on Sunday. Part of a box of razors I picked up at an estate auction. Average price per razor was about $2, this one sold for $45 best offer.1980s Geneva cassette head demagnetizer:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/192026715579
I’ve had several Sony, Maxell, TDK demagnetizers over the years (and they sell well), but never heard of Geneva before. This was at the bottom of a box of cassettes I bought and threw it up for $30 to see what happens. Posted Sunday, sold Tuesday and it’s en route to Canada.c1991 Sony Sports FM/AM Walkman:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191979894944
Another piece that was at the bottom of that cassette box lot. It looks like garbage with switches & buttons missing, but when I put batteries in it fired right up. Listed as is and showed close ups of the damage. Sold for $30 best offer and the buyer paid $42 for Priority Mail to Mexico. Hope they love it!c1960s MCM Good Day Shirt & Tie coffee pot:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201624093691
Cute piece that I’ve had listed for nearly 2 years. Bought it at an estate sale for probably $5 and I thought it would sell quickly and for a lot. Well, finally sold in my clearance section for $30. Still good, just not the $80 I originally listed it for.
