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Just wanted to provide an update to this. I found a way to add a maximum of 100 pictures to any description. The tool is free to use and is located at the link below.
As an example, here is one of my descriptions. This one took around 30 minutes to write and review.
Up for bid is a nice antique Edison Home signature style cylinder phonograph. With the lid installed, the exterior case measures approximately 16 ½ inches long by 9 inches wide by 12 inches tall. This phonograph is an all original machine, meaning that it will likely need repair and/or restoration before it will work. Overall the phonograph is in good condition.
The exterior of the case is very dirty and dusty throughout and will need a good cleaning, especially along the bottom edge throughout and along the edges of the wood frame around the bedplate throughout. There are many areas of dark black discoloration around the edges of the wood frame surrounding the bedplate. This area also shows heavier scratching, scuffing, general wear and finish wear throughout than elsewhere. The finish wear is particularly heavy along the left and right sides of the wood frame. The exterior shows moderate to heavy scratching, scuffing, general wear and finish wear throughout, especially along the bottom edge throughout. There are many areas of white scuffing/discoloration on the right side near the crank hole. There are some spots of deeper scuffing and scratching on the front just below the Edison decal, along the back center and along the left side. There are some spots of nicking, flaking and chipping to the wood along the bottom edges throughout. The metal brackets on the left and right sides of the wood frame surrounding the bedplate show moderate surface rusting throughout. All four of the original rubber feet are present on the bottom of the case. The lid is overall in good condition. The exterior is very dirty and dusty throughout and shows moderate to heavy surface scratching, scuffing, general wear and finish wear throughout. There are some spots of heavier finish wear along the top right side. There are some spots of deeper scuffing and scratching throughout, mainly along the front and back sides and along the bottom edges. The surface shows many areas of moderate veneer splitting and cracking throughout, which looks to have been caused by the veneer drying out over time. There are some spots of moderate veneer flaking, chipping and nicking along the left and right side edges throughout. The original handle is present on the top of the lid and is in very good condition with moderate scratching, scuffing, general wear, finish wear and nicking throughout. The interior of the lid is quite dirty and dusty throughout but is overall in good condition. The right and left side metal brackets that slip into the left and right side holes on the sides of the wood frame surrounding the bedplate show moderate surface rusting throughout.
The bedplate is overall in good condition. It is very dirty and dusty throughout and will need a good cleaning. There are many spots of caked on grease and oil throughout that will need to be cleaned. The paint shows moderate to heavy surface scratching, scuffing and wear throughout. There are some areas of paint bubbling in various places throughout, mainly along the back edge. There is a large area of worn off paint along the back left side corner that is approximately the size of a quarter. Approximately 50% of the original pin striping is present along the exterior edges of the bedplate. The pin striping that remains shows moderate wear throughout. The two screws on the back corners of the bedplate are replacements. The half nut casting and the left side pulley wheel are very dirty throughout and show heavy surface scratching, scuffing, wear and pitting throughout. There is a belt installed on the left side pulley casting. It is quite old and shows moderate surface cracking throughout. The mandrel shows heavy surface scratching, scuffing, pitting, green discoloration and wear throughout. The reproducer carriage is a bit difficult to move, which looks to be the result of built up grease and oil on the back reproducer carriage rod. The carriage rod will need a good cleaning. The reproducer included with the phonograph is an original Edison Model C 2 Minute. It is very dirty and dusty throughout and shows heavy surface scratching, scuffing, pitting, wear and green surface discoloration throughout, especially on the bottom. The stylus bar and the needle both look to be in good condition. I believe all of the parts and other components are present on the top of the bedplate.
The interior motor is overall in decent condition. The motor is very dirty and dusty throughout with many spots of caked on grease and oil throughout. The motor has not been cleaned or tested, so some adjustment will likely be needed before it will work properly. All of the parts and other components look to be present on the motor. The interior spring appears to be broken as it does not hold tension as it should. The spring case has a 1 inch horizontal crack along the center. As a result of the broken spring, the motor will not start when the start/stop brake is engaged and the top mandrel will not spin. The screws on the back left side hinge that secure the wood frame around the bedplate to the lower case have come detached along the bottom and will need to be secured back into place. The screw holes appear to be stripped. The right side lid latch shows moderate surface rusting throughout. The interior of the case is very dirty and dusty throughout with many spots of caked on grease and oil throughout. Three of the four corner securing brackets are missing from the corners of the interior of the case. There is no horn or crank included with the phonograph.
See pictures for a better idea of condition. (W42)
Raytheon is a very good guess, but I don’t think it’s Raytheon. I work for them! They never made consumer electronics products and defense equipment at the same time. There was a good 25 year gap between the two.
I’ve been dealing in insulators for over 10 years. In my opinion this is worth around $25. Pricing for porcelain pieces has been all over the place recently, so I would suggest starting it at $24.99 plus shipping and letting it roll from there.
It’s tough to say what model I use. Basically I buy anything that I think I can make a reasonable amount of money on. Sometimes it’s a $1 item that I can sell for $50 or a $500 item I can sell for $600 if I can sell it quickly. Once the mistakes net out with the home runs and average profit items, it works out to be that my sales are twice my purchase price.
I used to do auctions all the time years ago (probably 100+ a year), but I have since shifted toward other models as the buyer’s premiums take away most of the profitability. I still do auctions occasionally if they have enough stuff to warrant a trip. I have a network of pickers that I buy from as well as flea markets, online auctions, Craigslist, estate sales, antique shows, yard sales, wanted ads and Goodwill bins, etc. Pretty much anywhere with prices low enough to make a profit!
Size is all over the map. Most would be medium sized items but there’s a mix of freight shipments and first class shipments as well. My Largest profits come from the bigger items as most dealers don’t want to deal with them.
Personally, I don’t accept returns for anything unless I failed to mention a significant defect in my description. I spend a ton of time photographing and describing my items, so there should be no reason to return something. I’m probably a dinosaur with this policy, but it hasn’t seemed to impact my sales.
Antiques and collectibles. I try to stick to lower and middle range stuff ($50 to $500), but sometimes some good deals appear in the $500+ range and I can’t say no!
I’ve been working like crazy to relieve $50,000 in death piles, so sales YTD have been pretty good, especially since I only do this part time. My numbers:
Current items in store: 184
Items to be listed: 500+
Inventory balance: $43,188.82Last week (Mar 18-25)
Sales $3,710.48
COGS $1,772.21
Net profit before fixed expenses $1,595.21
Items sold 29Month to date
Sales $7,497.59
COGS $3,479.74
Net profit before fixed expenses $3,218.40
Items sold 101Year to Date
Sales $22,586.14
COGS $10,603.22
Net profit before fixed expenses $9,169.79
Fixed expenses $903.77
Items sold 390I have a subscription to a service called Worthpoint, which aggregates historical eBay price information for sold items back to 2002. I found a bunch of these bronzes. It’s tough to tell which ones are the small variation and which ones are the larger, but here is what I found. I suspect the higher prices are the larger variation.
$94, small size (2013)
$149.28 (2013)
$177.50 (2017)
$70.79 (2013)
$195 (2017)
$149.99 (2017)
$158.25 (2017)
$767.50 (2017)
$311 (2016)There’s an auto-reject setting for best offers that I use with every one of my listings. It will automatically decline any offer below a certain dollar threshold. For example, if my asking price is $100, my auto-reject is set at $49.99 and someone offers $5, the offer will be automatically declined and I won’t even be notified. It’s awesome!
I deal mostly in antiques and collectibles, which typically have tighter profit margins. I usually try to double my money on most items. Once my mistakes (any items I lose money on) and miscellaneous expenses are taken into account, I usually bring home around 35% after taxes. I only do this part time and I don’t think margins that thin would be enough to support someone doing it full time.
Thanks for the advice Jay and Ryanne. Part of the problem with my first call was I think I got a representative in the Philippines who didn’t fully understand the rules. I called back just now and got a U.S. representative. I kept it straight forward this time and they agreed to close it in my favor and remove the two negative feedbacks the buyer left. Looks like it worked!
Yeah, that has been a problem for me as well. The official IRS response would be to require a receipt for every single item you buy, which is of course impractical in our line of business. I would say the best thing to do for items where getting a receipt is not possible would be to keep hand written records that are as contemporaneous as possible. For example, I carry a small notebook around with me at the flea market where I write down my purchases immediately after purchasing them. Later in the day, I enter the information into a spreadsheet on my computer, but keep the information in the notebook for supporting documentation. While this situation isn’t ideal, there is case law out there that suggests courts and the IRS have accepted such a methodology if the expense is ordinary, reasonable and necessary.
Another interesting approach I’ve seen used by people is to withdraw a specific amount of money from the bank before hitting the flea market in the morning, spend on purchases as you normally would and then deposit any remaining funds back into your account at the bank. The difference between your starting cash and the ending deposit will support the fact that you spent a certain amount of money on inventory. This is of course more cumbersome approach, but something to think about.
