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Update on the class ring — It was really easy to sell. I highly recommend grabbing these if you ever see them cheap at thrift stores and elsewhere. (Or see if your relatives have any they want to give you!) I listed it at around $175 with “make offer” and very quickly got a bunch of offers in the low $100s. Clearly the buyers were after the gold and knew exactly what they wanted to pay. I sold it to the highest offer I got over the span of a couple of days. I’m kinda worried about a return, though, because he seems like a higher-maintenance buyer and I had to approximate the weight in grams because my cheap-o scale isn’t that precise. I may have under or over weighed it. This is all on me and I’ll happily take his return if it’s a weight issue. I did divulge in the listing that the weight is approximate. I should have brought it to the jewelry store to be weighed but I’m really busy with other stuff right now and just wanted to quickly flip it and move on. Anyway, class rings = good money and easy sales.
Thanks, Sharyn. OMG, I wouldn’t want any of those items back either! 🙂 Especially that fridge. Great job on your listings though!
And a link to his book…
advice, stories, gossip, and pointers on how to go about acquiring top-quality art and design from flea markets all the way up to the finest auction houses in the world. With over 25 years of hard-won experience in the trenches as a picker, collector, and dealer he tells you what to do, what not to do, and how to negotiate the often-confusing labyrinths that international galleries, auction houses, and even flea markets can present.
Hailed by The New York Times as “one of the top dealers in the world for cutting-edge contemporary design,” he holds nothing back, providing a unique outlook into what is sometimes, for good reason, a secretive and cliquish world. Often what you don’t do or say is more important than what you do, and he has an insider’s perspective on what dealers and auction house experts want to see and hear from their prospective clients.
Thanks very much for this wise input! I’m listing the ring — considering I found it at the bottom of a box of junk in my attic, if I can get $100 for it I will be thrilled. I’m hoping that my dinky little postage scale has a “grams” setting so I can weigh the ring myself, and not have to go to a jewelry store.
What’s the magazine and what are the sold prices?
I find magazines to be slow sellers and a pain to store so I’d take the money and run. (unless these are worth significantly more than $5 each per sold history)to address R’s question on the podcast about who buys antique teacups — well, for a while, my uncle did! He got really obsessed with antiques in general for several years and went on an antique buying spree. He was very into Victorian English teacups and bought most of them on ebay. I’ll ask him the next time I see him what specifically he was looking for. The teacups now occupy a China cabinet for display and are never used.
So true: “I have an F-U second job.” Love it!!! I find that combining FT job with ebay works well for me. I take the pictures at home on the weekend. My main current bummer is storage — I have my inventory in the attic and the lighting is bad and it can be hard to access. I just need to clean out the attic, which will no doubt yield more stuff to sell anyway.
GHOSTHUNTER RECORDER – I am intrigued and will start looking for these when I source! I looked up solds on ebay for “ghosthunter recorder” and “ghosthunter camcorder” and see just a few. Should I be looking up any voice recorder (digital or tape) I find in the thrift stores? I also see night vision goggles being sold under “ghost hunter,” so I will be on the lookout for those.
Anything else I should look for in the electronics bin that ghost hunters would buy?
For some reason, my library system hasn’t started doing this yet (that I know of). The booksale still has real gems and I do Amazon FBA for books with pretty good (but modest scale) profits. I personally can’t believe that my library hasn’t gotten the memo that they should be doing Amazon FBA themselves, or at least outsource this somehow. It would make a lot more $ for them then the booksales do, presumably. Fingers crossed that they won’t get the memo!
Nice to meet you Tammy! I think ebay is an easy way to supplement my family’s income because you don’t need to work with other people (e.g., bosses, clients, coworkers). How do you handle inventory storage issues on different bases where you’ve lived? I bet you’ve learned a lot about sourcing from living in different places. What are your favorite things to sell? And may I ask what general level of income you bring in from ebay, if you care to discuss that? (if not, no problem)
Thanks for clarifying. I have one kid and another on the way so the child tax credits will help me too. My day job is super-important for my family (due to benefits and regular paycheck) so it’s gonna be hard to ever quit. Having ebay as side hustle is really nice though.
I vote COATS! So easy to store and ship. I just sold a coat for $125 that I bought for $10. My coats have been selling well. But it’s all about the brands — the higher-end the better. I also just hold a high-end rabbit fur hat for $75, but unfortunately the buyer is returning it for fit. I’m bummed because it will probably take another year to sell… it’s an odd item.
Interesting ideas here! May I ask a couple of clarifying questions?
– “These law changes encourage me to grow my business faster while maintaining my day job since the tax implications are greatly reduced.” – Can you explain what you mean? Do you mean that you will have to pay less in taxes on your ebay business (assuming you are an LLC) so thus you are motivated to keep expanding your ebay sales?
– “The child tax credits alone wipe out my federal tax bill for my day job and ebay business.” – Do you mean that because you have kids, the increased child tax credits offset any federal income taxes you would have owed? (I see it is now $2,000 per qualifying child — doubled. How many kids do you have?)
– You say you will maintain your day job. Does the tax bill have any impact on your decision to keep the day job?THANKS! Your comments sound eminently reasonable but I wanted to make sure I understand what you mean.
