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06/13/2019 at 11:20 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Towing mirror, Gun case, Panasonic Stereo, Doughboy cookie jar, Stereo view photos, Ford jacket, DVD/VCR Combo #63402
I just recently listed some stereoview cards. I’ve got a few hundred that I broke up into groups. They’re getting a bunch of interest so I’m hoping they’ll sell soon. I spent way too much on them. Anyways, I made a few interesting sales last week. I’ll omit my big sale of the week since it’s another refrigerator part and I posted about those often enough already.
This was a fantastic little sale. When I was setting up for my garage sale a few weeks ago, I found these two old empty Zippo lighter boxes. I don’t know how I missed them before, but I immediately knew they were worth more than what I could get that day. I did some research and found that they were from the WW2 era. I listed them really high for $130 each. It only took a few days until I got a message asking for a discount if both were bought. So I sold them for $220 total. Not bad for a couple tiny paper boxes.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303173769495
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303173775235I saw this MCM wood waste basket at an auction, but when it came up for bid I was distracted and missed it. But luckily, the guy who bought it only wanted the other thing that was lotted with it. So I gave him $5, which I think was more than what he won it for so win-win. Anyways, I brought it home and cleaned and oiled it up. It took about a month but I got a good enough best offer of $120. Easy money in Mid Century items!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303162842332I bought a small lot of pottery items at an auction last year for $25 (5 sellable items at $5 each). This decorative plate was really unique, but definitely not my style. It’s supposed to be a rooster, but maybe one from hell. I had it listed for quite a while so I was more than happy to take a $72 best offer.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302836550278Quite some time ago, I heard that great money could be made from old hip hop and rock cassette tapes. So when I found a cache of tapes at a Goodwill, I went all in. I spent over $100 on several hundred of these cassettes. I just got around to listing them and I guess the market kind of dropped. Or I just didn’t have the right names and bands. So I did a lot of lots. This lot of alternative rock cassettes were the first to sell. I took a best offer of $50, so I almost made half my investment back.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303178093496I heard about this particular sale. Here’s a link to the outcome on Reddit. Apparently the buyers made out quite well, but it was a lot of work to clear it out.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Flipping/comments/by7md9/update_on_garfield_hoarder_house/A part of me has been wanting to purchase a hoarders house like this for the thrill, but then I have to realize the huge undertaking it would take to sort, transport, clean and store all of that stuff.
June 2 – 8
Total Items in Store: 2304
Items Sold: 18
Total Sales : $892
* ~EQUAL yearly average of $887
Highest Price: $182 (Subzero Lower Freezer Basket)
Average Price: $50
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $42
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $3
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 68Great podcast this week! I was just thinking the same thing about costs of stuff these days. I went to McDonalds the other day and bought a combo meal. In the back of my mind I had the price of $5 or $6 because that’s what meals always used to cost at McDs. It didn’t dawn on me until I was driving away that I spent ten bucks! I checked the receipt and sure enough it was $10 for my burger, fries and drink. Geesh!
I had a nice week of sales. Things have been on the up-and-up lately. There were a few $100+ items that I was really glad to get out of my inventory. Another refrigerator part sold. I just checked and so far I’ve grossed a little over $1600 from parting out that old Sub Zero brand fridge that came with the house. If I see any more of those being sold for cheap because they’re not working, it might be worth it to do it all again.
I really hunkered down and listed over the past week. And it felt so good to get back in the swing of things. The weeks prior, I have been working on various projects around the house which is nice and needed done but my store just felt stale. This week I’m going to try to learn how to install a utility sink. I scavenged a really nice 3-bay stainless steel sink for cheap and it’d be perfect for my basement. I’m hoping that I can do it all myself and save myself a plumber bill.
That’s cool that you’ve learned how to clean up the insides of old electronics like that. I need to watch some more YouTube videos about that. I’ve got a multi meter recently but I don’t even know how to use the thing.
I started out the week with a nice sale on a pair of small lamps. They’re made by the Spaulding China Company not too far from where I live. I really didn’t think much of them when I pulled them out of the box lot in which they came, and there wasn’t any comparables to go by online. But I priced them high anyways and they sold within a couple months for $50.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303110280383I recently took apart a TV that came with the house here and has stopped displaying a picture. I did try to fix it but the solutions that I researched went beyond what I was comfortable with. So I disassembled it and am selling the working parts. This base mount sold for $40.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303145006529Here’s my big sale of the week. I acquired this set of four Famous Artists Course books at an estate sale for a couple bucks. I’ve sold these before so I knew I had a winner. They were from the 1950’s and basically taught you how to illustrate. Most I’ve seen are personalized in the corner but that doesn’t matter. These sold for full price of $200.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303104299243Here’s an odd sale. I found this chemical dispensing contraption one day on a walk out in someone’s trash pile. It was brand new and still wrapped in plastic. I don’t remember exactly what it is used for, but I listed it for $55 and it finally sold last week.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302836536180May 26 – June 1
Total Items in Store: 2255
Items Sold: 22
Total Sales : $781
* BELOW yearly average of $884
Highest Price: $200 (Famous Artists Course School Books)
Average Price: $36
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $14
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 24Sales kind of picked up this week, especially when I utilized the Send Offer option. I sent out about 40 offers and sold 10 items because of it. It’s a nice way to sell older listings. And I don’t mind losing a small cut if it means getting it out of my inventory. Most of these items had Make Offer on them anyways so my prices accounted for that.
Regarding garage sales, we’ve had generally good outcomes with the few that we’ve held. When we lived in the suburban neighborhood right outside of the city, we would make $200 – $400 total. That was selling the piles of cast-off remnants of box lot items for $.50 – $3. These items could have sold on eBay for double that price, but I generally don’t like wasting my time with listing $5 items. But now that we live in a more rural area, I’m feeling like having a garage sale wouldn’t be worth my time and energy. The one we had last week felt like a dud. We may try one more time once we’ve made another pile of stuff, but if it doesn’t earn me more than a couple hundred bucks, then I’ll quit doing them. I understand how you feel now that we live in a less populated area, but I still feel like having a garage sale was worth it in a more urban setting.
I had a busy week last week, though not listing a whole lot. Instead, I built two new shelves for my basement, almost doubling my storage capacity. I also built myself a new computer. My 11 year old MacBook just wasn’t cutting it as a professional machine anymore. So with the help of a friend, I purchased all the new parts to build a top of the line PC. The difference in performance is mind-blowing! Now I need to get the hang of using CTRL instead of CMD on the keyboard again.
Last week was pretty slow, but I still made a few interesting sales. I was given this old Windows 98 software to see if I could get anything out of it. It was complete from what I could tell. It took several months but it finally sold for my asking price of $30.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303065594148I found this Machinery’s Handbook at an estate sale for a couple buck. I knew machinery items can do well on the market so I took a chance. It was an old edition from 1975, but it still sold for full price of $45. I kind of wished I would have studied it a bit more while I had it for sale. It had a plethora of good information.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303095295527Here’s my big sale of the week. I found this Sirchie fingerprint field kit tucked away at an estate sale and was given a price of $10 which I thought was good enough. It seemed to have only been utilized once with most of the containers still sealed shut. It sat in my store for a couple of months but finally sold for full price of $90.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303135009603Here’s a neat little sale. I had to look these up to find out what they were exactly. Back a long time ago, people would send their servants to their friends’ and neighbors’ homes to deliver a visiting card. Simply a business card size card with their name. If the other party wanted them to visit, they would send the servant back with their own card. It was some kind of weird Elizabethan etiquette. Well anywho, I found a collection of these visiting cards in a scrapbook. I lotted them all up together and sold them for $25.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303045695121Finally, my favorite sale of the week. I found this Westfield milk glass mug in a box lot that I only paid a few dollars for. I thought it was special for a number of reasons, so I priced it higher than normal for $20. It took several months to sell, but it finally did for full price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303034094629May 19 – 25
Total Items in Store: 2,248
Items Sold: 14
Total Sales : $334
* BELOW yearly average of $887
Highest Price: $90 (Sirchie Fingerprint Field Kit)
Average Price: $24
Returns: 1
Cost of Goods Sold: $19
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $0
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 14Again with the stark contrasting weeks. I went from selling over $1K worth of goods to only above $300. It’s so weird how that happens. But at least I’m above my survival numbers for the week.
We did our bi-annual yard sale over the weekend. It was somewhat underwhelming. I knew going in that it would be different since we’re in a more rural area, but I only came out with about $70 in profit. Granted, we were selling only the stuff out of box lots that weren’t worth our time to list on ebay and would have just gotten donated anyways, but it was more about the time spent on this sale that could have been better spent listing on ebay. Plus, somebody went and stole our yard sale signs, so that probably didn’t help to drive traffic.
05/23/2019 at 12:03 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Hamms beer tray, Torchier pole lamp, Vintage photos, Porcelain switch plates, Jarts, Bose speakers #62368Nice tension pole lamp sale, Steven! I picked a gorgeous spaghetti lamp tension pole from an estate sale for $20 and I just got it fixed up a few days ago. I kinda want to hold on to it for a little while but I know it’ll sell for some big money. Also, that’s a great price for the Jarts. I’ve collected about seven sets so far and I’m glad to know that I can get at least $140 for each. Here are some of my interesting sales from last week…
This little Texaco oil can was found on a shelf at a church estate sale earlier last winter. I knew oil cans are highly collectable in some circumstances. I picked it up for a couple bucks. Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of those that could sell for several hundred dollars. But I still got $20 for it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303134821094Hearing aids are a thing that I’ve learned to buy whenever I find them if they’re cheap enough. They can sell for upwards of a hundred dollars used…if they work properly. I grabbed several pairs at an estate sale for really cheap, but none of them worked. But being resourceful, I listed the carrying cases for sale and this one sold for $25.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303135031150I came across this little soft cooler at a yard sale for a couple bucks. I recognized the corporate branding Dinner Bell from years ago, and the cooler was in very good condition. It only took a couple months but it sold for full price of $40.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303045604725Here’s my big sale of the week. As I mentioned earlier this week, I rescued a pile of NASA ephemera from the dumpster not long before I quit my job. Included in that pile were a series of Apollo research photographs. I thought they were special, so I listed them by astronaut name as auctions just to see where they went in prices. I was shocked at the bidding wars. This one of Buzz Aldrin sold for $305.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303148084785Thanks, Steven. Yeah, I was very fortunate to have rescued them before they went to the dumpster. I worked with a person who was notorious for throwing stuff away, even when they were sort of vital to the operation. Took Marie Kondo’s advice a little too far. I thought the same thing about the big NASA anniversary this summer. Now’s the time to list space memorabilia!
May 12 – 18
Total Items in Store: 2,247
Items Sold: 32
Total Sales : $1,199
* ABOVE yearly average of $893
Highest Price: $305 (Photographs of Buzz Aldrin)
Average Price: $44
Returns: 2
Cost of Goods Sold: $34
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $67
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 34Pretty good week on my end. I sold a bunch of NASA related photographs that I saved from the dumpster. I listed them all as auctions because I had no clue as to what to price them. And I was satisfied with the results. Where i thought I would maybe make a few hundred bucks actually ended up at almost $900 total. Come to think of it, if it weren’t for those I’d of had a pretty lousy week. And with two high-priced returns too!
My goal for this week is to construct additional shelving in our basement. We’ve exhausted all of our horizontal space in our basement and now it’s time to go vertical. I bought all of the wood materials already. It’s just time to assemble.
My scavenge of the week came from a yard sale on Saturday. A guy was selling boxes of misc NIB car parts for really cheap. I ended up spending $20 and got around 20 sellable items. Mostly wheel bearings and such, but they may bring me $20-30 a piece.
Greetings, Christine! I’m not too far from Pittsburgh myself. We go to the Goodwill outlets on occasion. I prefer the one in Heidelberg over Versailles personally. How about you?
May 5 – 11
Total Items in Store: 2249
Items Sold: 22
Total Sales : $1,083
* ABOVE yearly average of $890
Highest Price: $200 (Bose Wave CD Player)
Average Price: $55
Returns: 0
Cost of Goods Sold: $67
Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $10
Number of New Items Listed this Week: 28I’m glad you two had a nice impromptu vacation in NYC! One of these days I would love to visit the big apple. I’ve heard that there’s so much to explore there.
I had a pretty decent week thanks to a handful of really nice sales. I didn’t get quite as much listing done as I would have liked, but I did manage to work on a lot of stuff around the house, including restoring some mid century furniture for resale.
Regarding estate sales, recently a company has been putting them on in our area and we’ve enjoyed going to them. A lot of times it’s just like your caller described… nothing is priced. We’ve learned that the trick in our case is to make a pile and ask the right person working there. Because two people will give you completely different prices. We’ve found out through experience which worker will give us better prices.
05/12/2019 at 8:50 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Retractable lamp, Mustang emblem, Califone Record player, Wicker chairs, Stereo amp, Kitchen clock #61752I had a good week of sales the previous week. Here are the more interesting highlights…
These Sexton wall hanging plaque decorations are hit or miss. There are a few designs out there that can sell for over a hundred bucks, but most of the others don’t go for a whole lot. For example, this kitchen item design plaque sold for $40. I picked it up for a dollar at a yard sale.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303023514001I found this old Schwinn bicycle bell in a box lot that I paid $25 for (each sellable item was only $2.50). It was in pretty poor condition but I really cleaned it up and used some chrome polish to make it shine. It sounded really nice afterwards. I sold it for $40.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303001561022I bought this mid century clock at an auction for $12. It isn’t really a well-sought-after design, but it was new in the box and the price was right. It took a long time, but it finally sold for full price of $70.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302799896393Here’s a neat little sale. I acquired a box lot of old drafting supplies at an auction for a little more than I would had liked to pay… $40. But I’m so glad I did. I’ve made well over $400 from that lot so far. Anyways, from that box came a bunch of these Autopoint eraser refills. I didn’t think much of them until I saw what they’ve sold for in the past. So I listed them for $50 and they eventually sold for full price!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302871741900Here’s my sale of the week. I bought a bunch of random stainless flatware at an auction for $10. I always like to gamble on flatware if the price is cheap enough. And this gamble paid off. A few of the pieces were made by a company called Cooper Bros. I don’t know what made them so high-end, but I listed and sold a set of four forks for $110! And I sold another exact set two days later to another buyer for the same price! I’ll be on the look out for this brand.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303121648963Rock On, Retro! 73 new listings is hard enough for me WITHOUT kids and another full time job. Keep up the hard work!
Speaking of valuable puzzles, I recently bought one at a rummage sale by a company called Liberty Puzzle, and some of them can be worth over $100 USED. They’re pretty neat actually. The pieces are all cut from wood instead of the cardboard of most other puzzles.
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