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Apr. 30 – May 6
Total Items in Store: 706
Items Sold: 10
Total Sales: $330
Highest Price: $70 (Unused Kodak Darkroom Outfit Photo Developing Kit from 1943)
Average Price: $33
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $38
Costs of Items Purchased this Week: $135Kinda a blah week. I know I should be thankful for sales regardless of how few, but I want more! I went to an auction that was promised to be really amazing but ended up such a let down. It was an estate auction of a couple who passed away. They were hoarders for sure. Boxes upon boxes of worthless junk. I got a car load regardless, but damn if it didn’t take a lot of time and effort.
I enjoyed the podcast this week. Eric, you seem to have a really good thing going. Do you bother parting out really old appliances, like for example a stove from the 1960s? Or perhaps those might be harder to come by and therefore worth more? I would love to get into the parting-out business if I had the time and the space. I have a fascination with how things work and taking things apart.
I didn’t have a clue either when I bought it, but the price was right and I took a chance. I’ve been experimenting with old tools lately and they’re either hit or miss. The one thing I’ve learned so far is that the more unique the tool, the higher you can sell for (which I guess you could say for just about anything really). I’ve learned to stay away from basic stuff like wrenches and hammers, though certain brands like Snap-On you should buy no matter what tool it is. But yes, I was REALLY happy when I looked up the value of this set after I got home and saw that it was a score!
Apr. 23 – 29
Not a bad week of sales! Here are some of the interesting highlights…I’ll start off with my big sale of the week. I picked this K R Wilson Cylinder Engine Sleeve tool set up on a whim at an auction for $35 because it looked interesting and, more importantly, specialized. The box was in bad shape, but the tools themselves were surprisingly in good condition for their age. A little bit of polish and oil and they were almost as good as new. I listed it at $300 and took a best offer of $250.
K R Wilson Cylinder Engine Sleeve tool setOn the other end of the spectrum is this Tack Kee & Co Jasmine Tea Tin I picked up in a box lot. It was in very poor condition with rust and damage. I just about threw it out, but I saw that there was some collectable interest in that brand so I decided to list it at a reasonable price. Paid approximately $5 (the box lot cost me $60 but there were some good stuff in there) and I sold it for $15 to a tea shop in NYC. I hope they don’t plan on serving the little bit of tea leaves that were inside.
Tack Kee & Co Jasmine Tea TinThis was a fantastic sale to wake up to. At a farmhouse auction, I purchased the contents of an entire closet for $25. Didn’t get much sellable out of it except a few odds and ends and this National School of Meat Cutting Home Study Book from 1960. The outer binder was a bit dirty but the insides were pristine. This was somewhat of a unique item without a whole lot of info or sold prices to compare it to, so I listed it really high and planned on taking whatever best offer I felt comfortable with. It took several months, but it sold for full price of $160!
Meat Cutting Home Study BookFinally, here’s a little sale that surprised me. I bought a box of art supplies mainly for a set of vtg tubes of oil paints. They of course sold right away. Out of that box were these Magic Markers from the ‘80s that looked unused. I don’t remember what cohorst me to set the price for $20 but they finally sold! It’s nice to know that there’s always a buyer out there for anything.
Magic MarkersApr. 23 – 29
Total Items in Store: 689
Items Sold: 14
Total Sales: $674
Highest Price: $250 (K R Wilson Cylinder Engine Sleeve Puller Replacer Tool Set)
Average Price: $48
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $114
Costs of Items Purchased this Week: $113Way better week this week! Mostly bread and butter sales but a few sales really brought my selling price average up. Went to a shitty auction at the beginning of the week. But went to the Goodwill Outlet store in Pittsburgh on Saturday and brought home some really awesome stuff to sell.
I received my first negative feedback. A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I sold a phone dialer extension and the buyer sent me a message asking me to call or email him to help him program the buttons or something. Well I ignored/forgot about it. Then I think Thursday I woke up to that negative comment saying that he tried multiple times to contact me (which wasn’t true) for help. I called eBay and I got the spiel about how it was the buyer’s opinion and that I would need to send him a feedback change request. So I did, saying that I would be happy to offer a refund. Haven’t heard back from him yet. I think maybe I’ll call eBay again tomorrow. What do you think? Is that one worth fighting? On one hand, I did ignore him when I should have at least said something. But on the other hand, he’s not paying me to provide technical support and he never even requested a refund which I would have definitely provided.
I just sold a pair of blue ashtrays similar to those. I’ve had them listed it seems like forever.
I had an alright week of sales. Better than the previous two weeks. Here are some highlights…
Zojirushi is a brand I’ve learned about when I purchased my rice cooker. They’re a company that makes very well-regarded products…and are quite expensive new. But I pick this brand up whenever I see it, regardless of the product. Just look for the little cute elephant logo. This was a hot coffee carafe. Non-electric. Just a normal, pump-action coffee dispenser that you see all the time, but because of the brand, it sold for $30. I paid $10 for it at an auction.
Zojirushi Airpot CarafeI may have mentioned it before, but I love to sell tins. They don’t always sell for a lot, but they sell often enough. Here’s a giant Oreo cookie tin. Came in a box lot so I probably paid a few cents for it. Had it up for a few months and finally sold for my asking price of $18.
Big Ol’ Oreo CookieThis is my best sale of the week. I took a gamble at an auction and got these old Masonic collars with metal “jewels” for $22. I didn’t know a lot about Masonic stuff, but I knew I would at least make my money back and learn a thing or two. I priced them high and someone came and offered $120. I was a happy camper with that sale.
Masonic CollarsSummer themed items are starting to sell. Here’s a set of 4 green bamboo tiki glasses made by Libby. I picked them up at a thrift store for a total of $4. A lady bought them for $40. I don’t mind the 1000% profit at all!
Libby Tiki GlassesIt was something alright. There was one room I refused to even enter because of the smell. But among the heaps, I pulled out treasure. 🙂
They’re quickly becoming one of my favorite selling items. There were a bunch of Motor brand manuals that don’t always gather high amounts, but a majority of them were factory service manuals straight from the companies. The high dollar ones were the Volvo and the Case manuals.
I almost forgot to talk about an interesting estate sale experience we had on Saturday. The ad was in the paper saying Moving Sale Everything Must Go! So naturally, I was intrigued. I get there and there’s a line of people waiting outside for the doors to open. When we were finally let in, the place was atrocious! Garbage everywhere! Dust and dirt. Oh god the smells! But I braved it and actually found enough to load my car up. The story was, this guy came upon some money late in life and didn’t know how to spend it properly. He bought tools, lost said tools in the piles of garbage, then bought more tools to replace the tools that were lost. Then he met a girl from the Philippines online and decided to sell everything he owned so he could move there. I have a feeling I know how this story will play out, but that’s none of my concern. I filled the trunk of my car with unbuilt ship and military models. I bought a brand new, never been opened Dremel 3000 for a few bucks. Gobs of vintage enamelware. A computerized Janome sewing machine! All for almost nothing. Though I’m going to need to thoroughly clean and disinfect everything.
Apr. 16 – 22
Total Items in Store: 674
Items Sold: 12
Total Sales: $458
Highest Price: $120 (Five Vintage Masonic Collars)
Average Price: $38
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $111
Costs of Items Purchased this Week: $264I had a better week of sales this time! I actually took the whole week off for vacation. I got so much done around the house and for eBay. Finished a round of photos, restored some old tools and cast iron, went to an auction and drove two hours one-way to pick up an online auction buy that I’ll talk about below. It felt amazing! Then I came back to work yesterday and was overcome with that dreadful feeling that I’m wasting my time. I know I’m working this full-time job to pay the bills, but I can’t help but feel like I could be doing so much better working for myself. My girlfriend and I have made a goal to quit our jobs and move somewhere that’s not the Ohio Valley by next summer. So that gives me a whole year to get my store quantity up and my weekly numbers up to a livable rate.
So I tried another online auction. This time it was for a pallet of vehicle service manuals. All I had was one photo to go on, but I price checked the few manuals that I could make out and they were going for $60-90 each. I took a chance and won the auction for $173. The next day I drove about two hours to this little town to pick them up. When they brought them down on a forklift, I was surprised to see over 100 of these service manuals for all kinds of stuff. Mostly heavy construction machinery such as Caterpillar and Case backhoes and Heavy Duty trucks of different makes. To make a long story short, I got them home, cleaned them up, inventoried and price checked most of them. I’m going ot make a few thousand bucks from this deal!
If I found an old 32″ one, I’d be very tempted to keep it. Those are awesome. That’s a great resource. Thanks!
I didn’t post my What Sold last week because of my busy schedule, so these are from the past two weeks…
I took a chance on a box of small oil paintings that I bought on a whim at an auction for $30 total. It came with 6 pieces of art, including this beautiful piece by Otto Van Thoren, though there was some confusion because the sticker on the back stated it was painted by someone else. I mentioned that in the listing and listed it for $110. I took a best offer of $89.
Van Thoren Oil PaintingI mentioned a couple weeks ago about a problem buyer asking a million questions about a 1945 Replogle globe and then lowballing me. Well a different person came by and bought it for a better price. I don’t think I’ll be doing globes much anymore. I’ve got no interest in them and they take up a lot of space. I bought this one for maybe a couple bucks and sold it for BO of $70
1945 Replogle GlobeThis was my favorite sale this week. I bought this Sony 8 track player at a thrift store for $10. Brought it home and realized the belt was not only bad, but melted. I took some time to clean it up and ordered a new belt for a few bucks and it worked perfectly! I made a video to show it working with an old Doobie Brothers tape. I think that’s what sold it. Lol. Took a BO of $140.
Sony 8 Track PlayerFinally, here’s my second favorite sale of the week. I would have passed these vintage bedsheets up at an auction, but because of you guys here, I now know they sell. These NIB cotton percale 4-piece bedsheet set by Martex cost me $12.50. I set the price high at $70 hoping to get a best offer. Well someone came along and bought them at full price! It turns out this person works for a set design department for a movie production company. I wish I could find out more. I want to watch whatever they’re filming so I can try and spot these.
Martex Cotton Bed SheetsApr. 9 – 15
Total Items in Store: 687
Items Sold: 9
Total Sales: $288
Highest Price: $70 (Martex Percale Cotton Blend 4-Piece Full Size Bed Set)
Average Price: $32
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $92
Costs of Items Purchased this Week: $308Well Summer Slowdown has hit for sure! I’ve gone through this last summer so I know what to expect. I’m just thankful for my day-job to support me in the slow times while I get my listings to a higher level.
I’m a bit late on posting this week. We’ve been busy! On Thursday, we went to a HUGE auction. Lot’s of primitives and antiques…and lots of collectors and resellers. We managed to get a car-load anyway so we did alright. I spent two days doing inventory on all the stuff I bought. And I’ve been giving online auctions a try. They’re not as fun as the live ones, and I hate not being able to look over the stuff you’re buying in person, but I managed to score some good loot for really cheap.
The only customer issue I had this week came from a person that I sold a phone dialer extension to. He sent me a message wanting me to call him and explain how to program phone numbers into it. I’m just ignoring him for now, but if he sends me another message, I might call ebay to see what they think I should do.
In this case, it was the former. Literally every single box he would pick up, take everything out and display it on the table and tell everyone you’re buying by choice. It didn’t matter if it was junky pinknives or kitchen utensils. And he would do buyer’s choice until every item from that box was sold. It was the most ridiculous auction. Probably took 3 more hours after I left for him to finish. I won’t be going back to that place for sure.
Apr. 2 – 8
Total Items in Store: 687
Items Sold: 16
Total Sales: $798
Highest Price: $140 (Sony 8 Track Player/Recorder)
Average Price: $50
Returns: 0
Cost of Items Sold: $56
Costs of Items Purchased this Week: $292Wow, I did not know I made this much this week! I thought I was really slowing down for the summer season drag. Cool.
I love this week’s podcast because I love auctions! I’d go to them all the time if it wasn’t for this pesky day-job. I’ll usually go on AuctionZip and pick the best one’s in the area on the weekends. Lately, though, all the one’s I’ve been going to have been busts. I think with auction season starting up again, all the resellers have all gotten antsy to get out and get more things to sell, which leads to overcrowded auctions and stuff going for way too high.
I went to the most frustrating one last weekend. Like you guys, I live for box lots. You can always find something valuable as long as you know what you’re doing. Well this auctioneer decided to do buyer’s choice out of Every. Single. Box Lot! Here’s a little box of postcards, BUYER’S CHOICE! Here’s a box of jello molds… BUYER’S CHOICE! What’s in this box? Oh, dirty comic books. BUYER’S CHOICE! This went on for over 3 hours before we just gave up and left out of frustration.
In other news, I upgraded my store to a premium subscription. I should have done it sooner as I was paying more in listing fees than what a premium subscription costs. Oh well.
