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@craig-rex – The library sales you speak of, is this just the bookshelf that most libraries have where they sell overstock, or do your libraries have special book sales?
Good to have you back on the forum. Glad you’re getting back into it and posting again. Hope you’re feeling better also.
Since you focus so much on clothes, have you seen an uptick with people going back to work? Must have been tough during the lock-down period.
@Jay – I’m with you. You and Ryanne spoke a few times about the people who jump on the bandwagon from watching those Youtube videos then they last a few months until they realize its real work. I expect there were a lot of people who started selling during the pandemic that will now go back to work and move on.
@Craig-rex – Yes, it has helped a few times to let a professional take a look. Problem is that their time is so expensive anything but a simple repair can make it cost prohibitive. I recently picked up a Zenith Trans-Ocean short wave radio for $20 at a thrift. In good working condition they can sell for $500+. I had such a low investment that I took it in for an estimate. It cost $100 just for him to take a look at it and the repair estimate came in at $550. I now have it listed for repair/parts at $200 and hope to get something more than I have invested. It’s a gamble. The watch guy wanted to clean the pocketwatch for $375.
I have some of my best luck on Maxsold. They are pretty popular in the DC area and there are usually 4-10 going on any given week. When I started eBay I used to be able to fill up my car at them, now I’m lucky if I win two or three items. It’s just a matter of time before things settle down though, I hope.
I’ve done well with CDs, though the lots can really be hit or miss. The first lot I bought was of 1000 CDs for $100. I pulled about 100 out to sell and sold the other 900 on Facebook for $100. So far, I’ve made over $1500 off the ones I pulled out, selling a little over half. They are easy to look up and list. I’ve also gotten lots that were complete junk, but that is all about honing the eye as to what is valuable for resell.
What I found sells is stuff that is more obscure. The best sales have been for folk (ethnic), or international artists. This new lot has a lot of them. DC is a good market for finding them since its population if very diverse and international. Signed CDs sell well also, but tough to tell until you get your hands on them.
Had very welcome uptick in sales this week in both volume and amount. 15 items for $1084. My big sale this week was an antique gold pocket watch that sold for $550. I got the watch as part of a bookcase lot just before the pandemic. Most of the lot was a toy car collection and the watch was barely visible in the pictures. I sold the cars, but the watch was missing its crystal. I finally got is repaired two weeks ago for $150. It sold within 30 minutes of posting it. I was surprised as others of the same type were selling for closer to $300.
A few other nice sales were a Newspaper from 1865 with news about the trial of Lincoln assassination conspirators ($100), a George Bush Elite Aviator action figure ($75), and a 1943 Joy of Cooking with wartime rationing recipes ($60).
Won a few auction lots via Maxsold at two different auctions. As usual most lots went for IMO outrageous amounts. I don’t usually buy CD lots but bought a lot of about 300 because there were some fairly rare CDs that should sell well. Another lot had two Coleman lanterns, which are one of my favorite items to sell, and a final lot had a bunch of vintage clocks. I bought the clock because there was one of the GE flip clocks. It unfortunately fell apart when I plugged it in to test. 🙁 There were several others that will sell though. These should keep me busy for a week or two.
Week Ending 7/9/22
Gross Sales: $1,084.73
Net Sales: $913.00
Total Items in eBay Store: 1046
Items Sold eBay: 15
Total Items in Etsy Store: 254
Items Sold Etsy: 0Cost of Items Sold: $187.00
Highest Price Sold: $549.95 Gold Pocket Watch
Average Price Sold: $72.32
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $154Average Days Listed: 296
Longest Listed: 1348
New items listed: 1@ ChristineR – That is a cool looking piece of art glass. Looks like the artist is pretty popular. Good luck in pulling in a whale.
@Steve – great ephemera sales. One of my favorite things to sell also. Amazing what people will pay for old paper.
Still slow, but a bit better this last week. Not bad for a holiday week. Best sale of the week was a 1950’s Napco Noel angels candle holder for $174.95. Picked this up in an auction lot last year and had about $12 per item in cost. Most of the others sold during Christmas season and I expected this to sit till next season so was a nice surprise.
Another nice sale was an antique French real picture postcard (RPPC) for a Paris restaurant from 1912. I had it listed for $99 but took an offer of $45. Spent the week posting items I had purchased during the previous week and a few of the sales were from those new listings.
Week Ending 7/2/22
Gross Sales: $405.92
Net Sales: $332.06
Total Items in eBay Store: 1062
Items Sold eBay: 8
Net Sales (After fees) eBay: $302.53
Total Items in Etsy Store: 254
Items Sold Etsy: 2
Net Sales (After fees) Etsy: $29.53Cost of Items Sold: $22.65
COGS Percent 6.82%Highest Price Sold: $174.95
Average Price Sold: $40.59
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: $0.00
Sold via promoted listings: 4Average Days Listed: 227
Longest Listed: 626
New items listed: 14I also found money using this a few years ago. Two states I had lived in previously had money for me, Oregon and Florida. I think it was around $200 total that I got back. Definitely worth a look.
I particularly like this section: “The principal object of the invention is to provide in small and compact form a relatively simple, practical and efficient nut cracker of the kind referred to, the same being constructed of few parts and of light weight, and hence especially adapted for use in the home, or in confectioneries and stores, as occasion may require.”
It’s made of cast iron and weighs almost 13 pounds. I guess perception of size and weight is relative to the times.
Thanks again. Not sure if this information makes it more or less valuable, but at least I can update my description for accuracy and help it sell.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>You are amazing. And apparently more diligent than I am. I tried that route and gave up after digging through a few dozen. Nutcracker makes sense. Tobacco press didn’t. Big thank you!</p>
Yes, I’ve found lots of information about creating tobacco plugs, but I’m not finding anything that supports the idea that this is a tobacco press beyond the listing that sold on eBay in 2018 for $275, at least according to Worthpoint. Antique WILLIAMSON SPECIAL Tobacco Plug Press RARE Cast Iron | #1978247018 (worthpoint.com)
Not big enough for cans but would be a fine nutcracker.
I’m thinking it was used in an assembly line process for pressing two connecting parts together.
#antiquefrog – haven’t come across any like that yet. Oldest one from this batch was made in 1900, a Stanley plane.
I’m blown away by the free shoes sales. Is that just a NYC thing? I lived in downtown Washington, DC for several years and don’t recall the same phenomenon there. Wonder if there are other big cities with that culture.
Had two good scavenging events last week. Got lucky at an auction for a change and picked up a good amount of quality items for reasonable prices. Some antique wood planes and post-war era Lionel trains were the highlights. Then stopped at an Estate Sale and picked up a trunk load for only $71. Best was a like-new space heater for $20 that I should be able to get $150. Kept me busy during the week researching and listing. Still have a lot to list this week.
Sales are still slow for me. Got busy with life stuff last week and didn’t get to post my numbers, so here are both weeks:
Week Ending 6/18/22 6/25/22
Gross Sales: $272.38 $203.80
Net Sales: $242.95 $165.18
Items eBay Store: 1051 1062
Items Sold eBay: 5 6
Items Etsy Store: 246 256
Items Sold Etsy: 1 0
Cost of Items Sold: $65.00 $12.95Highest Price Sold: $74.95 $74.95
Average Price Sold: $45.40 $33.97
Returns: 0 0
New Inventory cost: $168.91 $71.00New items listed: 7 17
@retro-treasures-wv – Great to see your sales and numbers. A good reminder that listing is king. I’m tempted to grouse about my low sales, but I’m just not listing enough. Great find on those Harley Coats!
