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Hi Paula! Yes, I’m in RI weekly, plan to be there tomorrow if that works. Savers is perfect.
Jay and Ryanne,
Thanks for changing my life! I found you in 2014 via the flipping subreddit and I was immediately hooked – here were two cool people who shared my punk rock values, making their living by selling weird stuff on ebay! I was completely burnt out after 20+ years doing IT in academia and fantasizing about doing ebay full time, but wasn’t sure it was possible. Knowing that you were doing it, and generously sharing info about how you made it work, was like a magic potion that made me see that I too, could be free. I quit in 2015 and have never regretted it for one second. Thank you both and good luck with all your current and future endeavors. With your positive energy and enthusiasm there’s no doubt in my mind you’ll succeed at whatever you focus on.
Trash Elves 4 Eva!I took your advice and just changed handling time. Thanks for the reply, omfug!
Congrats on the cool sales! It’s great that you thought to research that postal key, someone else may have tossed it.
Here are some notable sales from the past couple weeks.
Found a large lot of various brands of used metal cassettes along with a mic and some audio effects for a grand total of $20 at a sale a while back and have made hundreds off the haul. Someone bought a box of ten Sony tapes I had on sale for $119, and also an additional 5 tapes for a total of $180:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-10-Used-Sony-METAL-SELECT-90-Type-IV-Audio-Cassette-Tapes-Made-in-Japan-/311773694582?rd=1Went to a midweek estate sale held by the new owners of an old house who were stunned to find the prior owners vacated the premises without cleaning out any of their belongings. New owners were basically giving everything away, so I gathered a large amount of items and gave them a bit of cash for what I hauled away. This vintage doorstop was in the lot, paid less than a buck, sold for $80
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Hubley-Cast-Iron-Doorstop-English-Country-House-Cottage-Flowers-/311783237109?rd=1Keep an eye out for vintage wallpaper tucked in closets and garages at estate sales. Only paid a few dollars for 4 rolls and sold them for $128 on sale to a buyer in the UK who paid an additional $25 to ship
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Rolls-Sanderson-Pemberly-Wallpaper-Floral-Cottage-Rose-Pink-Blue-Green-ENGLAND-/311759436178?rd=1No one wanted this box of vintage gummed labels at the auction, so I took it for $5. I listed it high at $125 and accepted a $74 offer. I love old paper items, and I assume the buyer is an artist or crafty individual. Or, they’ll piece them out in small groups and sell them on Etsy for a few bucks each. That would make me nuts.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Lbs-Mixed-Lot-Vintage-Gummed-Labels-Fragile-Rush-Perishable-Made-in-USA-Etc-/311806036232?rd=1I love old clocks, especially funky MCM models. Paid $3, sold for $40
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Spartus-Retro-Wall-Clock-White-amp-Black-Plastic-Funky-Cool-Working-/311755129204?rd=1Fave sale — my first time winning an online estate sale auction, for a lot of vintage Halloween masks and decorations. Not dirt cheap at $40 for the lot, but just sold the first mask for $65 and it went to Tiffany’s on 5th Ave NYC! I assume it’s for a Fall window display or catalog shoot? Weird and cool.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Halloween-Mask-1970s-Adult-Female-Green-Witch-Zombie-Monster-/311810304882?rd=1Also, made my first Etsy sale last week. Learning the platform, but once I get my process down it will be a major part of my pipeline.
Hope everyone has a cha-ching filled week!
Great tip, Retro Treasures WV, thanks! Cleaning shoes bums me out, so I try to just buy the barely worn variety but I also won’t pass up a good brand due to a little dirt.
Thanks for the replies! Since I don’t have a heat gun or a razor blade handy, I went with Linda’s vegetable oil suggestion which worked great and gave the piece a nice shine.
So glad this forum exists so other scavengers will be able to find this info if needed in future.
Store Week Jan 29 – Feb 4
Total Items in Store: 441
Items Sold: 17
Cost of Items Sold: $45
Total Sales: $717
Highest Price Sold: $128 sealed vintage mermaid doll
Average Price Sold: $42
Returns: 0
International Sales via GSP: 4
Money Spent on New Inventory: $55Good, solid week. Reached my goal of $100 per day, and pleased that happened with odd mid-priced items, rather than the rare for me $200+ high priced item. The sealed mermaid doll was found with a bunch of other vintage doll items at Savers. I never look at dollish things, but the sealed vintage packages drew me like a magnet and I’ve made a few hundred off of the lot. Definitely pays to scavenge outside your comfort zone.
One of my first ebay homeruns was a Kliban cookie jar. Paid .50 at a yard sale, sold it for $100. I was high off of that one for weeks!
Store Week Jan 22-28
Total Items in Store: 445
Items Sold: 13
Cost of Items Sold: $15
Total Sales: $560
Highest Price Sold: $145 Vintage TI calculator
Average Price Sold: $43
Returns: 0
International Sales via GSP: 2
Money Spent on New Inventory: $170
Number of items listed this week: 20Solid week. Best sale was $145 for a vintage Texas Instrument calculator I paid a dollar for at an estate sale. I assumed the sale would be picked over by the time I got there, but I managed to scavenge a pile of stuff. Calculators are often overlooked, and some are worth $$, so I always look them up on ebay. Also found an Italian copper coffee pot that sold right after listing for $60. Plus, the house overlooked the ocean, so I enjoyed a walk by the sea after finding my treasures. Damn, I love this job.
