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I talked your ears off last week because of the great sales I had had. This week, not so much, but I have two interesting items I’d like to mention.
Last week my kids were off school. My daughter had missed a field trip with her art history class to the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in Manhattan, so I decided to take both kids there on Thursday (we live in NJ). After we had lunch, I connected with their Wifi, and I immediately heard a cha-ching. I had sold a ceramic candlestick holder in the shape of a boar that was a MET gift shop item. While we were in the MET. To someone who lived in Manhattan. About an hour or so later, I found the ceramic boar in the museum that the gift shop item was based on. Just a neat karma sort of thing that happened. I got it for free from one of my parent’s friends, sold for $33. Here is the link to the sold item followed by photos I took of the real thing at the MET:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182861968968
https://imgur.com/a/Q1Hi8Two months ago, I bought four lamps in an auction lot for the minimum bid of $5. I sold the third one last week for $39. It is a vintage glass & metal hurricane style lamp.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182768618070I glanced at solds, and the numbers vary quite a bit. I did see a few in the hundreds of dollars, in the general range where I want to put my price. I will need to do better research when I get to listing it. I thought I would throw it out there and see if someone had experience or a general idea.
Yes, you can see the quality in the blown glass and metal work, and the lamp will make a statement! Finding replacement beads (which appear to be a plastic or similar) shouldn’t be too difficult for the buyer.
I agree that this thing needs to be packed in two boxes. I think I have a box that will fit the base, and a box for the shade won’t be too difficult to find. Either I will find out what FedEx will charge to box it for me, or I’ll do it myself. Then, I’ll have to have a fixed price shipping cost that will get it to most of the US. I can add a note that residents of AL, HI, PR, and other countries can message me for a cost. This is my plan, but I still have some measuring and thinking to do.
This was from a rummage sale at a synagogue in August. I went the first day, saw it, but just bought a few things. I went a week later on the last day, and the lady working that room said “make me an offer”. So, I bought it for $5! I’ve been looking forward to and dreading this listing for a while. I at least want it out of my death pile!
The question is, what sort of crazy price should I put on it?
While I’m at it, I have this big-ass table lamp from the 40’s or 50’s. It stands close to 4 1/2 feet tall with a glass and metal base and a fabric shade 21″ in diameter. It’s in very good shape except that some of the decorative beads have come off and some of the metal has tarnished (or has a patina).
I won’t get to listing it probably until the beginning of next week. I’ve got lots of research to do including shipping options (and I’ll probably want to call it something different than big-ass lamp). But, what do folks think about pricing on this one?
I see some large vintage lamps on ebay, but, of course, nothing like this.
Here are some photos:
https://imgur.com/a/BcUnyOK, I updated it to $299 or best offer. I’m OK with that. I paid about $40 for them, so I would at least want something around the $175 price (unless it sits in my house for a year or two!).
I wish I had asked the sellers about what they meant by “Paris” art glass. If this design won some kind of award or something, that would help. Pickup was a little more hectic than normal, so I just left. I’ve bought from them a few times, so maybe I’ll see them again.
Thanks for the help!
Originally, I was going to price them at $399 or best offer, but, for some crazy reason, I threw in another $200. Perhaps I should take it out?
Nothing I see in the search (yours or mine) is close to the 28″ and 30″ heights.
I think I see a similarity comparing expressions and detail in the face.
Then I did a google search for “lynn haney santa in canoe”, and I think you guys have it right. I didn’t find an exact match, but some images were pretty close.
Lastly, did you look for tags in the clothing? Also, sometimes company names are under hair in the back of the head.
Earlier this year, someone in my town, who I knew, bought something from me. When the sale initially came in, I thought the name and address were familiar, but I had to go back and check. I knew the buyer from when my son and her son were in Cub Scouts together. She and I were both active in the group’s organization (I was a den leader and she organized some of the outings).
Anyway, I called her up and made arrangements to drive the item to her house. We chatted for a while, but I haven’t seen her since. She did send me an email about a new Boy Scout troop that they chartered in town, but my son was no longer interested in scouts once he moved up.
I thought that maybe that ebay put my item higher in the rankings since I would be much closer to her than anything else out there, but I have no proof of that. The item she purchased was a vintage Pyrex covered butter dish. It wasn’t very expensive or rare.
Last year, I was using the bin at my local post office to ship items. At the beginning of this year, I mailed a book using the bin, and no information showed up about it for 9 days. I’m guessing that it got lost somewhere in the regional center or accidentally was left on the truck for a few days. Another possibility is that someone decided to inspect the package to make sure it was actually media mail.
Thankfully, the seller was OK with the delay, but it ended up counting against me. Since then, I stand in the line to make sure my items are scanned right away. I use the scan sheets to help out the cashiers. They know me pretty well, so I guess that is a good thing if I ever have an issue.
To get the scan sheet, you need to buy labels for all your items at once (except for international), and you have to check the box that you want a scan sheet prior to paying and printing out the labels. When you go to print out labels, you can print out the scan sheet as well.
The link is to a YouTube video demonstrating the working condition of the sewing machine. I believe that is still allowable via ebay’s new policies. I figured I’d get an email if there was an issue, but I haven’t. I think you should be able to link to your video as well.
Week of Nov 5-11
* Total Items in Store: 1143
* Items Sold: 13
* Cost of Items Sold: $7.40 + $16.25 Commission
* Total Sales: $247.93
* Highest Price Sold: $39 Vintage Hurricane style lamp
* Average Price Sold: $19.07
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $90
* Number of items listed this week: 23Kind of a crappy week compared to the last two, but I’m seeing a higher number of sales this week so far. Things are looking up!
I really don’t want to buy much right now, but one of the online auctions had some good stuff. I ended up spending $90. I am going to a live auction on Thursday. Thankfully, their December auction is on a Saturday, so I won’t be able to go. On the other hand, the following Sunday is a rummage sale literally down the road from me. Oh well. I’d like to see if I can go the rest of the year without spending too much on inventory. I can only hope. I’ve got a backlog, and I’ve got death piles.
Regarding Amazon Prime. I signed up for the free month a few years ago when I was late in buying some holiday gifts, then I cancelled. However, my dad has prime. So, whenever I need something quickly (or I don’t have enough to add up to free shipping), I’ll use his account. I found that I need to select my address at the very end and not on the side when I’m about to put something in my cart. I did that once, and, the next time my dad went to buy something, he left my address in and it was shipped to me. Otherwise, it works out, and I think my sister uses it as well.
I have a sewing machine for sale in a similar situation. The brand is “Imperial”. It might also be a private label, but I wasn’t able to trace it down. I could only find maybe one similar machine on ebay and had to look at other other websites.
I priced it high (I think) with best offer. I currently have it on sale as well. You can check it out if you want:
