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“PhotoRoom app is free…”
Even better. But I have to say, I really dislike the look of the background removal overall. To me it makes the item look fakey, like a digital stock photo that’s not a real photograph to start with. I need the context of a real background to process it as real.
The bathtub thing is funny. Might be a bit of an ick factor if people notice. I have a screened porch with a tile floor that I use on occasion, sometimes with a cloth background but sometimes not, depending on the color contrast with the item. I did get an inquiry once about an item with the bare tile in the background, something to the effect of “I’m interested in buying but those photos aren’t taken on a floor, are they?”
Speaking of white background, though, my iPhone hates it. I’ve tried it different ways and the item is always too dark in the photo unless it is white or close to it itself, and then of course in that case there is not enough contrast to look good in thumbnail.
Thanks for the tip on Pixomatic, I’ll check it out.
Can you open a lost mail claim yet on USPS.com? Sometimes that seems to shake packages loose if they’re “stuck”. Knock on wood I have been fortunate – I often ship first class and the longest something has taken over the last month or so was 8 calendar days. The last two first class packages took only 2 days from pickup to delivery, half way across the country.
Jacksonville is a major port and transportation hub for goods headed all over, though, so maybe that is helping USPS get their stuff out.
3/28/21 – 4/3/21
Total Active Items (2 different IDs): 342
Items Sold: 6
Gross Sales: $327 (not incl a cancelled sale I refunded)
Highest Price Sold: $177 – WWII Mauser rifle bayonet
Returns: 0, but there was 1 cancellation before I shipped
COGS: $98 (including commissions but not including cost of any family castoffs sold)
New Listings: 7
$ Spent on New Inventory: $18.75I did get a negative feedback that was annoying. (I’ve only had one before: As a buyer I got a retaliatory negative, circa 1999.) I received an eBay message from a buyer that said only “Refund. This clock doesn’t work.” The item was a decorative clock with a quartz movement that had been working up until the time I took the battery out to ship it (double boxed, with peanuts). In my reply I was nice, apologetic, reminded the buyer of my 30-day free return policy, and nicely asked them to open a return for their refund. Of course they did not do that but left the feedback. Unfortunately they did not flame spray me and it was short and to the point so I’m not optimistic for removal. I did call eBay, getting a friendly, cheerful foreign CSR who promised it would be removed but of course it’s still there. I’ll probably try again or just live with it. Mickdog, I think it was, recently posted some helpful suggestions for minimizing its impact that I will follow.
In better news, and scavenge of the week, the $18.75 inventory purchase was a snipe for something I’m still pinching myself about. It’s a commemorative coin in a sealed pack that sells in the $400 range, even ungraded from amateur sellers.
Congratulations on the portfolio sale! I can only imagine what the estate sale sellers were thinking when they looked at those prints. “NOBODY will ever buy this.”
Eeww. TMI. Don’t tempt fate by trying that market. Ebay ostensibly does not want to become a haven for foot fetishists so you might get shut down. I learned that after I had a listing for a pair of pretty shredded used skateboard sneakers taken down several years ago very shortly after listing. I had put “trashed” in the title since it was a thing with skaters. No feet in any of the photos and the shoes were washed. The email was vague so I called to ask why it was taken down and had an interesting discussion with the CSR about the issue.
That clock was gorgeous, Steven. No surprise you kept it a while. And that PlayTape set! You always find the oddest electronics things coming out of SD attics. And old NJ, Sharyn. The best stuff can be found at those auctions and flea markets, eh? I forget the name of my favorite auction there, but I think my favorite flea was Berlin. Not too big and crazy like Englishtown but not too small, and closer to me in Phila anyway. And it had a great shellfish bar inside for big plates of oysters or clams on the half shell, and an apple cider stand with the apples going in the big machine right there, IIRC.
A good recent consignment challenge coin sale was this one for the Japan Ground Self Defense Force Western Army. The Japanese are so careful to not call their overall forces “Army” or “Navy” and such (it’s always a “self defense force” due to their 1947 Constitution renouncing war as a national right), but for smaller parts of it is apparently ok to use those terms. This coin sold for $147 plus shipping. Challenge coins from most foreign countries are slow sellers and have to be priced low, but not those from Japan.
This vintage multi-tool knife with fork, spoon and everything was made in Japan back when their mass-produced consumer items were derided for cheapness. This knife was definitely cheaply made and I listed it with full disclosure. They are known as “hobo knives” but they were actually marketed and sold in Boy Scout shops and are not especially rare now. This one sold for $60 plus shipping and was a family estate item.
More family estate memories, these vintage Saudi Arabic language guides sold for $19 plus shipping. The tableau of a woman with two men presumably not her relatives strikes an odd note for the time period in Saudi (and what’s with the regulation US Navy dixie cup on her head?) but the guide was intended for “businessmen, housewives, visitors and diplomats” who would presumably fill in the scene with an out-of-frame husband as the Western couple entertain locals in their home.
Another rifle bayonet here, this one a Bulgarian model from the 1970’s for the AK74. The distinctive triangular extension to the scabbard is a barbed wire cutting attachment which is used in conjunction with the bayonet blade (note the slot in the bayonet). Virtually all bayonets with this feature are from the former Soviet bloc, with the exception of a few West German models. Other than that extension, the shapes, colors, materials, and markings will vary, depending on the year and country of manufacture. The vast majority you’ll see are a very common Romanian version. I paid $37 for this one and it sold for $115 plus shipping.
On the occasion of my birth, an aunt and uncle living in New Mexico gave my parents a set of prints that were probably an inexpensive gift shop purchase at the time. My mother kept them and they finally ended up back with me out of her estate. The Native American artist responsible for them is now relatively well known. This Harrison Begay silkscreen of Horse and Foal sold for $90 plus shipping.
People definitely collect toy cannons so although this brass and iron flea market find was a bit pricey at $5 I had hopes it would sell quickly and it did. It went for $40 plus shipping. This one is characteristic of the kind that have been sold in museum and battlefield gift shops forever. It’s about 5.25 inches long.
3/21/21 – 3/27/21 Total Active Items (2 different IDs): 342 Items Sold: 17 Gross Sales: $298 Highest Price Sold: $44 – 1980s vintage Mola from Panama (distinctive indigenous multi-layer cloth art). Returns: 0 (but two refunds before shipping: the first a challenge coin that I could not find and the second an immediate cancellation after paying, for buying the wrong item, supposedly). COGS: $61 (including commissions but not including cost of any family castoffs sold) New Listings: 12 $ Spent on New Inventory: $9.45
I do lament the professionalization of eBay. There are more barriers to entry every year, which means fewer and fewer snipe-able goodies from clueless new sellers. Some are still trying though – I was just looking at an item what was listed for local pickup but said “I DO SHIP” in the title where the seller couldn’t figure out eBay shipping (or any of the other myriad online options out there, either). And yes, when I win an item from someone like that, I do ask them to be sure and pack well. Sometimes they ignore me, like the last two items I bought. One was a lot with glass in it that broke due to poor packing, and another lot of multiple items came thrown a 9×11 manila envelope that miraculously arrived intact.
Awesome stuffed wolf and I love that it was a dump find. “Scavengers” yes, but “treasure hunters” even better, and that was treasure.
Congrats, great sale! Don’t be tempted to overthink it. 🙂 That’s out of that unicorn yard sale? So you’ve blown through the COGS on that whole sale. You’re going to be eating off of that unicorn for a while.
3/14/21 – 3/20/21
Total Active Items (2 different IDs): 347
Items Sold: 7
Gross Sales: $147
Highest Price Sold: $45 – consigned US Navy USS Tarawa Commanding Officer’s personal Challenge Coin.
Returns: 0
COGS: $20 (including commissions but not including cost of any family castoffs sold)
New Listings: 2
$ Spent on New Inventory: $11Wise words from you two on the podcast this week. But I had to laugh when Jay said he would be “licking” stamps if he had to be shipping. I still have the habit of saying “dial” the phone, but I do have about 25 years on Jay, I think.
I have had annoying eBay buying experiences similar to one in your discussion. It’s the kind of thing that gives eBay a bad reputation. I’ve bought items specifically because they were represented as tested working but I found they were not upon receipt, and it was obviously not due to damage in shipment. The seller had simply lied that the items were tested. The last time it happened it was a $150 item and when I opened a return, the seller simply refunded me and didn’t even send me a label to return it, and it was suitable for First Class Package. So that told me they had zero time and money into and were just rolling the dice that I wouldn’t notice or something.
Steven I’ve been watching your videos lately with particular interest, having bought a Pioneer turntable with wobbly motor speed a couple weeks ago that I will probably part out rather than attempt cleaning and repairs. I was recently very excited to find a vintage retail record needle display cabinet that was completely full in the back of a cabinet at a low-rent antique mall that did not have a price tag on it. The clerk called the dealer to get the price and on my end I heard the clerk repeat “$10″ on the phone and as I was fumbling to get my wallet out the clerk hung up and told me each individual pack of needles was $10 and the cabinet was not for sale. Nevermind.
More late fall sales:
Here’s a vintage leather Triple K Shoulder Holster sized for Smith & Wesson N Frame revolvers. I paid $22 for it at a flea market and it sold within a couple weeks of listing for $77 plus shipping.
As I think Ryanne mentioned not long ago the bottom seems to have completely fallen out of the distressed Oriental rug market. I had several that I paid $35 each for years ago and I’ve felt lucky to get rid of them lately at any price. This entrance mat sized 19″ x 28” Royal Bokhara sold for the $35 I paid for it on a best offer, with free shipping.
I’ve had good luck with letter openers. I can find them cheap but I will pay up for nice ones like this interesting sterling opener with a medieval tower turret kind of design and a V S logo. I was never able to identify the logo, unfortunately, but it sold in about 6 weeks for full price of $45 plus shipping. I paid $10 for it.
This M1895 Austrian Mannlicher rifle bayonet with scabbard was well-worn and had seen hard use, most likely by Austria-Hungary in WWI. It had only a single military acceptance stamp on the blade and it lacked any maker’s marks, serial numbers, or unit identification markings that are often found on this model of bayonet and that are prized by collectors. It was an eBay auction snipe for $46 a while back and sold for $150 plus shipping within a week of listing. (I like to snipe on eBay as I’ve mentioned before but eBay has been so hot that it hasn’t worked well for a while.)
There are a number of Holy Grail categories in challenge coins and this consignment was in one of them. It is a coin that was given out by the 13th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Mike Stevens, when he was MCPON from 2012 – 2016. His coins are currently being reproduced but fortunately with identifiable differences in manufacturing. I was able to guarantee that this was an original. It sold for $365 plus shipping at auction. My deal with the consignor is 50% of net no matter the selling price, so sales like this make up for the ones that only sell for $15 – 20 (lower value ones are always on BIN).
This was an interesting packet of 1966 – 1967 Porsche 911 car dealer brochures that contained mostly some relatively common dealer brochures but also some rare pieces such as the color chart, accessory booklet, and outer folder. I did the math, adding up the best price for each individual item, but with its cover letter from when the entire packet was originally mailed in 1967 to a prospective buyer in Tehran, Iran, I felt I would do better keeping it together. I ran it first as an auction with a very high starting price to gauge interest; then switched to a BIN at $799 plus shipping. After receiving many low-ball offers and much “helpful” advice about the much lower actual value of the packet, I eventually engaged in some negotiations with a serious Porsche enthusiast in Belgium and sold it to him for $575 plus shipping. I also made a video for the listing where I paged through all the pieces and pointed out any condition issues, of which there were just a few.
Terapeak says that the January 2021 sale went for $100 (must have been on an offer) though Worthpoint says $299. I would agree that nautical-themed is the way to go. Almost all the listings in the Antiques / Maritime / Maritime Lamps & Lighting subcategory are fantasies and repros though not all are identified as such in item specifics or description. Depends how shiny they are, I guess.
I was a being glib above about it being Chinese made because the metal nautical items are actually mostly made in India and they’ve been making them for a long time. At least 45 years that I’ve been seeing them. I still have some repro catalogs laying around here somewhere from back then. Your lantern has a good aged look to it so if it were mine I would ask in the $150 range and maybe take an offer as low as $75, depending on how long it takes. It’s worth that as a decorator. As long as I don’t say it came off the Santa Maria I can sleep at night. 🙂
Oh, so this Taiwan laundry nonprofit is for real? The photos of the owners were kind of over the top so I thought it was a Bartles and Jaymes scenario with a fictional backstory and actors in the photos.
It seems to be simply a marketing gimmick by Red Wing for their new boots eBay store. It’s a bit bizarre. I can hear the marketing department youngsters trying to explain it at a board meeting. “Buyers on eBay are a bit off so they’ll really like this!” and the old management codgers are like “Well, ok, I don’t get it but whatever you say.”
