Yard Sale Finds 9/21/13

Greetings!

Was out of town this weekend visiting family but was able to swing by a couple of garage sales. Here's what I found:

Two pairs of Wenoka Hyrdo-Lite Scuba Fins. $2.

 Pair of RF Harnett Wood Art Pieces with Civil War art work on them. They were asking $5, gut them for $3. Not sure how these will do.

 Antique 1960s light up pumpkin/Halloween decoration. Paid $2.

 Made in Mexico Metal and Glass candle holder with Moon. Not sure about this thing, picked it up for $1, we'll see.

Vintage Thermos Lunchbox - Metal. Comes with old Thermos. Paid $2. Should do ok on this.

 Definitely my buy of the weekend. Found a bag of antique and vintage holiday decorations (mostly Halloween). Beistle and Co. and others. Ranging from the 1950s - 1980s. Probably around 25 pieces in the bag total. Some in excellent condition, others a little beat up. Paid $3. Vintage Halloween stuff has done well for me so far .. just want to make sure you know the brand and if possible the year. The better condition the more valuable (obviously) but if you are selling them in a lot - which I have done in the past, throwing in a couple of beat up ones will help your #s a little bit and allow you to charge a bit more for the lot.

Total Paid: $13
Hoping to make back around: $120 - $180

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Weekend Finds

Greetings!

To be honest I didn't push myself very hard this weekend. Had family in town and it was disgustingly hot ... so I kept it short when it came to shopping.  Found a couple random items to sell and some nice plastic shelves.  You can see my shelves set up in my basement ...

Paid $2 a piece for these plastic shelves.

 I paid $5 for this antique tea kettle ... not sure how I will do with it. It has a really cool burner and snuffer system on the bottom ... I think I should do ok on this. We'll see.

 Who can say no to a unicorn necklace for 50 cents?  Not me.  We'll see.

Spent $5.50 on the two items for selling in the store
Hoping to make around $50 off of the two items (or more depending on what I can figure out about that tea kettle).

Pretty uneventful weekend of shopping. Gotta really turn it on next weekend! No cry babies!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sales Finds 9/29/2013

Greetings!

Grabbed a couple of random items on my lunch break today:

2 MN Twins Fitted baseball caps with straight brims. Gently used condition. $1.

Vintage Fish shaped Treasure Craft Serving Platter with light wear (one small chip). $3.

Total Spent $4.

Hoping to get around $60 - $80 total.  I might keep one of the hats though ... happen to be my size!

Things are already starting to slow down for Garage Sales and it's only August. Hopefully we have a few good weekends of sales left before they start to disappear.

Get out there and find some stuff!

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Lunch Break Finds 8/15/2013

Greetings!

Found a few items today. Might have overpaid a bit but I was itching to buy:

Vintage Model 1931 Rolls Royce Antique Car Radio - Made in Hong Kong - $2.50

Tales from the Crypt Crypt Keeper by Ace - FREE

Hand Made Knife from the 1960s with skeleton in handle - $2.50

Aqua-Lung US Divers Rocket Fins - $5 

Again - nothing too spectacular ... Every sale can't be a complete winner so don't get discouraged!

Paid $10 - Hoping to get around $100 for these items.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Items Sold On eBay!

Greetings!

Sold a few items over the past week:

Lazy Bones Golf Shoes. Purchased for $2.50. Listed at $89.99. Accepted Best Offer of $40 + Shipping. Profit of $37.50.

 Dr. Marten Boots. Purchased for $2.00. Listed at $69.99. Accepted Best Offer of $50 + Shipping. Profit of $48.

 Vintage Halloween Decor. Purchased for $1.25. Listed at $119.99. Accepted Best Offer of $42 + Shipping. Profit of $40.75.

 ABC Luggage. Purchased for $1. Listed at $49.99. Accepted Best Offer of $25 + Shipping. Profit of $24.

 Vintage Bat Sunglasses. Purchased for 50 cents. Listed at $39.99. Accepted Best Offer of $14.99 + Shipping. Profit of $14.74.

 Vintage Plant Hangers. Given for Free with other items purchased. Listed at $34.99. Accepted Best Offer of $23 + Shipping. Profit of $23.

 Hamilton Trumpet Stand. Purchased for $1. Listed at $29.99. Accepted Best Offer of $20 + Shipping. Profit of $19.

Total Profit on Items Sold This Week: $169.49

(this doesn't include eBay and PayPal fees)

Get out there and find some treasures for yourself to sell!

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sale Finds 8/10/2013

Greetings!

Went out for 3 hours on Saturday and found what there was to find!  Nothing too exciting but a few good finds. Take a peak!

Vintage Palco Army / Military / Boy Scout / Camping Canteen - Worcester Pressed Aluminum. Bought this because it fits into many categories of interest, camping, boy scouts, military, hunting. It's vintage and is in nice shape. Has a brand name on it which helps. Paid 75 cents.

Vintage Army / Military / Camping / Field Gear / Canteen with Case for Belt WW2

Purchased for same reason as canteen above. No brand name but has a nice case for it. Paid $1.

 Vintage Mercurial MPC Blood Pressure Gauge - Artery Sphygmomanometer - Army

Not sure on the age of this item but it seems pretty old. Looks like it could be military. Antique medical and scientific instruments are highly collectable. Keep your eyes peeled for stuff like this. Paid $5 - might have over paid a bit. We'll see.

 Vintage Budweiser Bud Trucker Hat - Vintage hats that have popular themes can be a decent find. Haven't had much experience selling them myself but we will see. Budweiser and Harley Davidson are 2 highly collectable name brands plus these don't look like they've been worn. The brims are still straight and over all are in pretty good condition for their age. I wouldn't buy these if they were beat up and if the brims were bent. Paid 10 cents each.

 Vintage Harley Davidson Trucker Hat

 Vintage Chalkware Statue of Hunter with Dog - German/Swedish Hunter - Lederhosen

Don't know much about this piece but it caught my eye. Has a hunting theme, dog, rifle and appears to be vintage and hand made. Seems like it has a European theme with the Lederhosen and the way the hunter is dressed. Took a gamble on this one. Only paid 25 cents so it wasn't really much of a gamble I guess.

 New in Package Michael Jordan Valentines from the 1990s. Rare MJ 23 Memorabilia

Michael Jordan stuff is highly collectable. The only reason I bought these is because the package hasn't been opened. Paid 25 cents.

 2 vintage animatronic halloween decorations with original boxes.

I passed these guys up at a sale on Friday and was kicking myself for it. They seem pretty nice. They are probably from the 1980s and still have their original boxes. The seller was asking for $10 a piece and I took the pair for $14. Might have over paid a bit on these, I will have to do some research on them for pricing.

 Small trinket box of some sort with neat looking design and coat of arms. Also includes key to lock and unlock box.  Nothing too fancy here. No brand name but has a nice design on it. Will probably list it as a 'vintage trinket box with coat of arms' or something like that. Has the key for it so that helps with the value a little. Probably won't make much off of this item. Paid 50 cents.

 Antique Framed Print. Really old looking frame - Original Painting marked "Moran . NA. 1898" but it looks like this was a reprint in 1926. Still pretty old! Paid $5 and might have over paid. But again this has a nice antique frame and a nautical theme so I think it will do alright. We also have the artist and the dates so we will be able to make a decent description.

Total Spent: $26.95

Hoping to make in the range of: $200 - $250.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Guilt Tripped at a Garage Sale

Greetings!

You may have noticed that I scored some sweet vintage finds for cheap in my last post. This is concerning that sale. Although in the end I came out with some quality stuff, it was kind of an awkward sale. Have you ever been at one of these?  An elderly woman was running the sale and had most of the items priced pretty cheap. $1 for shirts, $2 for jackets, etc. But she was running the sale with I'm guessing her daughter. And every time I asked the elderly woman what she wanted for an unpriced item she would give me a low number, and the daughter would grumble and mumble about how that's not enough to charge. So I would set the item down and tell them to go ahead and talk it over while I browsed more.  This happened multiple times with multiple items. Each time I'd leave the item at the table in my pile and let them discuss it.

When I finally was done shopping I asked what the total damage was and she said $22.  I agreed to the price without questioning what cost what. Didn't even try to negotiate because I thought it was a pretty fair price.  Then as I'm counting out my money to pay,  under her breath the daughter grumbles - "one of those hats is probably worth $22".

It's like ... what the hell lady?  Why are you guilt tripping me for buying items from YOUR sale that YOU put on the sale and that YOU priced?

Am I supposed to just offer you $300 for everything?  What are you expecting from me and what is your problem?

I do try to see the flip side of every coin, however.  Maybe the elderly woman's husband passed away and she just wants to get rid of his stuff and isn't concerned about money at this time, but the daughter is there so that she doesn't get taken advantage of.  I get that. But I gave them what the daughter and elderly woman asked for so I just don't see what the problem was?

If my Grandma's were alive and having a sale I tell you what - I'd be there before the sale is open to the public, and I would take (and even pay a little) for the items that I think are valuable.  I would keep any heirlooms or keepsakes I wanted for my family and sell the rest myself.  The last thing I would want is some scum ball like me coming and taking everything for cheap to resell.  But I doubt that daughter was going to go on eBay and list and sell these items.  Give me a break.  Don't have a yard sale if you don't want to sell your stuff.

Rant over.

The eBay Freshman

Garage Sale Finds 8/8/2013

Greetings!

Hit up 3 garage sales on my lunch break today. Came back with a few items:

Donny's Fish Market Glass Mug - I bought this because it looks vintage and has a Nautical Theme. I know where it's from and nautical + knowing where it's from gives me enough information to write up a nice description. I love finding anything nautical themed ... fisherman, ships, anchors, fishing reels, people love that stuff! Paid 50 cents.

 Vintage Wilhold brand container. Plastic (not sure if it's bakelite) has a plastic lid with a rose on it. I know the brand and where it was made, it's vintage, a cool color and has nice engraving on the lid. Not sure if this is maybe used as a sewing box, or trinket box or what - but it's cool looking! Paid 50 cents

 Awesome vintage yard decor - ghost. There is nothing that will ever stop me from buying vintage Halloween stuff. Paid $3 - this is probably going to stay with me.

 Miniature katana made in Japan. This is hand painted with a wood sheath. The blade is actually sharpened which makes me question if this is a letter opener or meant for something else. Seems like more than a souvenir since it's sharp. Cool little item. Paid $1.

 3 antique mesh kitchen strainers. People like to decorate with stuff like this. Nice shape. Paid $1.

 I haven't dealt with the world of wool much, but I've heard from other sellers that wool is a big seller on eBay. Found 2 100% wool sweaters that look vintage and have no stains or holes. One is Jersild - 100% Virgin Wool. The other is Laurel Ann - Super Soft 'something' Wool. Can't make it out in the photo, will have to look into it more later. Paid $4 for the pair.

Total Spent on Store Items: $7

Hoping to make: $100 - $150 off of these items. 

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman