Garage Sale Finds for 8/16/2013

Greetings!

Found a few items after work last night and on my lunch break today. Hopefully this is a sign of what's to come the rest of the weekend ... so far so good!

Vintage Creepy Creatures Witch Costume Set in original box ... Paid $1

 Vintage Norelco Speedshaver...Paid 25 cents

 Seth Thomas Mantle Clock...Paid $2

 Set of 4 vintage oil paintings ... can't find the artist name. Frames don't seem antique. Paid $2

 San Francisco Trolley Bell - Probably a replica but still very nice...Paid $5

 Dr Martens...Paid $1

 Set of 3 Vintage looking Burwood Products Wall Decor - Humming Birds ... Paid $2

Total Spent: $13.25
Hoping to sell for around: $175 - $230

Happy Hunting! GET OUT THERE THIS WEEKEND!!!

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

Lunch Break Find 8/14/2013

Greetings!

Spent an hour digging through items at a thrift store with no luck ... then, on my way out the door I cam across this gem in the rough!

1960s Rosko Brand 'Embarrassed Frankenstein' Tin and plastic toy. Pretty rare find. Haven't gotten to test him out yet. What caught my eye was the sticker on the bottom ... looked kind of old. Then I looked closer at the item and it was made up of tin and metal parts as well as plastic which isn't that common in newer halloween items. Paid $3. Hoping to bring in $30 - $40.

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman

Quitting Your Day Job

Greetings!

Quitting Your Day Job.  

Don’t quit your day job just yet.  If you have bills to pay, then they have to be paid.  And unfortunately eBay isn’t a get rich quick scheme.  It is a business that you have to slowly build with triumphs and failures along the way.  Start working on your business during the evenings and on weekends or whenever your off time is.  If you are looking to get into this line of business you probably already have a passion for digging, searching, thrifting, etc., so it will be fun to get started and shouldn’t feel like too much “work”.  If it feels like work right away, maybe this isn’t right for you.  But if you get a buzz off of finding that treasure or unique item, enjoy researching it and taking photos of it and pricing it.  This really is a blast.  If you are only selling a few items a week (like we are right now) it’s a great hobby - but it’s not going to pay the bills.  

Get started listing items as fast (and as accurately) as you can.  Build up your store with items that are Buy it Now with Best Offer (Good ‘til cancelled).  You might not sell a ton of stuff right away, but it’s a good way to start to feel like you are building up an inventory.  Once you have your inventory built up a bit you can start to adjust your prices to reflect what is selling and what no one is paying attention to.  But be patient, just cause Billy doesn’t buy your motorcycle boots this week for $200 doesn’t mean that Jim won’t buy them next week for $190.  Don’t undersell your stuff - you worked hard to get it and getting rid of it for pennies isn’t doing anything for you.  

It takes a certain level of drive and skill to get to the level that my friends over on the eBay Scavengers Podcast are at, so don’t be discouraged if your store isn’t huge right away.  They have been working diligently and adjusting their lifestyles to allow them to do this full time.  It won’t happen over night, but it can happen for you too if you have the skill and drive to find the good stuff and keep on going!

We currently have 162 items in our store and have sold 26 items. We started our store in June. So in less than 3 months we've listed around 188 items. That's an average of around 62 items a month. So at this rate (not counting stuff we've sold) by the end of December we should have listed around 500 items.  Our personal store goal is to reach 500 items in our store inventory.  Granted, we will probably sell somewhere around half of that 50 items by the end of Christmas selling season ... so it's a very slow climb to get up to 500 items!

We are hoping that once we have 500 items in our store inventory we will be selling enough for my wife to quit her day job and raise the kid at home while working on the store full time. The road to both of us working on the store full time is going to be a long one, but I will keep you up to speed every step of the way!

Wish us luck as we continue our journey and we will wish you the same!

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

Garage Sale Finds for 8/9/2013

Greetings!

Not a very successful run over my lunch break, but something is better than nothing I guess.

Disney's The Little Mermaid Large Metal Tin. Paid 25 cents.
Heavy Red Wing Work Boots - $3 (the girl at the sale said the paint is a kind that can wash off - we'll see). I always like to keep my eye out for Red Wings and Dr. Martens at sales. They both seem to do well. If you think I'm crazy for getting these boots ... do a quick eBay search for Red Wing boots and you will be shocked and amazed at how much they sell for.

Paid: $3.25
Hoping to make: $100 - $130

Happy Hunting!

The eBay Freshman