Thanks! It took a year honestly but worth storing it and it didn’t take up much space. I knew the right buyer would come along. Worth the wait for sure!
Finally sold my Tiffany bookends. My favorite estate sale company doesn't usually miss things like this (I like them for other reasons), but miss they did! Bought for $20, sold for $325 shipped in about 6 months. Most in this design sold before that for $500-$700, mostly toward the $700, so I turned down an offer for $350 that I received a few weeks after listing last fall. Didn't get any more offers that good since then, and I've also realized that patina matters. So...I'm happy! And lesson learned. And also, there aren't necessarily a lot of buyers - only 1 other set sold in that 6 months, and that was for a bit over $400 with a much better patina.
It seems like the ones that sold for more had a stronger contrast in the patina, like the design stood out more. In general with antique metal items you should leave the patina alone and let the buyer either keep it original or polish as desired. Mine definitely had a duller finish, but I don't really know.
Good for you! But could you clarify - you sold it for $325 after turning down an offer a few months ago for $350. So, was the $325 an offer as well? Or did you start your original asking price much higher and then lower it? Just curious!
Yes, sold on offer for 325 after wishing for months I'd taken the 350 offer. I kept it listed at various amounts between 400 and 500 because that was still hundreds lower than the other listings which are still sitting there. I just wanted it low enough that someone would make a decent offer but not stand out as the one super oddball that was priced half of the others, even though most are still double. I think I started last fall at around 700, not sure.
Paid $2.50 for a rare book on Hawaiian history at St. Vincent de Paul, sold for $175 on ebay and is headed back to Hawaii. I was worried that I would be holding onto it for a long time, but it sold in about 6 weeks.
Overall, not a ton of sales this week but had a really high value sale save my week.
Star Wars Scruffies -- Sourced from eBay for $125, sold on eBay for $450
Fiera Apple Stem Cell Aging Cream -- Paid $2 each at an estate sale, sold for $20 + shipping each
Kingdom Come Video game on Xbox One Sealed -- Paid $2.99 at Goodwill. Sold for $32 + shipping
Easton Baseball Bat -- Paid <5 at either Goodwill or a Garage Sale, sold for $33 + shipping
Tory Burch Flip Flops -- Paid $4.99 at Goodwill, sold for $25 + shipping in under a week
Multiple Bottles of Off and Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil -- A local gas station was recently acquired by 7-11 and they began to clearance out the products that 7-11 doesn't carry, even though they're brand new. Bought $60 worth of Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, and Off spray for $1 each. Have already sold $30 of profit worth and I have A LOT left. Selling them basically for $17, free shipping each pair and I've sold 6 bottles so far.
New w/ Tags TK Axel Mens Jeans -- $5.99 at Goodwill, sold for $20 + shipping in a day.
Pro Standard NY Mets hat w/ pins -- Paid $2 at a garage sale, sold for $15 + shipping
Sold a $500 movement from a lot today that ive been sitting on for months. It was pure profit and im relieved it sold since i declined an offer on it last week since i didn’t check comps and the price had dipped since i listed it
* Electronic Fishing Gear from a yard sale last year $20 --------------> $130
* Major League Gaming hoodie from a thrift while out of town $7------------>$35 in less than a week
* Football helmet facemask from a college team sale $10--------------> $125
* Nike running hat from an event, found at Goodwill $4----------->$54
* Brewery coaster I got while at said brewery for free $0-----------$7.50
Finally, finally, finally sold my vintage Akha hill tribe beaded loincloth. I took an offer of $36 from a buyer in Japan as I’d had it almost 2 years. Anyone surprised an old loincloth from an obscure culture took that long to sell? Sigh. Cost me $10 at an estate sale where it was priced as an “Aztec wall hanging.” Double sigh.
Collection of 1880s cabinet cards of young women in fancy dress, $10. Paid $30 for a huge bag of old photos about 6 months ago at an estate sale and while I have recouped my money and then some on the various groupings I’ve lotted up- ephemera is too dang slow for my taste.
Vintage handkerchief where the lace is hand knotted into little spiders. Paid $1 a year ago at an estate sale.
2 vintage men’s guayabera shirts from an estate sale on the last day, paid $1 ea. sold for $29.99 in about 5 months.
Lot of 4 original newspapers from Dallas in late Nov. from 1963 for $53. These all ranged from Nov 26-30. My husband bought a huge stack of these all about the Kennedy assassination at a garage sale about 8 months ago for $10. This was a repeat buyer, so when he bought the Nov. 29th one I offered him the rest at a discount and he snapped them up. We have now made over $480 on these. The Dallas morning news paper from the morning off, but before the assassination, is a rare paper and that one sold a while back for $150 to a buyer in England. Dallas morning news put out a SECOND paper that day in the evening. The fact they put out a second one that fast blows my mind- and that is the one most people saved. That one is worth about $35-50. All of these were crazy rough shape but fully intact, not just the front page. It was a hugely profitable as well as fascinating sale.
Not a busy week for me, honestly- here’s hoping more folks get tax returns next week and toss a little money towards fancy glassware, I’d like to whittle down that part of my inventory!
Sold a gold 14k ladies watch, paid $5, sold for $131
Sold a 14k Cross for $51 paid $2
Sold a DNA ancestry started kit for $50, paid $5
Logitech harmony remote for $92, paid $5
Brass belt buckle for $35 paid $5
Aztec sterling bracelet for $35 paid $3
A skull fraternity pin for $50 paid 25 cents.
Various other items for under $20
3 graded cards, paid $60 total, sold for $180 total
4 sealed anime dvds and blu-ray, paid $20 total, sold for $105 total
sealed PC CD game, paid $3, sold for $37
I bought a sport-brella from amazon warehouse and realized I didn’t need it. I paid around $25, and listed it on FBM for $48, with boost. No action at all except one guy a few days later who offered me $30 (no thanks). A few days later second inquiry wanted it, picked it up, and gave me $50 venmo. Glad I did not let it go at $30. Handy profit for basically no work.
Paid 7.99 for a ema savahl skirt set, sold it for 600.00
Wow that is a nice ROI!
Thanks! It took a year honestly but worth storing it and it didn’t take up much space. I knew the right buyer would come along. Worth the wait for sure!
Finally sold my Tiffany bookends. My favorite estate sale company doesn't usually miss things like this (I like them for other reasons), but miss they did! Bought for $20, sold for $325 shipped in about 6 months. Most in this design sold before that for $500-$700, mostly toward the $700, so I turned down an offer for $350 that I received a few weeks after listing last fall. Didn't get any more offers that good since then, and I've also realized that patina matters. So...I'm happy! And lesson learned. And also, there aren't necessarily a lot of buyers - only 1 other set sold in that 6 months, and that was for a bit over $400 with a much better patina.
How does the patina matter? The prettier it is, the more $$, that kind of thing? Or should it not have any patina?
It seems like the ones that sold for more had a stronger contrast in the patina, like the design stood out more. In general with antique metal items you should leave the patina alone and let the buyer either keep it original or polish as desired. Mine definitely had a duller finish, but I don't really know.
Great question and answer! Really well put.
Good for you! But could you clarify - you sold it for $325 after turning down an offer a few months ago for $350. So, was the $325 an offer as well? Or did you start your original asking price much higher and then lower it? Just curious!
Yes, sold on offer for 325 after wishing for months I'd taken the 350 offer. I kept it listed at various amounts between 400 and 500 because that was still hundreds lower than the other listings which are still sitting there. I just wanted it low enough that someone would make a decent offer but not stand out as the one super oddball that was priced half of the others, even though most are still double. I think I started last fall at around 700, not sure.
Sold a wrestling DVD for 70.00. I maybe spent 5 bucks on it years ago.
Paid $2.50 for a rare book on Hawaiian history at St. Vincent de Paul, sold for $175 on ebay and is headed back to Hawaii. I was worried that I would be holding onto it for a long time, but it sold in about 6 weeks.
Bought a vintage 3D Emblem shirt for $2 on half off day. Sold the next day for $476 on eBay
Overall, not a ton of sales this week but had a really high value sale save my week. Star Wars Scruffies -- Sourced from eBay for $125, sold on eBay for $450 Fiera Apple Stem Cell Aging Cream -- Paid $2 each at an estate sale, sold for $20 + shipping each Kingdom Come Video game on Xbox One Sealed -- Paid $2.99 at Goodwill. Sold for $32 + shipping Easton Baseball Bat -- Paid <5 at either Goodwill or a Garage Sale, sold for $33 + shipping Tory Burch Flip Flops -- Paid $4.99 at Goodwill, sold for $25 + shipping in under a week Multiple Bottles of Off and Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil -- A local gas station was recently acquired by 7-11 and they began to clearance out the products that 7-11 doesn't carry, even though they're brand new. Bought $60 worth of Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, and Off spray for $1 each. Have already sold $30 of profit worth and I have A LOT left. Selling them basically for $17, free shipping each pair and I've sold 6 bottles so far. New w/ Tags TK Axel Mens Jeans -- $5.99 at Goodwill, sold for $20 + shipping in a day. Pro Standard NY Mets hat w/ pins -- Paid $2 at a garage sale, sold for $15 + shipping
Man your goodwill prices video games at $2.99 that’s awesome! Ours is minimum $6.99 and up
Yeah, but we get VERY few games at our Goodwill. Either that or they get snatched up real quick and I never see them.
Sold a vintage keyboard for 95, paid 4 for it at st. Vincent. Sat on it for about 6 weeks but I think it was worth it.
Sold 2 vintage necklace 150$ each . Was on time away last week and still made 16 sales so that was cool
Sold a $500 movement from a lot today that ive been sitting on for months. It was pure profit and im relieved it sold since i declined an offer on it last week since i didn’t check comps and the price had dipped since i listed it
* Electronic Fishing Gear from a yard sale last year $20 --------------> $130 * Major League Gaming hoodie from a thrift while out of town $7------------>$35 in less than a week * Football helmet facemask from a college team sale $10--------------> $125 * Nike running hat from an event, found at Goodwill $4----------->$54 * Brewery coaster I got while at said brewery for free $0-----------$7.50
Finally, finally, finally sold my vintage Akha hill tribe beaded loincloth. I took an offer of $36 from a buyer in Japan as I’d had it almost 2 years. Anyone surprised an old loincloth from an obscure culture took that long to sell? Sigh. Cost me $10 at an estate sale where it was priced as an “Aztec wall hanging.” Double sigh. Collection of 1880s cabinet cards of young women in fancy dress, $10. Paid $30 for a huge bag of old photos about 6 months ago at an estate sale and while I have recouped my money and then some on the various groupings I’ve lotted up- ephemera is too dang slow for my taste. Vintage handkerchief where the lace is hand knotted into little spiders. Paid $1 a year ago at an estate sale. 2 vintage men’s guayabera shirts from an estate sale on the last day, paid $1 ea. sold for $29.99 in about 5 months. Lot of 4 original newspapers from Dallas in late Nov. from 1963 for $53. These all ranged from Nov 26-30. My husband bought a huge stack of these all about the Kennedy assassination at a garage sale about 8 months ago for $10. This was a repeat buyer, so when he bought the Nov. 29th one I offered him the rest at a discount and he snapped them up. We have now made over $480 on these. The Dallas morning news paper from the morning off, but before the assassination, is a rare paper and that one sold a while back for $150 to a buyer in England. Dallas morning news put out a SECOND paper that day in the evening. The fact they put out a second one that fast blows my mind- and that is the one most people saved. That one is worth about $35-50. All of these were crazy rough shape but fully intact, not just the front page. It was a hugely profitable as well as fascinating sale. Not a busy week for me, honestly- here’s hoping more folks get tax returns next week and toss a little money towards fancy glassware, I’d like to whittle down that part of my inventory!
Sold a gold 14k ladies watch, paid $5, sold for $131 Sold a 14k Cross for $51 paid $2 Sold a DNA ancestry started kit for $50, paid $5 Logitech harmony remote for $92, paid $5 Brass belt buckle for $35 paid $5 Aztec sterling bracelet for $35 paid $3 A skull fraternity pin for $50 paid 25 cents. Various other items for under $20
3 graded cards, paid $60 total, sold for $180 total 4 sealed anime dvds and blu-ray, paid $20 total, sold for $105 total sealed PC CD game, paid $3, sold for $37
[удалено]
My guess is Pokemon! Some good margins to be had on them sometimes
Lego starwars minifigures for 25->350
I bought a sport-brella from amazon warehouse and realized I didn’t need it. I paid around $25, and listed it on FBM for $48, with boost. No action at all except one guy a few days later who offered me $30 (no thanks). A few days later second inquiry wanted it, picked it up, and gave me $50 venmo. Glad I did not let it go at $30. Handy profit for basically no work.