everything vintage/what is it worth?

Welcome to my booth! No this is not my eBay site but it is an antique booth that I rent at the Zionsville Antique Mall in Zionsville, PA. You can see their website at zionsvilleantiques.com. You can’t order from the website but you can get a lot of information about antiques from the website or go there if you can!

It is an amazing place of 30,000 square feet of antiques. I took my aunt there last week and we were there for 3 hours and still didn’t see everything! This is another way that I can sell my vintage items besides listing them on eBay. Ebay is still my primary source of income and sales but sometimes I have items that are too large to mail or they just need to be held and touched to be appreciated.

I also sell at antique shows and flea markets. (Another one is coming up at the end of September at renningers.com)

If you have any questions about any items in the photos, just leave a comment! I can always remove an item from Zionsville and place it in an eBay listing if there is any interest. That is, if it hasn’t already sold from Zionsville! I sell about 50 items or more a month from my booth there. In comparison, I sell about 150 items a month on eBay. Of course, I have to list and photograph and mail each of those eBay items. With the Zionsville booth I just pay the rent and they do all the work.

I hope you have some antique malls in your area to visit. It’s a great way to recycle old items and sometimes even save some money compared to new items. This is especially true of furniture. So go green!

How did I find brand new clothing to sell on eBay? My local estate auction. I went to the auction to purchase antiques and collectibles and found brand new clothing that still had the tags on it!

Apparently the story is that a woman (size 3 X) was addicted to buying clothing on QVC. Most of it she never wore. Perhaps she did not get a chance to wear it. I am not sure if she passed away or if she had to downsize but everything at this auction was almost brand new in the box or new with tags like the clothing.

There was not much interest in the clothing at all since it did not fit most of the people there. A few ladies bid on the pieces at 50 cents and 1.00 a piece. I waited until everyone picked what they wanted. There were 3 racks of clothing with about 30 pieces on each rack to begin with. When the other bidders were finished, I picked up the extra for 1.00 a rack. That’s 3.00 for about 60 pieces of clothing! I have started to list it on eBay and at this time just one of the sweater sets (above) is already at 25.00.

It included such brands as Liz Claiborne, Talbots, Denim & Co. and the Quacker factory (I will list the sweaters closer to the fall season).

I also picked up some Princess House, Home Interiors, and Partylite—for pennies on the dollar!

Check out my auctions and my eBay store at everythingvintagesteph.com

THANKS!

SWAGBUCKS IS awesome and fun. I am using it to earn 5.00 gift certificates for amazon and then using the certificates to buy mailing supplies for eBay.

Amazon has boxes for items other than priority like padded envelopes, and tape, etc.

It doesn’t take much time either. Try it. It’s FREE! Just click on the icon above.

I am assuming you already know about the free shippng supplies for priority mail. These are at usps.com. You just need to ship priority and all the envelopes and boxes, etc. are free. It makes eBaying a lot easier!

everythingvintagesteph.com

Yes, sometimes I have a few bombs that just don’t sell. I still believe that almost anything can sell on eBay though–you just have to present it properly.

Dollar store items. Sometimes they do sell for way more than a dollar! I bought these frames at the dollar store at  the Jersey shore. They are really nice! The reason I bought them is because I wanted to count my trip to the shore as a business expense if I found enough items to buy while I was down there–like going to yard sales and thrift stores, etc. Well, it didn’t really work out that way but I did buy a few things on the boardwalk to resell. I didn’t think I could get more than 1$ if I only sold one at a time so I put all 3 of them together. I didn’t sell them the first time around (starting price 4.00). The postage was for 2 pounds so that might have been discouraging the sale. I think I am going to relist them in my store though–at least for a month–and see if they sell. This is a good strategy that usually works for me.

A Christmas tablecloth in July. A lot of people know about the “Christmas in July” thing. It works on eBay too. This tablecloth did not sell though. I am going to use the keywords “Xmas in July” when I relist it and see if that helps. Try searching for “Xmas in July” and you will find a lot of items. I also have listed another really nice SANTA 1950s tablecloth that already has generated 3 bids in the first 24 hours I listed it. (auction is over on July 29)

Old Soap Opera Digest magazines—one at a time. I looked at other people’s auctions for vintage Soap Opera Digest mags. They were selling one at a time. Some sold for .99 or a little more—others did not sell. I listed 9 at a time and they are now at 25.00 with 2 days left.

It will cost me  a lot less in fees that way too and save me a lot of time by listing them all together. Check out any of my auctions at everythingvintagesteph.com and have a great day!

I sold saddle shoes sold on eBay for 35.77. They were in very good condition–barely even worn. They are leather and are often worn as part of a school uniform. Here is where I found them— At the clearance section of the Goodwill store. They were setting right on the edge of the bin just waiting for me to pick them up. I did–and they cost me 1.50. How do I know what to look for? One of my tools is this great book  Thrift Store Goldmines.

My next favorite find is vintage dress patterns. I find a lot of these at local estate sales. No seamstress ever throws away a dress pattern! I think I found most of these though at my friend’s yard sale where she was selling things that her mother had kept over the years. I usually pay about 1.00 for a dozen of them. The goods ones are the older ones (1950s or earlier–and they usually are not dated), especially apron patterns, doll patterns, and unusual items. The dress patterns are pretty ordinary and I sometimes don’t even sell them the first time around. I think these went for more $$ because there was a wedding dress in the lot—not sure! Oh, almost forgot to mention—they sold for 42.09 for the lot of 10 patterns. This FREE newsletter has also really helped me in my eBay business. CLICK HERE.

These jeans are on auction starting tonight and will be over on July 20. The reason I am writing about them as my favorite is because I just sold a pair of jeans that I had listed for over a year! I buy most of my jeans at the Goodwill clearance for 75 cents each. I start them at 3-4$. Then if they don’t sell, I move them to my eBay store and start them at 9.99 buy it now but I also accept almost any reasonable offer. They often sell for 9.99 as these did–even after a year! I usually don’t leave them in there that long but I do sell almost all of them eventually.

I have learned what brands to look for by reading the THRIFT STORE GOLDMINE book and also by trial and error! Another trick of mine in knowing what brands are good (besides just doing research on eBay completed listings) is the outlet mall in my area. I don’t buy there because the prices are still too high for resale but I know what brands they have there and how much other people are willing to pay for them.

HOPE this has helped you in thinking about what to sell on eBay. Check my auctions and eBay store at everythingvintagesteph.com

ride the ducks quackers

So they say when something big happens in the news, if you can sell it on eBay, then go for it! Well, this is my attempt to capitalize on that theory. There was an accident today on the Delaware river in Philadelphia involving the ride the ducks ride. It is a fun tour that drives you through the city and then goes onto the river and becomes a boat. I’ve been on it. They give you these “quackers” that kind of work like a kazoo to blow into it and make a quacking noise. They are very annoying but fun.

I saved my 2 from last year and had them in my “junk drawer.” So I got them out today and listed them on eBay. It’s a fun item and I hope they find the 2 people that are still missing as of 9PM this evening. Most of the people were not hurt badly but certainly it was very scary.

I even have a video on my listing to show how the quackers sound. Here is a link to the listing.     RIDE THE DUCKS

OR  here is just the video

Ok, here I am selling at the Renninger’s antique and farmer’s market. I was there for 3 days last week. They have this event 3 times a year but have a farmer’s market all year round. I ended up selling about 750$ worth of merchandise over 3 days. That is about average for me for this sale. I have made anywhere from 600$ to 1300$ for these 3 day sales. It’s a lot of fun! I set up near the same people each time and we catch up on what’s happening. It’s very busy on the first day and then slow but steady the rest of the time.  The rent is 180$ for a space under the pavilion (the best place to be) or 120$ for a space out in “the field.” You have to bring your own tent and tables, etc. if you are out in the field but you get a little more space to use. Some people camp there for 3 days. I live about 40 minutes away so no camping for me.

The first time I was at this sale, I watched what people were carrying around with them to see what they were buying. I also noted what they bought from me and the vendors around me. I discovered that they like a lot of primitives at this sale. Perhaps because this area of PA is known for a lot of farm collectibles like buckets and baskets and quilts and kitchen ware. So this is what I usually bring to this sale. Also, the price has to be right. I saw other vendors selling old buckets for 24$. Mine were 5-10$. I sold all but one. I had a vendor who bought 5 bags of cookie cutters from me because I had them for 5$ a bag. She took them to her booth and sold them by the piece.I bought about 1000 of them last year for less than 1$ a dozen at an auction in Leesport.

I also took some vintage toys but I didn’t sell many of those this time. Many of the items that I have leftover, I will put in my booth at Zionsville Antiques, or store for another antique sale, or sell the smaller items on eBay. You may see some of these toys listed soon.

Check out my eBay store at everythingvintagesteph.com for some great vintage bargains!

Rats, I forgot to take pictures today of what I was doing at the Renninger’s extravaganza antique show. This sale is held three times a year and the end of June is the least attended of all the 3. The other 2 are the end of April and the end of September. However, I was SO busy today! I sold about 440.00 worth of cool junk! I sell mainly primitive items at this show. Some of the items were: old wash tub 8$, old towel rack 10$, old jar 7$ (it had a chip), old kitchen tools 3$ each, 7 kazoos at 1$ each, parts to an erector set 8$, etc.

It started at 10 AM and started to slow down around 1PM because it was SO hot! It was supposed to be about 95 degrees but I’m not sure what it was. I was underneath a pavilion and there was a breeze so it wasn’t too bad. Then we had a BIG thunderstorm around 3PM and everyone sort of disappeared after that. I left around 3:15 and the sale goes until 5 but everyone was leaving–no customers! I have to get more stuff to take tomorrow to fill in all the empty spaces!

If you want to know more about the sale go to renningers.com. I am at the Kutztown site.

I am selling at the Renningers antiques and flea market in Kutztown, PA. this weekend. June 24, 25, and 26. Check it out at renningers.com. It’s fabulous and huge! I will try to report my experiences each day. Tommorow, wed. is set up day. These photos from my porch are some of the primitives I will be taking. They are very popular at this sale although I don’t sell many of these on eBay. I guess I could but they are large items and would take a lot of postage!

Yea, people collect milk bottle caps and I have at least 500 more of these! I sell these 48 at a time and I only start them at 3.00. Sometimes I get 3.00, sometimes I get more. The reason this is one of my favorite finds is that I got over 3 cartons of these at a local estate sale and only paid 1.00 for all of them. They are brand new and never used but they are for vintage milk bottles and are probably from the 1960s or so. I remember this dairy and it has not been in business for quite a while. 3.00 doesn’t seem like much but I keep relisting them over and over and it adds up with very little effort since once the auction is up and running it only takes one click to relist it.

My next favorite find this week is the Boehm porcelain flower. This is my favorite because it was a found treasure at the local auction. I bought one of those famous box lots that I love for about 3.00 and there was something else in it that I was interested in—-I forget what! When I looked at the other items in the box I pulled out this very pretty porcelain flower. I got out the magnifying glass to read the name on the stem and it read Boehm. I went right to eBay to look it up because I had never heard of Boehm before. (hey I don’t know everything!) I saw some other very pretty flowers and sculptures made by Boehm and some of the larger ones were going for 100s of dollars–check it out yourself! So I listed it right away and even though there was a very tiny flaw in the one petal, it sold for 36.55. I’m lovin’ eBay again!

Almost the same thing happened with the Commodore 64 plug and play. I got this at the same auction that I bought the Boehm flower. It’s not a vintage item but it actually plays 30 vintage games just by plugging it into the TV. My son-in-law was with me at the auction and he wanted it so I think he bid about 5.00 for it. He actually got 4 of them for 1 price and only wanted the 1 so he gave me the rest. Thanks, Scott! I sold the first one for 42.98. I just listed the second one last night and I have one more after that is over. HINT: don’t list same items at the same time unless you want to compete against yourself! If you are reading this before June 22, you can check it out on auction.

Thanks for listening to my auction stories and if you want to check out my auctions click on  everythingvintagesteph.com OR click on any of the photos.