everything vintage/what is it worth?

florida travel decals

This was a good week on eBay. For some reason, sales were up and bidding was in the war zone on many items. Such as:

7 vintage travel decals for Florida. I bought a handful of these at my local auction a few months ago. I sold some of them by the single piece and made about 3-5$ each. I also have a few that didn’t sell that are still listed in my store at everythingvintagesteph.com. I probably paid about 3.00 for the lot of them. I had some leftover that I just held on to for a few weeks but I finally listed all the Florida ones together. They sold for 45.00 total. Nice! They are probably from the 1960s or so and have nostalgic value for those who visited and collected them at that time. Mine were still in the original wax envelopes—most of them– and featured various parts of Florida.

vintage craft patterns

Another favorite find this week was vintage patterns. I buy a lot of these and they don’t always sell. I have clothing patterns from the 1970s and apron patterns from the 1950s, etc. The craft patterns seem to sell better than the clothing patterns. This lot of 9 patterns was for various crafts like pillows, purses, aprons, and even felt shoes. I decided to list them all together instead of separately. The lot sold for 22.10. I usually pay 1.00 for a box full of old patterns at the local auction so I was happy!

colored aluminum pitcher and mugs

My final pick is aluminum kitchen cups and pitchers. I bought a box full of these at the local auction. They were sold in lots of 5-6 pieces and not all the pieces were matching. I paid about 9.00 for the entire box of various lots. I only listed 2 lots on ebay. The rest will go to the flea market this weekend at merchantssquaremall.com in Allentown, PA. One of the lots I listed on Ebay were for 6 pieces of “Colorcraft.” I decided to try those because they were marked with a brand name. Those sold for the opening bid of 4.00. Not that great. I also listed a 5-piece lot of 4 mugs and a pitcher. These sold for 26.00.They were not marked with a brand name but I think the difference is that that they were colored and not plain.

Perhaps this info will help you in pricing some of your vintage finds—let me know! A great tool to use in determining value of items and deciding what to sell is called HAMMERTAP.

Vintage Skipper doll below is listed on eBay now until Feb. 16 at everythingvintagesteph.com

vintage skipper doll

Let’s start with the shoes! I bought 2 pair of vintage shoes at the local auction a few weeks ago. They were brand new in the box. I paid 1.00 each. The first pair was by Colorifics and they were full of gold beads. They sold for 4.00, my opening bid. The second pair was by Vera Cruz and they had leather soles and suede sides with fancy lacing. They sold to a person in South Africa for 15.50 plus I had to charge them 18.00 for the postage. Not mind boggling but a pretty good investment for 1.00!

gold beaded shoes

Then there was the box of lace I bought for 1.00 the entire box. I just started to sell this. So far I sold 70 yards of white lace for 8.76, and 11 yards of eyelet lace for 5.50. The ribbon trim didn’t sell so I will list it in my eBay store. I have about 10 times more lace left in the box. That should add up nicely for my (once again) 1.00 purchase.

lots of trim--still for sale!

How about a brass doorknocker featuring a Scottish man in kilts with a bagpipe? I had 2 of these, exactly the same. I took them to an antique show and they didn’t sell for 6.00. I took one to my booth at Zionsville Antiques and it didn’t sell for 6.00. Then I listed one on eBay. It sold for 5.75 right before Christmas. I listed the other one and it just sold for 29.00 right after Christmas. You never know!

vintage tablecloth on auction until jan 12

VISIT ME AT  EVERYTHINGVINTAGESTEPH.COM

CLICK HERE for one of the best ebooks about buying and selling vintage items from thrift shops!! I use the cheat sheets and ideas in this book all the time!

My favorite finds to sell on eBay this week are vintage Revere Ware pots. Sorry they are all SOLD but I am always on the lookout for more because they are good sellers! I didn’t know this until I found it out by accident a year or so ago. I bought a box lot of items and there was a copper bottom pot in with the other junk I wanted. The pot was marked Revere Ware and I know that new pieces are pretty pricey so I decided to sell it on eBay.

I don’t remember how much that first pot sold for, but I know I was happy! The ones I sold this week were:

10-inch sauce pans 14.89 and 10.50

3-quart pots 16.07 and 10.50

5-quart pot 16.07

I didn’t pay more than 3.00 each for them at the local auction and they all needed to be “cleaned up.”

Last June, I had a set of 6 Revere Ware copper mugs that sold for 46.00. I was really surprised on that sale because when I bought them at the auction, I only had 3 of them. (probably paid about 1.00) Another person at the auction ended up with 3 of them that she didn’t want so she just GAVE them to me so I had a set of 6. Thank you auction friend!

So keep an eye out for Revere Ware at yard sales and thrift stores! If there is a “face” on the bottom of the pan and a number 1801, then the pot was made before 1968 and has a heavier bottom. These are really good ones!

HAPPY HUNTING!

selling some cool vintage jewelry until Dec. 7!

I think I am going to make it 3 favorite finds this time so I can write more detailed stories about them. 5 is too many at one time but I might do 5 again later so the category stays for now!

1.Bennett Brothers vintage catalog from 1966. This catalog is a little bit like a vintage Sears catalog. These are good sellers on eBay! I got this catalog from my mother-in-law’s attic and it sold for 22.50. Click on the photo to view the auction! My mother-in-law moved to Oklahoma recently and my husband and I cleaned out her house. The house was sold as is so we were only allowed to remove personal property. We spent 2 weekends filling up the van twice with all sorts of vintage stuff. She kept everything—I loved it! Some other items we found: vintage hats and gloves, old books, sports items, lots of Lionel trains and lots of old silver coins stashed away in a file cabinet! Lots of happy hunting!

  

Hummel Figurine

2. Hummel figurine “Home from Market.” Sold for 42.17. I picked up 2 of these at a local estate sale. They were exactly the same except one had a broken foot! I didn’t see this before I bid and I’m not sure if the auctioneer knew it either because he didn’t mention it. He was selling them for one price each but you had to take the 2 of them. The bid was only 10.00 so I bid and that meant that I was paying 10.00 for one and 10.00 for the other and I had to take both. I was prepared to bid higher but luckily, I had no competition (maybe others knew it was broken—I don’t know!) and got both for 20.00. (The broken one sold for 5.50). Still a good deal!

 

vintage paint by number

 

3. Vintage paint-by-number snow scene 1960s. Sold for 14.25. I used to turn my nose up at these “amateur” pieces of art until I learned that there is a very good market for them! This one was a very nice snow scene but the more popular ones are tropical scenes and animals. I got over 40$ a few years ago for a tropical one! I paid 1.00 for this one at a local auction—everyone else was turning their nose up at it! Now I like them!

pansy quilt on auciton until nov. 14

Click on photo to view above pansy quilt on auction until Nov. 14. Very pretty!

My 5 favorite finds from local estate sales and what they sold for on eBay:

1. 6 white linen napkins, vintage but like new and very large—about 22 inches square. They sold for 19.49. I bought these for 6.00 a box and there were a few sets of napkins and some tablecloths in the box. Most were like new and didn’t need much attention—NICE!

2. Thomas the Tank engine playmat—brand new. Sold for 10.49. Someone got a nice bargain! I bought about 10 of these at an auction a few months ago and no one else bid on them so I got all 10 of them for 1.00. So anything I can sell them for is profit! I like listing them because it only takes a few clicks to relist a same item. I am still listing them at everythingvintagesteph.com.

   

   vintage wooden spools

    

3. 60 wooden spools –over 2 pounds—sold for 5.50. OK, it’s not a big price but when you consider I bought about 5 boxes of these for 1.00 a box and I have been selling them over and over for the last month, it adds up to over 50.00 so far just on the spools. They are old ones and new ones. Sweet! And still on sale at everythingvintagesteph.com!

4. 3 vintage velour ladies hats 8.49. Not much again but the cheap people at my flea market wouldn’t even buy them for 1.00 each! Ebayers have a lot more sense! The person who bought them wanted the black one for a Mary Poppins outfit. Perfect! I love when people tell me how they are going to use the items.

5. NEW pair of Easy Spirit white shoes sold for 36.97. Awesome! I got these at an estate sale and they looked like no one ever wore them. Again, no one at the sale was bidding on a pile of pottery (me neither!) so he added the shoes and I couldn’t even really see what was on the pile because I was on the other side of the room at the time. As is my habit, I “feel sorry” for anything that is not getting a decent bid so I stuck my hand up and got EVERYTHING for 1.00. I noticed the shoes were pretty nice so I decided to try them on eBay and we all got a good deal!

 

NEW Italian leather gloves on eBay until Oct. 30

SOME STATS FROM HAMMERTAP (see sidebar) on my auctions.

In the last 30 days, I listed 145 items and sold 99 for a 68.28 % sell through rate (pretty good). My average sale price per item was 6.77. (NOT very good but I sold tons of 3 and 4$ Halloween stuff!) My total sales were 859.76. Not as high as usual but I sold a LOT of stuff! I also sell at local antique malls and flea markets. Such as zionsvilleantiques.com. and merchantssquaremall.com. Stop by if you are ever in the area! PA is great for antiques and sales.

I’ll give you the story that goes with each item, what I paid for it at a local estate auction, and how much I got for it on eBay. Maybe you have some cool auctions in your area and you can do this too!

Snoopy garden flag

1. garden flag with Snoopy and a pumpkin: I bought an entire box of not new garden flags for 1.00 for the whole box. I sold many of the flags at a flea market for 1.00 each. I kept a few that I thought were nicer and that had a holiday theme. I recently listed 3 “fall” ones on ebay and the Snoopy one sold for 33.99 (I was hoping for about 5.00).
2. rhinoceros costume: I have a lot of  costumes on eBay right now because I bought over 50 costumes at an estate sale for 1.00 each. I also got some costume parts and pieces for 10/1.00. These were all new-in-the-bag costumes. This rhino costume had an original price on it of 24.99 and I sold it for 16.40 so everyone got a good deal!
3. Cinderella costume: This was a very nice quality costume that
   

   cinderella costume

    I bought a few months ago and put it away for this time of year. I had to wash it since there was dirt on the skirt but it came right out. It was not new but it was in like new condition (after I washed it!). I paid 1.00 for an entire box of clothing and this was in the box, along with a waitress costume, and 2 others (that I also sold). The Cinderella costume sold for 12.06.

4. brown leather women’s jacket: I bought this at an auction last year and paid 2.00 for it along with 2 other leather jackets for 2.00 each. They all fit me (yea!) so I wore this one for a while and then decided I didn’t need it any more. It sold for 15.50 so someone else also got a great bargain!
5. Sears catalog from 1966 fall/winter. I paid 2.00 for this and sold it for 13.01. It was in good condition with a little wear. This was an average price for the 60s. I also had a 1970 one that I did not sell, so I am going to list it in my eBay store. If I ever find the Christmas Sears catalogs, I will snatch those up because they can sell on eBay for up to and over 100$ depending on age and condition.

 Hope these examples help you find some bargains or help you price your own JUNK!

vintage costume selling on eBay starting Oct. 6

selling at everythingvintagesteph.com

nike sneakers I sold

pieces of yo yo quilt

My 5 favorite vintage finds:

Since this is my first post in this category, I am going to give you my 5 best finds in the last 3 months and how I sold them. They are:

1. pair of vintage NIKE sneakers: bought for 2.00 (along with 3 basketball shirts) sold on ebay for 158.50
2. set of 12 damask linen napkins: bought an entire box of these for 6.00 (probably about 6 sets but these were the nicest) sold on ebay for 40.99
3. 48 unopened packs of garbage pail kids cards, 3^rd series: bought for 10.00. sold on ebay for 56.00 (and I am STILL waiting for the customer to pay!)
4. 10 stephen king paperback books: bought for 50 cents a box (there were other books in the box as well). Tried to sell them at a flea market for 50 cents each. NO one bought any of them. Sold on ebay for 36.00.
5.  a vintage yo yo quilt that was cut apart into many pieces and stained: bought for 4.00. sold the first set of pieces (the worst ones) on ebay for 25.00. sold 3 small sections at an antique show for 12.00. I still have 4 times as many pieces left to sell. (shown above is on ebay starting oct. 2)

If you want to check it out do a seller search on ebay for librarianwca and click on completed auctions. Or check everythingvintagesteph.com