Willits saddle shoes

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

vintage milk bottle cap

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.

anne klein

I should have paid more attention when I bought these perfumes at the auction a few weeks go. I will from now on! I just sold these 3 containers of anne klein for 113.00. It was a good deal for the customer but a great deal for me. I get most of my items to sell on eBay at local estate auctions. Sometimes when a house is cleaned out, there is some perfume to sell. I usually don’t pay much attention because I don’t use perfume and don’t even like it that much. I bought a box of it the other week for a few dollars. These were in it along with some Hawaiian fragrances–I got 5.00 for those, and  Perry Ellis–on auction now with a 10.00 bid and 5 days left.

It makes sense to me now. This is the scenario I picture for these items: Mother/wife likes perfume and kids/husband buy her some for her Christmas and birthday. She doesn’t actually wear it much so it stays in the bathroom or bedroom cabinet and adds up over the years. It makes a nice gift, so they keep buying it for her. She won’t give it away or throw it away because it is a gift and it doesn’t take up much room. A few years later–or maybe a lot of years later–the house is cleared out for whatever reason and the perfume ends up at an estate auction. That’s where I buy it. I bought this box for about 2 or 3 dollars. I could tell the perfume was never opened or used so, why not–the price was right. I am going to be looking for the perfume items a lot more in the future!

jessica mcclintock

Here’s another one I bought in the same lot. It is still on auction for a few more days. As I write this, the bid is at 6.08 and has 12 watchers.

raffinee

The Raffinee perfume has an opening bid of 3.00 and has 12 watchers.

Last December, I had a container of Ambush powder that I bought for 1.00 and it sold for 26.75.

If you want to see how much these sell for in a few days, visit my auctions at everythingvintagesteph.com. Check for completed listings. And keep your eye out for perfume in the thrift store and estate sales that you might be lucky enough to have in your area!!

Land's End novelty tie

For some reason, last week was very slow on eBay for me. Here are some of the things that I listed that DID NOT sell! With their starting bids…

GAP reverse fit jeans size 10     3.00

15 Easter lamb metal cookie cutters    3.00

3 vintage feedbag pieces of fabric    4.00

Land’s End novelty tie veggies and fruit    3.00

Singer sewing machine vintage buttonholer    3.00.

gap reverse fit jeans

So what do I do with the items that don’t sell?

lamb cookie cutter

I will relist some of these on auction OR I normally relist them in my store, which will now be the same as fixed price. When I relist in my store, I usually list them higher than the auction starting bid and they usually sell, it just takes more time! I have sold similar items in the past and some of them have sold for much more than the opening bid; for example, cookie cutters and Gap reverse fit jeans. You just never know what will sell from day to day on eBay!!

CLICK HERE TO visit my STORE and see some of these relisted items!

feed bags

sunbeam mixmaster cookbook

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

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!

ALREADY SOLD vintage Revere Ware

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!

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! ]]> http://www.everythingvintagesteff.com/2009/11/fav-finds-for-the-week-antique-catalog-vintage-hummel-figurine-paint-by-number-snow-scene/feed/ 0 http://www.everythingvintagesteff.com/2009/10/my-5-favorite-finds-this-week/ http://www.everythingvintagesteff.com/2009/10/my-5-favorite-finds-this-week/#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:57:27 +0000 steff http://www.everythingvintagesteff.com/?p=158 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.

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