everything vintage/what is it worth?

I love cookbooks! And so do a lot of other people. Just browse through the listings on eBay that have the words “vintage cookbook” in the title and you will find a TON of them!

So how do I know which ones are the most valuable?  I like anything from Betty Crocker. The older the better. The better the condition, the better. The closer to a first edition, the best! Do a completed search on eBay and sort them from highest to lowest, you will see what I mean!

Here’s one that sold for 155.00!  CLICK HERE

Regional cookbooks can be a good seller too. This also includes fundraiser cookbooks from churches and schools, etc. Be sure to list the city and state of the origin of the cookbook.

Sometimes I just list a “LOT” of cookbooks, both old and newer. Those grocery check out ones are popular and can be expensive so I put together a “lot” of 6-10 of them for a decent price.

So how do I find them? While I do shop at local estate auctions, I find a lot of cookbooks at yard sales. however, I find MOST of them at Goodwill and other thrift stores. Not everyone has the patience to look through all of the books at the thrift stores but take some time and look!

You might find a great bargain!

You can check  out my listings at everythingvintagesteph.com. Thanks for stopping by!

I love this beautiful vintage robe from Christian Dior. I just listed it on eBay at a low starting bid of 6.00. I hope it goes UP UP UP!

This is also a really cute set from MISTEE. It has a robe and gown in the exact same style. I almost listed them separately until I realized they were a set! This is probably from the 1950s or 60s. Baby doll styles are very popular and this is close to that style.

This pretty quilted robe is from “Sears At Home Wear.” I listed this on a fixed price for 19.00. I was busy today!

So where do I find all this great stuff? The above corset was found at a local estate auction. I remember the auctioneer was embarassed to hold it up and was making fun of it so the old men there were afraid to bid on it. I wasn’t! Most of the other items I find at the thrift shops — Goodwill and Salvation Army and other local ones.

To see more photos and watch how these go on auction visit my eBay store at everythingvintagesteph.com. thanks!

I never really liked Halloween. I guess it’s all that devil and witch stuff. For years, I never sold any Halloween type stuff on eBay. Then I hit this one auction where I got about 100 costumes for 1.00 each. A good deal always overcomes dislike! That was about 3 years ago. I sold the costumes for 10-20$ each. I don’t have any of those left.

Then last year my daughter called me up from Target. “Hey the Halloween costumes are 90% off!” That’s all I needed to hear. She bought a bunch of them in her area. I have 3 Target stores in my area. I hit them all. I came home with about 50 costumes. Pet costumes too. I stored them in bins in my attic. They are selling lik crazy right now because I can list them lower than original cost and still offer free shipping.

Then I am always on the lookout for costumes at the thrift store. I buy them all year round. At off times of year, they are easy to buy because no one else is looking for them. I love the bins at the Goodwill clearance stores. Usually if I find one costume, there are more, so I keep digging. I just store them until next year. Halloween looks good this year. Bring on the candy!

This is my desk right now. The same one I use to type on. It’s too crowded. I need to sell some of this junk! I just looked up the going prices of some of these items and decided to list them on eBay. (as opposed to putting them in my booth at Zionsville Antique Mall, or taking them to Renninger’s Extravaganza antique show). I have vintage  screw back earrings, 2 8mm Apollo space films, a hand painted Fenton glass shoe, 2 Norcrest angels of the month, and some vintage cosmetics. I already have photos of some of the items so I can list them today — hopefully!

Then when I turn to the left side of my chair, this is what I see! I had a Mont Blanc pen in the pile for a year and finally listed it last week. I paid 30$ for it and got 148.00! It pays to clean out the pile once in a while. I’ve also got vintage hats (started with over 50 and am down to about half), cookie cutters, greeting cards, and lots of vintage sewing.. to name a few.

Probably my highest amount of junk is vintage books. They are easy to buy, easy to sell, and so much fun since I am a former high school librarian! Books will sell anywhere between 2 dollars and over 50 dollars. I’ve had a few go higher than that but it’s rare.

I LOVE vintage junk but I have over 500 listings in the new and used clothing categories. This keeps me in everyday business. Who doesn’t need a new pair of jeans? Who doesn’t wear jeans? If you can find a really great source for clothing, it’s a great seller. Read some of my other blogs to find out how I do it!

Every day is a listing day for me and tomorrow I go to a local auction for some more awesome junk! Then the next day I set up for a 2 day garage sale at Merchants Square Mall in Allentown. This isn’t work — it’s FUN!

I just love this necklace! It is so pretty. I really should keep it for myself but I sell a lot of vintage jewelry on eBay and at antique markets and sales. This piece has matching earrings and is on auction until August 27. Put in your bid at everythingvintagesteph.com! I started the price at 8.00 and it had a bid in the first 24 hours. In my opinion, the set is worth at least $20.00-30.00.

I also have these vintage earrings shaped like teapots for sale until August 27. One of the pair is shaped like coffee pots. They are all screwback earrings but they could be converted to pierced earrings or worn as pins or used in other craft projects. They are vintage and are of great quality. No manufacturer mark. In my opinion, these earrings are worth from $5-$10 a pair. Very unusual! Check them out at everythingvintagesteph.com.

Thanks for reading my blog this week!

I recently sold this vintage book on eBay for 36.00. Why did it sell for 36.00? What makes it more valuable than a copy of a Stephen King book or a 1960s Nancy Drew?
I think there are 4 criteria to consider the value of a book. In this order:
1. rarity
2. condition
3. subject matter
4. age

RARITY: This is not a rare book but the older date of 1943 was rare. I originally thought it was a first edition but later discovered it was not. However, the book did sell for 33.00. If you have a book that you think might be rare, just look up the title on eBay. Go to completed listings and look at those that were sold and how much they sold for. This should give you an idea. If you don’t find the book listed at all, that still might not mean it is rare. You just have to do a little more research on other search engines.

CONDITION: I haven’t listed this book on eBay … yet! But no matter how rare a book is, if it is is bad condition, forget it. This one has a few stains… not so bad. But if the cover were off and some pages were missing and the dog had chewed a corner, it just lost almost all of its value, no matter what the subject or age. I collect old textbooks from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Even at that age and rarity, I don’t want it if the cover is falling off!

SUBJECT MATTER: Both of these books are probably good for subject matter. They are somewhat rare and are in very good condition. Non fiction books are more likely to be of value than fiction since there are probably less copies available. Older children’s books are very popular, especially series like the Nancy Drew books from the 1930s and even the Goosebumps series from the 1980s.

AGE: These 2 books by Horatio Alger are not particularly valuable. I have 4 of them and am planning on listing them together as one lot. However, the older they are, the more valuable they would be. One of these is dated 1895 but 2 of them are not even dated. This is a popular series that has been reprinted several times so again, the older the better! One good thing to remember is that the ISBN system did not start until the late 1960s. So, if you have a book dated before then, but it has an ISBN, do a little more research! Also, a copyright date is not the same as a publication date. Always take the most recent date when listing a book. The date is usually found on the reverse of the title page.

Some books I have listed on eBay as of August 3. Check my eBay store at everythingvintagesteph.com.

I don’t sell much vintage and costume jewelry on eBay. I sell most of it at the antique shows and flea market Why? Just search for the words “vintage jewelry” on eBay and there will be over 400,000 hits! I tried “costume jewelry” and got over 300,00. hits. So I narrowed it down to “vintage jewelry lot” and got over 10,000 hits. Too much competition!

I do like to sell “lots” of jewelry though. I don’t think I have anything listed right now so I need to get a group together. I put together about a pound of pieces that are mismatched or missing a stone or slightly imperfect and sell these as parts and pieces for craft projects. A great way to save money for the crafter! This way a piece of jewelry never gets wasted! These lots can sell for 10-20$ depending on the quality.

I also like to group together 3-10 pieces of either earrings, or pins, or rings — all of one style or set. The bigger the grouping, the better the chance of a sale.

The individual pieces do sell well at the flea market though! No matter what other items I take to the flea market, they ALWAYS buy the jewelry! I sell it for anywhere from 50 cents to 5.00 a piece.

This might be a good set to try on eBay but I know I could sell it faster at the flea market. 2 of the places I go are merchanstssquaremall.com in Allentown, Pa and renningers.com in Kutztown, PA.

No matter what, vintage and costume jewelry is always a hit and lots of fun!

CHECK OUT MY EBAY STORE AT EVERYTHINGVINTAGESTEPH.COM

This is one of the items I had for sale at the Kutztown PA Renningers antique extravaganza  this past weekend (end of June). It didn’t sell! I should have displayed it better — it was off to the side. A fellow vendor said I should sell the animals separately so I bagged them up. About 5 minutes later, someone bought the cow for 7.00.

Usually the summer sale is not as well attended as the spring and fall sales. I expected to sell about 600$ but was happy to come away with almost 800$. I didn’t have anything priced over 40$ (except for one quilt) and most sales were $5-10 each. Many vendors said it was the worst they had ever done. The weather was gorgeous! We had one big thunderstorm but that is normal for the summer.

I had some really cute animal pottery. The vendor next to me bought 6 of the pots and then I sold a few more. I had about 10 of them in dogs, mice, pigs, etc. I had them priced at 5.00 each cuz I got a whole box full for 5.00.

This was probably one of the best things I had there. It is an old print of 2 boys playing with their toys from the early 1900s. Someone asked me if it was a circus painting. I said no, it is a print, and this is how boys dressed in the early 1900s and they played with a hoop by rolling it down the street. Times have changed! It did have a good bit of damage around the edges and although it did not sell, it got a lot of attention!

I have a lot of vintage hats right now. I went to an auction where they sold the entire table full of hats and purses and ties in one bid. I bought them all for 25.00. There were over 50 hats on the table. Some of them are showing up on my eBay store now. Click on any of the photos to visit my store or click everythingvintagesteph.com.
THANKS!

I wasn’t going to stop this week but the thrift store is just down the street from the gym. Had to stop! Glad I did. Everything was 25% off. I got 4 Jerry Garcia ties, 3 other ties, and 2 mugs. My bill was 4.77!  That’s a good day for sourcing for eBay!

These ties are so beautiful. They look like watercolor  paintings. I can usually spot them without even looking at the tags. Who knew Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) had a designer tie collection? I’ve gotten about $10-12 each for these ties on eBay.

This Alien neck tie is pretty cool too! The one with the cars and surfboards is a clip on. I will be listing these in the next few days. Today is June 10. CLICK on any of the photos or on EVERYTHINGVINTAGESTEPH.COM to view my auctions. If you don’t see these ties after June 12 or so, they might already be sold!

The mugs are a scrabble mug and a Disney mug. Probably keeping them for myself—unless I have a request!