everything vintage/what is it worth?

I found some really great pieces of vintage fabric last week that I have listed on eBay. It took a little research to learn about these when I first started finding them but knowing the proper terms to list them under in eBay is very important, so I learned!

BARKCLOTH

The pieces you see above are usually called barkcloth. I have heard people pronounce it BARcloth but this is not correct. Actually, barkcloth is not technically correct either since real barkcloth was made from real bark in Asia, India, and the Pacific islands in the 1800-1900s. However, this fabric is now called barkcloth because of its dense cotton texture that has a rough surface like bark. It was popular in the 1950s and 60s for home furnishings such as curtains, drapery, and slipcovers. A nice large pair of curtains in this fabric could bring over 100$ on auction. Small pieces are nice for pillows and other projects. I love the feel and look of it—especially the tropical and dogwood patterns. Do a search for barkcloth on eBay and you will see the various designs and prices.

FEED SACK FABRIC

I am just getting to know feed sack fabric a little better. If you only have a small piece of it, it is very hard to tell from just normal cotton fabric although it does have a little more texture to it than regular cotton. The best way to tell whether or not it is feed sack are the small stitch holes/lines that are usually on 2 or 3 sides of the fabric. This is where it was once sewn together to form the feed sack. Also it  is usually about 36-37 inches wide rather than the 45 wide fabrics bought from a bolt today. You would buy the flour or whatever in the feed sack and then reuse the fabric for dresses or quilts. It was a great way to recycle!

Vintage fabric is great because of the many different styles and colors available. Use it in clothing or crafts or quilts, etc!

Check out my auctions and eBay store at  everythingvintagesteph.com. I usually have some type of vintage fabric there!

patriotic fabric

I sell a lot of fabric on eBay. Right now though I only have one auction and 2 listings in my store with fabric. Why? Because it usually sells very quickly! If you have been to a fabric store lately, the prices are quite high. Usually it is sold by the yard. On eBay, there are may ways to sell fabric. You can list it by the yard or in strips or jelly rolls or panels or squares–sometimes called fat quarters.

WHAT IS A FAT QUARTER?

A fat quarter is an 18 x 22 inch piece. Most fabric is about 44 inches wide. If you buy a quarter yard you get a piece that is 9 x 44. If you buy a fat quarter, the yard is cut into 4 pieces of 18 x 44 each. For a quilter, this offers more versatility for use of the piece. So if you have a lot of pieces of fabric lying around that you are not using, you could cut them into fat quarters and sell them as pre cut pieces. I plan on doing this soon but haven’t done it yet because I have a lot of pieces that I can sell by the yard.

vintage fabric

WHAT FABRIC SELLS WELL ON EBAY?

If you use a program like hammertap (see sidebar) you can gather a lot of information on what is selling on eBay. Some of the higher priced fabrics are specialty ones like silk, jacquard, upholstery and bulk lots. If you have any of this, make sure you use those keywords in your title. The word LOT is a much searched word as well so if you have more than 2 pieces, use the word LOT in your title. It is better than the word BULK. Just do a completed search and sort it for “highest price” and you can find other keywords to use. (or use the HAMMERTAP program!)

vintage chenille bedspread

HOW DO I FIND FABRIC TO SELL?

Of course, if you want to sell fabric you have to either find something unusual or find something at an awesome price! I do find a lot of my fabric at the local estate auctions. I can buy a box for 1$ there. However, another good source is yard sales and thrift shops. I have a Goodwill store that sells clothing by the piece at 75 cents in their outlet store. I often will buy a piece of clothing that has some beautiful fabric and cut it up into pieces. (fat quarters) Sometimes you get some nice buttons and other trim this way too! The larger the size, the more fabric you get out of it. I made a number of crazy quilt pillows this way in the past.

Sheets and old blankets are great fabric too! I sell a lot of chenille bedspreads that have holes and stains because people use the fabric for teddy bears and other craft projects. Use the word CUTTER in the title if you have any fabric like this with holes or stains.

Fabric is all around you just waiting to be reused and recycled. Keep your eyes open and you can turn some free stuff into cash!

CLICK on any of my photos or click HERE to view my eBay listings.

I just made this tonight and it was so yummy and easy, I am posting the recipe for my facebook friends..and anyone else!

8 oz. egg noodles (pasta ribbons)

1 ½ lb. ground beef

2 cups spaghetti sauce

1/3 cup  onion chopped

8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup cottage cheese

½ cup sour cream

1. Cook noodles until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Brown beef and onions; add spaghetti sauce

3. Mix cheeses and sour cream

4. In 3 quart casserole, pour half the noodles. Top with cheese and cream mixture and cover with remaining noodles. Top with beef mixture.

5. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes

The cream and cheese mixture make it so yummy and it’s easier than lasagna!

click here to view my eBay bargains! New items listed every day.

The tortoise and the hare

This is me (the tortoise with the trophy) in a play that I was in a few weeks ago. It was “Aesop’s Fables.” Because we don’t have a lot of actors, I got to play 3 characters…the lion, the grasshopper, and this one—the turtle. You know what the turtle always says…..”SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE!”

Well, that is what I apply to my business on eBay! Lots of things have changed on eBay since I started selling in 1998. Lots of people complain about the changes. My uncle complains because he used to get 100.00 for items that are now more common (because of more exposure on eBay) that sell for 20.00. My friend (nameless) complains because she has to use paypal for all her transactions and she hates the fees. These 2 people no longer sell on eBay. I am still on eBay and will stay on eBay because slow and steady wins the race! I just learn to adapt and keep going. I list about 6 items everyday and just keep going and going and yes I keep making money, whether a lot or a little, it’s still a good business!

vintage sewing and more!

eBay vintage junk

I’m not hurting for inventory. Here’s some of my junk—organized and unorganized that is waiting to be listed on eBay. I get more every week. I mainly go to local estate sales for vintage items and to the thrift stores for clothing. I rarely pay more than 1.00 for any one thing that I list. OK, a few nice things I might pay 5-10$ for. I never pay more than 1$ for clothing though!

Slow and steady wins the race so I will keep listing and selling until I get tired of it. I’ve been at it for over 11 years now so…..

platform shoes

Here’s some crazy shoes I just listed today. Click on any photo or click  HERE to go to my store and visit my slow and steady listings!

classic book sets

I sure lost a lot of eBay time by going on vacation! I didn’t want anything listed while I was gone because I wasn’t sure how often I could reply to questions and of course I couldn’t send anything out. Then my printer went down right before I left and when I came back the internet was not working for  over 24 hours. Help! Well, I am back in business now for about a week and things are finally picking up.

Ebay is still a little slow right now but here are some things that are selling for me. Sets of classic books like the one I have shown in the photo above. As a former librarian, I like to find vintage books to sell. It is a lot of hit and miss though. This set I have listed for 5.00 and I have one opening bid so far. It is over later today so it may not go any higher. Sometimes complete sets like this from the 1920s or so can go up to 50.00. The condition has to be good.

crochet hooks

I don’t think I have ever failed to sell crochet hooks. They are easy to pick up at local estate sales and I usually get 5-10 dollars for a bunch of them since they are much more expensive in the craft stores.

barbie doll clothing

Barbie doll clothing of any type almost always sells. I have to list a nice size lot of it and the genuine Barbie is the best. This lot is all handmade clothing though and is probably at least 30 years old. The auction is not over yet as I write this but I expect 5-10$ for a lot of this size. Again, the condition must be very good.

crochet thread

I am not sure why crochet thread sells as well as it does. I do find these spools quite often at the estate sales and I can pick them up for a very low price. I guess there are some crafters out there who still do hand crocheting with this thread! The multi colored ones sell the best and I had to clean a  lot of fuzz off of these to get them ready to sell. I think they were stored with some furs! I got 30.00 for a lot of multi-colored thread a few months ago. These are still on auction but I expect about 5-10$ for a lot of this size.

I hope this gives you an idea of the vintage items you could sell on eBay if you can find them in your area, and what they might be worth.

Check out my store at everythingvintagesteph.com for more ideas!

Someone else asked about the room. I think most of the rooms on our floor (third floor) were the honeymoon suites. They could be slightly different from this video but probably very close to it! The honeymoon suites had a sash across the door welcoming the couples and there were quite a few on our floor and I think the rooms are all the same on this floor. Some were facing the ocean like ours but others were not. Just ignore the funny man (my husband) in the video. We made these videos mainly for our family! but I am happy to share the resort with you.

Someone asked if I would post photos of the Caribbean party. It was dark and this video is not real clear but it gives you an idea! The food was awesome and there was so much of it. The regular dishes are in the silver servers and there was a bread table, a sushi table, a chef making paella, another chef grilling whatever you wanted, and of course, the desserts on the cart. The music and dancing lasted about an hour after the food. You could get any drinks you wanted and they had a craft show from the locals. The weather was so beautiful at that time of night–7-9PM with the moon out over the ocean. The party was right in front of the pool. The waiters all wore the big straw hats.

Hello bloggers. Yes, I am on vacation now and will return in a few days. I used my eBay sales to get here and it didn’t take long to save up! I will post pix when I get back to my own computer. I stopped all my eBay sales while I was gone but still sold items from my store everyday. I just left an eBay message that I will process them at a later date. Thank you customers!

and yes this place is awesome!

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!!

46 star flag

It pays to count your stars! I listed a 48 star flag on eBay last week. At least I thought it was a 48 star flag. I know that when the stars all line up it is usually a 48 star flag. I just glanced at it quickly. I bought it at the local estate auction as a 48 star flag because apparently the auctioneer did the same thing I did. Looked at it very quickly.

A few hours after I listed the flag, I got an email question. The person pointed out that this was a 46 star flag, not a 48. Boy was I happy! I was able to change the listing title in time to reflect the new information. A few things went in my favor. First of all, if anyone had placed a bid on my auction before I received this info, I would not have been able to change the listing. Then, the kind person who sent me the info had not bid on my auction. I do not know whether on not this person intended on bidding or not BUT they could have bid before sending me the info and then they would definitely have had an advantage. They would have known it was a 46 star flag and no one else would have known from the title (since I can‘t change it after there is a bid placed) and they probably could have gotten the flag for a very reasonable price.

Thank you kind person for not bidding, so I could change my title and attract a lot more bidders! I think I paid between 1 and 5$ for the flag. I started the listing at 5.00. By the time it ended, I had over 30 people watching it and it ended at 76.00. There was a little damage to it but not much.

So the lesson here is, count your stars before you list your flag! The 46 star flag has a few rows slightly askew to make up for the fact that there are not 6 rows of 8 like a 48 star flag has. If you have good eyes, you can see in the photo that there are only seven stars in the 2nd and 5th rows.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK MY OTHER VINTAGE FIND AUCTIONS ON EBAY!!