I'll just be honest and tell you that we don't often get premium high value items like this. Some sellers think a big name auction house will net them a better price but eBay is literally the biggest auction in the world so why not?! As someone who is fond of old lamps it was a real pleasure to handle this and I was grateful for the opportunity to find this a new home!
This was a killer piece but I nearly killed myself trying to pack it and ship it and I'm not talking about the sharp nails sticking out everywhere. The effort of finding a box and supplies was a chore. I had to cut a hole in the side of a TV box and stick part of it out and then build another box around that box to make it work. It may not sound like a big deal for a nice sale like this but it took a helper and several hours to complete. And I'm still looking at that box as the destination is Florida to a part that may or may not be under water due to the hurricane. ;/
This was a cool piece but it sure did take up a lot of room in our store for over four months waiting to find a buyer. I was super glad when a driver showed up a couple days later to pick it up. Some internet buyers make us hold things for weeks and we really can't do much about it :(
Don't get me wrong, I love our buyers but some people collect the dumbest stuff. When Phoebe handed me these and told me to put them on eBay with a gleam in her eye I thought she was even crazier than ever. Lo and behold, chicken buttons were the flavor of the week!
We got this for almost nothing from someone who was going to throw it away after cleaning out a shed. When we figured out what it was we still couldn't comp a value as it was so rare that there just wasn't much data available. So we picked what seemed like a fair price and found someone who agreed - sales like this make up for some of the other junk we buy which never sells.
Vintage lamps always do fairly well - a pair is much easier to sell than a single.
We got to pick the leftovers from an old carriage house after a local auctioneer had already taken four truck loads of good stuff out. I got this for almost nothing but my time but the real work was packing and shipping it to a buyer in Cali.
We got to pick the leftovers from an old carriage house after a local auctioneer had already taken four truck loads of good stuff out. I hate playing second fiddle but sometimes I have to play a different tune to earn my tips. I got this for almost nothing but my time but the real work was packing and shipping it to a buyer in Alaska.
I seem to have great luck with old bookends. This was something I was 'fishing' for a high price and actually got a bite from New Zealand!
We already knew old knives were collectible and had value but having an original box can often double that value.
Unusual and old? yes - in demand? not really. I was happy to get $100 for these in a reasonable amount of time.
This was a fairly uncommon old machine and I found evidence that it might be worth about $500. After fishing for a month with no interest I let it go to the high bidder and this is all I got. The economy is such a wreck right now that many things are only selling for half of what they were worth a few years ago.
Some dealers have the patience to sell things one at a time for a couple dollars but when I find a collection like this I typically take a quick look to see if anything seems really special and then just let people fight over the group lot on eBay.
I was surprised I was able to get $250 for this and I was even more surprised my packing was good enough to get it overseas to the UK undamaged.
We've mentioned before that old Pyrex is somewhat in demand but it has to be clean and in good condition.
Old Disney stuff usually does well and I'm guessing this was an early piece that may have been a carnival prize or something. It probably wasn't licensed as it had no marking and doesn't look like the more typical Tinkerbell figures they made years later which is why it sold for a decent price.
Vintage pottery hasn't been doing well in recent years but some pieces with a certain look or color I will usually make the effort and try to sell on eBay.
We often buy collections of vintage costume jewelry. Most of it isn't worth much but it does sell in our showroom and I'll usually cherry pick a few nicer pieces to sell on eBay to help pay for the lot.
Record players can be hit or miss depending on brand and model. This was a great sale but packing and shipping something like this always makes my head spin.
Here is another sale I was really pleased with. Things like this usually are not in demand but for whatever reason it sold for a great price.
I'm just imagining someone got this as a gift circa 1965 and never opened it because they already had one and there it sat on a shelf for over 50 years until I found it still new in box.
I'm so happy when some old figurine like this sells as not many people want them anymore. It was a chore to pack and ship but it was worth it to get it out of my stable.
Art can be hit or miss but this was an interesting piece that had some age to it where I was able to identify the artist with a little research.
We got a big random collection of pens last month and some of them have really sold well. It's always nice to find something that dates back a few years but still appears to be new in box.
I was really surprised that this lot sold for as much as it did but considering the work to pack and ship this stuff I was grateful. Don't get me wrong, it was even more expensive when new but I know that very few people really even want find crystal anymore. All I can think is that the pattern or the shape was harder to find than most....
