Blog

I was speaking earlier about selling a group of items for one fair price as the trouble to 'part out' a given lot of low value things isn't worth the time. Several people wanted me to sell them just one magazine from this lot for like $10 but I was patient and finally got a fair price just to take them all. The nice thing about books and magazines is they can be shipped with USPS 'Media' mail which is very cheap considering the weight.

The more unusual something looks, the more I like it - and sometimes - the more it's worth!

I love vintage toys and games and passing along memories is what we do. It's even better when we get a good price for the effort!

Someone offered like $65 for this one day but I knew it should be worth more and sure enough I got a better offer a few days later.

In my opinion, vintage women's clothing does not sell very well but men's clothing on the other hand can do okay. These shoes were literally brand new in original box from like 1957 and not only did they sell in an hour or two but the buyer was in Japan and paid another $75 to have them shipped. I'm thinking I could have gotten more but we have to price items fairly to keep things moving out the door.

Old Chinese stuff is pretty hot these days but it can be hard to tell if something is actually old and which items will actually sell for a good price.

Just because something is old does not make it worth a lot of money and I consider myself lucky to have gotten $100 for these as the appeal is fairly limited.

There are still plenty of collectors for true vintage military related items.

Lamps identical to this have previously sold for as little as $25 and I think this sale broke a record. We know what's hot and our audience will usually pay a premium for true vintage decorative items. 

We cleaned out someone's house and as professional pickers, we always know to rescue true vintage holiday items. Halloween stuff does especially well but most people would have thrown these away.

I always take a close look at anything that is obviously old as you never know what people collect

People love nostalgia and passing memories along is what we do... novelty items can make a great sale

Vintage pottery can be hit or miss but I usually take a chance on cat and dog related items....

I can always get a good price and find a new home for vintage lighting

I seem to have good luck with random kitchen / dining / household items from the 50's & 60's as I don't think too many other dealers know to look for things like this

Most music media doesn't have much second hand value but some big name artists, especially anything Grateful Dead will sell well.

Higher end decorative collectibles usually hold some value.

Most contemporary electronics don't have much resale value but some obscure items are worth researching

Another example of grouping a lot of low value items together for one fair price.

The market is fairly flooded with sports collectibles but some still do have some value if they are nice

Nice ethnic folk art can be expensive when purchased at a gallery, but most pieces I find are not signed, at least not by anyone famous and the re-sale value is usually pretty low, even for big impressive ones like this

When we get a group of obscure collectibles I'm always faced with the option of selling them one at a time or as a mixed lot. Unless the items in question are highly sought after, I usually do the group lot route as waiting and storing lower value items isn't really worth it even if they ultimately bring more over time.

I love to sell old lamps and usually have good luck with them. This one had some damage but still a good sale.

Old architectural can do really well. At 35 pounds and filthy dirty, most people would opt to leave this in the fireplace for the next homeowner but you know I had to grab it. Similar pieces had sold in years past for as little as $100 but this stuff is getting hard to find.

We rescued this from a house clear-out job. It doesn't look like much but upon close inspection you see it is old and the makers initials are stitched and it was dated 1808! I still didn't think it would perform well but it actually sold for a really fair price.