Old suitcases are a dime a dozen and only pieces that have exceptional style or patterns are going to be worth anything. This set wasn't all that great but it was very clean - enough to justify the respectable sale price of 150
Just sharing another retro light that sold
We've mentioned that Native American related items are still somewhat in demand, but even that category has declined in value over the past ten years. There are so many newer made pieces on the market that it can be hard to tell the difference from true artifacts and only things with some type of documentation or provenance will bring big prices these days.
Jewelry is the most heavily marked up luxury item in existence. Name brands aside, the resale value is often tied closely to the scrap price of the metal. Only extraordinary pieces like this will bring more but when you consider the cost of eBay fees, we only got about $50 more than the gold would have melted down for. We of course hate to see nice things destroyed and finding something a good home always makes it worth the effort.
Just sharing another cool vintage lamp that sold for a great price. Sometimes when we know we have something good, it's worth sitting and waiting to try to get as much as we can. Unfortunately we only have enough space to sit on so many things so sometimes this strategy isn't possible.
Even in less than perfect condition, vintage toys are always in demand to those looking for lost memories. Our star associate G rescued this $75 fatty from a donation pile pick that was pretty slim otherwise.
These old panels were truly 400-500 years old. They had condition issues but were still premium items in my opinion. eBay puts our items in front of tens of millions of viewers but at a starting bid of $500, we only got one taker. I do feel we got a fair price for them but I have to admit that with a proper appraisal going through a name-brand auction with 'clout', they might have sold for significantly more. At the end of the day, they were donated to a local church so the money was found to them and these pieces found a good home.
Some types of old tools and devices can have surprising value but most things like this have been replaced by computer technology.
True vintage music, movie, and entertainment memorabilia is always a good seller. Pop culture items go quick! On top of the $40 purchase price, the buyer paid another $30 to ship it to the UK! We live in a small world these days
Sharing another old lamp that sold. I really thought this one would bring a little more
One of my associates had this tagged to be sold on-line for $60 but when I saw it, I knew it was a good piece that was worth a little more. Sure enough, someone quickly agreed with my price. My team member didn't do anything wrong, but some items are uncommon enough to demand a little more than what our research tells us. It pays to have more than one pair of eyes inspect things and this is how we handle your consignment items as well - we get as much as we can - keeping in mind the need to sell a given item in a timely manner.
We find pieces like this all the time - they aren't worth what they used to be and we had to sit on this one for over a month to find that perfect buyer who would pay a fair price. When we meet customers who have entire homes full of hard-to-sell items, consignment isn't always the best option and sometimes we just offer to outright purchase things in a 'bundle' at a 'wholesale' offer.
We've talked about old metalware having value before. Garden and patio pieces can do particularly well but the cost of shipping heavy items to someone who wants them can really cut into the value of what an item is worth. These actually sat in our loading dock for several weeks before I processed them - most people have spare money like this lying around, how about you?!