First time out...need a little hlp

[northwoods]

There are WAY too many sellers just throwing stuff on eBay and hoping to get bids. Little secret... eBay is slowly dying. People don't like waiting for auctions to end and the novelty of auctions wore off about 5 years ago. Yes, you can still sell stuff for good money on eBay, but you have to know how to list the items well, and list them in the correct categories in many cases to make any money.

I have been flipping used items for 12 years now. I moved 90% of my selling to Amazon. There are no listing fees, and stuff usually sells for higher prices there. Many people do not know that you can sell almost anything, including used items like board games, electronics, etc there. I sell no books on eBay. For the books that you find, just go to AZ, and type in the ISBN# or title for old books.

Goodwills are among the highest price of "thrift" stores, but there are still tons of great stuff to find. You just have to know what to look for, and look for stuff that most internet sellers are not because Goodwills get hit hard, especially for books, music and vintage clothes. I have to admit that I have found multiple $100 books and $50 records at Goodwills, but I have made the most money on stuff like: vintage audio speakers, rare board games, gold items, audio components, old video games and systems, vintage decor and vintage T-shirts. Some of the old rock T's from the 70s and 80s can bring $50-100, or more. Look for the old heavy metal T's, but they have to be original, not repros.

 

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[northwoods]

If you only have 5 minutes to search books at Thrift store

I have bought less books the last couple of years, but here is what I look for if I don't have to time to check ISBNs, etc. #1 Textbooks from the last couple of years, esp. softcover texts, as most Goodwills charge too much for HC books. These softcover texts can be trade-sized softcovers. Look for college/univ. publishers. Even some of the older trade sized softcover texts were not reprinted, making them much more valuable. Anything that has been revised is almost worthless. #2 Look for old thin non-fiction softcovers! This goes against what you would think, but that is why some of them are worth $100 and more. If you look at a book and say "Who the heck would write that or read it..snatch it up immediately. It very well could be rare and valuable. I have made way more money off of such books than I have from any first edition books or signed books, and I have found quite of few of those, as well. #3 - if you only have a couple of minutes, totally disregard fiction books. Non-fiction books are much easier to skim through, and they are usually worth more and have more gold nuggets.

 

[Minrelica]

I believe he is what is referred to as a ceramic "hobby mold" piece. Here is an identical one with a different paint job-
Vintage Ceramic Little Boy USA Astronaut Figurine/Very Cute/7 1/2 Inches Tall | eBay

Yours looks much better.

lol... I think it would be hard to find one with a worse paint job than that one.

 

[dejapooh]

I LOVE THIS...
Texico Gas?

VERY VERY COOL. Great buy.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm just going to keep the law books, they might come in handy in the next couple of years when I'm in school. I'll make sure to study up on silverware and flatware. I took another shot today with a little statue that I can't find any information about on the internet. It looked space aged. theres no marks on it or anything and it was only 50 cents.View attachment 766265

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[dejapooh]

I am moving to Amazon with most of my Garage sale finds. I find that for most new or used household items, it is best. Ebay is best for collectables, especially specialty items. I do a LOT of Olympic pins, which are VERY specialized.

There are WAY too many sellers just throwing stuff on eBay and hoping to get bids. Little secret... eBay is slowly dying. People don't like waiting for auctions to end and the novelty of auctions wore off about 5 years ago. Yes, you can still sell stuff for good money on eBay, but you have to know how to list the items well, and list them in the correct categories in many cases to make any money.

I have been flipping used items for 12 years now. I moved 90% of my selling to Amazon. There are no listing fees, and stuff usually sells for higher prices there. Many people do not know that you can sell almost anything, including used items like board games, electronics, etc there. I sell no books on eBay. For the books that you find, just go to AZ, and type in the ISBN# or title for old books.

Goodwills are among the highest price of "thrift" stores, but there are still tons of great stuff to find. You just have to know what to look for, and look for stuff that most internet sellers are not because Goodwills get hit hard, especially for books, music and vintage clothes. I have to admit that I have found multiple $100 books and $50 records at Goodwills, but I have made the most money on stuff like: vintage audio speakers, rare board games, gold items, audio components, old video games and systems, vintage decor and vintage T-shirts. Some of the old rock T's from the 70s and 80s can bring $50-100, or more. Look for the old heavy metal T's, but they have to be original, not repros.

 

[dejapooh]

Great to know. Thanks.

Don't be too quick to under value the Black's Law Dictionary many editions sell well on Ebaay: black's law dictionary| eBay These do particularly good in August and September as college students return to classes.

 

[dejapooh]

There is a Goodwill Book Store near my house (well, 7 or 8 miles away). I go to a restaurant next door weekly to have dinner with my parents. The last time I was there, my son found a book from the 1880's published from Queen Victoria's Personal Diary about her trips to balmoral and other parts of the countries (England, Wales, Scotland). On a whim I checked it on my Amazon Price Checker, and found it was a good $35 in used condition. This one was very nice. I started scanning things using the Amazon Price Checker and my cell phone's camera to check the UPC symbols. We pulled out about 25 text books that will sell for $35 to $100 each. Paid the $2.99, $3.99 for hard cover, and went to dinner. I've already sold about $300 of those books (that pays my smart phone fees for the year). Now, when we go to meet my parents for dinner, we arrive an hour before for a hunt. Every time we pull out 2 or 3 books... enough to pay for dinner.

Short, If you are going to do books, get Amazon Price Checker for your smart phone. Text books are easy money, but only if they are current (or 1 generation off). Be sure to check the Used Price on Amazon and get ready to mail those books.

Religious books are also good. Check them on Amazon and the more unusual the religion, the better.

 

[rickv14623]

They are thoughtful items for a first time out. Goodwill can be tough if it's a retail store. If you have the time / inclination -- go on ebay and look at the vintage flatware patterns --- especially Oneida Community stainless pieces ---- . I have never been in a thrift store that didn't produce high value flatware for pennies. They usually price the silver plate high (most of it is worthless) and price the stainless for next to nothing (much of it sells for close to its weight in silver on ebay). Your focus at first should be on Oneida pieces with a cube mark. These are older, and tend to bring more money. While your looking -- keep your eye out for child size pieces in regular patterns (not the scoobie doo / mickey mouse etc spoons - but rather the regular patterns - e.g. Heirloom -- in a child size.) Those pieces along with cocktail forks, demitasse spoons and iced tea spoons are relatively sought after. At the end of the day - it's all about the pattern - but any cube marked Oneida is a good bet. From there you can move on to more exotic pieces - some of the danish and danish style stainless will bring over $100.00 per spoon, fork etc. It sounds ridiculous (it did to me too) but I have personally sold thousands of dollars worth of stainless flatware on Ebay and most of it comes from thrifts.

Nice tips on the flatware, thanks

 

[Minrelica]

Little secret... eBay is slowly dying. People don't like waiting for auctions to end and the novelty of auctions wore off about 5 years ago.

So wrong you are.

I've been an ebay seller for 15 years and it's far from dying. If you know what you're doing, ebay works... If you don't know what you're doing, it sucks... I happen to know what I'm doing.

 

[dejapooh]

Ebay is not dying, profits are made at the purchase, not at the sale. If you buy something low enough, you will profit when it sells, even if you get less than you thought you would.