Things that I hunt for at garage sales / thrift stores

[cyberdan]

but am so stressed by accurately estimating the postage. Do you all use flat rate boxes or what?Any help on the postage aspect would be helpful! What kind of payment do you prefer? Paypal, or what?

1st paypal is great!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes they have fees, but I have a business and know I will have to pay fees to accept money. I used to have a real merchant account with a card swipe machine, I hated that company. Every month they would come up with different fees to charge. I never knew what the bill would be. I joined PP when it was young and have not regretted it. (P.S. when I joined, that machine got tossed in the trash)

For shipping charges I never use flat rate boxes or try to guess postage. I weigh my ebay item, round the weight up to the next pound and add one pound. I also add $1 to $1.50 as handling charge. Only got one complaint in the last year about high shipping charge. I told him the item was heavy, it was going all the way across the country and I added a handling charge. THEN I BLOCKED HIM FROM BIDDING I knew he would cause problems if he won the auction.

The reason I tack on some extra postege? It almost pays ebay/paypal fees. When I bid I ALWAYS take into account cost + shipping, if I don't like the total I just don't bid.

 

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[famous turtle treasures]

Thanks! Hey Turtle, where can I find your blog?

http://famousturtletreasures.blogspot.com

I just found out that I am taking my EOD Master board starts in 2 weeks, so I am not going to get much posting done in the month of march. I wish I could ebay full time lol.

 

[famous turtle treasures]

Here is another jaw dropper, I was looking through my pictures a sale of interest to share.

Vintage snowball lights

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130466309346#ht_852wt_910

obviously I sold these at Christmas, but I paid .45 cents each. If you find them I would buy them,

Also keep an eye out for uranium glass, sold every piece I have found, just make sure you don't pay too much for em.

 

[allen]

I look for carnival glass for my wife and
bottles, arrowheads and coins for me.

 

[famous turtle treasures]

Recently I decided to do a test on my store. I did a bulk edit on all of my listings, giving them all the make an offer option.

I did the change on March 2nd. So far I have sold 17 items. 16 offers and 1 regular price purchase.

Check them out here http://completed.shop.ebay.com/famo...dmd=1&_ipg=50&_since=15&_sop=12&_rdc=1&_rdc=2

Pay extra attention to the chrome industrial floor lamp. I paid $12.00 and sold it for $150.00 (If I have time I will be blogging about this lamp)

 

[cyberdan]

I did the change on March 2nd. So far I have sold 17 items. 16 offers and 1 regular price purchase.

Good going famous
I stear clear of big items like yours. I don't have a lot of storage space and I hate having to box & ship things. If it won't fit in a 9 x 11 x 10 box or smaller I think twice before buying.

 

[famous turtle treasures]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vtg-big-box-com..._Video_Games&hash=item1e6028f1a3#ht_852wt_910

Vintage big box PC game Rise of the Triad, sealed. I obviously sold this to a collector who must be around the same age range as myself.
I am still amazed that vintage PC games sell for as little as they do sometimes. I collect the games that I played growing up, and I would personally pay much more that $99.99 for a sealed version of some of the games I use to play. When I listed this game none of them were selling for $10.00, low and behold I sell mine for $99.99

Don't rely 100% on completed listings when you are doing research.

 

[famous turtle treasures]

Vintage stainless steel flatware. If its made in..... #1 USA ( Big bucks) #2 Japan (Possibly danish modern/ good quality) #3 Korea (Vintage, the flatware in this listing is from korea)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130473464979#ht_1302wt_992

Paid $4.00 for the lot

I could go into detail about quality vs country of origin, but I don't have the time right now. Look for the ones above and stay away from indonesia, taiwan, and china (unless its a super name brand)

 

[SEANO]

Vintage stainless steel flatware. If its made in..... #1 USA ( Big bucks) #2 Japan (Possibly danish modern/ good quality) #3 Korea (Vintage, the flatware in this listing is from korea)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130473464979#ht_1302wt_992

Paid $4.00 for the lot

I could go into detail about quality vs country of origin, but I don't have the time right now. Look for the ones above and stay away from indonesia, taiwan, and china (unless its a super name brand)

Hey Famous, hit my little local thrift store and pick-up this stainless steel flatware after reading your post. Hope it sells, maybe its not even old, but it seems older. If doesn't sell we'll be using it at home...
Also Picked up Eureka Season 1 for $2, I'll watch and sell for $8.

Marked: RELAX STAINLESS HOLLAND Various colors, set of 12, paid $10 (see tag).

 

[famous turtle treasures]

Check replacement.com, those could be worth some serious money.

Those look danish modern / mid century modernist

I would have snatched them up in a heartbeat for $10.00.

How many total? Awesome find.

 

[SEANO]

Check replacement.com, those could be worth some serious money.

Those look danish modern / mid century modernist

I would have snatched them up in a heartbeat for $10.00.

How many total? Awesome find.

72 pieces total

 

[famous turtle treasures]

WOW yeah you hit a nice little jackpot with those.

depending on the condition, and the right words you could get $100-$400 for the lot.

 

[SEANO]

WOW yeah you hit a nice little jackpot with those.

depending on the condition, and the right words you could get $100-$400 for the lot.

Nice!!

 

[2Minnesota]

Great info in this thread!

I personally like to look for glass that is "pretty" to me (tangerine and ruby and yellow colors), I have a small collection. And I love jewelry, so always looking for that!!!

 

[famous turtle treasures]

Nice glass collection. Eventually I am going to make it down to the Tacoma glass museum and do some research. I am in the Seattle area and

glass is huge here. I heard they have blenko and lots of other glassware there.

I literally just discovered slag glass about a month ago, I didn't even know it existed lol. I have yet to find any cheap enough to buy.

I am a big fan of vintage barware so I always look out for cool double old fashion sets like these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6490475&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_1420wt_907

They are by no means a fast selling category but if they don't sell then I just add them to my personal collection .

I know I have mentioned it before but keep your eyes out for dorothy thorpe roly poly sets, 8 of the silver band roly poly will net you $100.00

They come in a straight silver band or silver fade like these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...4753801&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_1402wt_907

These ones are the first ones that I have seen with a silver fade and a pattern on them.

More silver fade examples

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6491857&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_1402wt_907

Here is an example of the silver band.. it comes in 1" and 1/2" ? called allegro.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...8738225&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_1402wt_907

You have to watch the silver, it is real silver, and it flakes off if you use too much elbow grease, not that I have EVER done that :P

I have a personal set of the silver fade with caddy that I break out on special occasions. A little bit o scotch and a cigar wooo.

 

[SEANO]

Famous,

Just picked these up today (first picture) for $2, missing pieces I think.

The second picture is a lot (four of each) I found last weekend.

 

[2Minnesota]

Thanks FTT! I too like the Blenko glass although I have not seen much of it in person. I am always looking for it as sales and thrift stores though. I also like the small crackle glass vases/pitchers. Tangerine and Ruby red are the favorite colors. You (and a lot of others on here) have a lot of great ideas and advice. I enjoy reading this forum!
Marcia

 

[famous turtle treasures]

SEANO, nice find on the caddy. The bad news is that I don't think those are Dorothy Thorpe, the good news is that its from the dorothy thorpe era, and can be listed that way (which betters your chances for a sale) It does look like its missing some stuff.

2Minnsota, yeah I have only seen once piece of Blenko, and the only reason I knew it was Blenko was because it had a blenko sticker on it. Unfortunately it was broken so I didn't buy it.

I can't really look at pictures then know what to look for, I need to see it with my own eyes. Sometimes I will even keep an item in my car so I can reference the quality of an item.

If I ever get to the Tacoma glass museum I think I will be able to spot Blenko like I can spot depression glass.

I picked up my first gothic wall sconce last week, I posted it Friday night and it was sold when I woke up on Saturday.

$79.99 ( I almost put $49.99) Starting to think I should have listed it for more.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140528130729#ht_1402wt_907

I never would have imagined having this much fun posting on forums.

 

[creeper71]

Great info in this thread!

I personally like to look for glass that is "pretty" to me (tangerine and ruby and yellow colors), I have a small collection. And I love jewelry, so always looking for that!!!

Can we see a few more pics of the vase tucked way in the back that is yellow, red an blue? would like a pic of just that vase an one of the very bottom (underneath) the vase..

 

[2Minnesota]

Can we see a few more pics of the vase tucked way in the back that is yellow, red an blue? would like a pic of just that vase an one of the very bottom (underneath) the vase..

Okay Creeper71 here are a couple more pics.
The vase is clear glass on the outside and white opaque glass on inside. The colors seem to be sandwiched between the two layers.