February was great in my booth and fairly decent on Etsy and eBay. I didn’t get any pictures of booth items, so those sales won’t be shared.
I’ve only, in the past year, started putting things on eBay again. I pretty much abandoned it years ago in favor of Etsy, but I’m easing back into selling there as well again. I think I had got up to about 45-50 items or thereabouts on eBay, so selling 10 was pretty good, I guess. I was determined to get up to 200 listings on Etsy in February. In the 11 years I’ve been selling there, I think I’ve reached that amount once. Guess I’m not dedicated enough. So, I almost made it! Got to 198, then had a flurry of sales while I was busy with life and haven’t had a chance to list more and at this point, I’m back down to 182 items.
If you’ve read the blog much, you know I’m not a prolific seller. I’m soooo not full time. Still, it’s more than a hobby for me. I sell to supplement our income. But many hobbyists are speeding past me, leaving me in the dust. Anyway, I’m saying that to point out that I’m not here trying to show you how to make a living reselling and certainly not to brag! I’ve got nothing to brag about! My hope is that you might see something I’ve sold that you never thought to buy for resell or that you’ll see something I’ve sold for pennies and can make note not to bother with that. Anything I can do that might help you reach your reselling goals is my hope.
This post will be kinda long and I apologize for that. I thought about doing separate posts for eBay and Etsy sales, but ultimately decided to combine them because there really aren’t that many. So here goes. Let’s start with eBay, shall we? ( I believe buyer paid shipping on all these.)
I took these patches off a couple of my husband’s decaying caps several years ago and just this year put them for sale. They sold to the same buyer.
Cost: Free to me
Total sale: $18.98
Net after fees: $14.58
I got this 2013 Ancestry DNA kit at Goodwill. $5.99 plus tax. That tax just gripes my behind. Don’t get me started. Genealogy being one of my hobbies, I debated on getting my husband or granddaughter to spit in the vial – I’ve already done mine – but ultimately decided to sell it.
Cost: $6.53
Total Sale: $33.99
Net After Fees and Cost: $22.15
Do you watch Yvon Thrifty Rich – on YouTube? I learned about John Perry sculptures from her, so when I saw this one at an estate sale, I grabbed it. And only now did I see the title was messed up! Egads!
Cost: 8.00
Total Sale: 31.00
Net After Fees and Cost: $17.10
This Vintage Champion Spark Plug bag belonged to my mother who always worked as bookkeeper in an auto parts store. I originally priced it as $47.99 but after going back and forth with offers, settled on $35.00
Cost: Free to me
Total Sale: $35.00
Net After Fees: $28.43
These are a DON’T bother. They were brand new and, since they were Victoria’s Secret and only a dollar, I thought I’d give them a shot. But, what you can’t see in this picture is that they have “Think Pink” written on the outside of one arm. It was a little bit of profit and a little is better than none, so I won’t complain. And although I said don’t bother with these, I’d probably do it again. Sigh. (Also, the title is messed up again! I’ll have to remember not to use punctuation.
Cost: $1.00
Total Sale: 9.99
Net After Cost and Fees: $6.59
Oh, wow! This is the first Furby I’ve ever found in the wild. No, that’s not true. I found – and left there – a grody one in an outbuilding once. It was really scary. And dirty. Got this one at Goodwill.
Cost: $3.26
Total Sale: $24.99
Fees: $4.92
Net After Cost and Fees: $16.82
This was from my personal collection. I’m guessing I paid 25¢ years ago.
Cost: .25
Total Sale: 29.99
Fees: 5.07
Net After Cost and Fees: $24.67
This Brighton bracelet had belonged, I believe, to my step mother. I’m saying it was free to me, but we probably gave it to her for Christmas, so not technically free.
Cost: Free to me
Total Sale: $14.99
Fees: $3.04
Net After Fees: $11.95
Ahhhh,…. Now this is more like it. My kind of profit. I’ve had 3 1980s Vogue counter catalogs for years and years and years, shuffling them around because, who is going to pay the shipping for something as big and heavy as that? Well, I’ve sold 2 of them now. I don’t remember how much I paid for this, but I’d bet it was a dollar.
Cost: $1.00
Total Sale: $47.99
Fees: $8.49
Net After Cost and Fees: $38.50
Last and least – hehe – this antique newspaper insert from my death pile. I’ll guess it cost 25¢ but really, I’ve had it so long, I have no idea. It wasn’t on my inventory list, either.
Cost: .25
Total Sale: $6.99
Fees: $2.30
Net After Cost and Fees: $4.44
That’s all for eBay. Are you still with me? Let’s do Etsy.
A note about the Etsy links here. Did you know you can use a Chrome extension that shows what an item sold for on Etsy? It’s called “Etsy Sold!” Of course, you have to find the sold item first and that’s not easy with Etsy, but if you go to a seller’s main page, you’ll see the number of sales they’ve had in the upper left corner under the shop name. Hover over that number and if it shows as a link, you can click and see a grid of everything they’ve sold since the beginning of time, and with the extension, how much it sold for is in red! Isn’t that cool? Then, if you want to see more about the item, you can click on the link. That’s what you’ll see here. The pictures from the grid. But I’ll also place a link to the listing if you click on the picture. That link, my link, will be an affiliate link. Of course, you can’t buy the sold item, but unless you have cookies or something disabled, if you buy anything from anyone on Etsy within a day or so, I’ll get a few pennies from that sale. It costs you nothing, nor does it cost the seller anything. And neither of us know you used that link. But those few cents add up in the long run and help me out because these posts take a loooonnnnng time to do! I would be ever so grateful.
Brass easels are a big seller on Etsy. I sold two of these, identical, for $17.00 each.
Cost: $1.00 (for two)
Total Sale: $34.00 (for two)
Fees: $4.47 (for two)
Net After Cost and Fees: $28.63
Another somewhat surprising item is vintage, wicker, paper plate holders. My friend Florence, whose Etsy shop is Vintage Southern Picks, has taught me that the older ones have a larger braid around the edges. These were my first attempt at selling them. They were stained so badly, too! I was scared the buyer wouldn’t have seen the pictures and emailed her first. She had and understood and was fine with them. Whew!
Vintage Paper Plate Holders
Cost: $4.00
Total Sale: $25.00
Fees: $3.42
Net After Cost and Fees: $17.58
Mid century modern, Danish modern, Scandanavian, etc. are among my favorite things to sell. I found this Dansk cheese cutting board with built in knife (It slides in to form the handle) at ReStore for $2.00. It wasn’t a huge sale, but I’ll sure take it.
Vintage Dansk Cheese Board
Cost: $2.00
Total Sale: $25.00
Fees: $3.08
Net AFter Cost and Fees: $19.92
This Goldstein’s Furs hanger has been around her awhile. It’s going to a grandson of the original Goldstein!
Vintage Goldstein’s Furs Hanger
Cost: Probably $1.00
Total Sale: $14.00
Fees: $2.52
Net After Cost and Fees: $10.48
This was a fun sale, both the buying and the selling. These vintage cocktail napkins came from a family run estate sale and they priced everything to get it gone. I bought so much there! And no, I had no idea about selling prices as I was buying.
Vintage Cocktail Napkins
Cost: 50¢
Total Sale: $32.00
Fees: $2.86
Net After Cost and Fees: $28.64
Another surprising sale amount. I can’t remember where I bought this chalk fruit, but it originally had a pear with it. The pear was badly damaged, so I sold just the two here, apple and grapes.
Chalk Fruit Wall Hangings
Cost: 50¢
Total Sale: $19.00
Fees: $1.82
Net After Cost and Fees: $16.68
A couple of weeks ago I bought $200 worth of a truckload of stuff. I have yet to determine the average cost of each item. This was one of those things.
1980s Antiqued Gold Picture Frame
Cost: ?
Total Sale: $27.00
Fees: $3.34
Net After Fees: $23.66
Here’s something else I’ll almost always pick up. Anything made from Sheesham wood in India.
Six Sheesham Wood Coasters
Cost: $2.00
Total Sale: $18.00
Fees: $2.52
Net After Cost and Fees: $13.48
I bought these green stripe canisters at the last sale of a very unproductive day. The sale, entitled, “Leave No Stone Unturned” is on my YouTube channel
Green Stripe Canisters
Cost: $7.00
Total Sale: $19.00
Fees: $2.22
Net Sale After Cost and Fees: $9.78
Okay. So I found a bunch of these at the antique mall where I have a booth. I walked past them at first, then backstepped. They are so vintage 60s! So retro! So cool! I’m just going to picture a couple of examples. Most sold to one buyer and one sold to another buyer.
Five Vintage Lucite Switchplates
Cost: $7.71
Total Sale: $95.00
Free shipping was offered in the sale of four together, but I’m not going to try to figure that out.
Fees: $8.87 (I think. It was pretty convoluted.)
Net After Cost and Fees: $78.42
Just a photo of some Red Cross ladies
Vintage Photo of Red Cross Ladies
Cost: ?? We’ll say 25¢ but it was probaby a penny
Total Sale: $7.00
Fees: .82
Net After Cost and fees: $5.93
I started going through all the hankies that were in my death pile. Took most to the booth where I sold them for $3.50 each. This one was rather special and I knew no one would pay more than $3.50 at the booth, so I put it on Etsy.
Vintage Alabama State Hanky
Cost: Probaly .25 years and years ago
Total Sale: $24.00
Fees: $2.59
Net After Cost and Fees: $21.16
Another item that made it’s first appearance in a video – Missing a $25 item caused me to find a $79 item!
Vintage Ui-Maikai Hawaiian Shirt
Cost: $2.00
Total Sale: $79.00
Fees: $7.29
Net After Cost and Fees: $69.71
Another frame from the truckload that I don’t know the average cost of everything yet.
Vintage 1980s Picture Frame
Cost: ??
Total Sale: $12.00
Fees: $2.36
Net Sale After Fees: $9.64
And still another item from the truckload. Not sure how it sold. I spelled it wrong!
Vintage Sagittarius Horse Brass
Cost: ??
Total Sale: $12.00
Fees: $1.65
Net After Fees: $10.35
Another, different, brass easel. From the same family run etate sale as the cocktail napkins.
Small Vintage Brass Easel
Cost: $1.00
Total Sale: $14.00
Fees: $1.85
Net After Cost and Fees: $11.15
One, last one…. From the death pile.
Vintage Brass Key Ring
Cost: .25
Total Sale: $14.00
Fees: $1.41
I paid shipping of $3.14
Net After Cost, Fees and Shipping: $9.45
Whew!!! Was that too much? Would it have been better separated? Thank you so much if you’ve stuck around to see it all!
Pin this…….
