Lynn’s eBay ezine Volume IV, issue number 42

Dear eBayers,

Many of you have called or emailed to find out when our ONLY Live Boot Camp of 2009 is going to be. We have confirmed our dates and it is going to be Friday, August 28th, Saturday August 29th and Sunday August 30th at the world famous La Quinta Resort!

By holding it the last weekend in August, we were able to negotiate super great room rates for all you future students and the resort will not be very crowded. We will also be able to get the meeting rooms that we want.

Also, as we did last time, we are going to have a contest to name this book. It will be The 4th 100 Best Things I have sold on eBay but we need a catch phrase like “Ka-Ching” or…….?  Please submit your ideas. The first place will receive $100 in product and 2nd place $50. Email your ideas to Lynn@TheQueenofAuctions.com with the subject line ‘4th 100 Best.’ Good Luck!

It is funny, but last time, our 2nd place choice ended up being the title of the book. Here I am with Stephanie O’Leary at eBay Live in Boston who picked Ka-Ching.

‘The Weirder the Better’

by Lynn Dralle, The Queen of Auctions

My grandmother loved it when I called her weird. She knew it was a private joke between the two of us that meant she was hip and on my wavelength when I was a teenager. I always said to her that if you are weird, you can’t be old and then she would laugh that great laugh of hers.

Click to watch:

So, because I like weird people and things, it has been a very natural fit for me to sell on eBay. The more unique the item is, the better it seems to sell!

This past Saturday, (before heading to Temecula for yes, yet another baseball tournament), I dragged myself out of the house to attend ten garage sales. I typically try and hit at least ten. I encourage you to pick a magic number for your garage saling days and stick with it until you hit that number. Sticktoitness “Stick to it ness” is something I also learned from my grandmother and it definitely pays off.

The first garage sale I hit wasn’t supposed to start until 9 am but at 8 am the lady had already started putting things out in her driveway. I spotted a pile of bowls that looked interesting and I turned one over. I had never heard of this maker or the artist before.

Here is what that signature looked like.

I asked how much and she said, “How about $3.00 for the pile of six?” I typically don’t buy much dinnerware that isn’t in complete sets but I thought, these are really cute and UNIQUE, so why not?

All of the bowls had polka dot borders and different vegetables in the center. Check out this bowl that has peas as the vegetable. It is already bid up quite high with four days to go!

Check it out here.

Unique = Weird = $$$!

I did some Google research on The Essex Collection, the designer Heather Outlaw Kurgis and Raul Bernarda Portugal, but came up with my own eBay listings and not much else! All I can tell you is that Replacements.com did not have any of these bowls in stock and apparently it is a very desirable pattern.

This is a good tip to remember, the pattern is usually more important than the maker. Often people collect and buy dishes because they like the pattern–not necessarily the maker.

Since I am working very hard to clean up my life and my house, I brought in two of the boxes that I inherited from my Grandmother’s antique store. Talk about weird stuff! You saw the foot that I found in one of the boxes in my intro! But there were two more very strange items and they sold for quite a bit and that is what motivated me to write this article.

First, was this item.

I pulled this item out of the box from the antique store and couldn’t believe it when I saw a price tag written on masking tape in my grandmother’s handwriting.

It said “Mouth Harp Holder $6.75.”

I love seeing price tags written in my grandmother’s handwriting. I had to laugh when I saw this one because I think a mouth harp is really a harmonica. We also figured out that you would wear it over your shoulders, put the harmonica in the spring-loaded holder and then you could also play another instrument like a guitar. Weird!

I couldn’t believe how much this weird harmonica holder sold for on eBay. In the final weeks of closing the antique store, everything was 70% off and to think that it could have been purchased for $2.03. Happy it was still there to be put in my inheritance box!

And then there was this item. Even more amazing.

Click here to see what it sold for.

This little owl had been in my grandmother’s antique store for probably 30 years. Check out the two price tags I took off of him. One was in her handwriting for $8.75 and the other was my price gun marking it down to $5.00. In the final weeks of closing the antique store this owl could have been had (at 70% off) for $1.50! I am so glad that no one bought him!

Here are the price tags on my I Sell sheet.

As I was taking photos to list this owl, I noticed that the tree looked like a knife handle, the perch was a prong from a fork and the owl itself was a teaspoon. In my description, I said looks to be made out of silverware. In hindsight, I should have used that in the title. Oh well, live and learn.

You have probably all heard of trench art. This is what soldiers would do when they were bored in the trenches during war. They would fashion items out of bullets and other artillery. Trench art is very collectible.

I had never heard of silverware art, but as I began to research what the bidders on my owl typically purchased, I saw that silverware art was a very collectible category and often done by Native Americans. Another very unique item that ended up selling for quite a bit! Over 38 times what it could have been purchased for at the antique store. You have got to love eBay.

Remember this, eBay is a wonderful place for selling unique one-of-a-kind items. Unique=Weird=$$$!