Subscribe at: www.aolmemorabilia.com/yab
Hello, all!
I've had a lot of exciting auctions lately. I guess my yard and estate sale luck has picked up. I will tell you about some of my best recent auctions, but I want to mention something else first.
Some of you have expressed a desire to see this newsletter more often (or should I say more frequently?). So, the good news for you is that I now have a blog. That's right -- all Julia, all the time. (Well, not quite). But I do try to keep it updated at least every other day. It's called "bidbits," and you can see it by clicking here:
The url is:
http://blogs.gowholesale.com/julia_wilkinson
So far, I've written about various auctions I've been running, including some great estate sale finds which I'll also talk about in this issue. I've also written about a cool tool I've been using called "ViewTracker," by Sellathon, which allows you to find out the locations of the people watching your auctions, how long they spend in your auctions, what search terms they use, and a whole lot of other cool data. Check out my blog entries about it to read more about the tool.
I'm going to keep this editorial short and sweet this time in hopes of getting the newsletter out soon...but I did want to remind everyone that I'll be going to eBay Live, June 21 - 25 (the first part is the Developers' Conference), and will be blogging about it. So check out my blog for m take on what's going on, if you can't make it there yourself. Also, if there is anything in particular you want me to cover, or just stories you want to tell me about your own eBay Live experiences, please feel free to email me at juliawilk@aol.com.
I will also be writing stories for AuctionBytes.com, as I have in previous eBay Lives. Oh, and if you haven't heard, this year's eBay Live is going to be in Silicon Valley itself -- San Jose, CA, home of eBay's main offices. They'll be giving an eBay building tour, which I do plan to attend, so hopefully I can blog back to you all what it's like behind those giant multicolored letters of the eBay logo.
So, without further ado, let's get to it!
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Do you have your copy of Julia's book, “eBay Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks”?
It's available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. If you do want to order the book, I’d appreciate if you’d support Yard Salers and eBayers by using my affiliate link below.
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Have you checked out YAB’s web site? Give it a look at http://www.aolmemorabilia.com/yab (I know, the next step is a better url).
I still need to plug in a few holes for a few back issues, but we’ll get there.
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Do you like this newsletter? Please forward it (in its entirety) to a friend! The url to subscribe is:
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**Don’t have five minutes to read the newsletter now? Print it out and read later.**
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In This Issue:
1) Wonderful Estate Sale Finds and Viewtracker, a Cool New Tool
2) What Sells: A Look at Comic Books
3) Requests for eBay Live 2005?
4) Reader Mail
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What Sells on eBay for What: Updated! Get your copy today.
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You asked for it, you got it! I've recently updated my bestselling eBay book, "What Sells on eBay for What"! You can buy it and download it instantly -- click What Sells on eBay for What or go to www.aolmemorabilia.com/whatsells.
What's new in this edition?
How about:
- most popular search terms and Most Watched Items in EVERY eBay category!
- detailed price data for the categories:
- Antiques
- Art (What subcategory here tends to have the most wondeful bargains? Find out here!)
- Books & Magazines
- Catalogues (Which of that "junk mail" should you be saving for its collectible value a few years...or months..from now?)
- Business & Industrial
- Cameras & Photo
- Cars, Parts, and Vehicles (eBay Motors)
- Clothing
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1) Wonderful Estate Sale Finds/Lessons Learned, and Viewtracker, a Cool New Tool
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Since I started my blog a few weeks ago or so, I've found some of the best stuff I've ever come across at yard and estate sales. Some of them I've written about in my blog, including a cool old (circa 1920s) Walter Johnson Baseball game; a wonderful old oil painting (great story behind this one, which you'll read about below); an original collage signed by former English poet laureate Ted Hughes (aka Sylvia Plath's husband) and Hunter Thompson's illustrator Ralph Steadman; a brand new black Coach purse for $20; some cool old Beatles 45s; and more.
I think one reason I've been so excited about these auctions is that I've been using a tool called ViewTracker, by Sellathon (http://www.sellathon.com). With it, I could see who was visiting, and more importantly, watching (as in putting the auction on their watch list in My eBay) the auctions.
With the steadman collage, there were people in England, Canada and all over the U.S. Here's what I wrote about it in my blog entry titled:
"Are You Missing Out on Bids Because You Are Not Using the International Shipping Option?":
"I’ve been surprised to find how many people from other countries have been watching some of the items I have up this week. (With Sellathon’s ViewTracker Tool, I can tell where the people watching are located). In particular, I have a couple of items signed by illustrator Ralph Steadman and one also by the poet Ted Hughes. On the Hughes/Steadman art, there are people located in London, England; Cambridge, England; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Australia; Zimbabwe; and Germany. Also, within the U.S. , in California, Maryland, and Michigan."
If you read that whole blog entry, you'll see that I suggest that with special items -- as in items that are likely to end in a high price -- it's worth your while to open up your potential pool of bidders by offering to ship worldwide. I've done this with the collage, several signed books, the Walter Johnson board game, and now the Beatles 45s. Collectors (and bidders in general) come in all forms, and might be located all over the world. In the case of the Steadman/Hughes signed collage, it especially made sense to offer to England, because both men are from there.
The collage ultimately sold for $350. I picked it up for $5 at a sidewalk divorce/estate sale. I almost felt guilty picking up such great stuff for a song...but the lady selling the stuff was clearly doing fine, and if she knew how much some of that stuff was worth, she didn't care...and even if she didn't, she lived in a gorgeous historic old brownstone and appeared to be deliriously happy in love with her new man.
Lessons Learned
- Avoid the Feeding Frenzy by Looking for Unadvertised (or Belatedly Advertised) Sales
As I wrote in another blog entry, what made that particular sale so great was it was relatively unadvertised, 1, and 2, I happened to stumble across it right as it started.
So, getting to a low-profile sale early can be a winning combination of factors. And signed items are almost always great finds, in my experience. The funny thing is, too, with most of such books I've picked up, the owners seemed to either not know or not care about the thing being signed.
- For Interesting Finds, Get out of Dodge Every Now and Then
If you're like me, you tend to scout mainly in the same geographic area. It can be good and also lucrative to shake things up sometimes and get a change of scene. You may not necessarily find better deals, but I find that when I leave the immediate traffic- and people-choked D.C. area, I've found better stuff, and stuff of a different quality.
A case in point is the aforementioned Walter Johnson baseball board game.
I came across that at a wonderful multi-family yard sale in a rural Virginia town at the base of a mountain where we own a cabin. (We rent the place out, but we try to go down every few months or so and smell the roses, or in this case, the mountain air). But even if you do not own a place in the country, you can make a day trip out of your excursion, or even stay a night in a motel.
There was a great, eclectic mixture of things at this sale, but nothing really jumped out at me until I came across a table near the back where the Walter Johnson game glittered like a diamond in the rough. Right away you could tell it was old...Walter's image was in black-and-white on the cover, in a wonderful pitching pose...he was evidently renowned for his pitching. (Johnson, I should explain, was a member of the old DC baseball team the Washington Senators.
The cardboard box was cracked, but I could see it could be repaired reasonably well, and inside, two of the pieces, which looked like little tops, were made of metal! I found out later they are referred to as "spinners," and one of these spinners alone went for around $45 on eBay.
I bought the game for $5, and it sold for $91 with 8 bids.
If you want to read more about the Walter Johnson game, you can read my blog entries about it. Go to this url and scroll down to the Walter Johnson entry...one of the blog posts has a small pic of the game, if you want to see it:
http://blogs.gowholesale.com/julia_wilkinson/
- Don't Judge a Yard Sale by Its Cover
Think "rich neighborhoods" have better stuff than "poor neighborhoods"? (I know; these terms are relative). Not necessarily. In fact, I have found there is not much correlation between the two, and even the opposite can be true, especially if "rich people" are more aware of how much their nicest stuff is worth, and overprice accordingly. Case in point: I came across 5 Beatles 45s at a yard sale in a modest neighborhood. Nothing else caught my eye, but they had many great old albums and 45s that were much more valuable than the $.10 (ten cents) price. I snapped up all 5 for $0.50 (50 cents). For more about this yard sale, see my blog entry titled "Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and Dusting Monkeys."
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SUBSCRIBE TO BOOKTHINK'S 50/50
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New! A Market Report for Booksellers
What could be more important for booksellers than to know when to buy a book and when not to? Not anything I can think of. If you have a substantial amount of this kind of information in mind when you go to sales or can access it quickly (via a notebook or some sort of handheld device), great. There'll be no stopping you.
But there's information, and there's information. Some of it's necessarily more (or less) useful depending on how likely it is that you'll have the chance to put it in play. What good does it do you to know the title of an uncommon book that can be resold for $50? If it's uncommon, the chances of using this information are relatively slight, and whatever you invest in acquiring it may not be time or money well spent. Far better to invest in information that will have wider applicability. Far better to have knowledge of books that will sell for $50 and more and can actually be found at sales or other venues with some regularity for prices that will give you plenty of room to profit handsomely.
This is where BookThink's 50/50 comes in. 50/50 is a detailed market report that lists and annotate 50 books that typically sell for more than $50 online and - here's the best part - surface at sales and other venues with some regularity. This is information you can use and profit from often. Uncommon books will not be included.
Here's a sample of what you're likely to see in 50/50:
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THE COMPACT EDITION OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
2-volumes. Unabridged. Originally issued in dark blue cloth with a 3-compartment box, the upper compartment housing a boxed magnifying glass that operated like a drawer. The magnifying glass was essential for reading microprint, a necessary evil in condensing what was originally a 10-volume set into 2. Beginning in the early 1970's, Book-of-the-Month-Club offered these dictionaries at deep discounts for new members. Many sold, and many are still out there. Values are understandably lower if the box and/or magnifying glass is missing, but final values at or near $100 are commonplace.
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So, if you could use 50 of these every other month, then BookThink's 50/50 will bring them to you. As with BookThink's Gold Edition, BookThink's 50/50 is available for purchase either by annual subscription at $20 or individually at $10.
Click here to subscribe instantly:
Checks and money orders should be made payable to BookThink LLC and mailed to the following address:
BookThink LLC
Hi Julia,
Thank you very much for sending the book. I really appreciate it, I think it is very well-written and very informative. I'm just getting into the ebay business, and would like to specialize in comic books and old records. What's the best comics or would any of them sell?
What about old records? You mentioned a couple in your book, but could you give me some more specifics?
I hope i'm not taking too much of your time. I would really like to be successful at this, and any help i can get would be appreciated.
By the way, if you need any more testimonials, i'll be more than happy to oblige.
Thank you very much,
Chris
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Hi Chris!
Thanks so much for the kind words on the book. Yes, I would love another testimonial...and I'd be happy to plug your ebay id, web site or other biz contact.
Comic books...great question. Though I have done a little bit about these in "What Sells," I don't think I've probed in depth. I would have initially thought they'd be under the Books (& magazines) main category on eBay, but they are in fact in Collectibles>Comics, where there are several subcategories.
Let's take a look at some of the highest prices in this category (the number after the price, if given, denotes the number of bids the item recieved):
Fantastic Four #1 Comic Book Marvel 1961 NICELOOK!! $2,750.00
Comic Book Collection (over 5000 titles) Including some rare titles. $1,203.89 5
204 AVENGERS (#1-219) SILVER AGE COMIC BOOK COLLECTION $1,191.66 3
Comic Book Collection over 3,000 books (No Reserve!) Superman, Batman, JLA, Spider-Man, X-Men, Dare-Devil $1,150.00 BIN
FIRST ISSUE X-MEN COMIC BOOK #1 ISSUE AUTO BY STAN LEE $711.01 34
1932 Comic Book: Coo Coo Vol. 1, No. 1 - Humor Book $611.00 15
DC Batman #173 to #200 Nice Comic Book Run N/R $610.00 36
DC Batman #31 CGC 6.5 OWP Comic Book 1945 Golden Age $449.44 17
Journey Into The Mystery # 83 Comic Book $405.00 16
Bob Powell THE SHADOW 1940s Comic Book Page V $399.95 1
hulk 2 cgc 4.0 marvel comic book silver age V $391.00 19
hulk 181 cgc 7.0 marvel comic book x men V $390.00 18
COMIC BOOK LOT Sgt Fury SILVER SURFER 1968-70 CW137 cc $365.00 28
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Hi again Chris,
Sorry..that got sent accidentally, before I had a chance to edit and pretty up the prices for ya! Still, you'll get an idea. I'll take a look at records in my next Yardsalers newsletter. Also I'd like to ask your permission to use your letter in my next issue. :) I don't have to use your whole name if ya don't want.
Anyhow, obviously, you can check out completed prices yourself...the key seems to be in finding the right, more desirable comics..early Spiderman, X-men, etc...as you go thru more pages other names that stand out are Flash, Superman, Captain America, Fantastic 4, some Disney, Strange Tales, Avengers, and Batman.
Also there is a whole eBay discussion board dedicated to discussing comics...I suggest you haunt that regularly. ;) Some of the people on there are seriously into it, and you may get some great tips as well as find some fun and fellowship. (To get to the Discussion boards, just click the "Community" tab from the main eBay menu, then Discussion Boards, then see the Community-Specific boards on the right.
All for now..thanks again for writing,
Julia
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Can't make it to eBay Live this year? No problem...I'll be blogging from it, so it will be the next best thing to being there.
I'm psyched about eBay Live being in Silicon Valley this year. Yes, eBay announced they would have this year's convention in their hometown of San Jose, CA. And I do plan to attend again this year.
You can read all about it at http://pages.ebay.com/ebaylive.
Here's some of what they say will be going on:
- 10th Anniversary Fireside Chat: The eBay Community Path to Success -1pm-1:50pm-Civic Auditorium. Join Pierre Omidyar, Jeff Skoll and Jim Griffith for a special 10th anniversary "Fireside Chat," offering an insightful tour through the past, present, and future of eBay. This is a unique opportunity to hear from eBay's founder -- one of the Internet's most innovative visionaries who changed the face of e-commerce when he started eBay in September 1995 -- as well as his original business partner and eBay's first president. Jim Griffith, one of eBay's earliest community members and employees, will ask Pierre and Jeff questions about their personal thoughts on the history of eBay and the power of the eBay community. The three also will explore the future of eBay and the continued evolution and entrepreneurial opportunities that lie ahead.
- eBay Campus Tours -Take a tours of the eBay campus. Take the official shuttle bus from the Convention Center to the eBay campus. Look for the pick-up location in the Conference Guide once you get to eBay Live!
- 10th Anniversary Gala -6pm-9pm-Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara. Join the celebration as we toast the eBay Community's 1st decade at the culminating event of eBay Live! 2005. It will be a spectacular finale to this special gathering with great food, exciting entertainment by the B-52s, and many special surprises.
I have sold items to celebrities on eBay, is this data you would be interested in?
Regards,
Eric
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Hi Eric,
Sure...that stuff is fun..as long as they'd be cool with you mentioning it..(or you write about them in a general sense without naming names, if not).
I'd love a short article for the Yardsalers newsletter, or I can add it to the next version of my "What Sells on eBay for What" ebook.
Thanks for writing!
Julia
Hi Julia,
Well, like you, I do a lot of writing on eBay, articles, columns, etc. Working on my own book at the moment too.
Happy to share some general stories:
Kate Jackson of Charlie's Angel's fame found an item of hers I was selling and tried to get me to end the listing, saying it was stolen from her. She reported me to the police
and threatened to sue me. I did not back down as I had proof from the owner of it that it was not stolen, and in fact, a representative of hers had dropped it off 10 years prior to have this item framed and never picked it up. When all was said and done, I put her in touch with the winning bidder who was a big fan and let them work out the details. I had tried to broker a barter between her and the fan, which failed.
Crispin Glover bought an expensive movie camera from me. When searching his ID on eBay, I saw he also bid on items where his name was in the title.
I am fairly active on eBay, a few people working for me, plus I have a charity auction business - http://www.auctioncause.com/
Regards,
Eric
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Hi, Julia! I'm a new subscriber - found you thru the Auction Sellers Resource. Liked the sample copy so much I spent hours printing out all the back issues and treat myself
to reading a night. I'm a novice/haven't placed an auction yet ebaywannabe. Still feel I'm learning and there's just something about putting that first toe in there. I'm on the edge of the diving board, however. Anyway, I'm interested in buying several of your books. I'd rather have the bound copy and not have to download it. Can I purchase
directly from you? I've check the ebooks on your home site but it doesn't list the books you list in your newsletter.
Of course, I'm interested in the $4.95 and $8.95 values! Of course, of course! Let me know. By the way, your new home page design is great and seems totally appropriate. So glad I found you and look forward to your newsletters
and your books.
Thanks! Marilyb
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Hi Marilyn! I seem to have lost my original reply to Marilyn, but in case my memory is faulty and I did not yet reply, yes, Marilyn, you can certainly purchase from me directly, as can anyone. All you have to do is email me and let me know which ebook(s) you want, if you are a subscriber and thus eligible for the discount, and then PayPal me to my PayPal id at juliawilk@aol.com.
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Hi Julia,
I was reading your articles on the blog - and enjoying them greatly!
I wonder if you would help me with something that's been confusing me - the tags referred to in NWT - does that refer to the sewn-in tags, or store tags?
Thanks for your time,
Judy
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Hi Judy!
Thanks so much...that really means a lot to me! Yours is the first comment I've seen about the blog. (OK, actually the second..the first said it "must be the most boring blog on the internet"..can't tell if it was a joke or not! So you can imagine how your comment especially came at a good time!
Yes..NWT..I'm pretty sure that means the paper, retail tags..usually attached with a plastic tie or string. That's a good question, tho..I wonder if other people are confused about it..probably so!
Hey, do you mind if I write about that question in my newsletter? :)
Thanks again! Hope you keep enjoying the blog.
Julia
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Julia,
Excellent e-mail....Wow!!! A friend told me about your newsletter. I'm learning so much. I'm pretty new to selling books on the web. Last time I was at a local book sale. I saw
a lot of the buyers with cell phones that scanned the bar codes of the books. Do you know anything about this tool? They were so busy with scanning their item. I did not
have a chance to ask them.. They were very serious. They all knew what they were doing. I felt that I had gone to a party that I had not
been invited. Hope you can answer my question..
Thanks--
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Hi Stamp, ;)
Thank so much! Yes..I think what you're referring to is those handheld bar code scanners. I haven't seen anyone using them at the sales I've gone to, but maybe they're doing it surreptitiously. What I believe they do is scan any item with a serial number/ISDN/SKU number on the back, and give you a price. But I don't know if this will necessarily give you the current market price for such a thing. A book may have orginally sold for $19.95, but once the globe was spammed with a million copies of it, the price plummeted as a bunch of people listed their used copies on places like amazon.com.
Having said that, I don't have any experience with bar code scanners..I may try though. If you want to check out prices for them, you could go to pricegrabber.com or other such site and enter "bar code scanner" in a search. Personally, when buying electronics, I like to read the user reviews on amazon.com first, assuming the product has some reviews.
A better option for retrieving fair market resale prices before you buy may be the "Scoutpal" service, which I do plan to try and write about in future issues...Craig Stark has written about it in his newsletters at http://www.bookthink.com, so check that out...I think it could be a great tool, but I don't have my blackberry anymore so I'll have to see if my cell phone is up to it or upgrade it.
Hope that helps, and welcome to Yardsalers!!
Julia
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I am always open to reader articles, so if you want to write about something relating to yard sale-ing and
eBaying, just flag me down! I will of course give you credit, using your eBay ID, web site, or any other contact
info.
That’s it for this issue. Until next time, happy yard sale-ing and eBaying!
Julia
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eBooks by Julia L. Wilkinson:
[All my ebooks are offered at 1/2 price from their regular prices to the subscribers of this newsletter. If interested in any of them, please email me at juliawilk@aol.com.]
- Over 100 Books that Sell for $50-$100 on eBay: Updated for 2005!
- Selling Kids Clothes on eBay: email me!
- How to Spot Fakes
Julia Classic:
What Sells on eBay for What: Now updated for 2005! $8.95, 1/2 price from the $17.95 retail price. http://www.aolmemorabilia.com/whatsells
My Life at AOL (available at amazon.com, booklocker.com, and 1stbooks.com)
Thank you for subscribing to Yard Salers and eBayers. Yard Salers and eBayers email newsletter may be freely distributed in its entirety, so please pass it on. (Individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or distributed without written permission of the publisher.) No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Yard Salers and eBayers makes diligent efforts to obtain accurate and timely information. However, Yard Salers and eBayers disclaims any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in Yard Salers and eBayers, whether or not such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause.
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P.O. Box 1329
Apopka, Florida 32704
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2) What Sells: A Look at Comic Books
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3) Requests for eBay Live 2005?
- Education-9am-5pm-This year, on-site education consultants are available to help you choose which classes are right for you! There are different levels of education. Seminar, Lab, and Roundtable Levels: Everyone, Basics, Beyond the Basics, Business, and PowerSeller Only.
Seminars: In the Convention Center, Marriott Hotel, Parkside Auditorium, and Civic Auditorium. Computer Labs: In the Hilton Hotel. Live!
Discussions: In the Marriott Hotel.
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Will Pierre make another guest appearance? Will the eBay wedding dress guy model a new line of clothing? Will a gaggle of Googlers come crash the party? Anything can happen. Any requests, questions, etc..please email me!
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4) Reader Mail
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Eric Gazin, President, Gazin Auctions
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http://www.gazinauctions.com
Stampcampabbie, madorman on eBay
YOUR FEEDBACK WANTED: What Else Do You Want to See in Yardsalers?
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- Making Big Bucks off Catalogs on eBay:
http://www.aolmemorabilia.com/clkslcat.html
http://www.aolmemorabilia.com/100bkclkslsub.html
(these last two will be available for purchase via my site soon).
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Copyright 2005 Julia L. Wilkinson
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