eBay the Right Way

eBay Seller Chat with Alesia in Iowa: Catalogs, Candles, Cookbooks, Christmas Angels - People are Looking for Things from Their Past 🧳

• Suzanne A. Wells • Episode 230

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Suzanne Wells:

John, hello, resellers. Welcome to episode number 230 of eBay the right way. Today's date is August 13. 2025 my guest is Alicia in Iowa. Announcements, every so often I like to catch you up on what's happening in the premium library, which is my online school for eBay sellers. My last update was in April. Here is what has been added since then. I've got two collectibles lessons. One is a 20 minute lesson about straight razors, what makes them valuable, terminology and history and a lesson about circus punks, also called carnival knockdown dolls. And these things can be really old and dirty and nasty and falling apart and still sell for big money. I had no idea. So maybe you don't know about these either. I have a brand spotlight about an expensive, durable, high quality brand founded in 1897 with roots in the northwest, definitely a bolo. There's another installment of the needlework. Course, there's now over six hours of content in that section. So if you're not looking at the needlework because you're a little intimidated, you don't really know the names of everything or how to sell it, this will definitely help you break into that category. After many requests, I have put together a 20 minute lesson called bookkeeping basics, about how to keep track of inventory and sales using my very rudimentary system. I've been keeping my numbers this way since I started on eBay in 2003 honestly, the system you use does not really matter, but keeping up with your numbers does. My very basic system is easy enough for people who aren't big fans of numbers and get a little nervous about the word math. Trust me, I have simplified it for you. I have a sourcing tip from a popular retail store, a keyword lesson. There are now 45 of them, which equates to eight hours of lessons, so you can make sure you are speaking the buyer's language and using the right keywords in your titles, new keywords pop up all the time. So this section really helps you stay current with what keywords buyers are using, and sometimes just changing or adding one keyword to your title can result in a quick sale. So consider this your reselling dictionary. Okay, shipping? Yes, you can ship to a different address than what is on the buyer's account without any problems or repercussions. There is a hidden setting to find out how to do that, and I explain this and show you how to do it. There's also a checklist of actions you can take when a package is stuck, which is happening more and more frequently. Sometimes our packages just go into the Twilight Zone, and some of these steps will help it get moving again. I've added two more Q and A podcast style audios so you can listen along as you work. These are questions from members, so we can all learn from each other. These are 30 minutes each, and I do them every other month. So lots of new content about all different reseller topics, from what to sell, how to be a better seller, how to run a business customer service and how to solve problems quickly. There is something for everyone. Your membership comes with me as your personal help desk. You can email me any question at any time, and my guarantee is to get back to you within. At 24 hours, but it's usually much less. And yes, you are always talking to me. I do not outsource the Help Desk service, and sometimes, if it's a complicated matter, I'm happy to get on a zoom call with you, and you can share your screen, and I can walk you through what to do, or you can even text me on the phone. I'll give you my number, so I'm available to help you with anything you need. The library now has 644 videos, which is 151 hours of training, and you can download anything you want and keep it forever. Most importantly, I review the content frequently and remove outdated content. So this isn't a bunch of old, stale, repeated information. I add new content every month, so the learning never stops. I'm always learning and passing on information to my students, my premium library really is a masterpiece, and there's nothing else like it on the internet, you can download the table of contents to see for yourself, and I encourage you to come join for a month and check it out. There's no obligation. You aren't locked into a long term commitment. If it isn't for you, no problem. Just let me know, and we will delete your membership. I want my students to love it, to use it to learn and to make more money reselling. So that's the recap of my online school. Now let's chat with Alicia. Hello, listeners, welcome back for another riveting episode of eBay the right way. And I have Alicia who reached out to me begging and pleading to come on the podcast. No, I'm just kidding. She just asked nicely. How are you doing this morning?

Unknown:

I am good, and I'm happy to be here. I know.

Suzanne Wells:

And so where are you located, exactly, or as close as you want to say, I

Unknown:

live in northwest Iowa.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, okay, I was thinking you were on Pacific Time, but you're on Central Time, Okay, nope, I'm

Unknown:

on Central Time, Northwest.

Suzanne Wells:

Good, okay, and so you reached out to me and wanted to be a guest on the podcast. So I love that. That was very brave.

Unknown:

Yeah, I love your podcast, there's just people you know in every stage and interest, and it's just

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, and everybody knows something, even if they don't think they do, right? You know, everybody's life experience is different. So definitely, let's start off with what brought you to eBay and how long you've been selling.

Unknown:

Okay, I started selling. I believe it was 2005 I had never really thought about it. You know, I was never a big computer person, but we had an iMac computer in the back room, so I never really done much with it. But one night, I was in goodwill, and I saw two little shot glasses, and they were a quarter a piece, and they said the Sioux City bell on them. Sioux City is in Iowa, of course, and it was a gaming boat. And I thought, well, they were kind of cute. I don't drink. But I thought, Well, those are really cute. I should try to sell them and figure out how to do this. So I figured it out, got on eBay, created account, listed both of them, which, looking back, I would have never done it that way, but right away, and this is one of the things I love about eBay, is how the sellers support each other. I immediately got a an email from some another seller, that said, Don't let anyone talk you out of those, okay, they're worth something because Argosy gaming has bought out the Sioux City Bell. I would have never known that. Oh, I just thought they were cute. So that was really nice. And so I took his advice, and back then, you did auctions, so I let him go, and the first one sold for $157 Oh, wow, for sure. Yeah. I was very happy about that, because at the time, I was a single parent with four daughters at home and didn't have a lot of money so and it was Christmas time, so that was awesome.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, been there, done that, but only with half the number of children. So on that for me. Stress age difference, like oldest to youngest. What's that your children four and how many years?

Unknown:

Oh, gosh, there's 14 years between the youngest and oldest, so spread out. So you

Suzanne Wells:

had a little bit of help with the older ones? Maybe, yes,

Unknown:

I did, and thank God, because I worked a lot, and that was a huge help. So the first one sold for 157 and the second one sold for, I think, $69 still for a 50 Cent investment. I was over the moon. I bet so, but looking back, I would have obviously staggered those, but so that that kind of got me hooked, and I just started selling, you know, our clothes, things like that. I've always not so much anymore, but I used to sell a lot of shoes because they're easy to sell, easy to package, you know, put them in a bubble mailer. And, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

I'm laughing, because I just had a delivery from something I bought on an online auction. And it's 12 pairs of shoes. They this lady must have been a shoe hoarder, because there were so many auctions on this estate sale for shoes brand new in the box. Oh, that's awesome. Pretty good. They're Skechers and Clarks and easy spirit. Like, maybe she had her feet hurt because they were all comfort shoes, like, right? And those sell well. They do sell well. I got most of them for under $10 a pair. And I said, I don't want the boxes, because that's going to make the shipping heavier to me, and when I sell them, I don't want to have to put that box in another box. So they shipped them just in this, you know, big moving box, all these shoes. And would you believe? Would you believe they're all my size? That's wonderful. So if they don't sell, maybe I'm gonna have some new shoes.

Unknown:

Isn't that kind of one of the perks of eBay. It's like, yeah, if you sell it fine. If not, you've got new clothes.

Suzanne Wells:

The shipping was not bad at all, because they were all very lightweight. Those, like, Sketchers, foam type shoes, you know, the knit Right? Or sandals that are made of like, like keen that have the stretchy, adjustable stuff. And I just, I didn't even look at the size when I bought them. I just was like, oh, new shoes, and I can get these for less than $10 a pair delivered to my door. I would never pay that much in a thrift store, but right a brand new so, and I have not sold shoes in a long time, because I'm I just don't pay close enough attention. And I get home and there's something wrong with it. Right buckle doesn't work, or the you know, the bottom is cracked like I forget all the things that check for I do

Unknown:

too, because I get really excited, yes, to find it because, oh, this is great. And then I get home, and

Suzanne Wells:

so, do you shoes anymore? Or

Unknown:

I will, if I find the right pair. But I had a couple things where, and I didn't know this at the time, I thought somebody was scamming me the dry rot, yes, yeah, I learned that, you

Suzanne Wells:

know, twist test to see if they're dry rotted. And, you know, on bathing suits, you do the pull test to make sure they're right. I've got to check all that stuff, even if they're not used, if they weren't stored properly. Yes, it could be a beautiful, nice, brand new pair of Dansko clogs or something, and you flip it over and twist it, and there's a huge crack,

Unknown:

Pango, but a disappointment, I know. Yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

So anyway, lately

Unknown:

I have start, you know, I live in northwest Iowa. There's not a lot around here, but I have my best friend that lives in Omaha, and so I go there a lot. Well, I started going to the bins because I start hearing about this on your podcast, you know, few years ago. So that's an experience. But if you can stand to go, it's very it's almost free money. Oh, I know it's ridiculous how some of the stuff that I've found there that, you know, I never in a million years would thought would sell, but

Suzanne Wells:

it does, speaking of the bins, I was on a little vacation last week up the road. In Rock Hill, South Carolina, Lynn, it was great. And eight miles from there, only one year old, Goodwill bins, nice. And I was, I was so pumped. I'm like, Yeah, I'm going, I'm gonna go every day. I'm gonna do this, you know. And so I went on a Monday and came home on a Friday. Would you believe they were closed Tuesday through Friday? They're only open, no Saturday, Sunday and Mondays. And I got there too late on Monday to go, and I guess that's when they do all their restocking or something. And I'm like, really, really, you're going to do this to

Unknown:

me. I know there's one around here, a couple hours away, that does the same thing. Well, it's open only on days. I can't go exactly

Suzanne Wells:

so like, my next trip up towards Charlotte is going, I'm I'm going to coordinate it better. I didn't even think, I've never heard of that. I didn't even think, like, maybe they would be closed on Sundays, but Right, it didn't even occur to me, and I go on to get the direction, is it like closed? Oh, what a bummer. So I am trying. Well yes. And

Unknown:

if you can incorporate it into your trip, that's even better. Yeah, yeah. And

Suzanne Wells:

business and all that stuff. So that's what I was trying to do. But I went to a couple other ones that were, were not as exciting, but at least I have a receipt from that store, like I was there, and I can write off the mileage.

Unknown:

That's right. So you gotta plan it.

Suzanne Wells:

So let's talk about what you sell. Now,

Unknown:

you know, I am one of those people that sells a little bit of everything. I haven't really found my it used to be a lot of clothes, and now it's just a lot of anything. I'm dabbling in, a little bit of plush, and I'm not sure what I think of that, yet. It's a hit and miss. I've done well with what you call it, ephemera, Yes, uh huh. I'm excited about

Suzanne Wells:

that. And for those that don't know that is, it's technically anything that was created only for a short life. It could be, you know, napkins from an old restaurant. It could be photographs, it could be concert tickets. You know, it wasn't created to be a collectible, but it became one, right? It's a lot of paper stuff,

Unknown:

yes, and it's, doesn't take up much room, and it's cheap to ship. So what's not to love? You could sit on it for a long time, but I'm okay with that,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, because the way I look at it, it's only going to get older and more valuable, exactly. So it's not like a health and beauty product that's going to expire, right? Or a protein shake that's going to expire. It's, it's just gonna, it's just going to keep aging like wine,

Unknown:

that's right. And, you know, there's always somebody looking for something from their past. So it all sells.

Suzanne Wells:

So what kind of ephemera Have you sold that maybe people might not realize is valuable or was shocking to you, like, I can't believe

Unknown:

somebody bought that. Oh yes, no kidding. Well, I have sold a couple, I don't know if this qualifies as ephemera, but I've sold a couple catalogs. Yeah, that account, okay, at the bins, and one of them was a 1996 Christmas catalog. Well, I just thought it was cool, you know, it's just kind of fun to leave through it and then you list it just to see what'll happen. And I think I got 3030, or $40 for that. And my kids made fun of me, you know, they make fun of me all the time because I'm like, Oh, give me that. I'm gonna sell it.

Suzanne Wells:

Don't throw it away. All right. So was it like Sears or JC Penney, it was a Sears

Unknown:

catalog, okay? And then I found a 1947 Sears catalog at the bins last fall, and I got 110 for that one. Oh, that's fantastic, and it was in amazing condition. It's just fun to look through them too, because it's, well, yeah, but yeah. So I was pretty happy about that.

Suzanne Wells:

Can I ask you what year you were born? I

Unknown:

was born in 1969 I'm 56 so you

Suzanne Wells:

were the catalog generation. Oh, yes, you know, I remember it would come in the mail. And each I've got, there's four of us kids in my family, so each of us would get a turn with the magic marker to circle what you wanted and put your initials by it. And my poor little sister, born in 1970 I mean, she just circled everything, and she was not like she. You didn't pick, like, five things, you know, I guess being the older and the middle child, I'm like, Yeah, I know I'm not getting all of that. So you knew you weren't getting about what I asked for if I really wanted, right?

Unknown:

Oh, that's so funny. We did the same thing. It was, yeah, exciting when the catalog came that day. How many siblings in your family? I just had one sister, and she did pass away a few years ago, so it's just me now. But yes, we had great memories of all of that stuff. How many years apart were you we were two years apart. Okay, so you were pretty close. Oh, yes, we had a lot of fun. I miss her. I'm

Suzanne Wells:

sure you do, yeah, those, those were the days, weren't they? No, no car seats, no seat belts, no bike helmets, yes, drinking out of the water hose in the yard, running around barefoot,

Unknown:

playing outside and not having to worry about it. We all turned out okay. I know we're fine, right? Yes, no, I agree,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, yeah, so I bet yeah, those, I'm waiting to find a catalog. I haven't found one yet. Oh, really, the nostalgia of it, and, like, I remember that toy, and the prices of things, oh my gosh, the prices of things, like $3 for a Barbie or something like

Unknown:

that, right? It was insane, yeah, yes, that 1947 catalog that was crazy. They still had the kits to build a house in them. You know, Sears Roebuck used to make a house kit.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, right, okay, so it was really weird, like the olden days, you like a log cabin, you just buy this the kit.

Unknown:

Yeah, Sears used to make a four square house. A lot of those big, old square houses with the big front porches on them those, a lot of those were plans by the people, purchased from Sears, I know, and now we're having stuff delivered in 24 hours to our door. That's insane.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, I can't wait for drones to start dropping it, you know, from outside, like there's going to be no humans involved at all.

Unknown:

I know it's as bizarre world. So back to ephemera. Oh yeah, I

Suzanne Wells:

hijacked the conversation. Oh no, I love

Unknown:

it. Any anything with advertising on it I will buy because somebody's always looking for something from their hometown, whether it be napkins, coasters, you know, anything like decks of cards. I've done pretty well with those. And like I said, I this is not my full time job. I do this for fun and fun money, and if I make 10 bucks or 15 bucks, I'm okay with that. Mm, hmm,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, cuz I just enjoy it. Do you have, like, a regular, full time job? Oh,

Unknown:

yes, I do. And do you what do you do there? I am an office manager for a trucking company. Okay, okay, so, and all my kids are gone now. I had four daughters, and I'm home alone now. So,

Suzanne Wells:

oh gosh, there's a lot less estrogen in that house. Yes, I can't imagine five women living together. That's, oh my gosh. It was so much fun. Probably some drama in there, you

Unknown:

know, there was, but I do it all over again. And, of course, yeah, yeah, that's just a lot. So yeah, I will sell anything. I like to sell mugs. I know they kind of take up a lot of room, but they're so easy to ship in a, you know, a little box and Styrofoam peanuts. They're just easy, and if you can find one that says something weird on it, it'll always sell. Like I found a Viagra mug. Oh, okay, Prozac mug.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, those are perfect gag gifts for older people. They

Unknown:

are, and my son in law just found the perfect mug at a garage sale, but he won't give it up. My one son in law was at a garage sale and found a mug that said we live in Iowa, sterile Iowan. No idea, okay, but you know it would sell because it's

Suzanne Wells:

weird. Now I have a step sister in Spencer, Iowa.

Unknown:

I live literally 11 miles from Spencer.

Suzanne Wells:

So you know about Dewey the cat? Yes? At the library, yes. So I read that book for the listeners. It's just called Dewey, and I read it orange, yellow tabby cat that showed up at the library one day, and they started taking care of it, and then they named it Dewey, after Dewey Decimal. It's just about his adventures in the library. Yeah. And then I was like, it's in Spencer Iowa. And that's how I remember Spencer, Iowa.

Unknown:

Oh, that is so funny. I live in Milford, Iowa, and it's, it's, I'm literally, like, 10 minutes from Spencer. Okay, fantastic world

Suzanne Wells:

it is. And it was a cute little book, so it

Unknown:

was, yeah, anyway, so Yeah, anything that says something weird on it, it'll always sell mugs are easy, discontinued items. Yes, a candle. I bought $1 General candle for 50 cents last, last fall at a garage sale and sold it for $20 I just kind of go with my gut. Was it a certain brand or an unusual No, it was Dollar General brand, but the the scent was discontinued, and what was the scent? Gosh, I think it was a sunflower scent. Okay,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, that's the beauty of Yankee Candle and all those candle companies is they can't make everything all the time, right? And I found one once it I don't even know what the name was. This was like 15 years ago, but it was, it was in this beautiful, frosted glass, tall, you know, glass container, and it just smelled heavenly. It was at what was that store. I don't know if they have them anymore. It was kind of like Big

Unknown:

Lots, like a gardens or something,

Suzanne Wells:

Tuesday morning. Oh, I loved that story. I don't know if they're they're gone now. Okay, so it was stuff like that. I would go in there and find mark down things and sell them. And I think I paid $1 for that candle. I sold it for $50 yay. Could not believe. Like, who would pay that? Go find another

Unknown:

cent, but somebody that fell in love with him or they?

Suzanne Wells:

I think some people just want bragging rights, like, they'll have people over to their house and be like, that candle right there. I love it so much, but I paid $50

Unknown:

for it, right? That's probably true. So,

Suzanne Wells:

oh, I I never thought about Dollar General stuff. But,

Unknown:

well, I didn't either. I just thought, well, you know, it's, it was an experiment. I do a lot of those too. Yes, hey, cool. Why not? You

Suzanne Wells:

know the bottom line is, you never know what somebody's looking for. Just visit it. You don't have it like it want it doesn't mean somebody else won't.

Unknown:

Yes, like, like I said, I always kind of listen to my stomach on that. My God, I'm kind of gotten good at I think what people are going to want,

Suzanne Wells:

I don't know, like smells are, it's the most nostalgic sense of our body, right? That smell of, you know, grandma's pie cooking, or, you know, your grandmother's Chanel number five for me, right? I keep a little bottle of that, just because that's what my grandmother wore. And I just every now and then take a little

Unknown:

smell, and white shoulders here my grandma, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

just those nostalgic smells. It's something triggers something in your brain, because it's like a physical thing, you know? It's like looking at a picture. This is great to your brain. Kind

Unknown:

of just takes you back somewhere else. Yes,

Suzanne Wells:

and you just don't know what brings nostalgia to each individual person, right? Yeah, I love that. Okay, so sunflower candle from

Unknown:

Dollar General. Dollar General. Give it a try

Suzanne Wells:

if you see him at a yard sale or thrift store, and if it doesn't sell you just burn it and enjoy

Unknown:

yourself. That's right, but there's a good chance somebody out there fell in love with it and is looking for one, right? Might take a little bit, but that's okay,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, okay, all right. What else do you have to talk about? Um,

Unknown:

you know, I let's see, um, beer glasses. I love glass, and I've done well with glass. I don't have a lot of it listed right now, but, you know, I'll I found a bowl one day in a junk store at the rift store, and I thought it was really cool, but it kind of looked like a mid century modern thing, so I thought, well, I'd really like to keep it, but I'll list it, and it's sold for $50 right away. So yeah, just things like that. I have a bunch of depression glass that I need to sell, but haven't yet that. You know, it takes a certain mood to do that to want to ship it. So I think I'll let that one sit for a while. But

Suzanne Wells:

well, you know how we get in the mood to list our death pile here in the south is we when it's over 90 degrees, you just don't go outside

Unknown:

because, oh, I can imagine the humidity. And so

Suzanne Wells:

a friend of mine. Year. Oh, she's like, are you coming to the pool today? And I'm like, No, it is 91 right now, so it does not look good. Today is a listing day, so when it cools down a little bit, and, but I guess it's the opposite for you. When you're you're snowed in, is when you're tackling your stuff,

Unknown:

yes, and, and I do a lot of eBay in the wintertime, not so much in the summer. I live in a resort area. It's very busy here, and there's a lot to do, so I don't work that hard at it in the summer, but you don't sell that much. I shouldn't say you don't sell that much, because I did sell a few things yesterday and and so that was good, but I also sell cookbooks a lot, hey? And that's another thing where, you know, you might sit on it for a while, but there's always somebody looking for their mother's cookbook, or even those little just pamphlets. I've kind of had good luck with those, the Betty Crocker three ring cookbook, yes, I think it's 1961

Suzanne Wells:

the red one shape thing on the front. Yeah,

Unknown:

that one and the one before that that had a cake on the front of it. Okay, I think it was like a pink cake. Maybe my mom had it and she threw it away and told me about it later, which killed me, but I've done well if, if you can find it, that one is very hard to find, but I did find one for $5 one day, and I was giddy, and I bet sold it for $199 I bought it for his wife for Christmas. Isn't that sweet?

Suzanne Wells:

I love that. Yes. Yes. That one, the red notebook one, is in one of my books as like a bolo, look for that. Oh, definitely. I've never found it, but I always, I don't do many books, but I always go down the book aisle and look for those ones I know of, and and then I get distracted, and I'm like, I want to read this, and I want to

Unknown:

read that. Oh, me too. Yes, in the kitchen clatter, cookbooks. Those are there. Those are always good for, you know, depending on the condition, 25 to $50 not huge. Wait,

Suzanne Wells:

what is that? Kitchen clatter. Kitchen clatter,

Unknown:

it's a paper back, and most of them are light blue, and it's a the plastic binding, and the clatter is spelled with a K, right? They made kitchen clatter, spices, and they made cookbooks. Is that a regional thing? I've never heard it. No. I wonder if maybe it is now that you, if you haven't heard of it, it must be, because

Suzanne Wells:

you would, no, no, no, don't say that. There's a lot I don't know, because, yeah, a lot of these things are regional. And if you don't live in that region, you've never experienced

Unknown:

it. That's true. That is so true.

Suzanne Wells:

You guys make a lot of pies out there in the Midwest.

Unknown:

Yes, that's That's true.

Suzanne Wells:

That's like pie country. And then south is, I don't know if it's evenly divided between cakes and pies, but I'm a cake person

Unknown:

myself. Oh, me too. White cake, white frosting. There's nothing like yeah, me around a wedding cake.

Suzanne Wells:

Get out of my way, folks. Yep,

Unknown:

that's awesome. Also Christmas things. This, this Thanksgiving time I was in a Goodwill store, and I hit the jackpot. There was a bunch of boxed ornaments from a jewelry store there in town, and they were Reed and Barton. Have you heard of that? Oh, yes, I have, I know, okay, the the gold plated lace kind of things. Yes, there was like, 10 or 12 of them there. And I thought, oh, geez, these are probably going to be 10 bucks a piece, so I wasn't even because they weren't marked. And I went up there and asked, and the lady said, Oh, I don't know, a quarter, yes,

Suzanne Wells:

what?

Unknown:

That was exciting. Obviously, I bought them all. And yeah, you know, I got 20 to$25 out of them. And maybe I could have gotten more, but I was just happy with that. And I think, I think they all sold. So that was kind of a fun, fun thing at Christmas time, the angel Christmas tree toppers. They have the spun glass angel hair. Our parents had them in the 40s, or our grandparents. My grandparents had one and my mom had one. They were die cut scrap paper Angel Tree toppers, national. That's what it is. It's called national national tinsel.

Suzanne Wells:

National tinsel, original package. Okay, yes, so the

Unknown:

national company made these, and if you ever come across one of those, you'll want to grab that. They're getting hard to find, but you can always get at least 50. Dollars for it, even if it's in bad shape. I did buy one for $10 a few years ago, and got 199 for it, and I've gotten $100 from a forum for a few times. And that's that's just one of those things. I'll go into an antique store once in a while, and there it is, and it's $10 and I'm all over it, obviously, and

Suzanne Wells:

you are talking about all kinds of things that I've never heard of and haven't seen. And this is weird. This is why people like this podcast. Is because everybody who comes on has some little specialized knowledge and see like you probably didn't think that was specialized. You probably thought, well, everybody knows about these angels,

Unknown:

and I thought they did, because my grandparents had one and my mom and dad had one. So I just assumed that everybody's parents did, no no. But if you ever see one, grab it. You said, I

Suzanne Wells:

just assumed that everybody's parents did. I gotta throw this in, because I love this guy. It's this comedian named Nate bargat C and he's got several specials on Netflix, but he talks about when he was a kid, his dad was a clown, and he would dress up and go to birthday parties, and and, and he's like, you know, and for the longest time, I didn't think anything of it. I thought everybody's dad was a clown.

Unknown:

Oh, that's funny. So

Suzanne Wells:

no, we all have different experiences and stuff around your house growing up that other people didn't

Unknown:

see. They don't exactly, yeah, which goes back to somebody who's always looking for something from their past, exactly, yeah. And, you know, so Chris, those kind of Christmas ornaments. And there's also the little plastic they call it, the bird cage with the wordly gig in it. Have you seen those?

Suzanne Wells:

I probably have. I just probably never put a name to it,

Unknown:

okay, it's, it looks like those were from the 40s and 50s, okay? And once in a while, hardly ever, but once in a while, you'll see it in a free bin at a garage sale because somebody thinks it's junk. Uh huh. Bought one for a quarter once at a junk store. Those are always $50.35 to $50 really, okay, cute. And yeah, so I've done pretty well with definitely, with the Angel Tree toppers, I sold several of those, and that's been a good thing. In fact, I have a few of them right now that I need to sell.

Suzanne Wells:

Are they really fragile? Oh, they're pretty fragile. Okay, yeah, no, they're not. Well, they're made of spun glass, and it's the

Unknown:

die cast foil on it that this there's little stars on it, and those times been over, but even if there's one missing, somebody will still give you 35 to 50 bucks for it.

Suzanne Wells:

So how are you shipping that very fragile item

Unknown:

I ship that, I just wrap it good and in tissue paper, but a roll or a layer of bubble wrap around both sides of it and in a box.

Suzanne Wells:

Have you ever had any arrived damage?

Unknown:

No, I have been very, very lucky. I've only had one thing damaged ever. Yeah, it was that. It was a radiant toaster. Are you familiar with those? Another item I am not familiar, okay, it's a chrome toaster with the fabric, probably would be the 50s or 60s, maybe the 40s. It would have the fabric black and white cord. Okay, I'm not sure what what what the big deal was about it. But they call it a radiant something. I just thought it was cool and retro looking. So I bought it. This was back when I first started eBay, 20 years ago. So I kind of wanted to keep it, but I listed it, and it went to an acting company in London, and it did arrive damaged, okay, but that's the only thing I've ever had knock on wood, damaged. I've had really good

Suzanne Wells:

luck. Okay, so I'm looking at Google Images, and I just put in radiant toaster, and it just looks like an old toaster.

Unknown:

Yeah, it's just a retro looking toaster,

Suzanne Wells:

okay? And so it does. The real ones, the vintage ones, have that cord that's covered in fabric, like a cord on an iron,

Unknown:

Yes, yep, okay, like her when we were kids, yes, okay,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, that's a telltale sign that it's old. If it's got that cord that's covered in fabric. Oh, okay, well, I mean, it was it a true vintage one,

Unknown:

it was a true vintage one, yep.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, so,

Unknown:

and I think back then look at the toasters,

Suzanne Wells:

but really, that'd be pretty easy to ship, because it's hollow,

Unknown:

right? And 20 years ago, I think I paid $1 for it, and I think I sold it. For 67 or$68 so that's a great flip, and at that time I really, really needed the money. So that was awesome.

Suzanne Wells:

I usually go with the $10 Walmart model when I

Unknown:

need a new one, but, oh, I do too.

Suzanne Wells:

What is being overlooked in thrift stores and at garage sales, because, like these people who love electronics, are they even looking at the toasters? Or they're going over there to the more modern stuff, the computer stuff and the DVD VCR combo things and like, are the toasters being looked at now, if there was a Vitamix blender, you better believe I'm going to get that. Oh yes, Eric is just part of it. I'll pray You

Unknown:

are so right about that. And you know that goes back to there is plenty of things out there for all of us. You know, we all go to these stores every day. And I just bought something yesterday that from a thrift store that had a sticker of June 5 on it. I thought that's been sitting here since June 5? No way.

Suzanne Wells:

Yes, I did that too. I went Sunday and today is Tuesday, and I found all these great things that had been sitting there for three weeks. I know I thought, well, some of them were winter. I found a Old Navy long puffer coat with the fake fur line hood, and I had one like that when I went out to the Midwest and then came back to the south. And it's like, yeah, I'm never going to wear that. So I sold it for $80 I know what it sells for. And it was really

Unknown:

an Old Navy one. Really, yeah, Old Navy.

Suzanne Wells:

That's awesome. Um, the one I found was just like it, and it was $5 Oh, for heaven, yes. You know, people aren't buying coats in July, when it's 95 degrees. Hey, I am. That's when I buy my off season stuff. Exactly. Weren't any bathing suits, but there were coats and sweaters, and that's those cashmere sweaters, like perfect condition, no holes in them. Oh, no, you kind of gotta rework your strategy there. You know, yes, get the stuff people aren't paying attention to. But I don't know how we got off on that topic. Oh, the how long something's been in this. I like it that Goodwill has the date on the ticket. Because if it's something really good, that's been there a really long time, like, Okay, what's wrong with this? Yeah, agree. Yeah, so, but yeah, there, there's always something. And I'm always amazed at I know other resellers go in there, so we're all looking for different things. Well, yeah, you

Unknown:

get to know each other, don't you?

Suzanne Wells:

Um, I've I know you, but I you can just tell when somebody's a reseller.

Unknown:

I live in a small area, so I feel like they know me, and they do, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

they know when you take out your trash. They know everything in a small town.

Unknown:

I also did my first auction, you know, auction, and that was fun, but I think I could get into trouble with that, because it was so fun, but I sold all the extras that they threw in there. It's like, Oh, what am I? No, I'm in. I was thinking about throwing it away. Like, no, I'm gonna sell it. Just weird things. And you know, all of it sold for 1520 bucks, a piece of piece of milk, glass of ceramic Turkey, a Beanie Baby Turkey, which I didn't think you could give away. But I did get 15 bucks.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, maybe it was because it was a turkey,

Unknown:

yes, yeah, yeah. And then there was Disney video tapes in there, which I would always run from, but they were, I think I paid six bucks for 15 of them, and they were the Black Diamond in sealed and I got 35 bucks for a couple of those. Yeah, I more than made my money back. I've still got a couple listed, but, and then we found a nativity set at an estate sale. I took my oldest daughter who would rather die than go to a thrift store. My kids are sick of it because they Oh my gosh, Mom, what if someone sees me? Oh my god. Did we have to do this again? Because they lived it. And we found this nativity set. And I, I wish I could think of what it was, just one of those things that was Italian. And right away,

Suzanne Wells:

the Fontanne,

Unknown:

gosh, I don't know.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay. Well, that's like one of the well known

Unknown:

it was 75% off on the last day, and it was $20 and something inside of me kept saying, buy it, and I didn't. So then we drove somewhere in eight, and I said, we have to go. Back and get that, and my daughter's rolling her eyes at me, and you're crazy, whatever. So I said it, and it was marked down to $5 so I said, you buy it and sell it. So she did, and we got home and looked it up, and they sell for $500 Oh, so that was on day three of the estate sales. So that just goes to show that, you know, we're all looking for something different, and nobody knew about it, including and

Suzanne Wells:

gold star for you for listening to your intuition,

Unknown:

like the thrifting gods were just poking you, go back? Yes, I can get it. Yes. When you get something like that in your head, you can't let it go. You better go back.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, that that's the universe talking to you like, Yeah, listen. How much louder do I need to be right? Oh, and so, how much did it sell for?

Unknown:

We haven't listed it yet. Oh, I see. Okay, yep. So I said, since you've made fun of me all day, you buy it and you list it and make the money. So she was very excited. It was such a cool set that it's almost one of those you'd like to keep, but not for $500

Suzanne Wells:

No, that's not going to last in my house either. Yep, it'll it'll

Unknown:

get sold this year, I'm sure. And, yeah, it'll be fun to see what she gets for it, yeah, good for you and good for her. Yeah, those estate sales. I I love those. So

Suzanne Wells:

did that change her attitude about going with you?

Unknown:

Yes,

Suzanne Wells:

that's all it takes, right? Yeah, that's all it takes. Is one and they're hooked, and they they just anybody is like, Well, what else is out there?

Unknown:

And there's plenty out there, yeah, absolutely enough for all of us. And, you know, like I said, this, this, it has paid my bills before, when I was raising kids alone. This is how we got through the winter. You know? This is how we did our heat bills in Iowa and did our Christmas shopping.

Suzanne Wells:

Now, what I remember being a single mom and doing this was just having faith in the business. And, you know, whenever something would happen, refrigerator died, or, you know, you had me to work on your car. Like, the sales would just show up

Unknown:

you, I agree, yeah, it would

Suzanne Wells:

just, I would just have faith, and I would worry too, but, like, but it always worked out, because something would pop up and take care of it. And, you know, that's why I have such great faith in this business, is, is you're going to have slow days, you're going to have slow time, oh sure, but it's very cyclical. And just, you know, keep keep going forward and just keep going and together, yep,

Unknown:

yep. And it always does. It always works out. And the same thing with me, anytime we had something catastrophic happen. There was always sales, and it just always worked out. And, yeah, I love Ebay. I will always do eBay.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, good for you. You mentioned you had a death pile by you. There I do, but you're at work. So are you listing your stuff at work.

Unknown:

You know, I work for my son in law. Oh, okay, I just I managed the office in an art gallery for seven years or for 18 years. We live in a resort area, and just this May, I made a job change, and my son in law asked me to come and manage his office at his trucking company, and I had never thought about leaving my job because I loved it, and I thought, well, maybe I better think about this, because it's less stress. Yes, it's been a good thing. It's been fun, a lot of learning, but yeah, some days it's pretty quiet here, and

Suzanne Wells:

well, good for you. You can blend the two together. Yes, it's a good items. Do you have listed?

Unknown:

I think I have maybe about 250 250 listed right now. I do have an eBay store. I had 350 listed last winter, and I'll, I'll ramp it up again before winter comes. And right and, but yeah, I like to keep about 250 mm hmm, because otherwise it could get a little overwhelming, especially when I was taking care of my dad and working full time. But right so, but yeah, I have a death pile I'm working through.

Suzanne Wells:

That's the beauty of eBay. You can have it at any level you want, and when life happens, you just can step back and handle your life and then come back to eBay. It's not going anywhere.

Unknown:

That's exactly right. It is. It has been a huge blessing for myself and my my kids over the last. Years, and there's

Suzanne Wells:

to hear that we see so much negative press about eBay and some of these online groups, and it's nothing but complaining. And, you know, my sales are slow, and you know, eBay did this to me, and yada yada. And it's just,

Unknown:

you know, complaining about the fees is the one I like. It's like, where else are you going to get this kind of an audience? I am more than happy to pay those fees. Yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

and you just got to focus on what's going well. And you know, because you get what you focus on, if you focus on how much you hate something. And I don't know why these people even sell on eBay. Why do you do it? Though they're so negative about it, like nobody's making you do this. If you don't like it, go do something you can be happy about, right? Yeah, you spend being unhappy about something is a day lost,

Unknown:

right? To me, this is fun. This is actually stress relief for me to go out and find things that I love and resell them, and then you make somebody happy in the process, like this older man that I sold the top of a Presto pressure cooker to it was, you know, that little top that wobbles around, right? We're always looking for parts for something. He paid $15 for it, and he sent me an email about how happy he was that he was making his bean soup that fall. It tickled me.

Suzanne Wells:

I love it, yeah, you just never know what somebody's looking for, what they have an alert set up for, right? It could be just such a mundane item, you know? Yes, something,

Unknown:

yes. I also like to sell manuals, like old sewing machine manuals and things like that. They don't take up room, and somebody's always picked up an old sewing machine or something at a garage sale that they need a manual for, right?

Suzanne Wells:

Well, and a lot of that is available online, but some people just don't like it information that way. They don't

Unknown:

want and not if it's not, if it's a really old one from the 70s.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, it may not, it may not be online. Or, I know the auto mechanics, some of them like the book so they can get out, yes, and they don't want to put their iPad down there, or their phone down there next to all that grease. No. They hate it, yeah. So they'll get a book that it's okay if it gets dirty, alright, if it is dirty, yes, if it's what they need. So it's just we have to keep our minds open to who might want

Unknown:

this. Yep, because somebody will. Will

Suzanne Wells:

you have any more sales you want to talk about? Oh, not that I can

Unknown:

think of. Like I said, I also I sell a lot. This is funny underwear. I always seem to hit a clearance sale a couple times a year where the underwear all marked down. You know, the Hanes eight packs or whatever. They're either $1 or $3 I buy them all. Well, yeah, everybody needs underwear. Well, they're getting kind of expensive, so they might as well buy them from you, right? Yeah, especially if they're discontinuing, if somebody's falling in love with them. Yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

I'm very picky about my clothes. Yes, everybody knows. Don't try to buy me anything because, Oh, me too. I just, you know, it has to fit right and be comfortable, and I'm very picky, and I'm terrible, like, I cut the tags out of my my collars and stuff, because it just is so irritating. But it's like, I gotta know, I'm not going to sell it, right? If I might sell that thing, I'm not cutting the tag out of it. Agreed? Yeah, okay, well, you are an eBay veteran, started back in 2005 Do you have any advice or last words for the listeners who might be getting into this,

Unknown:

my advice would be just to don't listen to other people that tell you you're crazy for doing this, because it's it's fun, it's a way to make money with no boss. And keep an open mind. Like I said, there's always somebody looking for something, and if you think it'll sell, it probably will

Suzanne Wells:

buy it. Go with your gut. You're right, yep, yeah, especially if you're being called back to an estate sale.

Unknown:

Oh, gosh, yes. Don't ever ignore that voice in your ear. Just go buy it. Very

Suzanne Wells:

good. Well, thank you for reaching out and coming on the podcast to share your journey. I've learned a lot. Thank you so much.

Unknown:

Well, thank you. I have learned so much from you, and I love your podcast, so I look forward to it every Wednesday.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, thank you so much for listening. Okay, well, I'll let you get back to your I guess, quasi real job.

Unknown:

Yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, have a great rest of your day. You

Unknown:

too. Thanks for all you do. Thank you. Bye. It bye.

Suzanne Wells:

Parting words, we touched on the Sears catalog, which has a fascinating history. I mentioned this on a podcast back in 2022 but it bears repeating. So back in the 1880s when railroads were established as a mode of transportation and delivering goods, Richard Sears was a railroad station agent back then, there was no Standard Time. Time was not kept consistently. Everybody just kept time based on Sunrise in their location, and it was very confusing, especially with trains coming and going in 1888 Sears started selling pocket watches as a side job. He partnered with Alva Roebuck, a watchmaker. Then they saw the perfect conditions to start a mail order catalog selling anything and everything. The railroads were growing rapidly, and they could reach people in remote locations that had limited access to mass produced goods. The Industrial Revolution had already happened, and goods were being mass produced in factories. So it was the perfect marriage of products, distribution and customers. It was all about timing, a brilliant idea at the right time, two people got together and took action and made it happen. And that story is explained in a series called America, the story of us that was on the History Channel back in 2010 I watch it about once a year and learn something new every time. It's also on Amazon and YouTube and probably other channels too. I just love these little backstories about how these iconic companies got started next week. My guest is Bridget, a seasoned, full time seller who lives in a college town with lots of sourcing opportunities. She has hustled for many years to build her business with an inventory of over 3000 items. And as a reminder, there's always an open casting call for guests on this show. If you are interested in being a guest, reach out to me and we can discuss. Keep working hard and loving what you do every day. Talk to you next week. Bye, bye. Everybody you