eBay the Right Way

eBay Seller Chat with Linda in Michigan: List to Exist! NASA Space Suits, Vintage Nylons, Brass Stuff, MacKenzie Childs, Lisa Frank, Duck Calls 🦆

• Suzanne A. Wells • Episode 245

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Suzanne Wells:

Hi, eBay friends, I'm Suzanne, your hostess, and this is episode number 245 of eBay, the right way. Today's date is November 26 2025 and my guest is Linda in Michigan. No announcements this week, so let's get started. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of eBay the right way, and Linda is joining me today. Where are you located? Again? Michigan. What part? Oh,

Unknown:

Grand Rapid or Granville, Michigan. Okay, so towards the towards the lake, Lake Michigan.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, and is it cold there?

Unknown:

Yet it's a little cold. It's it was like 40 today, so, but it's supposed to get in the 50s, back up in the 50s this weekend. So, okay, not too bad. I didn't have to wear a coat or anything.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, well, that's good. Yesterday, down here in the south, our high was 40. Oh, yeah, that's crazy. Like, got their heavy coats on and, like, you know, it's the end of the world, but we have

Unknown:

snow. We have snow this week, last weekend, but it's gone now and it's warmed up.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, yeah, well, and I guess that's typical for a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, yep. Okay, great. All right. Well, we usually start off with learning a little bit about you and what brought you to eBay and when that happened.

Unknown:

So I joined eBay in October of 2023, and how that happens. I've always been interested in, you know, buying and selling and collecting. And we started doing Facebook marketplace because we buy some stuff because we I love estate sales. I love garage sales. And I've, I've gone to auctions even when I was, like 18, I started going to auctions here and there, and start selling on Facebook. And then somebody at work mentioned something about eBay, and I'm like, let me look into this eBay thing. And I started researching. And I'm like, I think this might be something I we would like to do. Because I I really want to, like, look into something after I retire, to keep, like, start doing more, you know, an income. Keep like us, you know, supplemental, I guess you would say, and I love, and I love to do it with I love to go collect. I love the hunt, you know, just like everybody else, I do love the hunt, finding that, that one thing that's, you know, the bolos and all that. So that's how I got into it. And then also I, I just researched it, and I said, let's try it. And then it's got hooked.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, you had contacted me a few months ago about looking at your store, and yep, and then I saw one of those items on the money making Monday. That's, I recognize that, yes, sold you

Unknown:

some, a suggestion, a couple of them, and right away, I think you said, like, if you have a lot of watches, raise the price on something. And I did that, and, by gosh, sold right away. Like, the next day it sold. So I was like, you know what you're doing. You've been doing this for a long time. So I wanted to listen to that. So, yeah. So some of the stuff that I did, the stuff sold, yeah. So I was at a state sale, and this lady said that she because I asked, I said, What is, what do you why do you have two spaces? She said she worked at NASA, and she was a trainer there, and those were her suits, and she retired, and she didn't want them anymore, and so she was selling them. And so it was kind of cool. So I bought them, and they both sold.

Suzanne Wells:

So were they actual astronauts suits? Weren't they silver, like silver foil or not? They were blue. Oh, that wrong.

Unknown:

They were like a jumpsuit. They had all the patches and everything. She said, that's what they use for training, okay? And they said she was a trainer there, and so that's what they that's just she wore every day. She was, I said, what a great job. That was. She was, that was fun. She loved it. So, yeah, she worked there for many, 30 years, I think. So, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

okay. And do you remember what you paid for

Unknown:

those yep, I paid $5 a piece, and they sold for $65 a piece, and they sold pretty quick. Very good. Yeah, I would have

Suzanne Wells:

been tempted to go back and be like so. Do you have any other NASA stuff, like ashtrays or anything? Thing,

Unknown:

exactly, yeah, yep. Okay, so,

Suzanne Wells:

so you just kind of started selling to see what would happen, and look at you now, is retirement on the horizon for you, or

Unknown:

probably about eight more years? Oh, not really, not, yeah, yeah, but this is a great supplement. And I wanted to learn like. I want to learn as much as possible so I can like, and I I haven't been doing this for very long, but I think I'm learning quite a bit. And I watch like I say, I watch you on YouTube, I listen to your podcast, and there's a few other people I follow, so I tried to learn as much as possible, and I think I'm getting better as I go.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, good for you. Now, what do you do at your quote? Regular job?

Unknown:

Yeah, so I work for a healthcare insurance company. Okay? And I'm in, I'm in the claims area, so I work at the back end of the claim so when there's issues and things like that, we research them and see what's going on, if there is a real issue, or if they are working, or the processing correctly, and things like that. So I really love the job. It's a great job. So I'm very fortunate that way. But I really love, you know, eBay, selling on eBay is I love this. This is like a great hobby. Should commit a lot of money at, yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

So are you holding out for full retirement age so you can get the benefits? Yeah,

Unknown:

I pretty much that's what I'm kind of holding out for, yeah, 65 I think whenever you can get the Medicare, that's where I'm going to be like, okay,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah. Well,

Unknown:

what year were you born? 67 I think now, okay, 66 okay.

Suzanne Wells:

So same as me, yeah, you know, I was all pumped about, oh, I can get Social Security at 62 that's not too far. Then all these people were telling me about the $23,000 thing. So maybe you don't know, and I don't, here's my disclaimer. I am not an expert on this. I have done my research. It may change, but as it stands now, if you start drawing your Social Security between age 62 and you know, 66 and 11 months or whatever that is right in there, they basically dock your pay if you make more than 23,000 income, like it's on your tax return and your adjusted gross income and all. It's a very complicated thing, but it's not just like, oh, I want to get it. I'm going to get mine as soon as I can get it, because they basically undo whatever social security you're getting. If you're you have, you know, an earned income, and that could be anything, that can be dividends on investments, that can be. They might even count the Social Security itself. Oh my gosh. So what they're what they're doing is they're trying to get people to wait until they're 67 so they don't have so many people drawing in their early 60s. And again, this may change. Yeah, you never know. I was like, wait a minute, but you get it's just deferred. You get it later. Okay? What they're trying to do is, like, discourage between 62 and 67 so many people drawing at once. And I was, I was like, Well, I'm not just going to intentionally make less money, right? Social Security isn't affected. And then I was like, well, that's, that's a lot of years until you're basically full retirement age, which is 67 so there's a lot of us in this Gen X age group that because I couldn't figure out, why are people? Why are you working till you're 67 Why are you doing that? All I know wells can't really draw without without effects until then, anyway. And also an interesting fact, your on your statement. You know where you see. What? If you retire at this age and start drawing, you get this much. Those statements you get? Yeah, basically that is based on your 35 years of highest earning. Yep, okay, I know all this because I have an ex husband I was married to for 15 years, so I got my eye on on half of his, because I was a state mom and the self employed person like mine is nowhere near Mr. Corporate America, right? Yeah. And so it's based on your 35 years of highest drawing. And for most people, that's going to be those last years or so, yeah, you know. So that's why so many people are are sticking it out until. Full, full retirement age. Now they may change it, they may lower it, they may raise it. Who knows it's all so complicated? Go to go to a seminar when

Unknown:

it's time. Okay, I'm going to do that because I didn't mean to get off track there. Thank you. I appreciate that

Suzanne Wells:

are in our age group that are doing this as a supplement to whatever. Doing in retirement. You know, if you're getting Social Security, or you've got a pension, or you've got your own 401, K, or whatever it is, and and you just throw this in on top of it, and, you know, it's fun, and it keeps your mind sharp. Yes, reason to get up and do something exactly,

Unknown:

and you learn something new every day, almost every day. I'm like, Oh my gosh,

Suzanne Wells:

every day, yeah, every day, yeah. Especially doing these podcasts, I learned all kinds of stuff from people, right? So

Unknown:

anyway, too, I love that

Suzanne Wells:

was your Social Security lesson. Thank you. I appreciate don't get too excited about 62 because it may be like, Yeah,

Unknown:

I'm not gonna think it's gonna happen. And I'm very fortunate. I got a pension in 401 k at my my job, yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, you don't hear that much anymore. Oh, good for you is, do you have a fully vested age on that?

Unknown:

Yeah, I'm vested already, as it was, yep, yep. Well, good. Or 55 I think, yeah, 55 so I'm Oh,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, yeah. For you, when you get the senior discount, Yeah, we're good to go. Pretty good. You get a lot.

Unknown:

I don't like to admit it too many times, but when I get that discount, I'm like, Yes, I'm 55 or over. Yeah.

Suzanne Wells:

Look really old when you go into goodwill, if you're not 55 yet, you know, right, exactly, borrow somebody's cane and get that 10% Yeah, put your your readers on like you can't see anything, and they'll just give it to you, exactly, right? Okay, well, let's get back to you. So what other kind of things do you sell? Do you have a specialty, or are you open for anything? I'm all, I mean,

Unknown:

all, all seller. I sell everything. Seller, okay, everything. Seller, yes, thank you. I do have, like, some things, like, for some reason I love hats. I started out with hats mainly, and that's kind of like my bread and butter thing. I still sell them. They're so, like, I buy them cheap. They're fast for me to picture, you know, take pictures and post. So I still sell those. But I I'm starting to get into more clothes now. But I sell, I sell everything, Stein beer, steins. I don't know why I have an obsession with that as those as well. So So I've sold a few of those. So yeah, I like sports stuff, so I have a tendency to pick up. I have a tendency to look for those things and hunting gear, not that I hunt or anything, but I know that those that sell. When I'm in Michigan, there's a lot of hunting gear, and that stuff sells really quick for me too. So I look for all that stuff, but and I love state sales, especially the 50% off days. Because I'm cheap, I like to set I like to buy low, you know, so

Suzanne Wells:

well, don't call yourself cheap. That has a negative connotation. You are. You're frugal and you want the deal. And yeah, I'm thrifty. You know that they're going to be marking everything down. Somebody called it the challenge of the leftovers.

Unknown:

Oh yes, I'm shocked how much stuff is still there, that it's really some good stuff I've come across, so yeah, and even at the bins, I've come across some stuff. And I'm like, in fact, I have a, one of my highest sales is a men's wool coat. And I got that in a state sale for $2.50 and I sold it for I sold it for $120

Suzanne Wells:

good. For you,

Unknown:

yeah, and then another one, a men's long because long men's long coats seem to

Suzanne Wells:

sell pretty good for me. Dress coats, or, like, work coats, um,

Unknown:

dress coats, they're well, both of these were wool, and the other one I found at the bins, okay, I paid, you know, probably a couple bucks for that as well. I sold it for 44 $44 and that, yep, uh huh, yep, it was a Hugo Boss, and that sold for $44 within probably a week. And the other one was a Brooks Brothers, and that sold,

Suzanne Wells:

oh, good couple weeks

Unknown:

too. Yeah, very good.

Suzanne Wells:

Were they? You said they were wool, not

Unknown:

camel hair. They were Yeah, they were both wool.

Suzanne Wells:

What color were they?

Unknown:

One was black and one was brown,

Suzanne Wells:

okay, I only asked that because if they're like the lighter camel hair color, yeah, they might have stains. Like the darker colors, yeah, that's what I've learned over the years. Is like, I don't even look at white stuff anymore, because either it has something on it that you can see, or you get it home. And I did not see that because I think they have magical trick lighting in the thrift store, like it blurs out the deep, the defects, the imperfections,

Unknown:

and then the same thing too, you get home, you're like, I didn't see that

Suzanne Wells:

using in there, and I didn't see this, right? So I kind of stay away from white or, you know, patterned things, because if there is a stain or something, it's more camouflaged. But yeah, well, those top coats

Unknown:

too, yeah, those are both darker.

Suzanne Wells:

As you know, we're more casual society now. But yes, there's still people who wear those and want to look nice. Go watch some videos on, you know, New York City and people walking around in the fashion and stuff, and see, you know, there's plenty of attorneys and business people that that wear those coats, and it's, it's a style that is, is never going to die, because it's, you know, professional, and it's classic, yes. Classic Yes. So just for the listeners, if you're like, oh, that seems too big to deal with or whatever. And another tip is, anything like that that's lined, turn it inside out. I know at the bins, it probably doesn't matter, because it's so cheap, and if the lining was torn or whatever, it can be fixed, like the buyer could have it repaired pretty cheap. But skirts, blazers, anything like that, turn inside out to see if the lining is okay. Well, that's a good tip. Yeah, yeah. That burned me a lot at the beginning. When I started, I was like, Oh, I didn't check that.

Unknown:

Yeah, that's great. So far, I got lucky

Suzanne Wells:

some great sales and good things to look for. And since you're in a colder climate state, yeah, you're gonna see more of that. So you gotta bloom where you're planted Exactly. Ride the wave leverage what is in front of you? Bathing suits and the swimsuits covered. There you go. Yep, yeah.

Unknown:

In fact, I even found a leather bomber jacket, and it was vintage. At the bins I walked in, and I was, I was walking by, and it wasn't even in the clothes area. I didn't know. Somebody found it and they laid it down. I grabbed that thing so fast. And I was like, this looks really nice. And then this guy comes over. He goes, Oh, that's a nice jacket. And I said, Yeah, I know. And then he followed me. He kept following

Suzanne Wells:

me, yeah, I know. Get your hands off my cart.

Unknown:

He goes, Are you gonna he goes, Did you look that up? I said, if just, if you're, if you're wondering, I am going to take this home, so don't, I'm not going to put this back down. He goes, Oh, okay, I just was checking. I'm like, Yeah, and I did sell it for $70 so yeah, it was a good one.

Suzanne Wells:

Does that happen to you much at the bins where people follow you around twice?

Unknown:

It's happened twice. So not, a not a ton, but yeah, a couple times they'll, like, see if you're going to put the whatever you have down. And that's why I was honest with them, like, I'm going to keep I'm taking this home, so you might as well just go on, go somebody else

Suzanne Wells:

that has not happened to me. Of course, I don't go very much, but I would have to turn around and say, Hey, what's going on? I think I know you and just like, be very sarcastic and loud, and maybe they would go away,

Unknown:

right? And I'm very sarcastic. So that sounds right

Suzanne Wells:

at my work, I don't know. I'm always afraid in the regular thrift stores to park my buggy and go use the restroom, because, like, I put all the yucky stuff on purpose and put it on top. Like, just, just do it really fast to, yeah,

Unknown:

I've heard of people taking stuff right out of your cart, like, or buggy. Or we

Suzanne Wells:

talked to, yeah, that was a southern thing, buggy, yeah. Or somebody strikes up a conversation about an item you have, and they really want it. And I'm like, Well, let me tell you, I'll be checking out in 30 minutes, and I can meet you right outside, and I will sell it to you for and I'll just give a price, and I'll sell it to you after I purchase it, and it's mine. And they're like, Oh, I wanted to get it for $3 and I'm like, Yeah, me too, yep, exactly, exactly. Oh, the stories we can tell. How many things do you have listed now?

Unknown:

So I have six right now. I have 638 lists. Listed. I want to get, I want to get up to 700 was my goal by the end of the year, and then kind of maintain that. But right now it's like 638

Suzanne Wells:

oh, that's excellent. Yeah, you've only been doing this about two years. Yes, yep, you've been very dedicated and consistent. Yeah.

Unknown:

And I love, yeah, I try to be I have ups and downs, you know, I want to be more consistent. Because list to exist is what, you know, what they say. So, so, yeah, I want to be more consistent. That's my goal. So I have something, you know, like, there's a lot life happens. So, you know, some days, some weeks and some months are better than others, but that's, that's my goal, is to get more consistency. Oh, when you, when you post more, it seems like the sales are are better. So

Suzanne Wells:

yes, it definitely starts right. Yep. Is it just you? Or do you have any help?

Unknown:

So Amy, my spouse, she, she doesn't post anything or or anything like that, but she loves, she'll like, she looks stuff up for me, and then she loves to get the pricing and all that for me. So she'll take her post it notes and put down like a little description. And she loves to obviously set or buy. She likes a treasure hunt. So we both love that. And she, she used to do a lot of Facebook and marketplace, and now she's like, I'm going to give you all my stuff to put on eBay, and I'm just going to do the big stuff on Facebook. So we kind of do it. We're kind of doing that. So you might be eventually, I think she's going to probably do a little bit more of that, but yeah, so she does help out, because sometimes, you know, just getting the pricing is takes, takes a while to research.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, that sounds like a good division of labor. Yes. Does she work full time too?

Unknown:

She does, yeah, okay, yeah. She works at a different company, color measuring company, and she's she works there. She really likes that. She's been there for a long time too. So,

Suzanne Wells:

so you guys are just busy, busy out in the real world, yeah, and then you can come home, and on weekends, you can have fun with Hunter gathering stuff, right? Yes, good for you. Okay. Well, do you have any other sales you want to talk about?

Unknown:

So I have a few. So there's a couple of them that, like we have. I have a lot of several T shirts, concert T shirts that were actually hers, that she kept. I wish I would have kept mine, because I had a lot. Yeah, so I, I sold. This was it three of them. And so Robert Plant, she went and saw him in 83 that sold for $50

Suzanne Wells:

is that? Is he Addicted to Love? There's Robert Plant, Robert Palmer, and I was going to miss that was

Unknown:

Robert Palmer, yeah. Robert Plant, he wasn't like, I think he was in years ago in Led Zeppelin, I think, oh, okay,

Suzanne Wells:

one of those Roberts is Addicted to Love, I don't know, right?

Unknown:

Yeah, I think that's Palmer and then Adam Ant. It was the no sleeve shirt, yeah, it was in 1983 as well. That one sold for $83.65 the person said they, they, they selected our shirt, my shirt because of my feedback for my packaging. And I have to say I must package really well, because I have so much feedback for, oh, this was packaged so great. This was, I mean, it was, it's, like, a lot of it. So I do have a skill, a backup skill for packaging, I guess. So they picked me, pick mine, and then this other one is not from her. I actually almost re donated this, because I was like, What is this shirt? It's called, it was the the Postal Service band. And I was like, and it was really weird. This person laying on a, I don't know it was a stick figure. It was just very strange shirt. And I was like, what I'm I don't think this is anything. Well, I looked it up, and I'm like, Oh, yes, it is. I posted it for, I think I posted for like, $70 and somebody bought it for, or no, 75 I think somebody offered me 66 and I'm like, Yes, cuz I got, I think I got that one at the bins as well. I just anything weird I pick up, you know, I see something like this is strange, but I'm glad I looked that up again, because I was almost going to throw it in the donation

Suzanne Wells:

book. Pretty sure every seller has done that and said, I don't even know what this is, looks like nothing. And then you search, and oh, I stand corrected.

Unknown:

And another thing that we did is she had gone to the estate sale and messaged me, and she got because I wasn't there, I was doing something. And hey, there's a whole bunch of nylon. Ones for $40 you want me to grab them? And I'm like, Sure, vintage nylons on all new, new and new old stock, they call it. And so she purchased those, and we've sold well over double, triple that. I've sold so many nylons, you're not going to believe it. And some of them we sold in lots. So they averaged out about 37 cents a piece, honestly, because we, I think there was like 100 150 nylons for $40 so we sold quite a few of them. Queen sells good. Yes, the best. But yeah, so that was another interesting Well, there's a

Suzanne Wells:

whole market for that with, like, people collect them, or women are actually wearing them or and then there's like, the computer people use the pantyhose for different things to cover up the fans and the vents, yeah. And you can use and stuff, yeah, store, store your onions and your garlic and all that stuff in them. If you have, you know, an outbuilding you're storing, we for gardening and you want to store those. There's just so many things, all kinds of crafts people do with them. Oh, so it's not like I get that the Queens they sell good, the queen size. Because really, the larger sizes of anything do better, because just not of them. I was watching something on fast fashion the other night, like, why people want all this vintage clothing? Because it was made better. Yeah, it was higher quality natural fibers, cotton, wool, linen. It had more details, like the zipper pulls were cool, or the buttons were very interesting. And now it's just they're making the stuff as as fast as they can go. And there used to be two seasons. There used to be fall and winter. There's like the gap you'd see a commercial or new fall line is out. There was fall and winter, and there was spring and summer. Now it's like a new season every week, and people just can't keep up, and they're the stuff's terrible this fast. It's bad, like, this stuff is so cheap, it's like Dollar Store clothing. It just, it lasts 24 hours, and that's it. So even on some of that vintage stuff, they they talk specifically about Liz Claiborne sweaters, which, I did not think those be worth anything, right? It's, you know, that was quite the name back in the day. And they're made better. They're stitched better. They're wool. They have the fun buttons and all the, of course, the shoulder pads, if they're made in the air. But that's it's not just like, oh, people love vintage clothing. There's a reason. There's a reason. People just do love it, and they just want to wear it. And other people are looking for what's durable, what lasts like LL, bean is always going to be fine, because it's made to last. So I'm glad you brought that up with with the nylons and the pantyhose, because I bet those are made a whole lot better. Yeah, yep. Remember wearing the legs pantyhose, and they came in little eggs. Little eggs.

Unknown:

Yes, I sold a ton of those.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, the packaging was, was unique. So whenever I see large lots, I mean goodwill kind of marks them up, like $4 for one pack of Calvin Klein pantyhose, like, I'm not paying that, no way. It's a big box at an estate sale or something you can because then you lot it up or cherry pick out what's good, or whatever.

Unknown:

Yeah, and those eggs that you talked about, I had some, and they sold so fast. It was ridiculous. I posted that same night. I think I sold I sold them. Yeah, yeah. So they go fast. I was, I was kind of shocked, because I was like, well, let's try it, you know. And then I'm like, Okay, now we now, we know, let's, anytime I see him, I'll buy him

Suzanne Wells:

well. And I don't know about you, but we were in high school at the same time, but we dressed up sometimes, you know, we dress nice with a skirt and blouse, and, like, Fridays was jeans day. It wasn't every single day, and you weren't allowed to wear, like, a ripped t shirt or anything. And it was public school. In fact, my dad took me birthday shopping one year when I turned like, 16, and I was picking out all these, those frilly front blouses, remember, or the plaid skirt with the sweater and the boots and you know that look? And he's like, why do you want all these clothes? You look a secretary.

Unknown:

Now, I didn't wear skirts or anything like that. My friends all did. I was never i. Was always pants girl, but I did, like the cardigans and like all that. Like, like you look like you were dressed up, getting dressed

Suzanne Wells:

up the sweater with the sweaters button up, shirt under it, and then yeah, to add a bead necklace. Remember those? Yeah, we have just walked down memory lane here. Anyway, so I got you off track with the pantyhose thing. What was your next? Your next comment going to be,

Unknown:

oh, I You mean as far as, like, what I was selling?

Suzanne Wells:

Sure, yeah, let's talk about your

Unknown:

sales. So, so one thing, another thing that we'll see sells really good is candlesticks.

Suzanne Wells:

I see some. Behind you are those lamps. I can't tell those

Unknown:

are candlesticks getting ready to be posted. Got them all ready? That's my, my death pile, I guess, or my

Suzanne Wells:

that's No, it's called your, your inbox, my

Unknown:

inbox, yeah, so I have a cell my we process it, and then she puts them on the shelf for me to to get ready. So, yeah, so we've sold quite a few candlesticks. In fact, there's this, this one, this. These are brass, and brass sells really good. Anything. Brass sells pretty good too. These, these were candle they were just unbranded pewter candlesticks, and they sold for $75 and I was like, okay, but that we sold many of them, like brass ones. And I had one that was on the wall, and it was just one. It was, you know, the wheat candlesticks, or they put them on the wall sconces. I had one. I'm like, Well, I don't know if one will sell. It sold for $75

Suzanne Wells:

Wow. What was special about it? It,

Unknown:

you know that? I don't know if it was because it was gold and gilded, and it was the MCM look. And they might have had the other one, the other pair, I don't know. But it, I was like, well, let's, let's put it out there. And it sold. Probably it took a little bit, probably three or four weeks. But this one I got, I went to an estate sale, and it was, I was really kind of shocked, because I saw they said totes, a tote for $10 bring your own tote and fill it up for $10 and I was like, Are they for real? I go in there? Like, yep. So we were putting everything in there, and what that was in there. So it was probably like 20 like 25 cents. I paid for it, and I said, and I sold it for $75 so

Suzanne Wells:

that's excellent. Good for you, yeah.

Unknown:

Well, yeah. So I've had, I had good luck with the candlesticks. And then this was kind of a funny story. I I went to a garage sale, and there was this, this little, it was just like a little plush. I don't do a lot of plush, but it was a really cute hummingbird. So I'm like, Oh, that's cute. And I hit its tag and everything. So I bring it home, and I said, Oh. I said, Ames, look at this. And she goes, Well, that's Lisa Frank. And I said, Oh. I said, Yeah, I saw I had a name on there. She goes, No, that's Lisa Frank. That's really good. And I said, oh, and I looked it up, and I paid a quarter for it at this garage sale, and I ended up selling it for $34.97 and it was just like a little bitty thing. So, so I, like I said, I sell, I sell everything from, you know, plush to whatever.

Suzanne Wells:

How did she know about Lisa Frank? Did she have some of it?

Unknown:

So she's keeps up on the pop culture, and she's more artists. She likes art and all that stuff. So she kind of knows a lot more stuff than I do. I'm more sports and I know that kind of stuff. She wouldn't know the sports stuff. But yeah, so she just, she kind of know, she don't know what, how she knows so much she knows. Know a lot of pop culture, though, and things like that. So, yeah, that was kind of fun.

Suzanne Wells:

I mean, there's just no, there's no end to this, you know, into it, and you just it, just mushrooms. And it

Unknown:

does, because I never thought I would buy anything like that ever, you know, uh huh. And then there was this other speaking of brass. There was, I went to good, actually, good. This was at Goodwill, which I don't really go to very much anymore, but because their prices have gone crazy. But I saw this brass letter holder, and I was and it was older, I could tell this is really cool. And it was made in Italy, so it was for $5 and I was like, that sounds like a good deal. So I brought it home, and I posted it, and it sold for $40 and then I don't know if you ever heard the show bridgerton, yes. So I'm watching this, and I look, and I'm like, on the desk they had that same, not the one I sold, but the same letter Holder was on that desk. I'm like, Oh my gosh, that's the one we just sold.

Suzanne Wells:

So. Yes, people are very into that. They have bridgerton Tea Parties. They have costume parties. Very into it. So I can see that is, who knows what that was going to be used for, right? So, yeah, it was pretty cool. And your highest dollar sale ever. I haven't sold a

Unknown:

lot for very high but the that Brooks Brothers coat for 120 was my highest, most of my highest sale. And then I sold another. It was a tigers, Detroit Tiger baseball. It was a it was a collectible thing, and it has the Detroit the tiger coming out of the big D, and then I sold for $100 and I got that one that I got out of a when I say a trailer clean out, Somebody contacted me and said, Hey, I got this person is going into a they're going into a different place to live. They don't want anything in their trailer. Do you want to come and clean it out? And I'm like, absolutely. So I went and cleaned out everything I could. Take whatever I wanted. So I took everything, and that was one of the things that was in there, and had some really nice stuff, and saved them money, so they didn't want to have to pay somebody to come and clean it all out. And yeah, that was in there, and I sold it for that for $100 and that sold pretty quickly, like, I think it was, like, probably three weeks. It sold so amazing.

Suzanne Wells:

And you're thinking to yourself, how can I get my hands on some more of these, right? And you'll probably never

Unknown:

see it again. Never, yeah, I sold a couple scars for, like, like, there was this, this, I don't know, is a tartan scarf. Was Johnson of Elgin. I don't know it was a Scotland

Suzanne Wells:

I've seen that. All wool Black

Unknown:

Watch. They call it. Yeah, I saw that. I got that at estate sale for, I think it was like 50 cents or something, or no, it was $1 and I sold that for $50 and that one sold right away. But I've sold several scarves for, like, 25 $35 and I buy them. I don't pay a lot for scarves. I pay, I try to pay, like, dollar, dollar, $52 so yeah, I've had several, probably three or four scarfs I sold for like that. I mean, I don't have like, high, high stuff, but that kind of stuff adds up. And I want,

Suzanne Wells:

sometimes it goes right back to where it was manufactured. In Scotland, I've had that happen, or Italy. In Italy, it might go back there.

Unknown:

Yeah, and oh, and those pewter the keep speaking of candlesticks, I'm sorry. I'm going through my notes. I had some pewter ones that were nine inch tall, and those sold for$95 for the set. And I bought them for $5 at an estate sale. So that that,

Suzanne Wells:

gosh, yeah, was there something special about them, a brand name or a design? That's

Unknown:

funny. You said that because I was like, well, there's no brand on here, but they were, they were just, they were, they had a little bit of a design on them. So they, they're, they had, they were really very pretty, but nothing special. There was no name. It was just they were vintage. They were, you could tell they were older, but, yeah, no, and I I put it out there for $95 and they sold so and I did find one thing at at Goodwill. I think somebody messed up because and it was on the top of the cart. And I'm short, I'm only like five two. So I was reaching up, and I felt something. So I grabbed it, and it was Mackenzie child, and it was there. It was a box. In a box. It was three of the acorn. And you know how they have the black and white, she has all the different colors. Yeah? They call it the courtly check, yes. And so there was a set of three. And I bought it for $5 and I sold it for $60

Suzanne Wells:

what was the item they

Unknown:

were? They were acorns. They were just a decoration, like you put in

Suzanne Wells:

a bowl, okay? And they were expensive tchotchke to impress your friends that come over and say, Oh, that's Mackenzie child's courtly check, exactly, yeah, some of that stuff is pricey. There's a little pie bird. You know that is, yeah, the pie bird where you stick it in the middle of the pie and the steam comes out of its mouth. There's, there's, like, one pie bird, I think it's around, worth $200 Oh my gosh. People might not know what it is. If that you saw it somewhere, just, oh, it's a little doodad I had to stick on your shelf. But it's a functional ceramic piece. Some of them look like birds and some of them look like anything. I saw that one day, and I was like, Really,

Unknown:

that's so crazy. Some of the stuff, yeah, I'm surprised. Just, yeah, yeah, well,

Suzanne Wells:

and a lot of it is limited. It is shown on purpose so that it will increase its value, because there's only so many made exactly. I don't know who these people are that have all this money to buy these things. I'd be, you know, buying a boat, or, you know, something I can run with, yeah, yeah, or go on a trip somewhere. Or I'm looking at them, they're called Moon bikes. It's their electric bikes. Elect, it's an electric tricycle. Oh, got you Okay, tip over because I'm thinking, really old. I'm like, I should get one that you can't doesn't tip over Exactly. Then I guess you could just have a cocktail and drive around the neighborhood. That's what they do in Florida. That's what I'm all about. They do in Florida, where my mom used to live, was a retirement community and and they rode their golf carts and their electric bikes, and then some of them had the trikes. I'm like, I was like, why would they get a tricycle? They're like, right. Well, tip over because I guess they're tipsy to start with, whatever. Hey, you made it that far. Do whatever

Unknown:

the heck, whatever you want. That's right, yes, you know, I have a couple things that, like Christmas sells, you know. And I had gone to this garage sale and they had a adult Santa suit. And I was like, Oh, that's interesting. And it had the beard, it had everything in a bag, everything. So I was like, Oh, it was $4 so I was like, I'm taking the chance with that. I brought it home, and I priced it out, and it was I sold it for $68 it did take, like, probably a month or two to sell, but still $4 in the 68 I'll do that any day, all day long, yeah, and I think this was one that you had told me to do a video on. So there was a gummy animated Christmas Penguin, and I, I bought it at a girl, Jimmy.

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, sorry, special kind of gummy. What's

Unknown:

going yes, okay, um, or gemmy, yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

yes, yes, it's Jimmy. So

Unknown:

I bought it for $1 at a garage sale. It was actually a condo garage sale, and I sold it for $45 that did sell, and I did the video and all that. So,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, no, that was like a yard inflatable.

Unknown:

No, it was just, it was just put it on the table, and it would sing, and then, and then the egg opened in the little, little baby penguin came out and sing with it. So and then, so it's kind of an animated Christmas penguin.

Suzanne Wells:

So you did make a video to put on your listing? Yep. And did you find that process easy?

Unknown:

So yes, it's way easier than it used to be, because I do most of my stuff on my phone. And it used to be hard, like a little bit more difficult, but now they made it where it's really easy to put videos up. So I'm going to go through, I think there's a couple other things that I have that I'm going to go through and make a video and repost it. So that was great, great advice

Suzanne Wells:

on that. Well, I do hear from people that are trying to add a video to a listing and they're having trouble. So what we've discovered by, you know, analyzing the situation, is it's their internet. It might not be the fast internet, so the upload just sort of hangs up and doesn't have complete and so like Marlene the horse lady, she she was having a terrible time and and then she just happened to get better internet. And it's, it's just magically started working. So if you're out there and you're struggling with that. Try it another way. If, if your internet is, you know, slow at your house or jammed with too many people on it, look into that. Either go somewhere. I have found that McDonald's has the best internet really. Some of them have the super duper high speed, like t something not like T Mobile, but it's the speed and the bandwidth is something gotcha, like t2 or something like that. When I was living in the Midwest and had trouble with the internet, I scoped out where, where is the best and I would just go with my laptop and and do things that needed fast internet for uploading, because I, you know, uploading videos and large files and stuff, so sometimes we don't think about that when it's just pictures, because they just zip right up, oh yeah, they just go right really fast. But video that's not working because it can be up to a minute long. Yeah. So that that could be the problem. So just a PSA out for the people out there that have trouble with uploading the video, because I do think it helps sell your item. Not only does it show what it does, but any buyers looking at it are like, Oh, this seller took time to make a video and like, you're going the extra mile. It's not hard, it's not time consuming. You're just doing a little extra thing that other sellers might not be doing, and that is the key to getting the sale is be the better seller, yep, and you've got the good feedback going forward.

Unknown:

Yes, yep. So yeah, any edge that you can use

Suzanne Wells:

exactly wherever you can you're right, exactly.

Unknown:

But I, I got this when I was young. I purchased this at, I think it was an auction, and I was probably maybe 1920 years old, and I had put it away. And for some reason, I was going through some boxes, clearing some stuff out, and it was, I didn't really know what it was, but now with Google lens, you can find out what things are. Because I was like, it was very odd looking item. And I was like, it was really kind of cool. It kind of like, I just knew it was older. It was 1920 metal tabletop cigar box or cigarette box, okay, it was round, and it had, like, this little cover, you know? So I was like, and so I finally was like, I'm going to post that. And I, I posted it. I think I posted for 75 somebody offered me 60, and I took that, because I'm like, good, Heck, yeah. But yeah, I was Google lens is awesome. Because, like, I did not for the longest time. I bought it, not knowing what it was, because it just and then, oh, it's a cigarette holder. No clue. So that was kind of cool

Suzanne Wells:

back in the day of when that was very it was very cosmopolitan, yes, fancy cigarettes. Pull it

Unknown:

out of your little fancy holder.

Suzanne Wells:

My grandmother was born in 1908 and she smoked her whole life. But I remember, it must have been in the 60s after I was a little kid, but she had that holder, the long black cigarette holder. Yeah, I remember those. That is so glamorous, you know, I want to do that when I get older. Don't worry about lung cancer or emphysema or anything, but you got to look glamorous when you're doing it. So look really good. Yeah, you look fancy and put together, I know. And that's just the way it was back in her day. So I just thought that was so impressive. Yeah, they have all these cigarette things and fancy ashtrays and the holders and the cigarette, well, I think they call it a silent Butler. People, my mother, people, always think it's a bed warmer. It is not. There's not. It's a 6% wooden handle. It's some of them are sterling silver or silver plate, and flip top lid, where the butler would go around and sweep up the crumbs or the cigarette ashes. But I just can't help myself. Every time that was posted, I'm like, No, it is not warmer. A bed warmer has a very long stick and it's they're usually made of copper, and, yeah, they're big and round, and you put it between the sheets to warm up the bed that's in the silent Butler has little feet on the bottom, yeah? And they're little, yeah, they're little. Like, who bed Are you warm in there, right? Anyway, that's another public service announcement on the difference. Look them up. They're very different, very different, and you'll see those bed warmers, like if you go tour an old historical house or something. They're hanging by the fireplace on the wall, right? The fireplace in the bedroom?

Unknown:

Yeah, they don't have speed on them. Yeah, no. Okay,

Suzanne Wells:

so I'm glad we I'm glad we unpacked that for the listeners didn't know. Get them not Yeah, get them. Get them. All set, right, right. Okay, we have time for one more thing. I told you this would go by fast.

Unknown:

Wow, yes, because I'm like, Oh my goodness. So I had one thing that I sold that I messed up on. You want me to go over

Suzanne Wells:

that? Sure, because then everyone out there is be like, Oh, I'm not the only one that did that.

Unknown:

Yes, so there were these are, these were tennis shoes. They're ASIC women's gel anniversary shoes, 20th anniversary. And they were fluid ride shoes. They were called they looked plain. They they actually didn't look very nice to me. I was like, these aren't very good. But I, for some reason, I had it a draft. And I'm like, Why didn't I just post these? Or they're, you know, I couldn't figure out. I couldn't remember why I had a draft for them. So I posted them. I'm like, I think that was probably about $18 or something that that kind of shoe sells for, like, 20 bucks. Put it out there. It sold within four minutes. No. And then I got a message right after that, that said, Hey, if you repost this for $75 I will buy them. And I'm like, what is happening? So I went and I said this to Amy. I said, Do you remember those shoe, these shoes? And she goes, Oh, yeah. I think we thought those were a lot of money, but we were kind of confused about it, because, you know, they were, they were kind of worn and, you know, and I even put there the, you know, the labeling, the wording, was a little worn off, because it actually said 20th anniversary. Didn't matter. So I told the person. I said, I, I can't do that, because I sold it. I'm just, I put it out there for $18 I'm going to have to sell it to the person. But I appreciate you. Appreciate you giving me the information or the offer. So I did sell them for $18 but they were over $140 shoe. So see these ASIC shoes? They don't look like anything. They look just like a basic shoe. But if you have 20, if they're the fluted fluid ride shoes, the 20th anniversary. Pick them up. Pick them up.

Suzanne Wells:

That makes sense. Well, yeah, that's happened everybody. One that comes to mind for me is I was selling a Jack LaLanne juicer. Oh, the is, that's pretty heavy, yes. So I listed it. And, you know, I found it at Goodwill, and it had all the parts, and I'd had one so I knew how to work it and everything, and it sold really fast. And I was like, Huh? And I went to do the shipping label, and I put in one pound instead of 10 pounds, so I didn't make any money on that, no. Like, oops, fast go, slow down. Yeah, yeah. That's just, it's going to happen. As many things as we list, yeah, as many items as go through our hands, there's just going to be mistakes.

Unknown:

Yeah, and I just purchased this, I don't know a lot about, like I said, I don't hunt, but I knew duck halls were working. I went to this garage sale and that they hit this $5 and it was, like, this lanyard and it had five duck calls on it, and she was five bucks. I'm like, okay, so it was just selling her husband stuff. And I was, I google lensed it, and I was like, Oh, $25 I thought it'd be more than that. Well, I started looking and I was like, Well, I thought it was the lanyard, and all the duck calls went together. And then I started looking at it. Luckily, I kept looking at it, and I was like, Oh, these duck calls are not the same. I thought it was all the same. Brand, the lanyard is $25 each duck call. One of them is like, $42 one of them was $30 and then the other ones, I haven't priced out yet, so I'm like, I'm glad I went back and researched that a little bit more, because I would have been somebody would have bought that really fast. Yeah,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah. And the turkey calls do well too. Okay, any of those? Somebody posted that years ago, on a money making Monday, and it went like$300 some kind of rare thing. But who knew? Like, if you're not into that activity, how, how would you know, and why would you think, worth anything you know being hundreds of dollars exactly like, was it Julie Brown that's going through, I think it's her husband's uncle's fishing lures. And she's like, I would never do this, but this was given to us, so I'm going to figure it out. And, man, she's killing it on, yeah, a lot of money, yeah. So sometimes it pays off to not turn your nose up at things you're not interested in exactly. But yeah, you're doing a great job for somebody who's only been at this for two years. Thank you. Yeah, I really enjoy it. Yeah, it's just, it's never ending, and it's just fun. And you win some you lose some, but yeah, you keep going, you're going to win more than you lose,

Unknown:

right? Yeah, I really like and you learn so much. That's the really fun part. Yes, and the hunt is always fun.

Suzanne Wells:

And then you'll see that thing somewhere down the road, and you'll be like, I know what that is. Yes. What was I watching? I was watching a movie the other night. And no, it wasn't even a movie. It was I watched these apartment therapy videos. And there's this guy in in New York that goes around on the street, and he asked people if he can go inside their home and and just video it to just show what they've done and their decor, and just how a lot of these places are, just they're so cool looking. And first thing I saw was the Mackenzie child courtly check tea kettle on her stove. And she eventually got around to talking about it, and she said, yeah. Out, I have this tea kettle. I don't drink tea, I don't even blow water. I just love it. So I just put like, that's the kind of people we love, right? Next thing was in her bedroom, she had all these plants, and she had that. It's called the perpetual faces base, and it's in one of my books. And it's like, yes, no matter what angle it's, it's a it's a face. Yeah, it's like a 3d sculpture face. So no matter how you turn it, you're just going to see at least one of the faces. And I'm like, I know what that means, too. And she's got, she's got all these cool things. I wonder she bought them on eBay, right? Because that's their goal, sometimes, is to be eclectic and unique, and nobody else has and just everything's a conversation piece. And those are the buyers we love. Because, yeah, if you're, you're in a New York, New York City. And but they're, they're homes, not just apartments. And, you know, they own like half the block, half Yeah, come look at my store. I got all kinds of crazy crap you might want. Well, do you have any final words, maybe for newer people getting into this?

Unknown:

Well, you know, just do it. Get it. Get, you know, just start posting. It's very eBay makes it so easy, too. I love it. I love how easy it was to get everything going. Don't be afraid. List to exist for sure. Just keep listing and have fun at it. You know, that's how like the main thing is, too, is you just want to have fun,

Suzanne Wells:

you got to keep going. And I was on some YouTube or podcast or something, and this person said, oh, all the people out there say, you know, keep listing, and if nothing's selling, that's just bad advice, because you're just more of what's not working. And I'm like, no, no does? Does Walmart do that? Do they just not get any more inventory when things are slow, no. And, you know, eBay algorithm likes active stores, and that's one activity you can control, is most of the time is, yeah, listen, actually. So I don't like that advice. I don't know who it was. I forgot, but, you know, I don't think it's, I don't think you should go, like, buy hundreds of more items. You know, if you've got stuff in your inbox, you need to list work on that. And just know that it's cyclical and it will come back. You do it, the more faith you will have.

Unknown:

Exactly, yeah, I agree. And then I one other thing is resources. I, you know, watching you and listening to your podcast. Why I watch your YouTube? And then there's other people that I watch. I started watching just people that resell and get tips from them and kind of see what they're looking at and things like that. So that kind of makes you like, oh, I never thought of that. And go out and and do that. So just

Suzanne Wells:

think it matters how big the seller is. Like, they don't have to have 200,000

Unknown:

subscribers. It's better if they don't. I think, you

Suzanne Wells:

know, there's so many people out there that just want to share what they know you can. You can mention them if you want. I don't care. But it's, it's not like you got to go watch the biggest ones all the time. Some of them, it's they have built such a huge channel that they're making good money, and so they keep making videos. But I feel like some of the smaller ones, you know, they're just sharing what they know, what they did wrong and ups, yeah. Like, don't I

Unknown:

really, yeah, I really, like, I don't know if you've you probably lavender clothesline is one, another one that Yes, uh huh. And then hairy tornado is another one that I like, Yes, pretty big. And then there's a few other smaller ones that I, you know, I follow here and there. But those two are really, I really like their advice and things that they've done. And then bearded Thrifter, yes. And then his dad gave me a good suggestion, and he mentioned it. So I get, I'm really fortunate. I get boxes and stuff and bubble wrap from Amy, because she, where she works, they have a lot of packaging that she brings home, and it's in good shape. But there were some boxes that have, like, a lot of wording on them, like, I can't use that. He goes, Oh, I just use the brown tape and tape up those words. I'm like, Oh my gosh, it saved me so much because I'm like, there's some of them. I was like, I can use this box and I just put the brown tape on it, and

Suzanne Wells:

it looks perfect, absolutely. I've used everything, like the colored duct tape, yeah, you know, I just camouflage it, yeah. I never

Unknown:

thought, I don't know what something so simple. I never thought of that. And I was like, saved me a ton, a ton of time and a ton of money too. So yeah, little things like that,

Suzanne Wells:

anything to help your day go by faster and more efficiently is so well. I will let you get back to your evening and get your dinner and Thank. You so much for taking the time out to chat with me, and we'll look for more your sales on the group. Perfect.

Unknown:

Thank you so much. Suzanne, I really appreciate it nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well.

Suzanne Wells:

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy whatever you do, whether it is old traditions, new traditions or no tradition at all. Make every day count, talk to you next week. Bye. Everybody you.