eBay Seller Chat with Debbie in PA: Retired Teacher - Started eBay in 2000, Phenomenal Reselling History 💪

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Transcript

Suzanne Wells: 0:00

Foreign. Hello, eBay friends. Welcome to episode number 261 of eBay the right way. Today's date is March 18, 2026 my guest is Debbie in Pennsylvania. Last call for your contributions for my five year anniversary of this podcast, that episode airs next week. This podcast is about the eBay community, so I want to give the listeners a chance to be heard and participate. You do not have to have been a previous guest. If you would like to contribute, you can send me an audio text message or leave a voicemail. Just reach out to me and I will give you the details. You can tell an eBay story, talk about something you learned listening to the podcast, or tell us about a memorable sale. Please reach out to me with any questions. So far, we have some wonderful contributions, and I know you will enjoy this very special episode. I can't wait to receive your contribution. Okay, now let's meet Debbie. Hey there listeners. I'm back with another episode, and this time Debbie is my guest. How are you doing this morning?

Unknown: 1:55

I am doing well. Thank you. Good.

Suzanne Wells: 1:59

And we like to start off with where you're located.

Unknown: 2:06

I live in Grove City, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour north of Pittsburgh and not that far away from the border with Ohio.

Suzanne Wells: 2:14

Okay, is that Amish area?

Unknown: 2:18

No, we are close to Amish area. That would be more of a lance and new Wilmington, so I'm close to it. If I want to go there, I can Okay.

Suzanne Wells: 2:28

Whenever I hear Pennsylvania, Ohio, I just think of the horse drawn carriages.

Unknown: 2:35

Yes, yes,

Suzanne Wells: 2:36

we've had a lot of guests on that are right near there. In fact, I believe it was Cheryl and her husband are Amish drivers. Okay? They, you know, they're like, Uber for the Amish people. So, yeah,

Unknown: 2:52

I don't do that. No,

Suzanne Wells: 2:55

no, I didn't think you did. I just that popped into my head. So, yes, okay, well, let's go over when you came to eBay and what made that happen.

Unknown: 3:06

So I started selling on eBay in 2000 which is a really easy year to remember. I was I was a public school teacher for six years, and then I became a stay at home. Mom and we had four children in six years. So we had a lot going on. We dropped down to my husband's salary, and so I was looking for how can I contribute? While I was a school teacher, I was talking with some people who sold on eBay. They went to a lot of auctions and bought occupied Japanese, occupied Japan figurines, because that was real hot back then. And he actually asked me, Would I like to go to some auctions and buy for them? And they would pay me to do it. I didn't do it at the time, but I think that was kind of what planted the seed. And then when I became a stay at home mom, I just thought, why not? I'm gonna try this. And I think it's, I think it's either in your DNA or it's not like you either grab hold of it or you don't. Back then I sold out of necessity. And then you go through various stages in your life where I just really enjoy this, and I love finding treasures that other people will appreciate. I just really enjoy it.

Suzanne Wells: 4:33

Yeah, you have to enjoy the process of re homing things and rescuing things, and that doesn't resonate with a lot of people. And we know that when we talk to other people who don't have a clue about reselling, it's, you know, you know right away, like, yeah, they get it, or they don't get it so well,

Unknown: 4:55

I have one daughter who really enjoys going to estate sales and garage sales with. Me. She's 23 now, and you know, we're always in line sometimes with these people that are it probably in their 80s. She's like, Mom, there's nothing they need. And I said, I know, but that will probably be me someday.

Suzanne Wells: 5:13

Yeah, you just can't help it. You just

Unknown: 5:14

have to go look, yes, yes. It's fun to it's fun to walk through someone's home, see the life that they lived, the adventures that they had so much of the time. You can tell this was a life well lived. We were out in Dayton, Ohio last weekend. We were visiting my daughter, who's a college student out that way, and I just dragged my husband to a few estate sales, and the one house in particular, the lady had gone to the Kentucky Derby numerous years. She had just beautiful clothing. There were big Ohio State fans, and you could just see the life in that house and the treasures that she had collected. And, you know, I was, I was trying to treat it with reverence too, right? That was somebody's life. And I don't know if they're alive now or not, because they don't really tell you and but I want to honor that like this is something that was important to this person, and can I, can I pass it along and help find it a new home?

Suzanne Wells: 6:14

That's a great perspective, and I think you're right. When you go to these estate sales, you don't know if the person's been put in assisted living, or did they pass away, or whatever, but this is their footprint on the world. Yes, is their what they collected, you know? So when I'm gone and people go through my place, they'll be like my kids, know, like, why does she have all these tubs of clothing? And what is all this I've been I've been getting into breakables more, and so I have a spare bathroom, and that's where I'm storing them. Is in the closet there and under the sink. And the average person coming in here looking around be like, What is this in here? Yes, squirreling things away without having it all over my house where you can see it. So I kind of got off topic there.

Unknown: 7:07

But no, that's okay. I i hope that you'll let me real to you, because you were one of the people I started doing this was when I was a 29 year old mom, like, oh my gosh, yeah, and you were one of the people that I let's see, I'm trying to think what your previous was, but I really learned so much from well for a long time,

Suzanne Wells: 7:36

yeah, because that was me, And I was so that I could do something around my kids schedule. If you want to work till one o'clock in the morning after they go to bed, you can do that. And I just thought, Yes, oh, other moms knew about this if, if they knew, they wouldn't have to. I was so anti home party stuff, you know, the right? Yeah, I don't like the Tupperware and the Mary Kay and all that kind of stuff. And I know people do great with that, but when you're a single mom, you You're in charge of your kids, and if you're not there, you gotta pay somebody to watch or find somebody who do

Unknown: 8:18

it for free, right? I just

Suzanne Wells: 8:21

thought eBay was the most genius thing we could do there at school. That's when you go get your inventory, you work on it in between activities and fixing dinner, and you get them to bed, and you got three more hours to work. And I just thought, Oh, everybody needs to know about this. And lo and behold, yeah, the ones who were already on that track appreciated what I did. Other people were like, they shouldn't get it. They're just like, why are you doing that? Why are you going around? No, you know what davenger And I was like, because I can and it works, yeah, make money. And I just thought it was the most brilliant concept ever.

Unknown: 9:05

Well, I like, truly appreciate you and the knowledge that you shared for free, I learned so much. It helped me make money for my family. And I think, like you said, you either get it or you don't, and when you have that connection with someone else who's kind of in the same stage of life, and you're right, it's like I had four kids in six years. The oldest one would typically work. He went. He golfed. He's a golfer. So he would go. My family had a golf course. My husband helped on the weekends, he would go golf. The other three I would load in the minivan, and we would have 10 or 11 yard sales and garage sales that we would go to, and they had a ball. And, you know, like even my, my youngest, I said, Do you remember when you were little going, going there with me, and she's like, Oh yeah, she and I said, Do you remember you would ask people if you could have it for less money? She was. Like five, and she was dickering on the price and, and usually they said yes, because she was so darn cute, but they all, you know, have memories of going around with me and doing that, and I have those memories with my kids. You know what fun we had, right?

Suzanne Wells: 10:15

And that is a great experience for the kids to observe. Is how you can get really good things at yard sales. Yes, yeah, I wasn't really raised that way, going around a garage sales and stuff. We would have them. My mom would have them. But we didn't really go, I guess, because there was four kids and it was it would be tough to juggle all that, but you know, the kids witnessing you doing that way of life, my kids, they don't pay retail. They go to thrift stores and get stuff for their apartments, and, yeah, they just have seen me do it. It's it's just ingrained in them, which I'm happy about, because for that generation, my kids are now 32 my son will be 30 this year. You know that a lot of them have debt, student debt and credit card debt and living beyond their means. And I just love to hear yes, I drank my goodwill, and I got this rate wall art, this painting of whatever, for $2 you know? And they get excited about it. And I'm just thankful that they've adopted that mindset of, like, No, I don't go to home goods. I wait for it to show up at Goodwill, mm hmm,

Unknown: 11:33

or Facebook marketplace, my daughter,

Suzanne Wells: 11:36

yes, yeah, any of any of that. So I feel like, Oh, my work here is done,

Unknown: 11:44

yeah, and I, and I think, like for your listeners, if there are young moms out there and they they want to contribute to their household income, but you have little kids, will take them with you. You know, they, they might have more fun than you do.

Suzanne Wells: 12:00

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, great. Well, do we want to segue into talking about somebody?

Unknown: 12:07

No, no, that's okay. I like that, right?

Suzanne Wells: 12:09

This, this podcast, is about everybody's different kind of journey, right? You know, we, we like to know, okay, where are you coming from? Were you raised in antiques business. Were you? You know, everybody got a different background, so that's that's important, because I think it's very relatable. The listeners are like, oh, yeah, I am in that situation, or was in that situation? So, right? Get to know you. So, but what, what the listeners like the best is, what did you sell?

Unknown: 12:45

Yes, so I wrote down, I know you have bolos that we talk about, be on the lookout for for anyone who's new. So I wrote down some things that, for me are always a hit, if I can find them. Whether it's, you know, I do different types of sourcing. I go to estate sales, garage sales, when it's in season, thrift stores, church rummage sales, whatever I if I'm driving by. And right, yeah, right. So there's something called a Christmas pyramid. And right? So I don't know repeated items or not. No, I

Suzanne Wells: 13:26

just, I know what you're talking about, and it's wooden.

Unknown: 13:31

They're wooden, and they're usually, like, at least two or three different levels, and they typically are nativity scenes, and then they're made out of wood, and you put candles on the base, and it has a fan at the top that are blades. And if you light the candles, it spins. So the most of those are, like I said, made in Germany. They do very, very well. And I've, I've been able to find, you know, maybe five to 10 of them in my career. But they also make ones for different holidays, like I've seen Easter ones. Those never fail to sell. They do very well, and they're such a unique item. Typically, you're going to find those more at estate sales. But a lot of people don't know what they are, and they're so neat,

Suzanne Wells: 14:19

yeah, and I know what they are. I think another guest talked about them a while back. I didn't realize name for it. It was just like the wooden Christmas tree thing with the candles, and the heat from the candle makes the top turn,

Unknown: 14:35

yes, yeah, yes, yeah. They're really neat. Yeah, yes. There could. There is called a Christmas pyramid. And listings is usually spelled pyramid with an E at the end so people can look them up. I have done very well with women's vintage underwear and 90s and I'm not sure who buys them. Sometimes they tell you, don't write what this is a. The outside of the package, and I respect that, but there, if the the more freely, the better. I mean, obviously you're looking for new ones right when? Sometimes they'll go to estate sales and they'll have, like, brand new women's vintage underwear with tags still on. You definitely want to make sure they're new. And then sometimes I will go to estate sales and and I'll look for vintage night gowns. The frillier, the better. I typically pick them up for three to $5 send sell them anywhere for 35 to 50, which is, you know, in it's easy. It's so easy to ship you just have to, you know, be pay attention to detail, make sure that there are no flaws, right? And if there are any flaws, that you definitely let them know. But I usually like, I'll I try and be real particular at the sales for I'll actually purchase something that's something I've learned over the years, really look at it and make sure you're not buying something that's damaged. I know you can't always have that happen, but it does definitely helps, if you do it on

Suzanne Wells: 16:02

site, the underwear I was just looking up, I sold some a couple of weeks ago, and they were bally, b, a, l, I so not the highest. No, they were like granny panties, and they had the lace insets and the set, yep. And these were, like 30 cents a piece at a thrift store, they had all their accessories on sale, and I sold it, two of them together for $25 plus shipping.

Unknown: 16:28

Yep, yeah, it's easy.

Suzanne Wells: 16:30

They're just pretty and I think as far as the you know, undergarments there, there is a sense of nostalgia, or they're so expensive in the stores now, 20 bucks for a pair of underwear. Are you kidding me? But they know like and the lacy ones more than just the plain, what I call, you know, utilitarian underwear. These are pretty great, and they're kind of modest. So, yeah, I've started looking for more of those now too, because that's one thing I find in the thrift stores

Unknown: 17:13

that is overlooked. Yes, yes. The other

Suzanne Wells: 17:17

resellers, they're looking at the heavy coats and the really high dollar stuff. And I've learned to pay attention to the stuff that's overlooked. You know, you gotta Zig where everybody else zags. You gotta figure out absolutely because, you know, everybody's looking for the leather jackets, everybody's looking for the sports jerseys and stuff like that. And, you know, I'm just going over here, looking at the hats and the bras and underwear and, yeah, up. So that's a great tip.

Unknown: 17:45

Yeah, yes. Something that I have found twice in my career is the Disney little Einstein pat pat rocket. I don't know. Okay, well, it's a big one to try and find. So it's, it's called the Disney little Einstein pat pat rocket. It's a red rocket. When children push it, it plays music, and there are little figures that go on it. There's also a little green screen, which my kids never watched that show. But these sell for over $100 easily. The one I found, I found the two I have found. The one was like three bucks at a garage sale, the other one was like a buck at a garage sale. They'll be like things that parents, whose kids are phasing out of those toys are just trying to get rid of. So if you go in neighborhood sales and they'll just have a bunch of toys out. They're very obvious because they're bright red, but that's a great item to find. It's fun

Suzanne Wells: 18:49

to look with four kids in

Unknown: 18:50

six years. Yes,

Suzanne Wells: 18:53

okay, I was, I'm one of four, and we were all born within five years. So yeah, you get a lot of use out of your toys because it just cycles down to the next one.

Unknown: 19:05

Yes, I bet

Suzanne Wells: 19:07

with four kids, you a bunch of or had a bunch of toys, overwhelming, especially if it's blocks or Lego or army men with like, 1000 little pieces everywhere. I cleaned up my kids toys, you know, I let them play in the family room and everything, and I just, I got a big garden rake, and I just rake it all to the side after they go to bed, because it's just going to look like that again tomorrow.

Unknown: 19:36

But really good idea with the rake. You don't

Suzanne Wells: 19:39

want an army van or Lego in the middle of the night? Yeah.

Unknown: 19:44

Well, when you have little kids, one of the things that's nice is you can buy things for resale. You can let them play with them for a while before you resell them. So for example, I always pick up the vintage Fisher Price play sets with the little wooden figures. My kids, yeah, little towns, yes, the little people, they had little towns they would set up, and they would play with that and just have such a grand time. And then, you know, when they got tired of playing with them, I would sell them. And you can always sell those. You can always make a profit on those, if you're if you're buying them for a reasonable amount, and you make sure they're clean and nobody chewed on them and all that. And there's

Suzanne Wells: 20:24

certain ones of those little people that I think it's the black dog, or there's some that sell for $100 because weren't as many made. You know, it's a supply and demand thing. Yes, the collectors love that stuff. Yeah. Growing up, we had the we had all of it. We had the airport, we had the parking garage, we had all that stuff. And that is, that's nostalgic. That is cherry, oh yeah, childhood memories, because nothing was computers, electronic. You're not You're not staring at a screen. You're in engaged in that activity with those little people. And, yes, yeah, I have such fond memories of playing with that stuff. Now, I didn't ask you, what year were you born?

Unknown: 21:11

I was born in 1970

Suzanne Wells: 21:13

Okay, so you're, you're Gen X, so yeah, we have probably the same memories. I'm, I was born in 66 Yeah, not 66 people, I was born in 66 but yeah, that my my sister was born in 70 So, my younger sister, so you had some better toys come along in your lifetime.

Unknown: 21:35

Baby Alive down. I had them, right.

Suzanne Wells: 21:38

Baby Alive and baby tender love that would, you know, pee and poop and you change your diapers. And I was like, why would you want a doll like that? I just I saw my sister, who was born in 1970 like I was too old to enjoy those toys by the time she was playing with them, but still, some good stuff. So, yeah, we're on the same page with the NOS Alger part. I get it.

Unknown: 22:04

One of the items that I always look for, Barbies were way over produced, yeah, in the 80s. But there is one Barbie in particular that sells. Well, it's the 1988 holiday Barbie, which is the original one.

Suzanne Wells: 22:19

Is so And is she wearing

Unknown: 22:21

red dress? She does have a red dress, but there's another one that also has a red dress. You really have to make sure that you're getting the 1988 holiday Barbie, which obviously it's marked on the box, but that's the one that the collectors still really want to find. And even if you find one with like an open box, or it's missing its shoes, it's still going to go for good money.

Suzanne Wells: 22:46

Does it say the year on the box?

Unknown: 22:48

Or do you just Google and look, I don't remember it being real bold, but you can look on the year of production for that, and I think it's the only one that doesn't have the year like most of them say, like 2017 holiday Barbie in bold right on the box. This one doesn't have 1988 I'm not sure they knew they were going to do a series, but it was

Suzanne Wells: 23:10

a very maybe it was the first one. It was, yeah, so they didn't number it or make a big deal. It was a, maybe a test thing to see how it sold, and then it became limited edition. And any, yeah, it says Limited Edition is not, no, it's not really gonna, if it says it on there, it's not really going to be of any value. According to other guests that have been on and know about

Unknown: 23:36

Barbie I, I had a fun little story one of the estate sale companies in our area, and you need to get to know them, because some of them are reasonable. Some of them are not right. And this one particular estate sale company, they were advertising a house in Butler, which is close to me, and they had $6 million Man items as well as bionic woman. You know, I did a little research. I thought, Okay, so my son, who was probably 12 at the time we got up at 5am went and stood in line in the rain and found I had called the estate sale company to see what room these items were going to be located in. That's how intent and focused I was on getting them, and when they opened the door, there were a few people in front of us, but my little 12 year old son went scoot scooting around everybody, and he found all that, and he came back to me, and he was just so darn proud. And I think I made about $500 profit on that, just that one particular sale. There were dolls, there were play sets, but, you know, we we still talk about that. Sometimes he'll go, Hey, Mom, do you remember that that day we went and stood in the rain and I got that stuff for you? And it's like, yeah, I do, yeah. Great memory. Yeah.

Suzanne Wells: 24:54

Those are fun times. And then, and then you take them out for a donut or Happy Meal. Or Molly, yeah, but he was probably Jumping, yeah, if he was 12, he's probably eating like two hamburgers and all that. But yeah, you make it a fun time. My kids didn't really like going around to garage sales because I took too long.

Unknown: 25:16

Yeah, now they the ones I took. They they loved it. And like I said, those are great memories for me, maybe not for them. I'll have to ask them, when they listen to the podcast, they can be like, oh, yeah, that was

Suzanne Wells: 25:28

torture well, but you're getting them out and you're doing something, yes, productive. You know, they're not just plopped down in front of the TV all the time. So I think it's great that people take their kids along, and you know, it's a learning experience. You're teaching them how to negotiate, yes, showing them what's available that isn't retail,

Unknown: 25:50

and how to talk to adults, all the good things. And as a

Suzanne Wells: 25:54

teacher, I bet you know that's teachable moments for you. Yeah, now, what age kids did you teach when you were a teacher?

Unknown: 26:03

I taught ninth and 10th grade, okay, and I enjoyed it a lot. I tried to make English as interesting and creative as I could. I think it would be a lot more challenging. Now, my husband's been a teacher for over 35 years, but he's health and he's Health and Physical Education for elementary kids. They love Jim, so he loved his job, which is great. I know that shout out to teachers, that is the hardest job I've ever done. And I don't think people realize how much energy it takes, how you're not just conveying information, you are trying to keep everybody on the same train right, without anybody jumping off. And it's a very it's a very challenging job, and I'm sure it's even more so since I am not doing it well,

Suzanne Wells: 26:56

and I applaud teachers, because it is stressful. You've got the kids and the parents to deal with, yep, and I'm still in touch with my high school English teacher. I had her eighth, 10th and 12th grade for different things, and we still send each other back and forth stuff on Facebook, like the sign in the grocery store that says oranges, but it's got an apostrophe in it, and she'll be like, what do these oranges own? Yes.

Unknown: 27:26

Well, one of the really enjoyable parts of teaching is seeing the kids you had grow up and they're okay. Because there's some kids I had I wasn't sure if they would be okay as adults, and when you see them doing well, it just makes you feel like, oh, maybe I had a little tiny part to that, but you're just so happy for them that they're successful and and living a good life.

Suzanne Wells: 27:52

Yeah, absolutely so. And I love having teachers on this podcast, because you can speak well. You're used to speaking, and now English teacher, you have a more advanced vocabulary. So I

Unknown: 28:08

used to my brain's Lush. Since I've I've been quote retired for 26 years. So I still, I still work. I work. I work full time at our family business, which, as I said earlier, is a golf course. And I love that. I grew up there. I interacted with adults my whole life, so I do a lot of talking, but the vocabulary and spelling is probably not what it used to be.

Suzanne Wells: 28:35

Well, you know the golf words anyway.

Unknown: 28:37

Yes, I do. So what do

Suzanne Wells: 28:39

you do there at the family business.

Unknown: 28:41

Well, my parents started the Golf Course in 1964 it was my mom's great grandfather's dairy farm, okay? And they were just kids. They were in their 20s. They turned it into a golf course. And as I said, my my sister and brother and I grew up there. My parents both passed away within the last seven years. My sister and I are co owners so Suzanne, I do everything. I put hot dogs on if the toilet gets clogged, I do that. I wait on customers. I order product for the pro shop. When you own a business, you do whatever needs done.

Suzanne Wells: 29:22

That's right, that's like eBay. Well, for the next hour, I'm going to be working in the shipping department, and then I'm going to be working inventory procurement, and I get it right. I'm sure it's not easy running an establishment like that, but it sounds fun,

Unknown: 29:44

most of it, most of the time. I really enjoy it. We have wonderful customers, the ones who aren't wonderful. We ask them politely to go play somewhere else, and there are a lot of. Other courses in our area. So that's all good, yeah, no, I enjoy it, and it works great with eBay for me, because my slow season for golf is typically when eBay is busy. That would be the Christmas season and post Christmas season, so I have more time to focus on eBay, and then in the summertime, if I'm too busy with my real job, I just don't do eBay for a while. And it's fine. I jump back in when, when I have time.

Suzanne Wells: 30:31

Well, it's great that you have figured out how to juggle all of this. Yeah. Okay. Well, let's talk about some more things that you found and sold over the years since you are this is your 26th year

Unknown: 30:45

on. It is I know

Suzanne Wells: 30:47

lot of stories.

Unknown: 30:49

I do have a lot of stories, but one of the fun finds I had was just down the street from our house. It was a yard sale that it was the second or third day of the yard sale, so it was picked over. But one of the items I found was a Hero Quest board game by Milton Bradley. Milton Bradley, night, you have to get the one that's 1989 because there's some newer versions that are not as sought after. And I bought it for $1 and I sold that for between 150 and $200 now it was in great condition. I think they had maybe played at one time, but I really lucked out. I didn't know now, you know, a lot of a lot of eBay for me, because we didn't have access to what we do now was just going with your gut and not being able to look everything up like you can now. I mean, when I go to Sales now, I see everybody with their phones out. They're Google imaging it, seeing what it sells for. Honestly, it kind of takes some of the fun out of it. When I see that, I'm like, oh, no, you should be able to figure that out by now. And I I've had some misses, but I've had some hits that were strictly gut. And that was one of them. I was like, Oh, this is a cool game. It's in great condition. I'm not going to lose money on $1 so I got that when I was out in Dayton, Ohio last weekend, the estate sale I was at, I looked in the closet first, and one of the items I found was a Jessica McClintock dress that had been Yes, so yeah. So like our generation, right? It was just McLintock, McClintock, gunny sacks, or Laura Ashley was big too. And when you can find some of those dresses, especially like the more boho with the ties in the back, they're longer, almost like a prairie look. When you can find those dresses and people don't know what they are, right? That's the key. Like, they're selling them for five bucks just to get them out of

Suzanne Wells: 33:04

the house. Or they're like, Oh, this is so ugly. Nobody's going to buy this because some of those girls warm to prom,

Unknown: 33:11

yes, using those prairie dresses.

Suzanne Wells: 33:13

And it's, it's all beauties in the eye of the beholder. And, you know, maybe they're thinking, Oh, I always hated this dress. I'm just going to get rid of it for $1 rid

Unknown: 33:23

of it for $1 these dresses have a look to them. And I I saw it hanging, and I thought, is that what I think it is? Nah. And then I looked in the tag. I was so pumped. I thought, Well, that'll pay for our gas on the trip, right? So I was excited, but I actually wanted to get it listed before I came on here, but I'm in the process of listing it, and, you know, we'll see how it does. I I do things a little differently. I still use auction format. I will do an auction price. Sometimes I won't do a buy it now with it, especially when I'm not sure exactly what the market will do, and as long as my opening bid is a price I'm happy with, it's win, win, right? Because I'm not in the storage business, I'm in the selling business, I have to keep telling myself that, yeah, I love that, right? I don't

Suzanne Wells: 34:22

know how you coined that phrase, but

Unknown: 34:25

I think I heard it on your show. Actually, I don't want a house full of stuff, so I want to move it out of through the my inventory, but have it be worthwhile for me. So that dress in particular, I paid $3 for it, and I will list it for 9999 opening bid, and I'll give it some time, and if it doesn't move, then I'll gradually work the price down, maybe come up with a Buy It Now price as time goes on. But that works for me. And again, I know auction format. I, I know a lot of people don't do that anymore, but I I still use it, especially when I'm not totally sure what the market is going to do. And it works well for me, because sometimes you get, sometimes you still get a bidding war, not often, but if it's something unique, you know you can end up with more than you thought you were going to get.

Suzanne Wells: 35:20

Well, there's nothing wrong with doing what works for you. And I do know several sellers that like they'll go and get estate sale leftovers, you know, they'll do a bulk price, and they get it all listed within a week, and they do auctions because they want to get that stuff to move and, you know, another truckload van load of stuff. So I think what you're what you hear on YouTube and podcasts, is most of the people are doing buy it now with best offer. They have a store. Some have 1000s of items, and it's just what works for you and how you want it to be I personally do not like to see all my inventory everywhere. I've got it in closets, cabinets, tubs that are in a closet. I don't want to feel like I'm living in a thrift store. But you know, it depends on your storage situation. Some people have huge basements, and they can get as big as they want, or you can do what works for you in this business. So I feel like you're apologizing for doing auctions because it's they're not as popular anymore.

Unknown: 36:39

But who cares a little old fashioned that's okay, yeah, and I, honestly, I don't have a store. I never took that leap, because it works for me. As you said, figure out what works for you. So I, my sweet spot for listings is probably around 100 and that's not a lot, but as it works for me, and there were a lot of months where what I sold on eBay, well, that paid the electric bill that month, or that paid the fuel bill that month, or that paid for something unexpected that came up with one of the kids, and that was the beauty of it. We never depended on it for survival. So I think that's a whole other level of pressure when you you do have that you're depending on it for survival. So I am fortunate to have, if you want to call it a real job, but I, but I this is in addition to this is when you have four kids and you're always going to have expenses that are popping up. It's a great way to make extra money. And I would still encourage young parents, you know, especially like I said, stay at home moms, that they can take their kids with them, you know, I have, I have one of my daughter's friends, she'll come and do some cleaning for me sometimes, and I'll say to her, because she's struggling with her hands, she has, you know, eczema on her hands and the cleaning sword on her I'll say, Hey, you could do this, you wouldn't you, you know, you could make just as much money. Look, look at what you can do. And you know, I'll show her some of the things I've sold. But like we said before, it's you either grab on to that life ring or you don't, and maybe I planted a seed, but I always love to tell people about it, who say I just need a little extra money every month. Great. Let me show you what I do.

Suzanne Wells: 38:33

Yeah, and it whether it's $200 or $1,000 it's it's there and it's available. I think what holds people back is the fear of, well, what if enough things don't sell and I don't make the money I need to make. And I think, like you said at the beginning, it's either in your DNA or it's not because there is an element of risk involved if you're heavily depending on your eBay money, and you just have to be able to accept that there's going to be a little bit of risk. Some months are going to be better than others. Like this month has been terrible for me. It's so

Unknown: 39:15

slow, it's slower. And like I said, for me, this is a side hustle. I know from watching your career, you're not just selling, you're you have your other streams of income that you do for eBay, which is so smart. So I guess I my story would appeal more to the side hustle people. Because I never, I never took that leap of, okay, I'm gonna really go crazy with this, because my focus was, I'm trying to be the best mom I can. I get one shot at this, and it's more something I enjoy and it challenges me. I love that I'm always learning, like you've talked about, that you can never know everything that sells on eBay. It's impossible. Possible, yeah,

Suzanne Wells: 40:00

and new stuff pops up all the time based on these Tiktok influencers or Instagram influencers. One example is the Lennox spice jars that the whole set sells for maybe $1,000 and that gained popularity a few years ago when somebody was on one of those sites showing her collection. And so all of a sudden, everybody wants it, and so things that have nothing to do with us as resellers. It's the trends. It's what is the celebrity wearing?

Unknown: 40:43

Is it on a TV show? And, oh,

Suzanne Wells: 40:45

yeah, we now we have it that influence, you know, that could change today. Something could pop up on a popular show and everybody wants that sweater, or everybody wants that thing that person had. And so you have to be plugged in to to all of that, which is hard, because the internet is like a it's like outer space. It's just infinite and no way to know everything, which is why I appreciate the guests that come on talking about what worked for them, because I learned new stuff on every single one of these interviews. Yeah, I didn't know that. Like the toy you talked about earlier that I never heard of, because I'm not in that world of toys anymore. So, right. So okay, do you have any more sales on your list? Do you want to talk about?

Unknown: 41:36

Well, I recently sold old billiard balls, yes, for a pool table. These ones, I believe, were made from clay, if I remember correctly, from my listing. But literally, they were free. My husband's uncle had passed away. We were invited to come and take whatever we wanted, and that was one of the things I picked up, because I I know sometimes people even use them for decor. So when I put my listing up, I put them 9999 opening bid to see how they would do. The first time I listed them, they didn't sell. The second time I listed them, I had a gentleman contact me, and he was a wealth of knowledge on billiard balls. And I don't even honestly know if that's who ended up buying them, but they did sell for $100 so Wow. So that was fun.

Suzanne Wells: 42:30

No, over time, the materials used to make billiard balls have changed. Some of the oldest ones can be made of Bakelite, okay, which, that's a very expensive material. But, you know, I'm not a pool player, so I don't know anything about it, but I'm not either. It's news to me. It's one of those products that some people collect, and they know all the history of it, and they can identify about the time period it was made, because it's not because it's not going to stay on there, but I didn't know they were made of clay.

Unknown: 43:07

Okay? I one time I was at an auction. I Oh, that's the other thing I can tell, tell you to look out for. There's something called topper Dawn dolls. Topper is the brand name, T, O, P, P, E, R, the doll's name is Dawn, and then Dawn also has friends. But I can't tell you the names of those, but they're a small doll kind of based on the idea of a Barbie doll. When my mom had my little brother, she bought my sister and me top or dawn dolls to play with. So they would be 1970s and I had gone to an auction because these topper Don dolls were new in the box, and I knew what they were worth. Well, the lady sitting beside me knew what they were worth too. She way over. She way over paid for them. But then I kind of hung around. I was waiting till the end of the auction, and there were some box lots, and there was this one box that just had a bunch of beads in it and plastic bags. It was inventory from a store that had closed in our area. I thought, What the heck? And I bid on it. I got it really cheap. Well, these beads turned out to be glass, and I sold them for hundreds of dollars. I would just sell them in lots. And that was like one of those fun finds that you had no idea what you were getting, but you thought, I I'm only paying five bucks for it. I can make something on this another, another sale. I was that it had been all picked over, and I just happened to look under the table, and there was a pair of pony high top basketball shoes. Vintage ones had never been worn in the box for like a buck. Those sold for$100 I think that's one of the things I would tell people, make sure you look under. Under tables. When you're at sales, whether it's garage sales or estate sales, there's some good things under the table, like you were saying, I try and look for what everyone else is going for certain things, and I try and look for things that I know about, that maybe other people don't. It's almost fun to me to see what I can come up with that no one else would know about. And the other thing I found at estate sales is if you're standing in line waiting to get into an estate sale, and everyone goes rushing in, go where no one else goes, go up, go up to the attic, go to the second floor. Just start looking around. If you think you're interested in something, pick it up. Because if you don't, someone else will, and if you, you know, leave something like I did in my early days. It's gone. But yeah, that the pony shoes were a good one. I also stopped at the third day of an estate sale, and the lady had been a big bear and doll collector, and I was just looking around, and I found this little container with tiny bears in it that were jointed teddy bears. The designer's name is Jan Wilson. There were tags still on them. She had bought them for over$100 a piece, and I didn't get that much for them, but they still were a profitable item. I think I paid five bucks for the whole container, and there were three or four in there. So that was something I didn't know about, that I learned about. Oh, okay, now I now I can look for that. I have kind of a funny story. I I bid on an auction probably 45 minutes north of here. It was a man, and his closet was filled with clothing. They were just selling the contents of the clothing, and I recognized some of the plaids bearberry. So I bought the auction. And I did do well on it. I think I've maybe paid 30 bucks for the whole closet. There were good shoes in there. Men's dress shoes sell well, especially if they're stitched soles. Men's cowboy boots, so well, especially if they're stitched soles. But the Burberry did very well. I do want to talk about one other thing that works for me that might work for other people. I look specifically for lot lots of items. So for example, I bought a lot of Vincent vintage concert T shirts. Oh, one gentleman. And what I do with lots is I figure out my price per item. So if somebody is selling, for example, this one woman listed a home 50 madam Alexander dolls, new in the box. They are from like the 1960s and 70s. So I figure, okay, $3 an item, and I do a little research, but I know I can make more than my money back. And that particular lot, some of the dolls sold for 7080,$90 some of them sold for 2940, however, over the whole lot, I made $1,000 profit. And I think that that's often overlooked, that people look and say, oh, there's so many of them. I don't I don't want to mess with this, but a lot of times, sellers just want rid of something all at one time. So I'll give you other examples. I bought a lot of duck decoys and duck decoys,

Suzanne Wells: 48:34

yes, yeah. Those are like, yes.

Unknown: 48:38

And there were like, 30 of them, and you're gonna get various price points when you sell them, but overall, you're going to make a nice profit. I also just recently bought a lot of buyer's choice Christmas carolers, and I'm not sure if you're familiar with them, but they're the decorations where it's figures, and they have their mouths slightly open, as if they're singing, right? Yes, they're very collectible. So a lady was selling 35 of them for$100 so you do the math, you're paying less than $3 an item. I sold some of them for 40 to $50 a piece. I sold some of them for$20 a piece, but overall, I made a great profit on that buy. I also have done that at garage sales, where somebody had a large assortment of Star Wars Christmas ornaments. They worked for a hallmark, and they were all new in the box, and he had them individually priced. And I said, What would you do if I sold all of if I bought all of them from you? Well, he gave me a great deal. I think he gave me$50 for all of them. And again, I made a great profit. I did that with baseball hats that were brand new. The guy had been a collector. I paid less than $3 The hat. For those hats made a great profit on them, and I did that with dollhouse furniture. Another time, the seller at a garage sale had them individually priced, and I know enough about dollhouse furniture, and they were in the box. What would you do for the whole box? Well, she gave me a great deal. So then they're happy, and I'm happy I'm not. I think that that's something I really try and do, is be a decent human being to the people you're buying from. Don't try. Don't try and cheat people. What are they happy with getting there? I know what I want to pay for something most of the time. But there was one place in particular, this lady had all this new old stock, I believe it was her dad's, and she was having a big sale, and everybody's walking around picking things up. And I got some great deals there, but I said to her, what, what would you like for these? Well, she gave me a great price, and I and I accepted that I I was glad she was happy with what she was getting, and I could make money on it too. I think it's, I think sometimes in the reseller community, we get a really bad reputation for being cheap. And there are some people out there that are really cheap, and they're, they're not ethical, and they're, they know what that person has and and they're still trying to talk them down in price, like

Suzanne Wells: 51:27

be a dude I live by. If you don't ask, you don't get right, that's to ask an open ended question, like you said, How much for all this? And instead of just, you never want to be the first person to say a number in a negotiation. You just want to let them, let the other people give you a number because it might be less than what you were going to offer.

Unknown: 51:52

Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes it is, and sometimes you're you're so happy because they named a price that was way below what you were thinking in your head, and then you're both happy, right, right?

Suzanne Wells: 52:05

So if you don't ask, you don't get and you have to ask the right way. But you, as a teacher, know the dumbest question is the one that isn't asked, and all I can do is say, no, yes. I have referenced this a few times. There's a guy that was on YouTube that was he was dealing with rejection, and he had a hard time with rejection. So I think he went for 100 days going up to people and just asking them questions. He knew they were going to say no to to desensitize himself against Hearing no. And he would just go up to somebody in the grocery store and say, can I borrow $100 and sometimes, if people would do it, they would they would say, yes, I watched that. Every now and then, just the crazy he'd go up to somebody's house and say, Can I plant some flowers around your mailbox? And he was trying, this was from his psychologist, to desensitize yourself once you hear no enough, it doesn't bother you. So I think a lot of people are afraid to negotiate because they don't want to hear no, or

Unknown: 53:09

they're they might be embarrassed of what they're

Suzanne Wells: 53:11

asking, but you just have to ask it the right way, open ended. What would you take for this? How? How much for all of this? And yes, see what they say and yeah, the answer to that cannot be No. It will be a number, and you can go from there.

Unknown: 53:27

And if Yeah, or they'll say to you, I don't want to sell them as a lot. I have them priced individually, fine, but I find most of the time, if somebody's having a sale, they want as much gone as they can, and they're more than happy to come up with a price. And if you're not happy with that price, then yeah, you can negotiate that a little bit, but you'd be surprised what price they'll come up with. Sometimes it's way better. Like you said, Don't give them a number first, see if they can come up a number with a number for the whole bunch of whatever it is you're asking about and

Suzanne Wells: 54:01

that is the case for the business card, whatever you want to put on it, just your contact information or whatever, and say, Well, if you change your mind, here's how to contact me. And you know, maybe at the end of their sale, there's that item still sitting there, and then they'll chase they'll take less, or they've got stuff inside their house that they didn't even bring out for the sale. So I love that idea of of the business card. I have some I carry. Just okay, well, if you change your mind, then let me know. And it's a very no pressure thing, and maybe they'll throw the card away. Maybe you'll never hear from but maybe you

Unknown: 54:40

will, well, I think that's one of the things that I related to about you. I never felt that you I understand we all have to survive and we all have to pay our bills, but at the end of the day, I never felt that you were just totally focused on money, money, money. We have to make. Money, money, money. We're we're a community that cares about each other. We're a community that cares about the people that we're interacting with you. You know, at the end of at the end of it all, none of it goes with you. I don't know if your parents are still alive. I lost both of mine. I watched them be carried out, and none of it goes with you. So as I said earlier, be a decent human being while you're here, right? Those people sometimes at estate sales, it's very emotional for them. They just lost their parents, or they're having to move out of a house that they've lived in their whole lives, and it's very emotional. So be kind. Treat them with respect. Treat their possessions with respect.

Suzanne Wells: 55:43

Well, that is a great note to end on, because we have gotten to the end of our time together, but you have been a wealth of information. And thank you for reaching out to me to come on the podcast. I love it when people do that, because there's a lot of listeners out there that aren't in the Facebook group,

Unknown: 56:03

or I

Suzanne Wells: 56:05

don't know who they are. So I love hearing from real people, real listeners, and 26 year history, you've you've got a lot of information to share. So thank you so much for that. And now I always ask, what are you up to this afternoon wells.

Unknown: 56:23

I started listing that Jessica McClintock dress right before I got on zoom with you. And I need to finish that listing and get that up and hopefully see how it does. I think when you list at least one new thing every single day that definitely boosts everything else that you have listed, even if you're relisting a lot of the same items again. So I'll be doing that. My husband and I are going to a high school playoff game this evening, but we're going to dinner beforehand. I don't have to cook. So it's Win win, right? Good for you.

Suzanne Wells: 57:01

Okay, well, I will let you go get busy with your day, and thanks again for reaching out and and coming on and sharing your knowledge. We appreciate you.

Unknown: 57:10

Thank you. Suzanne, I appreciate you.

Suzanne Wells: 57:13

Thank you. Okay, bye, bye. Again. Next week is my special fifth anniversary episode featuring contributions from many other sellers. You don't want to miss this episode, and it is not a bunch of recycled content. You will hear new stories, new bolos and encouragement to keep going. So I will talk with you next week. Stay positive. And if you're in a valley right now, have faith that the mountain is coming soon, and remember to take care of yourself. Bye, everybody. You you.