eBay the Right Way

eBay Seller Chat with Donna in Florida: Life Happens and You Keep Going 😇

• Suzanne A. Wells • Episode 266

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Suzanne Wells:

Foreign Hello, everyone out there in podcast land. This is episode number 266 of eBay, the right way. Today's date is April 22 2026 and my guest is Donna in Florida. Announcements, wow. What a response to my happy mail club. I am blown away. I didn't realize so many people were ready for something happy in their mailbox. I'm putting together the first mailing now, and I'm starting off with an angel in action story, something that really happened to my family many years ago, and we know without a doubt an angel was involved, and I still get chills just thinking about it. Anyway, remember to sign up for my happy mail club by the end of April for the May mailing you can find information about the club by googling suzannes Happy Mail club, and you'll see the YouTube video about it right at the top. Or feel free to reach out to me by email or Facebook Messenger, and I will send you the link. Okay, let's visit with Donna now. Hello, listeners. I have a superstar from the money making Mondays with us. Today, I had to get Donna on to find out about what's going on in her house. So how are you doing this morning?

Unknown:

I'm great. Suzanne, thank you for having me on Well, thank

Suzanne Wells:

you for agreeing. So let's start off with where you are and what got you started

Unknown:

selling on eBay. Okay, I live in Central Florida. I'm about 42 miles north of Orlando.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, are you in the villages?

Unknown:

No, okay, no, but I wish I was, because there are some great estate

Suzanne Wells:

sales over there. I keep hearing that. Yes, I hear that.

Unknown:

And I'm about 17 miles west of Daytona Beach. Okay, so I'm in a town. Well, I wouldn't say town, I would say city of Deltona, Florida. Okay, okay.

Suzanne Wells:

So my mom lived in Port St Lucie for a while. Okay, yes, her retirement before she passed in 23 and she was born and raised in Tampa.

Unknown:

Oh yes, okay,

Suzanne Wells:

yeah, are you familiar with Tampa

Unknown:

at all? I'm familiar with Tampa. Yes. I have a younger brother that lives over in that area and the Crystal River area St Pete. Oh yes, beautiful, beautiful west coast beaches over there.

Suzanne Wells:

So my connection, my mom's claim to fame was she was queen of Gasparilla in 1961

Unknown:

Oh, my goodness, yes,

Suzanne Wells:

the Tampa people will know what that is. It's Oh yes. Well, and my grandfather was very involved in that on you mystic crew, and we had the Gasparilla cookbooks growing up. So, yeah, that's my connection to Florida.

Unknown:

I think they say, why bore city rules?

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, ye. Bore city Yeah, they're Cuban sandwiches are amazing. Oh yes, yes. So always about the food with me. Anyway, I hijacked your thoughts. So back to you, so you are in Central Florida, and what got you started selling on eBay, and when was that?

Unknown:

Well, I joined eBay in 2000 Okay, yeah, so I've been an eBay or for a long time now, but I didn't really sign up to sell. I signed up to buy. I was an original buyer, and what got me started was I had ran into an old friend at the post office, and I hadn't seen her in years, so in our conversation of catching up, I noticed she had all these boxes she was going to be posting. And I'm like, hey, you know, what have you been up to? She's like, Oh, well, you know, I've been selling on eBay, and I'm here to ship my stuff. And I'm like, what eBay? What's that? It's just like, Oh, it's this online site. And back then, I think computers had really just kind of come out. We had just had a home computer for maybe a year or so, and online shopping was kind of a novelty. And so I'm like, well, what's the deal with this? I mean, is it? Like, what is it? And she's like, well, you know, you just you buy and sell, you can sell whatever, whatever she goes, I go around to yard sales, and I pick up stuff and and I resell it, just to make some extra money. And I'm like, yard sales people are buying that stuff online. Like, yeah, she wouldn't believe what people buy. The older, the better. And I'm like, because she was into antiques, well, I'll check it out. So later on, you know, I checked it out, and I thought, Oh, this is pretty cool. And then I started seeing things on there that I liked, home decor, children's clothing, and so I started buying, and my husband's like, this is not going to turn into one of those online shopping QVC situations. Her husband was

Suzanne Wells:

thinking, this is not going to end well, this is just a new way to do home

Unknown:

shopping network. Yes, exactly. And he's like, you know, let's, let's, you know, let's put the brakes on that. And, you know, let's, you know, so I'm like, well, there's just so much stuff to choose from. So, you know, that was kind of my introduction to eBay. And then I got to thinking, You know what I'm buying, I could easily be selling. I have so much stuff in this house, I have children that have outgrown clothing, shoes. I like to redecorate for seasons, so I have extra pictures. And at that time, you know, Thomas Kincaid was the big deal. Thought, you know, I have all this Thomas Kincaid stuff that I'm tired of. And at one time, I collected bird houses, and I got tired of those, and I thought, well, you know, maybe I should start selling to kind of give me the money to buy. And my husband's like, well, I'll go for that. You know, if you want to, you know, sell some stuff to make your own money to buy some more stuff. I'm cool with that.

Suzanne Wells:

So your husband saw this as a self supporting habit, exactly.

Unknown:

And I'm I like to craft so, you know, I have a little bit of an expense there. And he's like, you know, you're into all these things which I want to support you in, but you know you're going to have to find a way to support your little habits. And I'm like, Okay,

Suzanne Wells:

I'm cool with that. Okay, so what did you start selling? Well, the first

Unknown:

things I started selling were my kids clothing, outgrown clothing, shoes, nice jackets. You know, at that at that age, they grow fast, so things don't really wear out. And I was getting some really decent money. I mean, I wasn't getting rich by any means, but I was making, you know, good profit on the shoes, their church style clothing, you know, the things that they were out growing, the little suits for Easter. Then I kind of dabbled into selling my home decor product. And then I was into scrapbooking, big time, ooh. So I was close to my heart and stamping up. And so, you know, I was selling things as I was getting tired of them. And then I started going to yard sales. And I thought, you know, my friends doing it. And I thought, well, I was following her store and checking out everything she was selling. And I thought, well, I can do that. So I was going to yard sales, but for some reason, I just wasn't picking up the kinds of things that people wanted. I was having more success selling the stuff that I already had at home, the stuff that I had bought, enjoyed and then wanted to get rid of. So I thought, instead of I could just, I could just redo my house over and over and over by, you know, enjoying something for a while, selling it and getting something new. Was this a light

Suzanne Wells:

bulb moment or just kind of a realization over time? Wait a minute, I've got ready made inventory right here, like I'm Dorothy with the ruby slippers. I've had the power the whole time.

Unknown:

That's it. Exactly I thought. Why am I, you know, dragging these kids out to these yard sales, which they hated going TO to begin with. You know, they're like, not again. No, not again. It, and

Suzanne Wells:

you're like, well, but I'll get you a donut afterwards. Or you bribe them with whatever you can pick three things from each one we go

Unknown:

to exactly, and they'd be asleep in the backseat, or they just want to go home and watch cartoons on a Saturday morning. And so I thought, instead of, you know, the hassle of them, you know, being so, you know, dissatisfied and mopey. I'll just sell what I have around here first.

Suzanne Wells:

Yeah, who wants to take a grumpy kid out on Saturday morning? No, my kids were not into it either. They're like, but it's gonna be so hot, we're gonna be thirsty and we don't like it, yeah?

Unknown:

And then, you know, a couple of hours into it, they're like, are we ready to go home yet? Are we are you ready to go home? Are we going home now?

Suzanne Wells:

And you're like, No, we have eight more to go to exactly.

Unknown:

And back then, you know, you used to map them out. I used to sit with my my newspaper on Friday nights, and I'd map out the best, you know routes to take, and you know, they're like, oh, Mom's got the paper out. We know what, what's going to happen tomorrow.

Suzanne Wells:

So you kind of quit doing the yard sales and just focused on your own stuff.

Unknown:

I did. I did, and of course, you know, I was working part time, so my time was limited, and plus my children were small, so I just kind of had to kind of source what I had in the house. Every now and then, you know, I would find something out at a yard sale, maybe a mom and pop thrift shop, but I just found that I had so much here that I could just recycle that I thought I'm just gonna, you know, stop running around and bringing all this stuff in the house when, when I already have it here. And then something happened, a friend of mine, her and her husband owned a dry cleaners. Back when dry cleaners were big, hardly anyone uses them anymore, but they used to sell things that people didn't pick up, right? They wouldn't come back to get them, and so they would sell them. They would have like, you know, a yard sale of sorts. And I got into clothing because I found some really nice things at their sale, leather jackets, you know, beautiful dresses, men's dress shirts, all good, quality that was getting me good money. And I thought, you know, this is like little effort. I'm not paying that much for this stuff, but I'm selling it for some pretty good prices. And it was when I found early early on, I found an Alexander McQueen little black dress that someone did not pick up. And I can't imagine why you would not pick up something like this, because I can't even imagine what it must have cost new. Think I paid back. Then I paid $15 for it, $400 and that was when it all took a different turn, and I was hooked completely

Suzanne Wells:

the dry cleaner. Did they have actual sales, like a yard sale, or did you approach them privately and say, I, I'm looking to buy your your left behind stuff?

Unknown:

No, they used to have community sales, and they used to have them, like, once a quarter, they would just get so much that people wouldn't pick up. And they also had, in addition to their dry cleaners, they had a leather cleaning that was a whole separate process, and people wouldn't pick up their leather goods, their suedes, their leathers, and so you could pick up some really nice leather jackets. And back then Stetson was a big deal. I think it might still be. I bought a really nice suede Stetson men's jacket, like a rancher style jacket that had Sherpa around the collar that sold for $200 and I think I paid 30 for it. So I just thought, you know, this is this is great. This is great. I'll just do this.

Suzanne Wells:

You got to wonder, Who are these people that are leaving behind these expensive items? Like, what happened? Did they get sick and pass away? Did they have to move expected, unexpectedly? Like, why would someone leave something that expensive behind? But I ran into that too. I. Uh, on the thrift store side, when I was shopping things with dry cleaning tags, and there would be a whole bunch of them from the same cleaner. So these did not have a sale. They just donated what was left. I think it's very smart to sell off the leave behinds. You know, they're, they're a small business. They're an entrepreneur, they they're looking to make money any way they can. But I guess the hassle of having a sale, advertising it, dealing with it, getting extra people to help that day, whatever it might be, it's sometimes the greatest ideas, the logistics are a little much. So trust me, I know, yeah, exactly, but yeah, I would find things. I found a four ply cashmere sweater one time. I think I've only found two or three in my entire reselling career, but that is some primo stuff made in Italy. I think it was goodness yellow Cuccinelli. That's a very high end Italian brand, but, and so I did approach a few of these dry cleaners that, you know their names on the the tag on the item in the thrift store, and I would go there and say, Hey, what do you do with your your leave behind items? And they were not interested in selling it to me, but that's a great idea if you maybe personally know the cleaner, yes, relationship or something. Sometimes entrepreneurs don't, you know, get the stars in their eyes about every idea. They just say, like, oh, that's extra work, or I don't want to do it, or too much to keep up with, or whatever. But I've heard this several times that that can definitely so good for you for going that route, because again, if it ends up in the thrift store, it's been manhandled through the whole process and, you know, put in a bin and eight people have touched it and dealt with it and put it out there. But at the cleaner, it's

Unknown:

clean Exactly.

Suzanne Wells:

Had one owner and perfect to resell Exactly.

Unknown:

And I mean, it would come to me sometimes in those plastic bags with those cheap hangers that they put them on, you know. And I'm like, This is great. This is great. So that lasted, you know, for a while until, you know, eventually the business, their business, went out of business, because dry cleaning just kind of went by the wayside. So that just kind of led me down another path, you know, I just started, like going to thrift stores and and then I kind of got away from eBay, which the beauty of eBay is, you can come back to it. You can leave, you can come back. I mean, you can pick up right where you left off. And that makes it so perfect. And we hear that

Suzanne Wells:

a lot on this podcast, life happens. You have to step away, but all the work you've done, it adds up over time, and if you take a break, that doesn't cancel out all the work you did up to that point, it's still there. You have your account, you have your feedback, you have your history, you have your knowledge. So and we don't like to have to step away because eBay is so fun.

Unknown:

It is. It's extremely fun. That's it. You know, life does take a turn sometimes, and you have to step away, but you can always pick right back up. And that's what I've done. I've done that several times throughout the years, when I needed extra money for kids, band or sports or maybe vacations, or my crafty habits or or whatever. You know, I've got picked right back up where I

Suzanne Wells:

left off. Driving is a big one as your kids are growing up, because they get into the driving age and now that all the states require these lessons and, well, you know, back in the day, we just an older sibling taught us how to drive, exactly. That was it? Well, that's that wasn't my family. But, you know, then you get into the insurance and a car, and that gets expensive. Little kids are a lot of work. Teenagers are a lot of expense.

Unknown:

That's exactly right. And you know, we always try to teach our kids, you know, that they needed to work for some of the things that they wanted. I mean, you know, we weren't, they weren't handed cars, they were not handed, you know, everything. They had to work for these things. But, I mean, we helped them. We certainly help them, right? And, and it was things like that that always brought me back to eBay for the extra money

Suzanne Wells:

well, and with the with the teens, it's, of course, you want them to contribute and understand how to be a responsible citizen. And you know, life just doesn't hand you things. You don't get stuff just because you're breathing, but, you know, you want to help them. You kind of want to help them launch, and especially boys and shoes. Oh my gosh, the expense of putting shoes on boys age 11 to 16. It's like they all grow them in a week.

Unknown:

That's it. That's it. And, you know, and then those things, when they're not used to the point of trashed, you can resell those Exactly. And so I thought, yeah, instant, instant inventory, right?

Suzanne Wells:

Okay, so back to your your journey. Do you mind sharing what kinds of life events came up where you had to step away from eBay?

Unknown:

Well, my mother, for one she was diagnosed with severe dementia, and so she needed to come and live with us, and so we kept her here at home for as long as we possibly could, until, you know, it was just not an option anymore. The kids were in school. My husband was working, I was working, and you know, she was at home alone. It wasn't until, you know, she would start trying to cook for herself or take showers during the day, when we weren't here, that's when it started getting to where we knew that we couldn't give her the kind of care that she needed.

Suzanne Wells:

You sound like the poster child for the sandwich generation? You're trying to take care of everybody? Yeah, that's it. A lot of my audience is our age, yes, experiencing these same things, and in fact, I've asked a few to come on, and they said I'd love to, but I'm a caregiver for my parents, and I have no idea what my day is going to be like, so I just can't come in. So yeah, yeah.

Unknown:

And it was trying. You know, there were times whenever I thought I don't know if I'm going to be able to do this. You know, it's hard enough watching your your parent, turn into somebody that they're that they're not. I mean, I couldn't believe, you know, some of the things that we were experiencing with her. But, you know, the mind is a powerful thing. They go through these stages. You know, they go through, you know, just forgetful. Then they go through these to where they're scared of everything, and they become extremely angry at everything, and then they become very childlike with temper tantrums. You know, we went through the whole gamut with her, and so that took all of our time as a family, that took everything we had. And so that was one life experience, and that took us away, or that took me away from eBay or anything like that, for several years, several years. And then, um, it, it was probably about five, yeah, five years ago, I read, I retired. I was, I was fortunate enough to be able to retire, and I thought, you know, I want to do something with with myself. I can't just retire. And then, you know, you can only clean your house. You know, so so much. I mean, I've got everything spotless in here. I mean, what else can I clean? I've got to find something to do. And I thought, oh, eBay, eBay. I'll get into that full time now. And my husband's like, you know what? That's a good idea. And as a matter of fact, I mean, I'm not interested in selling on eBay, he says, But you know what, I really think I would like to start dabbling in selling motorcycle parts. And I'm like, hey, that's because he's retired as well. And I'm like, You know what? Okay, let's do it. You do your thing. I'll do my thing, and we'll see who does the best. We'll make a little competition out of it. And so that's kind of how we've been doing it. Some days he sells a whole lot more than I do, and sometimes I sell a whole lot more than he does, but it's been fun. What led you to

Suzanne Wells:

your son's video games?

Unknown:

Oh, yes, exactly. Well, last year, it was July, my son passed away unexpectedly.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Unknown:

Yes, he suffered from a pulmonary embolism. Oh my gosh, yes. And we lost him on July 13. Oh, thank you. He was a few weeks shy of his 35th birthday, and so he has been an avid collector of all these things since he. As a child. I mean, we're talking when video games started becoming popular. 810, years old, this kid has been collecting this stuff, and so we acquired all of his things. I mean, we had to move them all here, and he has an extensive collection, not just games, figurines, books, interactive computer parts, games, movies, just a collection, over his lifetime, of things that he enjoyed. He's he was always a big fan of the Japanese, I think it's called anime, manga, manga, like manga, yes, a big fan of those. Of course, every video game you could ever imagine from every system you could ever imagine that's ever come out. He had all of those, all of the little figurines and those Funko Pop collectible dolls, just all of that stuff. And so when we brought all of his things here, I at first, I Well, I I I couldn't just get right into it. It took me a while. It took me a while. I thought to myself, What am I going to do with all this stuff? I mean, first of all, I know nothing about it, absolutely nothing about it. I wouldn't even be able to hook in one of these game consoles that he owns. I have no idea what to do with any of it, and it was so overwhelming because we had so much of it. So I sat and I thought, What would Dylan want me to do with these things? What would he want me to do? And my son was very loving, very kind hearted. He loved to give things to people. He was always shopping for his friend's birthdays and and I thought, you know, I bet he would want this collection to go to someone that treasured it as much as he did. He spent years collecting it, everything in the box, everything on display, you know, some things under lights. He had a whole room in his home dedicated to it. And so I thought, well, maybe I'll see if any of his friends want it. And so I had some of his friends come over, his closest friends, and I allowed them to pick some things that they wanted, you know, as a remembrance of him and his best buddy said, you know, why don't you sell this stuff? I think Dylan would would like that. He would like that. I'm like, I don't know. It just seems so, seems so weird. You know, I've talked

Suzanne Wells:

to a lot of people this has happened to a loved one, and they it does take them a while to decide it's okay. It's it's not disrespecting him, it's not dishonoring him, it's not forgetting him. It's re homing these things in a way that they will be loved and appreciated, and, you know, as if he was alive, and he just decided he wanted to, you know, get rid of his collection, or whatever it would be the same. But you're, you're exactly right. It takes you a while to be able to let go, because it's a part

Unknown:

of him. You know, that's it. I would sit in in that room. We put it all in, actually, we put it all back into his bedroom, his original bedroom here at home, we just put it all in there. And I would my husband wasn't able to go into that room for a couple of months. He couldn't even go in there. He wanted the door kept shut. And I would go in there, and I would just sit around, and I would look at all the things that he had. And I it would make me sad, but more so it would make me I would remember funny things that Dylan would say, or I would remember he'd show me this, and I remember, Oh, I remember when he showed me that, that he bought, when he bought that. Or I remember him talking about that. So when his buddy said, you know, maybe you should, you know, sell this, I thought, you know, I like you said, I don't want to be disrespectful to his memory, but I think Dylan would like this stuff to go to someone who would treasure it. And so my husband and I talked about it, and my husband. And said, you know, this stuff is worth some money. This stuff is worth some money. Some of this stuff is old. I mean, vintage. He's collected this stuff since he's been eight,

Suzanne Wells:

910, years old that you had a Legend of Zelda. Yeah, that's, that's pretty that's very collectible, and those are hard to find, and those are high dollar Yes, what in the world? How does

Unknown:

Yes, and it's like, and that's just, that's just a tip of the iceberg, I'm telling you. So my husband said this stuff is very collectible. I mean, he knows no more about this stuff than I do. We're, you know, we're in our 60s, and he's close to 70, you know, we're, you're talking to two people who have no knowledge of this stuff. But we've been quick learners. We have been quick learners. And my husband said, you know, the people that are going to be buying this stuff, are going to be treasuring it just this Dylan did. They're not going to be buying this stuff and paying this kind of money for it as a game to play with or to take out of the package. These are collectors, just like he was a collector. You have to look at it like this, because, you know, that was another thing that worried me was some, you know, someone was going to get it and they were going to tear it up or take it out of the package, or, you know, I didn't want that to happen. And my husband said, that's not going to happen. The people that are going to pay$100 for something that's a little toy about six inches tall, they're going to put that on a shelf and display that, just as Dylan did. So you have no worries there. And Dylan would want somebody just like him to have these things. And I'm like, you know, I think you're right. I think you're right. Okay, I'll do it. I'm going to list a few things, and I'm going to see how I feel about it, and if it bothers me too much, then I'll stop and we'll have a regroup. And so I listed, I guess, about 1010, of his items. And, I mean, I couldn't believe it, they were flying out of here for the prices I was asking. And I had did research. And like I said, I know nothing about this stuff. So I was using Google lens, and I was using chat GBT, and I was talking to his friends and and I was contacting everybody I could possibly contact about these games. And, you know, what? What's the special thing about this game? And you know, what's it worth? And how old is this one, and what? What system does this one go with? And, you know, and I got all the information, all this knowledge, took copious amounts of notes, and started listing this stuff, and I was so surprised. And my husband's like, Are you kidding me? Somebody's paying $250 for that, that little toy. And I'm like, believe it or not, they surely did, and they didn't even send me an offer. They just bought it. And I'm like, this is a blessing. It's, it's, it's a blessing. Not only am I able to pass Dylan's love along to someone who is looking for this particular item to finish their collection, but it's also helping us work through this grief and heal. And you know, grief is different for everyone, and I understand that, but this has been so liberating. I have I feel so close to Dylan when I'm handling these things.

Suzanne Wells:

What I was just going to say was, every time you sell one of his items, that's a little piece of him that's going out into the world to bring joy to someone else. And it takes a while to see it like that.

Unknown:

Yeah, it Yes, it did. It took me, well, it took me from July of last year, when he passed, to January to be able to even deal with it at all. I simply didn't. I simply thought, this is, this is, you know, sacrilegious, I can't do anything with these things. And it wasn't until, you know, we had to sit down my husband and I and Dylan's friends, and we said, No, this is what Dylan would want. This is what he would want. He would enjoy this. He would enjoy somebody getting that one little piece that they needed to complete their collection, and Dylan had it, and they wanted it, and he was able to do it. And then my sister in law reminded me, she said, you know, Dylan was an organ donor. And I'm like, Yes, he was. Not only did. He, He gave the gift of life to someone else. In addition to what you're doing with his things, you know, he gave the gift of sight to someone. He because his eyes were they were able to be used. And it wasn't until I got the certificate from the cornea Institute after his passing, that it finally clicked for me that I am doing the right thing. I am doing the right thing, and I have bad days. You know, there are days when I'm sitting with his things and I say I'm going to list 10 things today, but then I'll get melancholy. Something will happen, a memory will pop in, and I can't do any more work. I'll get sad.

Suzanne Wells:

You pick up that one thing and it just triggers memories and emotions, and you're not expecting it. It's just a thing. It's it. I've I've helped people clean out when they've lost a loved one, and that's the hardest part. Is some days are fine and you just blow through it, and then other days you can't, you can't do a single thing, because one object that was special to that person is triggering and but that's what that's what grief is. You don't know when it's going to hit you, how it's going to hit you, and you're resilient. You just keep going.

Unknown:

That's it, you know. And I just always tell myself, you know, calm. Just calm down and carry on. Tomorrow will be a new day, you know, we'll see what tomorrow brings. And then there are some days when I am on a roll and I can list 10 items, no problem, and I'm in there digging around, looking for more. So, you know, I just take it day by day. And my husband, he it's helping him. I think, I think men, men don't really, I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong in saying this, but sometimes I feel men do not express their feelings the way we do as women. Maybe it's because, you know, they have to be stronger. They have to hide their emotions. And you know, my husband's generation, he's 68, years old, that's even more of an issue, right?

Suzanne Wells:

So it's emotions we're seeing as weakness,

Unknown:

that's it. And so with that, it's helped him. He He seems to be a little more willing to help, a little more willing to look at these things of Dylan's a little more willing to cheer me on when I pack something up. He's getting excited now when I'm excited for something that sold. And so it's really helping him, yes and and therefore, a while I was very worried for him, because he was expressing no emotion. He was expressing nothing and and I thought, Oh, wow, you know, but this has really helped. It's helped

Suzanne Wells:

both of us well. And I think the way you're doing it slowly, a little bit at a time, is beneficial. Maybe some people feel like they just need to pack everything up and donate it and get it out, but this way you're grieving along with it. But it's a little bit of day, and every time you post an item, sell an item, you know, I just feel like your son is smiling down on you, like Way to go, Mom, you're working through it, you know. And that may be a little cheesy, but I believe in all that stuff. And you know, there's some god winks in there, like you're going to sell something, or maybe you already have, and you get a message from the buyer. Oh, I've been looking for this forever. Thank you so much for posting it. I'm so excited, or I'm going to give it to so and so as a gift, it's this person's been looking for it. And so it's this whole chain reaction of of joy and happiness that you're creating by doing this That's exactly it.

Unknown:

And you know that I have received messages like that. Yes, I have, I have. I have received messages like, you know, this is awesome. You know, this is the piece I was looking for. This completes my collection. I've even had people say, you know, do you have any more? And I'm like, Oh, yes, I have lots more. And then, you know, people ask me, what, what, where did you get this stuff? And, you know, I don't go into a whole big old explanation of where I got it, but I do, you know, give them a little bit of history of it was my son's and he's now passed. And I'll get the loveliest messages back. Oh, you know, we will play this game in memory of your son. You know, it's in good hands. You know, thank you for selling this. You know we're so excited. And you know your son's memory will carry on. And it's just been, it's been heartwarming. It really has been

Suzanne Wells:

that it sounds like it, and I didn't know any of this. For the listeners. I didn't know any of this was going on. I just saw you selling these games. And so what? What a backstory? Can you talk about some of the ones that sold and what they sold for?

Unknown:

Let's see, I sold a little, it's a little Funko Pop collectible doll. I'm calling them dolls, but I'm sure they're not dolls. They're little figurines. Did you post that on the group? Yes, I $259

Suzanne Wells:

well, she's into Funko Pop too. This, this lady's got it

Unknown:

going on, yes. And you know the Funko Pop. I had no idea what these were. I just thought they were like little dolls. I didn't know how little

Suzanne Wells:

they're like, the size of bobble heads, aren't they? But there's big old heads.

Unknown:

Yes, they've got big heads and and they kind of coordinate with games like, like the little I guess they make them for all sorts of things. I mean, I've seen them online for, like, television shows, like they have a

Suzanne Wells:

friend's line, yeah, celebrity oriented, their cartoon characters, or Disney stuff. It's any kind of character somebody

Unknown:

might know exactly. But what Dylan had was everything was tied into a video game of some sort, some sort of, either a manga figure, an anime video game character, and so I did comps on this little eye or a little Funko Pop head that I had, And he was part of, I think it was called the video games, called one piece, one piece, which is, I guess it's a whole series of these games. And so when I did the comps, I thought, This can't be, right. This little doll is not worth over$200 that's impossible, so I got to look in and I was doing Google searches, I was looking on Funko Pop's website, and I learned the term vaulted. Vaulted is no longer in production, highly collectible,

Suzanne Wells:

limited edition, but now we have a fancier word. Yeah, it's called

Unknown:

vaulted, and

Suzanne Wells:

so in the vault, like,

Unknown:

in the vault, like, they never stopped production, and it's in the vault, so there's only, like, what's what's out there is out there. That's it, okay? And of course, you know, they sell for all different ranges, like, you know, new in, in new inbox, new open box out of box used. I mean, there's, it's

Suzanne Wells:

like doll collecting or coins or stamps, like record albums are graded, kind of, it's all about the packaging. And has it ever been opened, and does it have shelf where, and all of that?

Unknown:

Yeah, that's it. That's exactly it. And so, of course, this little character, he was new in the box, sealed, never been removed, therefore, never played with. He was just been on display, and he was worth he was getting anywhere from two, 225 to 275 on eBay. And I'm like, oh, no, this, this cannot be so I listed him for 259, 98 you know, I like doing those weird numbers, and I had him listed, I think, a couple of days, and he sold just like that. And I'm like, full price, and I'm like, No way, no way. I'm like, I'm on to something here with these. And then I thought I just felt Dylan come over me and say, good job, mom, keep going.

Suzanne Wells:

Well, don't have any idea what he paid for

Unknown:

these things. Yes, because some of this, some of the original price tags are still on these games. And originally it was $14.99 at GameStop. Now, can you imagine 1499 and I think this little particular little character was from 2007 maybe. So, you know, got some age on him. But the box was pristine. He obviously was pristine. And the person that bought it was a collector, for sure, because I can't imagine. Now, personally, I wouldn't pay$260 for one of these little things, but somebody did, and that just goes to show collectors are buying these people that liked and collected them, just like my son did. That's who's buying these things. So that gave me that extra UMP to just keep going.

Suzanne Wells:

That's a realization I've come to with anything discontinued, limited edition, not made anymore, vintage MCM, whatever, like, why are they paying this? And I don't care, because I love that person. Yeah, exactly, exactly buyers that put you know, it's worth it to them, and that's all that matters, is it's worth it to them. So you just thank the universe for sending you that item and sending you that buyer, and glad that they're happy, and you, you don't have to answer this, but I was wondering, are you earmarking that eBay money for anything in particular from his items?

Unknown:

No, not for anything in particular, but I am setting the money aside. I'm because I want to know exactly how much all of his items bring in, sit up with like, family finances,

Suzanne Wells:

maybe after a while, you go on a cruise, you go on a vacation, or do something fun for you and your husband, or not, just put it in the family, the family coffer and there.

Unknown:

Yeah, the main thing right now is because I haven't really given it that much thought, other than I just want to know, just from a curiosity standpoint, how much he actually has, you know, how much all of this collection brings in over the when it's done, when it's said and done, And, of course, routinely, I sell video games. Let's see Nintendo Wii, which is, this is old. This is an old game, old console. These games are selling routinely for anywhere from 40 to 60 bucks, easy. And then, you know, I have, like the Sony PlayStation games he had, he had two or three different Sony PlayStation units. So those are routinely selling anywhere from 35 to 60 to 100, just depends. And so I'm just going to keep at it. I'm just going to keep at it. I'm going to keep honoring Dylan in this manner. And you know, I I enjoy it. I've been having, I've been I've been connecting with my son on a different level. Even though he's not here, I'm still able to connect with him. And it just brings me joy, contentment, sometimes sadness, but overall, I know I made the right decision.

Suzanne Wells:

He's still here in a way. Yeah, and he is. You're going to get those God winks and those signs that he's he's right there with you.

Unknown:

That's it. That's it. So I'm just going to keep pushing forward. And some days may be good, some days may be bad, some days may be in the middle, but I'm just going to take them as they

Suzanne Wells:

come Well, I sure appreciate you being so open and sharing that we never know what kind of struggles people are having, and especially on Facebook, where you can you only show people what you want them to see. But that's it. This is this is not an uncommon story. There have been other people on this podcast that have lost their children, grown children, and you just never know what somebody's struggling with. So I appreciate you opening up about that, and what a great way to honor his memory. Re homing all these special items to collectors that appreciate them exactly. That's very commendable, and it like you said, it keeps you busy, it keeps you engaged, because I think loneliness and boredom contributes to grief. You're doing something with your time and your mental focus, and that's important to get through this. And you really never get through grief. It just sort of changes over time. You know,

Unknown:

that's it. And my son was that he was the class clown. He was the kid that always wanted to make everybody laugh and smile. He was the jokester and and to think just sitting around his stuff and being sad unhappy, he wouldn't want that. He wouldn't want that for any of us. I. Know he wouldn't, because I know his personality, and so I know doing this is the best way we can honor him, and and and I truly believe that he's happy that we're doing it.

Suzanne Wells:

Wonderful, great. Well, what are you up to for the rest of the afternoon.

Unknown:

Well, I'm going to talk my husband into taking me for lunch, and then after lunch, I'm going to come home and I'm going to list a few items, and I think I might take a nap.

Suzanne Wells:

Oh, that is, that is the most luxurious treat of working at home or being retired, is I just love it. I'm tired.

Unknown:

I'm gonna go lay down. Oh, I know. I love naps. I love a big nap.

Suzanne Wells:

Some people like, oh, I can't sleep during the day. And I'm like, Well, I just don't think you've ever tried.

Unknown:

Oh, I can

Suzanne Wells:

lay down and let yourself relax. You've got your white noise on. You wake up refreshed, and I call the second shift. So my nap is usually between two and four, and then I get up and do some more stuff, and then have dinner and maybe do a little bit more after that. And I like to be busy. I like to be productive. So yeah,

Unknown:

that's me too. That's exactly

Suzanne Wells:

uh Einstein took naps. Thomas Edison took naps. So I'm I'm going by that, if it works for you, do it. But hey, we charge our phones. We gotta charge ourself too.

Unknown:

So that's right.

Suzanne Wells:

Anyway. Well, it has just been delightful talking with you, and thank you again for sharing your story. And we're going to watch for more of Dylan's things on the Facebook group. He's got some interesting items in this collection, he

Unknown:

sure does, and there's a lot more to come.

Suzanne Wells:

Good, good. Well, we'll watch for that. Well, thanks again, and you have a wonderful afternoon. Thank you, Suzanne, you as well. Okay, bye, bye, bye. Thank you, Donna, for sharing that very personal story with us. Next week, my guest is Scott, who specializes in rare and unusual collectibles. He is one to learn from, so make sure you tune in for that episode. Thank you all for supporting this podcast and listening. Each week, I'm sending you happy vibes and positive thoughts for your eBay business and in life. Bye for now you