In response to this thread , what is the best sale that you’ve ever had on ebay? By this, I mean, that someone paid more than what it was actually worth (not simply that you paid 5 cents for something at a flea market, and later sold it for it’s market value of $10,000) And do you know why you got such a high payment?
For me, (nothing that amazing), I sold the original Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo for $115, almost double what other’s were going for at the time. I’m not sure why exactly this happened, but I have two reasons:
The buyer was from Canada, and not as many people are willing to ship to Canada.
The correct title of the game is “Chrono Trigger” with a space. However, I listed my auction as “ChronoTrigger Chrono Trigger …”. There were far fewer auctions that didn’t have the space, and hence some people that mistyped the name would be led to believe it’s much rarer than it actally is.
In terms of percentages, it would have to be the Iditarod Monopoly games that I sold. They were only available in Alaska and from the mfr. and sold for about $20. Then the mfr quit making them, but the demand from teachers and collectors was still there. I was selling them for $40 and up. More recently, I sold gold coins at about $450 that I paid $265 each for, but that’s just market value.
I had this pair of nice, almost new Tommy Hilfger size 15 sandals up once and the item was being bid up a touch to around 20 dollars. Then this guy from Alaska comes in and bids it up to 50 dollars. I guess he wanted those sandals! I’d link you to the sale itself, but TubaDiva told me she really doesn’t like that, so I won’t.
A few years ago I sold a $5 shotglass I bought at the Hard Rock cafe in Chicago for $200 on Ebay. Apparently, it was a scarce type that had unusual coloring. I never realized there were serious collectors of HRC shotglasses until I started getting numerous emails from potential buyers all over the world asking me to end my auction and sell to them. I ended up cancelling the auction and making a direct deal with one of them. I’m sure I could have gotten more because there was a collector in Singapore who offered to top all offers. Apparently, this collector had been snapping up every rare & valuable item and had sabotaged other deals recently because several of the interested parties asked me specifically not to sell to him. In the end. I didn’t want to deal with the overseas complications and let it go to a very grateful buyer who begged & pleaded and worked very hard to get this one piece for her boyfriend’s collection.
A friend’s daughter gave me a pair of cute flare jeans she had outgrown. They were practically new, didn’t fit me or my daughter either, so I told her to take 'em to Goodwill or something. She said, “Naaah, sell them on eBay or something.” Basic, cute jeans she’d gotten at a nationwide chain department store for about $30. I started them at $1, and bidding began almost immediately, and there was a final bidding war during the last minute of the auction that drove the price up to $147. These were jeans that were still available brand-new for $30! When I gave the cash to my friend’s daughter, she almost cried.
I bought a motorcycle for $35, toyed around with the idea of fixing it up for a couple months, and then finally threw it on ebay motors and it went for around $450. I know of a motorcycle graveyard full of at least a thousand similar bikes that all sell for around $50-$100 and are worth many many times that, especially with just a tiny amount of work put into them. Unfortunately, I moved across the country around the same time I made this discovery. If not, I know I could’ve lived off buying and selling those bikes for at least a year.
Someone gave me a pair of skis once and I sold them on ebay for $40. Thanks for the skis and all, I mean I really appreciate the thought, but come on, 40 bucks.
I bought a Partylite tealight house at Goodwill for $1.49 once. I can’t remember now which one it was, but it was one that had been retired for a few years. It sold for $82.00.
Motorcycles, hmmm? [eyes son’s junky cycle in the corner of the basement] Gotta keep that in mind…
I have a really nice piece of carnival glass (at least I think it is, I don’t know anything about carnvial glass) on there now that I hope will go fairly well. It’s got about 4 bids so far and it still has 4 days to go. I keep telling myself that’s a good sign.
I used to (kinda still do, but not actively) collect little HotWheels-type dolls called Small Shots, from the early '70s. While cleaning out my garage, I found a little scooter that went with one of the dolls, but couldn’t find the doll. Not really caring about the scooter without the doll, I put it out on Ebay. It wasn’t even complete–it was missing its steering wheel (which was duly noted in the auction description).
A nice lady bid $127.00 for it, and was very happy with her purchase.
About 5 years ago, we inherited a large chandelier-style light fixture. Metallic “candles”, very ornate, had belonged to my grandmother-in-law; when she passed away, my in-laws thought we could use it for a planned kitchen remodelling project.
I loathed it. It was totally wrong for our dining room, both in size and in style. I figured it was unsellable and wanted to put it out with the garbage. Papa Zappa wanted to try to sell it, so I finally cobbled together an eBay listing.
Even with a sixty dollar shipping estimate (it was oversized and cost a fortune to ship), that thing was the subject of a bidding war. We sold it for 360.00 IIRC. Obviously I was wrong!
I have decided that there is NOTHING that is unsellable. My MIL suggested I sell a weird little ceramic planter of hers - it was a Scotty dog on its hind legs, leaning up against a fence. It was glazed all over in a hideous pale yellow. And the little Scotty dog was apparently VERY happy to see whoever was on the other side of the fence, because he was sporting a nicely detailed and perfectly proportionate hard-on. I put it on eBay with a starting bid of $1, just for giggles. It ended at $17. Boggles the mind.
Now I’ve got most of a houseful of my MIL’s weird collections, and her blessing to sell or pitch it all. Some of it is really nice stuff, but a lot of it is just plain weird. We’ll see what happens!
LifeonWry, you’ll probably do well if they are all scotty things. There are plenty of rabid scotty collectors out there. I work with a woman who also is a scotty breeder; I’ve seen her collection of all things scotty. :eek: And she tells me that she is small potatoes in the scotty collectable world.
alanak, you scored on that deal! My (ex) boyfriend gave me a Super Nintendo and a bunch of games for Christmas one year and I managed to sell Chrono trigger on eBay for $48. Not nearly as much as you got for yours but hey, I got it for free!
Not my best eBay sale, but my dad’s. He collects guns and gun accessories, old shell boxes and books and things like that. Him and my mom were at an auction and picked up an old shell box for about $100. They looked it up in one of his pricing books and noticed that It was worth quite a bit. They promptly sold it on eBay for over $600! It wasn’t anything special to look at (to me anyway), just a slightly worn cardboard shotgun shell box.
eBay is a sideline for me, and I’ve made many good sales providing just the thing someone’s looking for:
[ul]
[li]An antique maple and walnut phone booth, with steel floor, ventilation fan, circular flourescent light, and glass TELEPONE sign over the door. I bought it at an auction for $25 because it was so big no one else wanted it. Took it home, photographed it, put it up on eBay, and sold it for $500 a week later.[/li][li]First-series Ruroni Kenshin action figures. When the series was hot on Cartoon Network, the figures were hard to find in some parts of the country. I bought a bunch of them out of markdown bin at a local comix shop for a few dollars each. They sold for at least $70 each, with two Kenshin figures selling for over $100 each.[/li][li]An original vintage Fireball XL5 playset. Fireball XL5 was one of those Gerry Anderson “marionette” TV shows, like Thunderbirds. The play set had all the original paper cutouts of the characters, vehicles, etc. Another yard sale find, I picked it up for $2 and sold it for $85.[/li][li]A Remco Star Trek utility belt. None of the other toys, like the little plastic phaser or tricorder or anything, just the belt. It was in excellent shape and none of the little equipment loops were broken. I paid 15 cents for it and it sold for $20.[/li][/ul]
I could go on, but it’ll just get boring after awhile. I have a knack for picking up odd stuff at rummage, yard, and estate sales - stuff that no other buyer ever seems to want - that I can turn around at a good price to collectors.
