Recent sales (November 7 – December 4)

1. Postcards: 108$. I finally got around to doing something with those postcards. I decided to go the auction route because I couldn’t figure out what made the occasional postcard sell for a lot of money, and I didn’t feel like doing that thing where I guess at a price and have the item sit around while I analyze the reaction of the market. That’s okay with one item, but it would have been a bit much to do that with around 200 postcards, most of which probably weren’t worth much.

Doing the auctions helped me learn about the postcard market anyways. It seems that the ones that are worth real money are from the 20s or before, unless the photo is otherwise interesting.

I listed most of the RPPCs (real photo postcards) individually, and grouped the rest in similar lots. I started them all at 5$, because it isn’t worth my time to sell anything for less than that. About half didn’t sell, and most of the ones that did went for 5$ or a little more. One from Chateauguay caused a minor bidding war and finished at 10.50$. The most popular lot was of 65 Quebec postcards, which went for 26$.

I relisted most of the cards that didn’t sell for a set price higher than 5$. One lot featuring Mounties sold at BIN for 12$, which was more than I would have gotten if that one person bid at the auction.

The profit overall wasn’t bad, but the process was relatively labour intensive. I also would have made more if I had listed at a BIN price. Still, it was a good learning experience, and the next time I find cool old postcards I’ll have an easier time valuating them.

2. WWI-era group photo: On eBay for 83$.  As you can probably tell I’m not generally a fan of  selling via eBay auctions. However, this one worked out pretty well! I wasn’t expecting this photo (cool as it was) to sell for that much. It ended up going to a local collector and former curator who clearly cares about history, so that’s nice. I found it hidden behind an image of Brother Andre in a junked frame.

3. Jabra Tour bluetooth speakerphone: On eBay for 20$.

4. Vintage Birks sterling silver tea strainer: On eBay for 135$. This was a very nice piece. It took a while to sell because I had it overpriced for some time. I probably would have kept it myself if I were rich. Found last May in Cote-des-Neiges.

5. WWII-era sailor’s knife: On eBay for 50$. I found this sturdy tool while biking in the Plateau. I was tempted to keep it myself, but decided to take the money instead.

6. Raffinee by Houbigant: On eBay for 80$. This was part of the excellent collection I found a couple months ago.

7. Tilley hat: On eBay for 50$. Found at the “privilege” place way back in January. It looked to have barely been used.

8. Vintage Ray-Ban Balorama sunglasses: On eBay for 100$. These sold not long after I listed them. They weren’t in perfect condition, but vintage Ray-Bans are always desirable. I’m not sure where I got them, though it might have been part of that collection given to me by a nice old dude in the Plateau around the end of June.

9. Art Nouveau-era “Bride’s book”: On eBay for 18$. I recently decided (/ figured out) that sometimes things sell not because of the price, but because of the buyer. I lowered the price on this book many times, thinking that I had it too high. While that might have been true for a while, it might also be have been that the right buyer just hadn’t come along yet. I’m thinking that I should have made between 25-30$ from this book. It was a very beautiful object and is pretty hard to find. I found it last September in NDG – you can see a few more pictures in the link.

10. Lowell High School pennant: On eBay for 30$. Apparently Lowell was Jack Kerouac’s alma mater. It was one of the last pennants left from that great collection I found in January.

11. Scottish clan wall plaque: On eBay for 23$. This sat around for a while before I accepted a best offer. Found last year in NDG.

12. Vintage 70s Tudor watch box: On eBay for 180$. This is probably one of my favourite sales of the month. I didn’t know this when I found it, but Tudor is apparently a Rolex off-brand that’s pretty decent in its own regard. Unfortunately the watch didn’t come with it but the payoff was pretty good regardless. The box was in near mint condition and came with an outer shell and paperwork sleeve. It sold within a day or two of me listing it. I found it in Rosemont, a neighbourhood that’s not really known for high-end watches.

You can see that I used a black background for this shot. It looked pretty nice, maybe better than it would have with the white background. It got fuzzy quickly however so I’ll have to give it a wash.

13. Fendi eau de toilette: On eBay for 150$. This might be my most valuable single perfume sale ever. It was also part of that collection from a couple months ago. I’m pretty happy with the photo I took as well! Blogging and eBay selling have definitely helped me become a better photographer, among other things.

14. WWI silver cigarette case: On eBay for 140$. This was a cool find. It took a while to sell but I got a good price for it. The silver was German and the message (below) was written in Hungarian. Found in NDG back in February.

15. Vintage syringe (top left): On eBay for 23$. There goes the last of my vintage syringes. They seem like a sketchy thing to sell but they’re undeniably cool and there’s definitely a market there. Besides, these probably hadn’t seen daylight since the 70s.

16. Teepak melon tester knife: On eBay for 21$. I got a bunch of messages from a buyer asking for a deal on this knife. I thought he was making me a terrible offer until I realized he was saying the price in American dollars instead of Canadian dollars. Apparently we weren’t that far off after all. Found earlier this year in Cote St-Luc.

17. Vintage Montreal city blueprints: On eBay for 30$. These were printed in 1927, and featured a location in Hochelaga around Ontario and Bourbonierre. Pretty cool! Found in Westmount.

18. Cretan dagger: On eBay for 25$. The knife itself is pretty cheap, but the sheath was made from 950 silver. I considered selling it for scrap, but I ended up listing it on eBay where it sold for about 5x more than I would have made from just the silver. The knife was probably a tourist piece from the 60s or 70s. Found in Montreal West earlier this year.

19. Lot of Sansui product sheets: On eBay for 5$. I went on a bit of an auctioning spree. This one didn’t work out that well, but at least I don’t have to look at them in my “death pile” anymore.

20. Ter Waes wall tapestry: On eBay for 80$. Found in TMR a while back.

21. Huge box of photos: To a reader for 100$. To be honest I’m just glad these are gone as they took up a lot of space. But it was a great collection, and it went to someone with an interest in Quebec history who plans to keep it intact. I consider that a pretty good outcome.

22. Expo 67 passport: On eBay for 40$. This was a pretty great example of an Expo 67 passport. It had lots of stamps, and even came with a typed itinerary that was tucked inside the back page. The guy looks to have tracked his movements by the 0.05th of an hour (3 minutes) which to me at least seems excessive. Found in Villeray.

23. Moorcroft ashtray: On eBay for 20$. It had a little hairline crack, which you can see around the bottom left, but it was still attractive and sturdy. The buyer was very happy with it. Found in the Plateau.

24. Centennial Birks Catalogue: On eBay for 30$. I don’t think this made the blog, so check out the pictures on eBay if you’re interested! Found in the Golden Square Mile.

25. Parker pen desk set (base and pen only): On eBay for 35$. The base was pretty chipped so I decided to ditch it and just sell the base and pen. They ended up making a trip to England for a happy buyer.

26. TI-83+: On Kijiji for 30$. I listed this for 40$ on Kijiji, but accepted 30$ at the door because I didn’t want to play email tag with anyone else. I usually try to sell these locally but I might just list them on eBay going forward as trying to meet someone for a sale can be a real pain in the ass.

27. Cirque du Soleil watch: On eBay for 200$. This is one of the nicer things I dug out of my death pile. It wasn’t on eBay because I added a new battery but couldn’t get the cover back on. I thought I needed to go to a watch repair guy to get them to do it, but apparently I just needed to press harder on the right places. Anyways, it didn’t take long to sell after I finally got it listed. It came in its original box and plastic, and probably was a gift to someone who worked for the company. The watch itself wasn’t of particularly high quality, but it did have a cool face featuring colourful circus hoops. I found it in Outremont back in April.

Total: 1786$, 21270$ so far in 2016. I also sold Balloon Man but he was returned (in good condition, they just didn’t want it anymore). That cost me 12$. I think my goal of 24k is attainable, but I might choose to wait until next year to sell certain things that would put me over the top. At this point I care more about reducing my taxes than achieving that specific goal.