I sold a lot of things in February but didn’t make much money overall. Still, it was enough to pay the bills and I was glad to get some stuff out of the house.
1. Artur Rubinstein signature, framed: On eBay for 200$. Not bad eh?
2. Small box of Expo 67 slides: On eBay for 25$. I usually sell Expo 67 slides for between 1.25$ and 1.60$ each, depending on the quality.
3. Sheaffer Imperial I fountain pen: On eBay for 30$.
4. Givenchy Gentleman after-shave: On eBay for 45$. Only one left now. Found in the Plateau.
5. WWII-era Colgate’s kit bag: On eBay for 25$. Found in the Mile End.
6. Sherman brooch: On eBay for 70$. Sherman really did make some nice stuff. Found in the Plateau.
7. Cidopey slides: On eBay for 20$ (auction). I’m not sure why this old Richard Corben comic was in slide form, but it seems that someone on eBay appreciated it. The slides are now in England. Found in Outremont.
8. Vintage beer labels: On eBay for 61$ (auction). I’m pretty happy with how this auction turned out. These beer labels were pretty cool, dating back to the late 40s or 50s, and were lucky to survive their trip to the trash bag undamaged. Found in St-Michel.
9. Butterscotch bakelite beads: On eBay for 20.50$ (auction). It seems that the red bakelite beads are more valuable than the butterscotch. The more you know! Found years ago in Park Ex.
10. Vintage ring box: On eBay for 20$. Found in Cote-des-Neiges.
11. Skiing devil printer’s block: On eBay for 30$. Those printing blocks I found a while back were cool but not particularly valuable. Still, this one eventually sold for a decent price. Found in Montreal West.
12. Leslie Block dangle earrings: On eBay for 100$. These sold quickly for a lot more than I originally expected. Found in Snowdon.
13. Esterbrook flo-master: On eBay for 20$. Found in TMR.
14. Christian Dior Dune: On eBay for 40$. Part of that excellent perfume collection I found a while back in TMR.
15. Rachel Zoe bracelet: On eBay for 30$. One of last year’s McGill move-out day finds.
16. Silver clothes brush: On eBay for 30$.
17. Frontier Town cuff bracelet: On eBay for 20$. Found in St-Michel.
18. Tom & Jerry “Carmen get it” film reel: On eBay for 30$. Found in Outremont.
19. Walter Boss mouse figurine: On eBay for 40$. Found in Westmount.
20. Wabasso 10k gold 35 year service pin: On eBay for 50$. I sent this via lettermail and apparently it hasn’t arrived yet. If it doesn’t show up soon, I’ll have to issue a refund. Sometimes lettermail travels very slowly (I once had an envelope arrive around three months late), but it’s substantially cheaper than any other service offered by Canada Post. Found in Rosemont.
21. Unicef watch: On eBay for 12$.
22. WWII carbine rifle carrying case: On eBay for 25$. Found in Rosemont near Olympic Stadium.
23. 1950s Valle’s Steakhouse restaurant menu: On eBay for 25$. I love old restaurant menus. Found in Verdun.
24. Robert Larin cast pewter brutalist necklace, for repair: On eBay for 40$. As mentioned in a recent post.
25. Western Digital 1TB DVR Expander: On eBay for 80$. This is one of those things that’s impossible to test without the right equipment. It’s a bit of risky selling electronics without fully testing them, but I really wanted that 80$. The machine turned on, came from a general electronics purge (including iPods) in a wealthy neighbourhood (indicating that the devices were probably “obsolete” and not broken), and was in good cosmetic condition, so I deemed the risk to be low. So far, so good. Found in Westmount.
26. Single Georg Jensen cufflink: On eBay for 35$. Found in TMR.
27. McIntosh speaker product sheet: On eBay for 20$.
28. WWII needle sterilizer: On eBay for 30$. Found in Outremont.
29. Vintage Seiko automatic watch, for repair: On eBay for 25$. The automatic mechanism seemed to work fine, but it wouldn’t wind using the crown. Still, it was a neat old watch. Found in Rosemont.
30. Vintage 10cc BD syringe: On eBay for 40$. Found in Hampstead.
31. WWII soldier’s sewing kit: On eBay for 25$.
32. Mid Century Orrefors art glass vase: On eBay for 80$. Soon to appear in another post!
33. Prescription Ray-Bans: On eBay for 25$. Found in St-Michel.
34. Seiko chronograph watch, for repair: On eBay for 40$. I couldn’t get this thing to work but it still sold for a good price. It was in pretty good cosmetic condition. Found in Westmount.
35. Empty Montblanc pen box: On eBay for 30$.
36. Raquette Lake girls camp yearbook: On eBay for 35$. A fun nostalgia piece!
Total: 1461$, 4085.50$ so far in 2018.
Reading your blog has me learning about objects I never knew existed … things like the needle sterilizer, for instance. Always engaging.
The yard sale season approaches; hope the proceeds are stellar. 🙂
I agree. One learns a lot about human history and creativity and behavior from this great blog! I also love that you are able to sell the packaging (such as vintage pen and jewelry boxes) in addition to objects themselves. Thank you for all you do, Martng. Your blog is always an inspiration.
Great finds and great sales, too! Can you tell me approximately how much time you devote to your eBay selling? Just wondering
It’s hard to say because all my garbage-related tasks kind of blend into each other and I don’t have a specific schedule. I’d guess that I spend maybe 5 hours a week packaging / shipping / walking my eBay sales to the post office. Depending on the week I might spend 0-10 hours listing things on eBay, depending on things like the weather, the season, how many other tasks I want to accomplish, and so on. Otherwise I spend some time, maybe 1-3 hours a week researching prices on eBay (so that I know what to list my items at, what is better suited for the yard sale pile, etc).
So many things to do on any given day!!! I respect and honor your entire process (including the time you devote to this blog).
The Rubinstein signature selling for $200 is fantastic.I am a fan of your blog.
Did you know that starting from March 15 advertising any services on Craigslist like moving,massage,language tutoring,modeling,etc will cost $5 per ad?It used to be all free .Only employers looking to recruit candidates used to have to pay Craigslist decent amounts.
Putting ads to sell items on Craigslist will still be free.But the era of putting free Craigslist ads in many categories seems to be over.I regret this.
I agree. Where did you hear that? I haven’t seen anything about it.
You find the coolest stuff in the trash. Kudos on your sales to date!
I am a translator in English,French,Italian and Spanish.I have found work at times by putting ads in the services section of Craigslist for free.It says on Craigslist’s website when you put an ad that starting from March 15,putting all ads in the services section or Gigs section(petits boulots)will cost $5 and $3 per ad respectively.Putting ads in the community section and selling stuff section will still be free.
But my life will change.I will no longer put ads often in the services section because the costs add up.I will have to choose my timing.
Just found your blog today and it is fascinating!! Love that you are able to make a living off finding “junk”. I work in an apartment building and it amazes me the perfectly good stuff people throw out. I found a box of great quality like new towels on the top of a dumpster. I took them home with me. My guess is they belonged to a little old lady who passed away. Families are ruthless when they clean out apartment of deceased family members.
Anyways….love your blog and the fact you are a fellow Canadian :).
Glad you like it! Yes, lots of stuff is tossed when people deal with estates. People moving also sometimes results in awesome garbage.