June was the month I first started bringing my junk to the auction house. I had a lot to deal with at the time (including picking during move-out season, my move to a smaller garage, and that stressful yard sale) so I didn’t have time to take pictures of all my wares. Below is a rapid fire look at what sold at auction.
Auction results:
- Mickey Mouse coin bank: 8$. Found in the Plateau.
- 1976 Champion Gilles Villeneuve poster: 22$.
- Small rug: 20$. Found in Outremont.
- Victorian lamp stand: 18$. Found in Outremont.
- Plaster plant stand: 10$. Found in St Michel.
- Wooden trunk: 16$. Found in Ville St Laurent and brought to auction that same day.
- Agatha silver ring: 12$. Found in Outremont.
- Le Creuset casserole dish: 18$.
- Parti Quebecois election sign: 95$. Found in Rosemont.
- Handmade wooden vase: 10$. Found in Outremont.
- Vintage cowhide doctor’s bag: 80$. Found in Westmount.
- Spiderman deluxe box set: 16$. Found in Cartierville.
- Large vintage speaker, as is: 9$. Found in the Mile End.
- Vintage rocking chair: 32$. Found in TMR.
Total: 322$ – 80.50$ (25% fee) – 14$ (listing fees) = 227.50$
I’m satisfied with all of these results. A few, like the wooden trunk were slightly disappointing, but I was also quite happy to get these things out of my space. The disappointments were more than offset by the successes. The PQ sign went for about what I thought it should, but required much less effort to sell than if I was forced to go the Kijiji / eBay route. The doctor’s bag went for a lot more than I expected – I actually had it priced at 20$ during the pop-up market in April (I’m glad it didn’t sell then!). The Gilles Villeneuve poster went for a good sum as well.
Overall, I’ve very happy with the auction approach thus far, and especially the amount of work and storage space this avenue saves me. I expect that auction results will be a staple of these sales summaries going forward.
eBay sales
- 2 SAP textbooks: 95$. I wasn’t sure about listing them at the time but enough have sold to make the effort worthwhile. Found in the lower Plateau.
- 1950s / 1960s African missionary slides: 60$. These were part of that big photo haul I found thanks to a tip from a reader last year. Found in St Michel.
- Vintage Triumph car badge: 50$. Found in TMR.
- Simmons pocket knife: 30$. Found in the Mile End.
- United Colors of Benetton silver cross pendant: 15$. I’m surprised this was such a hard sell, it took about three years to find a new home. Found in NDG.
- Primrose plate cocktail shaker: 70$. I figured I’d get a good price for this! Found in NDG.
- Vintage Quebec flag: 30$. Found in the Plateau.
- Priest stole: 15$. I gave the buyer a 50% discount when I noticed that one of the tassels had been accidentally torn off. It wasn’t a hard fix, but I wanted to make sure the buyer was happy with what they ordered. Found in Outremont.
- Miniature Expo 67 flag: 22.50$. Found in NDG.
- House of Seagram printing plates: 18$. Found in Montreal Ouest.
- Vintage car plates: 90$. Found in TMR.
- Studebaker letterpress block: 27$. Found in Ahuntsic.
- Stadium motorcycle goggles: 45$. These were probably made in the 30s or 40s. Found in NDG.
- Vintage Bulova watch: 45$. Found just down the street.
- Antique silver grouse foot pendant: 27$. Found in Westmount.
Total: 639.50$. A bit of a slow month, but that’s to be expected in the summer. If some of those numbers look funny it’s because I started a 10% off sale around this time, I don’t usually set prices with cents in them.
Yard sales
- 800$. This was the one that got a bit out of hand. Still, the overall profits weren’t bad. I realized recently though that the lightbulbs to my photo equipment were also stolen, which will cost me around 50-75$. I may have had another minor sale in June, but I can’t remember for sure.
Gold / silver scrap
- 800$. This batch was composed largely of silverware from the collection I found back in April. Some were good to sell on eBay, but others were worn past the point of being desirable (ie: some of the prongs of the forks had been grinded down somehow and were sharp / uneven). So, into the scrap pile they went, along with other unexceptional or damaged bits of jewelry.
Overall total: 2467$, 12066.50$ so far in 2018. I consider that a decent month – twelve of those brings me close to 30k gross for the year.