I’ve been making a bit of extra money selling larger finds via Instagram stories. Basically, I post a pic (which stays on my page for 24 hours) and offer same day delivery of the item(s) in question. It’s been a good approach thus far – a lot of my Instagram followers are very local so delivery is easy, and it’s helped keep my storage spaces clear of junk.
Set of four vintage chairs: 70$. I found these in Côte Saint-Luc. I try to price things to sell, while adding a bit extra for my delivery efforts.
Set of four vintage dining chairs: 80$. I picked these up in Cartierville / Nouveau Bordeaux.
I sold a few other things this way, but those were the highlights.
eBay
October – 7 sales for 295$.
November: 13 sales for 1329.75$.
Parker Ingenuity pen: 75$. Found in Westmount.
Sterling silver Parker 75 ballpoint pen: 75$. Found in Cote St-Luc.
Malcolm Campbell high school ring: 40$. The school was located in Cartierville and closed in the mid-80s. A private Armenian school is now in its place. Found in the Mile End.
Montreal Expos 1969 yearbook: 50$. From in the inaugural season. Found in NDG.
Amber necklace: 340$. The one on the left finally sold after spending about two years on eBay. I didn’t know how to price it, so I decided to start high and gradually lower the price. The strategy did eventually work, and the buyer seems to be happy. The one on the right is still available for around the same price, though it seems to be a bit less popular than the one that just sold. Found in the Plateau back in November of 2016.
Tandy 102 portable computer: 115$. A fun piece of computing history! Found in Outremont.
St Laurent oil quart: 355$. As mentioned in a recent post. Found in Nouveau Bordeaux.
Bakelite poker caddy: 120$. Found in CDN.
Expos 1970 pocket schedule: 95$. Also found in CDN.
Auction
Total: 2086$ after fees (156 total lots). I consigned a lot of stuff around this time! The prices stated below don’t take fees into account.
Illum Wikkelso lounge chair: 170$. I’m happy with this. The wood was in good condition, but the cushions were dirty and needed to be replaced. Found in TMR.
Vintage garbage can: 85$. As mentioned in a recent post! Some of you weren’t surprised by the price, but I sure was. It makes sense in retrospect, but I guess I never really thought about how much a trash can might be worth. Found in Cote St-Luc.
Pyrex lot: 65$. This was part of that massive Mile End lab Pyrex haul that I was too busy to take many photos of. Regardless, I’m very happy with how it all did at auction – the realized prices were pretty good and it required very little effort on my part. This is just one of many (perhaps 20?) Pyrex lots that sold.
“Gab” by MC Thomas: 55$. One thing that I love about the auction house is that I’m occasionally able to make decent money from random art. I found no information about this artist online, but at least two people appreciated its spacey look. Found in TMR.
Pyrex Vision lot: 26$. Not bad. Found in the Mile End.
Lot of four Normand Hudon signed lithographs: 70$. Hudon was a noted Quebec cartoonist and caricaturist. These came from an interesting summer spot in TMR, unfortunately I was too busy at the time to document what I found there.
Pioneer Laserdisc player, tested & working: 46$. I don’t remember where I found this, but I do remember it sitting around in my garage for months before I finally made time to test it.
Chrome floor lamp: 80$. I picked this up while driving around Rosemont with a roommate. It was a casual run (ie: I wasn’t expecting much) but I ended up making about 75$ from two auction-able finds (this lamp, and a vintage trunk).
Total: 3860.75$, 24126.50$ so far in 2018. I’ll share my December sales and recap the year pretty soon!
Wonderful finds and sales! I always look forward to your posts and wish you a very prosperous New Year! Stay safe out there!
Love those old chrome chairs! Glad you’re able to flip things quickly through your Instagram following.
Nice bunch of stuff. That painting “Gab” by MC Thomas is sweet. If I had more walls, I’d have happily hung it in my space.
I was wondering if you were going to Crack 30k$ this year – or I should say last year. I continue to be impressed with everything you do. Continued success in the new year.
It’ll be close. I was very busy this year and I know that I forgot to count a bunch of different transactions, including some silver / gold melting. So it’s likely that my income is actually around 2k more than listed here. I’m not sure what I made in December, but I’ll probably be just a bit short. I feel good about next year though.
Do you just walk up to people’s trashcan and look through the bags? How do you approach this type of situation? I find it interesting indeed. I have heard of dumpster diving, would this be similar?
Pretty much. You just do it and hope that no one yells at you (which happens sometimes). I think of dumpster diving as being more focused on commercial / business garbage (ie: trash bins behind stores) including saving food. It’s definitely related but I don’t identify as a dumpster diver because I rarely pick in dumpsters or pick commercial waste. I prefer to focus on household waste because the finds are much more vintage & unpredictable. I like the term garbage picker for what I do.
Thanks!
I find your scavenging so fascinating! Spotted you once at the auction house and felt like running into a celebrity (hence, I did not say anything, ha)
Lol, well feel free to say hello. I’m usually at the auction house around 2 times a week, sometimes more. I can’t wait for them to re-open actually, I enjoy bringing my stuff there and watching people bid on my junk!
More great stuff! As a pen nut, I find it interesting that almost all the ones you find seem to be Parker. Here’s to another great year of scavenging, Martin!
Yes Parker is definitely over-represented in my recent finds. I think people (more often than not) know to keep their Montblancs, and the relatively humble Parker gets no respect despite the fact that they make very good and desirable pens. Still, I’ve found way more Parkers recently than Watermans, Sheaffers, or Cross’. However, one of my best finds last year (which I haven’t posted yet) is not a Parker, or a Montblanc… You’ll see soon enough!
The chrome chairs were in amazing condition. My favorite find that you listed in this post is the amber beads and the ones on the right that didn’t sell would be my choice. Except I don’t have that kind of discretionary money to buy them! So sad!
Boy, those Parker pens sure do bring good money. I never realized they were so valuable. I wonder if I have my grandfather’s old one. Hmmn. I doubt it, but it’s possible. If I do have it I probably couldn’t sell it anyway, for sentimental reasons. So much better to sell other people’s stuff!
Love reading your posts, Martin. I hope the New Year brings even more success ($$$), and a whole lot of happiness, too!
Yeah I’m not sure how those chairs could be in such good condition after 50-60 years. They were built pretty sturdy of course, but they must have been replaced decades ago & stored in the garage or basement to be in such good shape.
Glad you like the blog, and happy New Year to you as well!
I alway enjoy reading your posts. I’m an ebay seller. My mom and her husband would always drive around looking for interesting thing to pick-up and sell at their local flea market. I sell things I find at garage sales and thrift stores on ebay and facebook.
Glad to hear it! Keep your eyes on the curb as well, sometimes the easiest money is just sitting there for anyone to take!
Hurrah for finding a new way (Instagram stories offering same day local delivery) to spread the word about and SELL your extraordinary finds! I love reading about and seeing picture of your latest finds, your successful sales, and even your over-crowded storage areas. I keep wondering how — a some point — you can monetize your accumulated expertise/wisdom regarding our trash streams and how to re-claim valuable objects from them. As a consultant/adviser? Leading tours/classes in your city — or maybe in other cities so that you are not training too many potential local competitors in Montreal? What you do is so inspiring and tangible and fascinating!!! Thank you for all of your garbage picking AND photography AND sales efforts AND writing this blog. May 2019 bring new insights as well as income streams.
I love this post.In the last 2 weeks you have upped your tempo and putting up a new post after every 5 days ,it seems.I would like to see you continuing this pace.For about 6 or 8 months lasy tear,you were only posting about twice each month.
I love the Malcolm Campbell high school ring that you salvaged.It takes a very sharp eye to find such objects.Please tell us what you found in Laval and please explore Streets or neighborhoods that you have never patrolled before.Happy 2019 to you.
I’m already following you on Instagram, so I’m assuming you posted a link on the blog to your account at some point, but I’m not seeing it anywhere on the front page of the blog. Just thinking it might be nice to have to make it easier for people visiting your blog easily jump over to Instagram. I apologize if it’s obvious and I am just missing it. Love following your finds!
Ah! Now I see it’s at the bottom of most of your posts under Links (although not on this one). I still think it would be great to have it as a button on the front page like Facebook and Twitter.
Yes I should probably make that a bit more visible. Website design is not my forte, lol