Back to that house. Here’s one unusual thing I found, a mug-like object with two handles and different faces on both sides. It looks old, but there’s no marks on the bottom. I saw a similar piece when I went to the estate sale, which I bought because figured I might as well own both. That one is slightly larger, like the size of a big mug, with a blue glaze and a hard to decipher maker’s mark. I’m curious to know more about them, so please let me know if you’ve seen something similar!
I saved a few nice portable radios here. If I remember correctly, these are worth between 20-40$ each.
I found some eyeglasses, the finest of which were made by Giorgio Armani and Versace. The Armani ones (top) are particularly nice, and should sell for around 100$. The others were “yard sale quality.”
This collection of mostly foreign coins wasn’t super exciting, but coins are always fun to find regardless. There were some Euro and British pounds in there – I stash those away until I have enough to mention. The Canadian and American goes into an old tin for eventual rolling, and the rest (caveat below) goes into a McCoy cookie jar (like this one, which I found years ago) until I sell them at the auction or a yard sale.
These days I’m also saving Swiss francs, Australian dollars, and New Zealand dollars, because they come up often enough to be maybe worthwhile.
I found a nice little perfume collection here. The only one I listed on eBay was the Tamango by Leonard, the rest went to auction or local buyers.
I heard the word “hoarder” thrown around a lot at the sale. This person bought a lot of things, some of which didn’t look to be opened or ever used. There were lots of inukshuks for example, which I imagine came from Museum gift shops, and junky jewelry like the “I love opera” pin, which might have also come from a gift shop. Still, I found some stuff to sell, and some other stuff that I’ll give to others to sell. The “Rich Bitch” belt buckle at bottom right claims to be made by Gucci, but I have my doubts.
Here’s some of my best little finds. That letter opener featuring the 1838 5 Francs silver coin was made by someone named Eloi, and similar examples sell for around 100$ on eBay. The jewelry to the left of the coin is all silver. The ring must classify as a cocktail ring given the bigness of the stone. Otherwise, there’s a nice Mexican abalone letter opener, some small Catholic charms (a few of which are silver), a Seiko watch, and a busted MMA necklace. In this case, MMA means Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the necklace is probably designed in an ancient style. They seem to sell reasonably well in general, so I listed it on eBay. If it looks like something you want to re-string check it out!
Last but not least are these medals, which appear to have been made for the Order of Malta. I don’t really understand what these organizations actually do, but there does seem to be a good market for their medals online. I expect this set to sell for around 200$.
I went to that sale (again) on the final day, after six busy days of selling. There was still tonnes of stuff left, some of it junk, some of it not. If it finds its way to the curb and not 1-800 Got Junk, I’ll be there to pick it.
Otherwise, I finally sold some sinks today. Three of these yellow guys have now flown the coop, selling for 40$ each (120$ total). I wish they didn’t take so long to sell, given how much space they take up, but the delay might be partly my fault for not noting the dimensions on my listing. Regardless, I think the great sink experiment can be considered a reasonable success. They definitely do sell, you just need some storage space, elbow grease, and patience.
So, my sink inventory is now: two yellow, a white pedestal, and that cast iron industrial sink (which I finally finished cleaning and listed yesterday). They’ll sell eventually, but it might be a while.
Links
1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings, Sign up for eBay, Search for something you want / research something you have (I’m a member of the eBay Partner Network so I make a bit of money if you buy things [even if they’re not mine] or sign up for an account via these links)
3. Help me pay off student loan debt / Contribute to the blog
4. Follow me on Instagram
5. Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com – note that it might take me some time to reply, and that I am unlikely to be able to fulfill requests for items
Great Finds. Never ceases to amazes me the things you find. The Gucci belt buckle has sold on multiple sites including Poshmark for $100. Some sites claim the buckle is from the 1970s
I just wonder if it’s a legit Gucci piece or just marked that way. I don’t like selling things when I’m not sure of their authenticity, and none of the other people selling them seem to know for sure either. Maybe I’ll look into it again, I could have missed something.
Martin, you have a real eye for beauty and value across so many different areas. The research you do is truly astounding, and I always learn something new every time you post. I’m interested in the Euro and British coins. I will try to get your attention through email to keep these aside for me.
That two-handle, two-face cup could be an artisan one-off (circa 1970s), perhaps. I couldn’t find anything like it in my Googling.
My dad would have liberated you of the trivet at one of your yard sales. 🙂
I have a couple of bits of (Egyptian theme) MMA jewelry myself. MMA used to put out a free print gift catalogue. The stuff (much of it replicas of ancient artifacts) was fairly pricey (at least for us, hahaha). Of course, all the stuff could be bought at the museum gift shop, as well … for them that could get there.
Nice bunch of saleable doodads here. And you sold some sinks! Woot!
Martin, not only do I love seeing and reading about your finds but I enjoy the way you photograph them! The pictures are interesting and a bit artistic. It just struck me that you could put together a beautiful artistic coffee table book. I think it would have great appeal to many different interests. Crazy idea but did you ever think of this? Could be another source of income.
I’ve thought about that before. I’m not sure these photos are quite good enough though, I think I’d need to get a fancier camera. I’d need the photos to be super crisp, and right now they’re only pretty crisp. Or maybe I’m being too much of a perfectionist.
Either way, I do want to start working on a book.
Nice to hear that. Part of the charm of your pictures is that they are perfectly imperfect. And actually your adventures would be a book itself! Anyway, keep ’em coming.