On Sunday I did what I often do, watch a lot of football. This time, I multitasked a bunch. I decided to sort through all my nice unlisted pens, took pictures using a light box I got from Amazon, and listed a bunch on eBay. As I often do these days, I listed a few that I found difficult to research as auctions, including this miniature Waterman fountain pen. It looked pretty unassuming, but it was quite old (latest patent date listed on it was 1903) and a Waterman, so I started the bidding at 50$.
Soon after it went live, I got a message asking if I would take an offer substantially above the start price. I modified the listing to allow for that, and the offer came in. 400$. That was a lot more than I was expected for this pen. Also, recently I didn’t take an early offer on a different auction item, and then it ended up selling for 500$ less. So I took it.
Not long after that, I get a message from some random guy saying “Congratulations, you just sold a 1000$ USD pen for 50$!” (eBay showed the sold price as the starting price). I asked that guy what made this pen so special, and he told me it was a very rare Waterman chequebook pen. And indeed, armed with this information, I found one on Terapeak which sold for that price at auction.
I was tempted to cancel the sale and relist the pen, because I could really use the 1000$. But in the end it is what it is. Cancelling a sale is frowned upon by eBay and would likely earn me negative feedback. Plus, I guess the honourable thing to do is honour the deal. It’s not the customers fault that I misplayed this so badly.
Live and learn. I’ve maximized the value of a lot of things over my trash picking career, but inevitably you’re going to let something go for less. I’ve now been burned by both accepting an early offer, and not accepting an early offer (on eBay, you can add “best offer” to auctions, but the feature is cancelled once someone bids). Hopefully next time I choose correctly!
Like I said, 400$ is still a lot more than I expected when I first saw this pen. That’s the good news. I’m not even sure where I found it, although I suspect it’s this one spot that didn’t quite rise to my current standard of blogworthiness (although it would have if I knew this pen was worth 1400 CAD).
Anyways, I made no finds at all this week. The weather just wasn’t very conducive to trash picking. At this point in my life I’m not super excited to pick in the snow or cold rain – better to spend my energy writing, resting, or processing the old boxes in my garage.
Links
1. My eBay listings. Sign up for eBay (Canada, US). Search for something you want / research something you have (Canada, US). — These are Ebay Partner Network links. If you create an account or buy something after getting to eBay from these links, I get a small cut of the profit!
2. “Things I find in the garbage” on Facebook
3. Follow @garbagefindssells on Instagram (this is managed by a friend, I’ve quit Instagram for the time being)
4. Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. Note that I really suck at keeping up with my email.
5. Help support the blog, or just buy me a coffee! PayPal link below.
Win some lose some, unfortunately. Wishing you many good finds in 2025!
Been there, Martin. You lose some, you win some. But look at it this way: you got 400 for something you were willing to sell at 50, so it’s a win for me.
I get it. I have a couple of things on eBay that I got quick offers on right when I listed them. I thought I could get more but now they are just sitting there. Win some, lose some, but at least you have the money in hand. $400 is nothing to sneeze at!
I can relate. But was it in absolute mint condition? Just keep listing and move forward. Hopefully you will get positive feedback.
C’est la vie, oui? Always seek to find the bright side of things. $400 trumps nothing … and by golly, you learned something, to boot. 🙂 Also this makes for a great story for your upcoming bestseller.
You do your research and sometimes it just doesn’t seem complete. But how do you know. Don’t fret over it. Keep doing what you are doing. Going through what you already have and getting rid of and/or selling it is very satisfying.
Hi Martin, as a fountain pen collector, I know that hobby really attracts the specialty/rare pen nerds who know their stuff, so don’t worry. Just keep learning about these pens, take a few notes on the rare ones, maintain your good attitude about the whole collectible sales game, and you will be fine.
Aww Martin, that’s too bad – however you still did very well on it, and you learned something. Onward and upward! Thanks as always for the post.