selling – Things I find in the garbage

1. Yard sales: 1850$. I tried to unload as much as possible before the cold arrived. It was a lot of work, but I was pretty successful! Both my storage areas were mostly emptied of junk, with only a few suitcases of recent or favourite finds, as well as some larger pieces surviving the purge.

That’s pretty much it for yard sales until April, unless I end up selling at a local market or something. Either way, I made significantly more money yard sailing this year than ever before. I did the math last night and found that I made around 5500$, which is about twice what I made in 2015 (I don’t think I did the math for 2016, but I’d guess that the number was roughly the same as in 2015).

I’d say the main reason for this increase is the fact that I raised my prices, which were sometimes ridiculously low before. Over time I’ve learned more about what people are actually willing to pay for my junk, instead of charging what I personally would want to pay (which is next to nothing, since I’m kind of cheap and get so much for free anyways). I also found the process a little less overwhelming than in years past, and as a result I was less motivated to get rid of things as soon as possible.

We’ll see how the 2017 season goes. Perhaps the new garage space will help increase profits further, or at least add to the variety of things I’m willing to take.

2. Gold and silver scrap: 1200$. Another nice haul. I did well with that silver dish from a little while back, which earned me about 450$ on its own, but I had a decent collection of junk gold to melt as well.

3. Simonds saw tool: On eBay for 35$. This neat antique tool took a long time to sell. So did several other items on this list.

4. Series of Notman & Sons photos: On eBay for 125$. I figured these would go for a nice price! They were found as part of a great collection of old photos early in the summer. The Notman museum has record of these photos, and apparently they were part of a Junior League performance of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”

5. Parker VP fountain pen: On eBay for 90$. It was in great condition. Found in Villeray.

6. Parker Vacumatic desk pens: On eBay for 90$. The ends looked to have been chewed on, but the barrels and nibs were in good condition. These will be part of a future blog post!

7. iPod Classic: On eBay for 50$. Found in NDG.

8. Canadair lot: On eBay for 50$. This was all from a spot in Villeray. I would guess that it’s now part of it an aviation collection.

9. Michael Kors handbag: On eBay for 30$. The first of two Michael Kors handbags that took forever to sell. At least both customers were very happy, and left good feedback.

10. Supertest service pins: On eBay for 60$. These didn’t take long to sell. Unfortunately, after the initial pile of quality junk I saw nothing else at that spot.

11. Magellan handheld GPS: On eBay for 60$. From the “Very Rich People” series.

12. Michael Kors handbag #2: On eBay for 40$. It looked like it had barely been used, and even came with the receipt.

13. Herend Hungary dish: On eBay for 20$. Just a cute dish. Found in Outremont.

14. Lot of three vintage calculators: On eBay for 15$. None of these were particularly valuable on their own, so I listed them all together as a lot. Overall it was more hassle than it was worth, and next time this tier of vintage calculator will probably go into the yard sale bin.

15. Empty Grace cartridge box: On eBay for 30$. It’s not just watch boxes that have value. This one was made to hold a vintage high-end record player cartridge, and sold quickly once listed. Unfortunately I can’t find the picture on my computer.

16. Royale Ambree EdC: On eBay for 18$. I’m pretty sure this was my oldest eBay listing, though that lot of bullfighting ephemera is pretty close. It was probably online for 3 or 4 years, and I’m glad to not have to look at it ever again.

17. Vintage Ski-doo toque: On eBay for 35$. I listed this when the weather cooled down and it didn’t take long to sell. Found in Rosemont.

18. Expo 67 passport: On eBay for 30$. I find Expo 67 passports generally go for around 30-40$, assuming they’re in good condition and have a solid collection of stamps. This one had an old ginkgo leaf stuck between the pages.

19. French far-right literature: On eBay for 150$. More racist ephemera from that spot in Rosemont. It seems that people are buying it for research purposes, which is good.

20. Postcard lot: On eBay for 10$. This was a collection of vintage holiday / dumb joke cards. It was the last of lots I listed last year – the ones I organized by geographical region were much more popular.

21. Dresser: On Kijiji for 50$. Unexceptional but solid. Found with my mom on a run in St Michel.

22. Mirrors: On Kijiji for 50$. It took me a while to realize that these kinds of things might do well on Kijiji. The mirrors were quite old, and likely part of some long since replaced medicine cabinets. I still have the windows, and have added a few more to the collection since then. Both the mirrors and windows are great for upcycling or interior design projects.

23. Roto-toms: On Kijiji for 100$. The drums were nice, but the stands were in too rough of shape to be worth much. I threw them in with the drums as part of the deal. The chimes sold at one of my yard sales, I think for 20$.

Total: 4188$, 23876.50$ so far in 2017. If only every month could be so profitable. Now it’s time for me to listed a bunch of stuff on eBay in anticipation for winter, which is usually a great time for sales.

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Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.

Last week I continued my minimal hunting schedule, focusing instead on getting organized on the business side of things. I did some culling of my yard sale stuff, putting about seven boxes of less salable stuff back to the curb. I made sure that the boxes were visible, and as a result the vast majority was taken by other pickers. I did this to make more space for better stuff and to reduce clutter in general.

I also spent a fair bit of time listing things on eBay. Several of the items I listed sold within days (and sometimes within hours), which was pretty awesome. My sales have been great lately. According to eBay, I’ve sold nearly an item a day over the past two months, which seems pretty good considering how small my store is. I’ve been getting a lot of good feedback too – my score is now up to 94. Getting to 100 will be a milestone for me! I have a lot more listing to do, but I do feel like I’m getting caught up.

The pickings were slim last week, unlike the week prior. The enigmatic dumpster only ever got this full, and didn’t even get taken away this Monday as the previous bins did. I guess whoever is filling it was busy with other things.

Most of the bags were full of old magazines, but none of them were particularly interesting. I spotted this container sitting on a shelf at the left hand side of the bin.

It was full of bits of jewellery, many of which seem hand-made. Some were complete, while others are just nice metal shapes.

The bits come in gold-tone, silver-tone, and copper-tone. They have that old metal smell, but that cleans up easily enough. I’m thinking it might be cool to sell a few, and use others for arts and crafts projects.

I also saved two packages of charcoal art paper, still in their original plastic wrap. Both are marked 22.45$ at top right.

I found two old alligator (crocodile?) handbags at a spot in Hampstead. They seem to be made of legit leather. Neither are in good condition (though the one on the right is decent outside of the broken handle), but I figure someone might want to recycle the leather.

I saw nothing in front of my spot in Verdun, making me think it might be the end of the line for that particular place.

However, a spot in Cote St-Luc provided a couple useful things, including: two nice vintage staplers; a JFK memorial magazine; a wallet with old Israeli coins inside; an empty vintage wedding journal; some kind of Hebrew scroll; and a few other doodads.

Overall, it was my slowest week in quite some time. Most of that was probably due my minimal schedule, though who knows if I would have found anything regardless. Mid-February definitely isn’t the best time to find garbage, at least here in Montreal.

Last week’s garbage sales (February 16 – February 22)

I may not have many finds to talk about, but I did make a bunch of sales!

1. Ho Hang vintage cologne: On eBay for 85$. This sold within hours of my listing it. I think I found it at my spot in Hampstead, though it could have also been from Cote St-Luc. Regardless, it never made it to the blog. I’m pretty happy with the money! I never would have guessed that I’d be making good money selling old scents.

2. Vintage Dunhill cardboard pipe box: On eBay for 30$. This had been sitting around my room for a long time, waiting for me to fix it up a bit and list it. Last week I finally did, and it sold within a day of being listed. I’m glad to see it leave my home. This was the last remaining item from the box of old pipes and pipe accessories that an older man kindly gave me this summer in Mount Royal.

3. Small vintage banner – Game 8 of 1972 Summit Series: On eBay for 85$. I came across this again when organizing my old stuff. I did a bit of research and found that it was a banner from the famous Game 8, where Canada beat the Soviets thanks to a late goal by Paul Henderson. It sold very quickly, making me wonder if I should have charged more. Regardless, it’s a good price! Found this fall in Cote St-Luc, but it never made it to the blog.

4. Guerlain Shalimar dusting powder: On eBay for 44$. Another item I listed this week that sold fairly quickly. Found around a month ago in Hampstead.

5. E.E. Fairchild fortune telling deck: On eBay for 35$. Yet another item listed this week. It’ll be hard to keep the store stocked if things keep selling at this pace! Found a couple weeks ago in Verdun.

6. St Joseph’s Oratory charm bracelet – 1920s-1940s: On eBay for 90$. I was speculating a bit on the price when this was listed, but it ended up making me a nice chunk of change. I thought it was a very beautiful. Found in May in Verdun.

7. Sterling silver Waterman “Ideal” fountain pen: On eBay for 150$. This received a fair bit of interest, and finally sold this week. Found early August in the Plateau next to Jeanne-Mance park.

8,9: Two Expo 67 Passports: On eBay for 70$. A buyer from China bought both, as well as another passport I had from the 1935 Expo in Brussels. I’ll add that Brussels passport to the profit total next week, as they bought that piece on Monday. Both of these were found this fall in Cote St-Luc.

Total: 589$, 12257$ since May 18 and 2574$ since the new year began. A very nice week, largely due to my listing several new items. I also sold some broken Blackberries, I didn’t add them to the total as the payment hasn’t come through yet.

New listings

I offer a discount to local buyers who can come pick up the item themselves (and preferably pay me in person, saving me the eBay fees). Email me if you’re interested in anything you see.

1. Super Mario Cheez Whiz jar (from 1989)
2. The Black Cat 1940s fortune telling game
3. Tag Heuer watch
4. Box of samples – Lanvin Oxygene perfume
5. Matt and Nat vegan changepurse
6. Yves St Laurent Opium perfume
7. Yves St Laurent Opium perfume (larger bottle)
8. Framed WWII-era photograph by Yousef Karsh (the subject is a Canadian military Colonel)
9. Tokyo Bay watch
10. Vintage hand-painted metal lunchbox (Etsy)
11. E.E. Fairchild fortune telling cards (SOLD!)
12. Guerlain Shalimar dusting powder (SOLD!)
13. Summit Series Game 8 banner (SOLD!)
14. Vintage Dunhill pipe box (SOLD!)
15. Ho Hang Balenciaga Cologne (SOLD!)

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If you have a question, see anything that you’re interesting in buying, or to just want to say hello feel free to email me at thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I also enjoy reading your comments! Keep in mind that I frequently get behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if I take a few days or weeks to get back to you.

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Tag: selling

Recent sales: October

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Will to power; list to profit