What have been your biggest ebay surprises?

[clovis97]

I thought it would be interesting to hear what items you've found at garage sales that have been your biggest surprises when they sold.

Ever had an item that you purchased and thought would be of low value, but then sold for a surprising amount?

Here are a few of mine:

I went to a moving sale several years ago. I bought a handful of junk, including a fishing reel without a handle for $3. I went ahead and listed it with a 99 cent start, and never thought it would get a bid. You could purchase the new version of the reel at Dick's Sporting Goods for $69...and mine was missing a handle. A new handle would have cost $20, which I didn't think was worth the investment.

That silly reel sold for $48 plus shipping. The buyer said that it was the last year that the reel featured metal gears, and he was thrilled to get it. So much for thinking that I was listing junk!

Another find at a garage sale was a boot for a Chrysler convertible. I paid $3 for it. The seller said he had sold the car, and forgot to trade it with the car. Driving home, I told the wife that I had wasted $3, and it would be impossible to find someone needing that color for that model of car. It sold as a BIN for $139 plus about $10 in shipping.

What stories do you have to share?

[Reverend B*IKE*]

I am going to start selling again on ebay. I cleaned out someones attic and was told I could keep the items I liked.
Well I grabbed this big christmas tree stand/holder (made by Heirloom) when I got home I noticed it had an electric cord plugged it in. Preto it started spinning and chimes 3 different christmas carols.LOL I have seen some sell on ebay for over 100 bucks! I have usd it one season.

thanks for sharing!
PS Clovis whats your ebay handle?

[duffytrash]

i bought a program from an art show of the guy who did the artwork for the 70s tv show good times at a flea mkt for 75 cents it went for 89$....ive been suprised by many marbles and a radio strain insulator i recently got for 3$ brought 23$....ebay can be good!!!

[diggummup]

I got one surprise on their now. It's a Dukes of Hazzard card game that I bought for $1, it's up to $26.00 and ends tonight. I've got so many unexpected money makers it'd be hard to list them all. I guess I have what's called a "good eye", at least when it comes to buying cheap $1 items and selling them on ebay. Some of my latest surprises were a bottle of Priscilla Presley perfume, bought for $1 sold for $75.05, a pair of japanese man woman figure salt and peppers paid $1 or 2? sold for $77.50 (big surprise there), a tramp art matchbox holder made of a cigar box paid $1 several years ago and just sold it a few weeks back for $41.50. a Parker Pen set paid $3 sold for $37.87, another bottle of perfume, this one was a miniature bottle of Shiseido Zen .22 oz. paid .50 sold for $26.00, a really big surprise came when I sold a Bossons head (Zapata) for $73.00 paid right around $1.00, then the buyer didn't pay so I relisted it. It ended up selling for $190.50 the second time around. It seems that almost everytime I list something on their it's a big surprise. That's what keeps me doing it. Now if I could only find $20-50 items and turn them for the same profit margin, i'd really be doing something.

[SEANO]

Not a Garage Sale Find, but a dumpster find, Doll House items. Just about to throw them into a trash can, when my wife says, "Wait, people collect that stuff" made over $1000 on a couple of handfuls of doll house items. Never know what might sell.
Buying a doll house thru CL today for $100, full of nice items. Hoping for another home run.

[famous turtle treasures]

When I first started selling on ebay I had 3 flawless one dollar bills that I got in some in some change somewhere. Something was off about them, and I didn't know why I was holding on to them. I looked at the serial numbers and they were sequential numbers #6, #7, and #8 of 2006. I sold them for $600.00

[creeper71]

When I first started selling on ebay I had 3 flawless one dollar bills that I got in some in some change somewhere. Something was off about them, and I didn't know why I was holding on to them. I looked at the serial numbers and they were sequential numbers #6, #7, and #8 of 2006. I sold them for $600.00

Not really understanding I assume you mean it was i.e. B00000006I ?

[famous turtle treasures]

Yes like that. I could have sold them for more, but $600 for nothing was good with me.

[clovis97]

When I first started selling on ebay I had 3 flawless one dollar bills that I got in some in some change somewhere. Something was off about them, and I didn't know why I was holding on to them. I looked at the serial numbers and they were sequential numbers #6, #7, and #8 of 2006. I sold them for $600.00

Now that is interesting!!!

I read a thing on a different forum, where someone found a single two dollar bill with a low serial number like yours, and sold it for $200. It is nice to read about your experience...this confirms that super low serial numbers can be valuable to collectors.

[famous turtle treasures]

My aurora clock was a pretty good suprise too. I paid $3.99 for it, and sold it for $350.00.

Olivia11dancer needs to share some of her ebay sale stories.

[stewystarr]

A few years back I bought a Schwinn Stingray taillight still seald in original box. It was from the late 60's. I gave $3 for it at a yard sale. Sold for $426.

Went to an auction and after it was over a buyer had left a box of books, auctioneer said I could have them for free. Found a first edition, 13th printing of Gone With The Wind and sold it for $50. Also in the box was a book about Grover Cleveland and that one went for $25.

When I frist started on ebay the very first item i sold was an early printing of The Wizzard Of Oz that I bought in a lot of books for $4. Sold for $125. BTW the lot of books had over 2000 books and this was the only one I was able to sell.

[ivan salis]

at my metal dectecting club meeting last month --some visitor newbies (2 women) showed me a "trophy" they found in a shed that they were given "ownship / removing rights" --ie take the shed and the contents away -- they asked is this worth anything? -- turns out the "trophy" was a old yachting cup award --39 oz of sterling silver * --that when taken to a dealer I told them abouut ---fetched a rather nice sum of $$---they told me thanks at last nights monthly club meeting.

[GibH]

My biggest surprise was a video album of John Cougar Mellencamp's "Little Pink Houses". I picked up 2 of them still in shrink wrap for $3 each. One sold for $75, one sold for more. Two weeks later we found six more of them from the same vendor. The lowest one sold for was $68

We used to look for out of print tapes, DVD killed that. Another surprise was a custom pony (My Little Pony) my wife made. It was made from one that was beat up, but by the time she finished with it, it must have been quite the collectible. She painted pumpkins on it's rump and used an old kids costume wig for the mane. She called it the Franken Pony and it sold for $100

[SEANO]

Olivia11dancer needs to share some of her ebay sale stories.

Dancer's MIA Might be a lurker...

[clovis97]

My biggest surprise was a video album of John Cougar Mellencamp's "Little Pink Houses". I picked up 2 of them still in shrink wrap for $3 each. One sold for $75, one sold for more. Two weeks later we found six more of them from the same vendor. The lowest one sold for was $68

I am a big fan of Mellencamp. What exactly is a video album? A VHS tape?

[Tuberale]

In 2009, bought an album of mostly common V nickels for a couple bucks. Got a free penny album included for free. Was looking through the penny album, and found .... a 1909 S VDB mis-identified in the 1909 S slot.

Learned a lot about this particular coin, as it was in a very old album, and most of the coins still had tape residue on it. So took it to an expert, who showed me how to clean it with acetone and Q-tips. Sent the VDB for authentication at PCGS, returned as "authentic", no grade. The residue from the old tape affected the overall quality, and PCGS wasn't willing to put a grade on it. Still, sold for nearly $700! For a freebie!

[GibH]

I am a big fan of Mellencamp. What exactly is a video album? A VHS tape?

Yes, VHS tape with the music videos of all the songs that were on the album. Out of print VHS tapes were great for making money before DVDs and streaming video came out.

[olivia11dancer]

Great finds everyone! My first great find was found at a garage sale. It was an old western bell telephone. I could tell from its styling in was from the 1940s. It was bakelite and it was a beautiful turquoise blue. I immediately knew the phone was special, but I'm not a collector of phones. I looked at the price tag and it was one dollar. I took it home and put it on auction right away, within 15 minutes of the auctions start I had an offer on the phone. This person offered me 400.00 to end the auction. I declined. A half hour later I had another offer, this time someone was offering me 1000.00 for my phone. Can anyone guess what I did? Did I sell the phone at 1000.00 or did I let the auction run its course?

[SEANO]

Great finds everyone! My first great find was found at a garage sale. It was an old western bell telephone. I could tell from its styling in was from the 1940s. It was bakelite and it was a beautiful turquoise blue. I immediately knew the phone was special, but I'm not a collector of phones. I looked at the price tag and it was one dollar. I took it home and put it on auction right away, within 15 minutes of the auctions start I had an offer on the phone. This person offered me 400.00 to end the auction. I declined. A half hour later I had another offer, this time someone was offering me 1000.00 for my phone. Can anyone guess what I did? Did I sell the phone at 1000.00 or did I let the auction run its course?

Rolled the dice

[famous turtle treasures]

Dang, you told me this story, but I can't remember how much you sold it for.