Thursday, January 29, 2015

eBay is A Place to Find Everything...

It truly is.  And it is open and available to you 24 hours a day and you can get there from anyplace in the world.  I bet you could get there from space if you were an astronaut and needed a space flashlight.   Don't believe me, here is a space flashlight on eBay. 

I have been selling on there for years and years and at first, I only sold my crafty stuff.  Layouts, albums, scrapbook kits, etc.  I still do from time to time and currently have a few projects listed but I discovered that I have an eye for interesting things.  I really do.  I was probably much more surprised than you but less than my husband who often says "who the heck would by that?".  Me that's who.  The crazier the better. 

I love to hit yard sales, thrift stores and resell shops and could (and do) spend hours doing it.  Lately, my goal has been to turn it into a thriving business.  My last little birdy will be leaving the nest in 2 years.  I don't want to go back into the work force but I also don't want to be busily unemployed either so I decided that selling treasures was demanding enough to keep me busy and interesting enough to keep me from being boring.  It doesn't feel like work.  A lot of work it is though. 

There are no employees yet so everything (find, clean, research, photo, post, market, ship, service) falls on me.  I'm not complaining.  Not at all.  I have learned so much and it gives me the ability to collect without hoarding.  Probably one of the most interesting things that I have found are the year books.  Especially the military ones. 

They are extremely hard to find!  The really good or interesting stuff normally is.  People tend to hold on to this type of memorabilia because it is so personal to them.  But as time goes on and things get passed from one person to the next, the attachment fades and things get let go of.  Sometimes to the trash but often, and this is magical to me, to someone who missed an opportunity or lost an item that they loved but can't easily replace.  This is the love part of this journey for me. 

 


I have held on to the book pictured above for a couple of years for this very reason.  It seemed so historic and I loved looking through it at the photos of our fighting men at their work.  This is an item that can't be found in retail stores.  In fact, there are very limited venues for books of this type.  Here are some photos of the pictures inside......

 
What's with the car?  And why is he doing a jig???








I haven't listed this book yet.  I guess I am just not ready to let it go and I can't seem to get comfortable with a good price.  These can sell for a lot or they sell for a little.  Don't think that just because something is old and rare, that it is valuable.  The price for these books is inconsistent and depends on many different variables.  The graphics, condition, age deployment number, event relationship and popularity of the ship all play a part in how much an item like this will sell for. 

Everything on eBay is not a bargain but there are a ton of treasures!  What kind of treasures have you found on eBay? 

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