Finally finished with my master board

Well after 45 grueling days of studying from 6 am to 12 pm almost 7 days a week I am happy to report that I am finally passed my board and have received my title as a Master Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician.   YAY!

What this really means is that everyone will finally leave me alone and I can get back to hunting and selling my stuff on ebay!

With that being said my wife has been pretty busy shipping all of the items I have sold in the past 45 days.

Here are just a few of the items I have sold recently.

Choose your own adventure books

Paid: $0.25 each  Sold: $56.99  - shipping  I have just been buying these books when I come across them and finally was able to get a lot of 16 together.

Diamond Syroco wall plaques

Paid:  $5.00  Sold:  $56.99 - shipping

Syroco wall plaques are still some of my best performing items.

Charlie Brown Cyclopedia

Paid: $15.00  Sold:  $59.99 - shipping

I always go dig around in the book sections looking for complete sets or near complete sets then look them up to see if they are selling.  If I find a near complete set I will buy them and wait until I can piece the whole set together.

ERTL pay hauler 350 parts

Paid: $4.00 Sold:  $39.99

At first when I bought this model I thought it was complete until I realized it was missing the wheels.  I know that's a hard one to overlook lol.  Anyways I changed the listing to parts only and it still sold for $39.99.

Vintage Asian temple gravel art

Paid:  $4.00  Sold:  69.99 - shipping.

Rock gravel art can be very desirable if you find the right kind.  I knew I could sell these two pieces because they were Asian and I could market them as Hollywood Regency.

Pendleton Rockabilly wool coat

Paid: $9.99 Sold:  $59.99 - Shipping.

Its Pendleton and Pendleton rocks!

I get an odd satisfaction when I am able to sell coats and jackets in the summer.  :)

World of Warcraft Collectors edition boxes

Paid: $2.00  Sold:  $99.99

I paid $138.00 for about 36 video games and these 3 boxes, and these 3 boxes alone sold for $99 which surprised me a little since they don't even have the games and are not complete.

And yes I did get a positive feedback for them.

Hollywood Regency faux bamboo pin cushion

Paid: $0.75  Sold:  $49.99

I picked up this little pin cushion because its faux bamboo and obviously vintage.  I was a little bit surprised that it actually sold for $49.99 but I am not complaining :)

Well that's all for now, I can't give out all of my sales in one session or I won't have anything to write about.

If you are not on my blog, come see my other posts at http://famousturtletreasures.blogspot.com

Recent sales

Well I am once again doing my master board so I don't have much time to write these days.  I am just going to do a quick snapshot of some of my recent sales.

My seller's guide


http://cgi.ebay.com/BASIC-EBAY-SELLING-ADVICE-POWER-SELLER-HELP-GUIDE-/140549562602?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20b96820ea

Sold: 10.00  I sold my first sellers guide and it was a complete success.

I did ended up going way over the 30 minute session because I was having fun and I wanted a make sure I received a positive feedback.

I checked up on my customer's listings a couple days later and she had already sold one of the items we had talked about how cool is that!?


Sega dreamcast lot

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-Sega-Dreamcast-Evolution-2-sonic-lightblaster-/140565532636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ba5bcfdc#ht_1442wt_1118

Paid:  5.00  Sold: 60.00 - shipping   People love lots.

Vintage Farberware skillet


http://cgi.ebay.com/Farberware-USA-camping-electric-skillet-fry-pan-344A-12-/140567786655?pt=Small_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item20ba7e349f#ht_1178wt_1118

Paid:5.00  Sold: 49.00 - shipping.  Vintage farberware stainless steel made in the usa = win.

Vintage burwood peacock wall hanging


http://cgi.ebay.com/Vtg-Hollywood-Regency-peacock-wall-plaque-parlour-den-/140567022272?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ba728ac0#ht_1416wt_1118


Paid: 7.00 Sold: 125.00 - shipping.  Peacocks are hot so I knew this one would sell.  It was a fun sell but at almost 4 ft in diameter it wasn't so much fun to ship.

Hollywood Regency faux bamboo pincushion

http://cgi.ebay.com/vtg-hollywood-regency-faux-bamboo-sewing-pin-cushion-/140535986215?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20b898f827#ht_500wt_1133

Paid: 0.95  Sold:  49.99    I had no idea how to price this so I just made up my own price and it sold :).

Dorothy Thorpe roly poly cocktail glasses

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-Regency-Dorothy-Thorpe-madmen-roly-poly-glasses-/130536385211?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e64932abb#ht_1458wt_1118

Paid: 0.45 x 6   Sold:  159.99  This is the first set of gold rim dorothy thorpe I have found, and I am glad I found them.

Well thats all for now.   I hope these sales will motivate you to get out there and find those treasures!.

If you are not on my blog, come see my other posts at http://famousturtletreasures.blogspot.com

Summer sales

Now that we are getting into the summer season I have noticed an interesting change in my biggest day for sales.  For the past 8 months my biggest sale days were on Sundays but for the past month or so I seem to be selling much more on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I am going to have to assume that it is because more people are getting out and enjoying the weekends.  I expected May to be a slow month and it turned out $3888 in sales.  June is turning out to be a bit slower, but the sales are still coming in.

Today alone I sold...

Siamese cat gravel art      Paid $0.95  Sold: $39.99      I really need to start buying more cat items, I have sold every piece I have ever found and for a nice profit to boot.

Hollywood Regency faux bamboo Trivet   Paid $2.00  Sold: $20.00   Nothing too spectacular, I am just glad it sold lol.

Crombie style skinhead coat  Paid:$12.99  Sold: $89.99   I sold this jacket to a gentleman in the UK.  I knew there was something up with this coat when it said crombie on the inside.   I did some research which lead me to the keywords I used to list this coat.  I originally listed the coat much much higher to see if I could get a bite, but ended up bringing it down after a couple months and got the offer of $89.99 which I happily took.   Its a cool coat so I hope he enjoys it.

Lucite space age lamp  Paid $3.00  Sold:$18.00   I had this lamp listed for much higher, but ended up breaking down and taking the $18.00 offer.  I am not going to lie, sometimes it just makes me feel good to sell something, even if its not that much profit.     

Hollywood Regency Faux bamboo tissue set  Paid $6.00 Sold:  $79.99  This set took a little while to sell, and I had a couple of lower offers which I almost took, but I am glad I didn't.  I really liked the detail on the faux bamboo which is what made me price this set at $79.99

Broken Xbox lot   Paid $30 Sold:  $95.00 - shipping.  This is a success and failure at the same time.  I figured out that broken video game systems have been selling pretty well.  Why are they selling you ask?  I am going to assume they are fixing them to resell.  I made the mistake of listing them with free shipping.  ( 30lbs )  Of course someone bought them in FLORIDA.   I still made about $20.00 in profit but that is below my 100% profit rule!   On the other hand this is a big success because I have been purchasing these system piece by piece whenever I come across them and so far I have found 4 full up working systems and the 3 broken ones which will sell for much more.

Well folks that's all I am going to talk about for now.  I am currently generating a list of items that have the following details.

#1 Items that I am always looking for.

#2 Where to find these items.

#2 How much I am willing to pay for these items.

#3 Quality control checks for these items.  

#4 Keywords to use for these items.

#5 Websites for research

#6 How to price the items.

I am considering selling this list on ebay for a couple bucks, but I need a few people to review the list and give me an idea about how much they would be willing to pay for such a list.  If you are interested let me know.

If you are not on my blog, come see my other posts at http://famousturtletreasures.blogspot.com

My first garage sale hunt of the year along with finds & sales

This weekend was a great weekend for my first hunt. It was nice and sunny, which if you are familiar with the pacific northwest then you know that's a pretty big deal. I ended up spending a total of $100.00 when it was all said and done. I also learned about a prime spot for metal detecting so I am going to have to go check that out eventually. Ok lets get on with the finds shall we?

Vintage industrial style adjustable lamp

Danish Modern table lamp.  I wish I could have found the other one, but it was MIA.  I already have an offer for $25.00 for this lamp but I literally just listed it so I didn't take the offer.

Vintage TOKI mid century modern goose neck desk lamp.  

This is an interesting find.  Its an art deco goose neck desk lamp.  I am guessing its probably from the 40s.  The base is cast iron so its fairly heavy.

Vintage cosmo clock made in the USA.  Faux wood face with arcade like numbers, I am going to offer this one as a vintage gamer clock and use woody ( like the Atari) as one of the keywords.  Should be an easy sale.

Hollywood regency chic angel goddess wall plaques.  I just sold this exact pair for $38.00 so it was nice to find them again.

Homoco four seasons wall plaques.  There is a specific term for this style, I just can't remember what it is off the top of my head.  If anyone knows please leave a comment.

I have to do some more research on this clock but its Hollywood Regency and its called the Homestead clock made by Talley Industries. ( Made in the USA)

Vintage desk lamp with articulating arm.  I just sold the yellow version of this lamp for $39.99 so this one should be an easy sale.

This light fixture is probably from the 40s judging by the wiring.  I am listing it as Gothic Victorian.

This is another interesting light fixture.  This one is probably from the early 1900s judging the wiring and porcelain sockets.  Its  all brass with some sort of lacquer coating which is scrapped up.  This would be great as is or someone could paint it.

1ft retro funky mod Lucite candlesticks.  I have never seen any like these and there are none listed on eBay so we shall see if they sell.

Hollywood regency faux bamboo octagonal cocktail tray.  These seem to be fast movers, I have sold every one I have ever found fairly quickly.  

Well that's all for the finds as of right now.  I have a bunch more, but I have been listing all day, and I have not had a chance to take pictures of the other stuff.

Now I am going to go over some of my recent sales. (Not that there are very many, things have been SLOW lately)


Dorothy Thorpe pitcher and bowl


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130444983567#ht_500wt_922

Paid:  $3.00  Sold: $60.00     I had these in a lot with a champagne glass and another pitcher as you will see in the link.  I ended up breaking up the lot and selling the 2.  Its probably better this way.  They had been posted for awhile.     If you find Dorothy Thorpe items cheap, do not hesitate to pick them up.

Navy pea coat

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130478654323#ht_1402wt_907

Its spring, and I am still selling winter coats.  If you find a pea coat for under $20.00 I would recommend buying them as long as they are in good shape.

Paid:12.99  Sold: 79.99

Corning percolator cord

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130483770627#ht_1402wt_907

Vintage corning percolator cords are not worth a ton but they do sell.  You can't sell certain corning percolator bodies on eBay due to recalls so people piece together parts when they have the body.

Paid:$0.50  Sold: $15.00

Ship wall hangings

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130504902469#ht_1402wt_907

Vintage nautical items sell pretty well so if you find anything old and nautical, its worth a look up.

Paid:$4.00 Sold: 50.00

Vintage adjustable  lighting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130504896458#ht_1402wt_907

These lamps are probably from the 70s judging from the cords.  The color is what told me I would be able to sell these,  it just stuck out at me.

Paid: $2.00 Sold: $45.00

Pendleton Tweed jacket

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130509513973#ht_485wt_1033

I say this all the time, but once again.  Its vintage and its Pendleton...  nuff said

Paid:  $4.99   Sold: 59.99

Graphic novel - Manga Naruto 1-27

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130493995677#ht_1402wt_907

Manga is expensive, but it sells.  If you find a large lot I would pay up to $1.00 per book.

Paid: $27.00  Sold: $100.00





Thats all for now, if you find this article helpful please give me a click on the above banner so I can get paid.   Thanks!  :)

How do you manage your ebay income?

When I first started selling on ebay, I was just trying to make a little bit of extra cash to help pay for my wedding. Even before I sold my first item on ebay I knew that I wanted to keep the ebay money separated from our other finances. 

I started by requesting a PayPal debit card.  Once I received the card I started using it to make all of my ebay purchases. After about a month or so my PayPal card started acting up, and would only work at about half of the places I went to.

Mrs. Famous Turtle then had the very brilliant idea to use one of our rewards credit cards strictly for Famous Turtle Treasure purchases. Now whenever I make a purchase I receive reward points through my bank which in turn helps pay for airplane tickets home to see the family. (Just remember to pay off your credit card off on time so you don't get any late fees!)

Having a closed loop system where my sales and purchases come out of the same "pot" helps me keep my the ebay purchases away from our personal bank account.  Of course as Mrs. Famous Turtle would tell you, I am not always the best at taking my ebay card with me, but I try to remember it.

I started out using about $500.00 to purchase items to sell on ebay.  In the 10 months that I have been doing this I have never had to put any extra cash into my paypal account, and my current overall sales is sitting at $20,000.

Not too shabby for part time work.