Austin Productions Sculptures sell very well on Ebay . This one is "VOGUE"

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut on things. I found this sculpture at a thrift store and wasn't sure on whether or not to pick it up since it is large and larger items are harder to ship. There seems to be an active market in these sculptures from the 1970s and 1980s on Ebay though. Prices are all over the place but generally pretty good on most items. Many sellers mistakenly call their items "Austin Products" as productions is often abbreviated on the statues themselves. There are numerous good sellers by Austin Productions (and the man called Fisher Austin that created them). Most are figural, showing people, some with hands. All larger than most decorative items. This one I am selling is called VOGUE . It is no longer in production and as I type this has 6 bids and is up to $35. I have seen these sell up to $100 or even higher on websites. If you search Austin Productions Vogue on Ebay you will see my item (if you search in the next 3 days it has left LOL). Keep your eye out for these. They are generally heavier, high quality items!

Antique La Belle turkey platter plates flow blue Wheeling Pottery c.1893

A good friend of mine does a lot more "high end" estate sale picking than I do. She picked up and listed this AMAZING set of turkey plates that she currently has for sale on Ruby Lane, a high end antiques site. So if you have been looking for this set (which is very rare and hard to come by in this condition). Please check them out at the link below!

http://www.rubylane.com/item/463593-RL-3604/Antique-LaBelle-turkey-platter-plates

Selling into the Vintage Typewriter Craze on Ebay

It seems as though old typewriters are the rage on Ebay these days! Interestingly while they have always had some value, it seems this demand for these is way up recently. For example. I will show a picture of a Smith Corona Golden Shield Typewriter below. I paid 2.99 for this years ago. I saved it because every time I researched it it looked like it was worth 20-30 dollars. I didn't feel like packing and shipping it for that much at the time. This year when I researched it it looked like prices rose to about $70 so I listed it. I listed it and allowed international buyers to bid. I started it at 1 cent (penny auction). It sold for $152.50. The key is to research before buying. Manual typewriters (as I call the non-electrics) are still worth more than electric ones although there might be exceptions. Generally you want to pick these up under $10. Typewriters older than the one I sold are also collectible for the keys which people sometimes remove and make jewelry out of . Definitely worth taking a look at .. here are some pics

Selling M&Ms collectibles on Ebay

It seems like items from popular culture are taking off lately on Ebay. This little M&M guy called Redbert Einstein was something I had never seen before so I picked him up while out thrift shopping. He just sold today for $63.50!

There are a lot of M&M items out there. Look for the dispensers, umbrellas , kites and other rare items you don't see every day. In general you never want to pay too much for items you buy at thrift shops, tag sales etc. Stay in the 3 buck and under range.

BOSTON Pencil Sharpeners

Do you remember these? Most of us grew up with them in school. They worked great, much better than the modern electric ones. Well in general you should always look for things you remember from years ago, especially if made in the USA and something that worked great. These can usually be found from FREE to a few bucks and sell up to $40 on Ebay :) Here is one I sold..

NAEF Swiss Wood Products

Sometimes, while out thrifting you just come across interesting looking things. I picked up this NAEF (made by Kurt Naef) wood soccer player guy called "Penalty" . It is currently listed on auction and up to 3 times what I paid for it with 18 watchers. NAEF products generally sell very well on ebay so keep a look out for them. They made wood rubiks like cubes, puzzle type wood figures and some pretty creative things.

Rocket Banks from the 50s Strato Bank and Astro Manufacturing

These banks ALWAYS sell on Ebay. But do not pay too much to aquire them. Prices have recently been very good (and rising). Generally, on coin bank items I break my rule of thumb and can pay up to 5-10 dollars each for them. In this case I bought 2 for about 10 bucks. I usually try to stick to my under $2.00 acquisition price but you wont find these that cheap.

The two banks pictured are the Astro Manufacturing Rocket Bank and the Strato Bank. Both are from the mid to late 50s. I listed them on auction starting at 1 cent and in the first day they shot up to 17 bucks with 8 watchers. Keep in mind most things "rocket, space, NASA, etc" have a market on ebay. It should be one of your top areas to look for things in.

UPDATE - Auction just closed - Sold for $111.00   :)