Sure Sellers #2 Doc Martens Boots

What is better than a pair of Doc's? A pair of worn in Doc's!

A second hand pair of Dr Martens leather boots (in good condition) will go for around $40 on eBay. Best ones are either the classic black or cherry, 8 hole or more. Sizes 6-7 for women and 10-11 for men.

Thanks to Quink_123 for the photo and passing on the information about this great sure seller!

Tassie Tip Shops

Collector or seller - don't miss out on visiting Tasmania's Recycling Centres on your next holiday south.

• Resource Collectables - the cream

Ther Resource Collectables shop is where the best collectables can be found. You will find the shop in Hobart city, on Elizabeth Street, just 1 block from the mall.

Excellent for old wares like bakelite, depression glass and outdated gagets. Well priced for the collector.

• Glenorchy Tip Shop

You will find this Recycling Centre just 10 mins from Hobart on Chapel Street in Glenorchy.

They have an excellent selection of vintage and deco furniture, a whole room of vintage, good quality kitchenware, barware and lighting. Also a small but good collection of vintage clothing.

Excellent selection and great prices for the mid-century collector and some bargains for resellers.

• Margate Tip Shop & South Hobart Tip Shop

Margate is about 25 mins south of Hobart on the Channel Hwy. Head to Kingston and take the road to Margate.

South Hobart Recycling Centre is off Macquarie St, 1 km from the Cascade Brewery.

These 2 tip shops have the best prices for collectors and sellers. You will find kitchenware, clothes, lighting, appliances, tools, furniture and more.

Great for a bargain and you never know what you might find.

Finds from the Margate and South Hobart Tip Shops.

Sure Sellers

Trends come and go but here are some things that (generally) always sell on eBay...

Tupperware Shape-o: $10 - $15

Gumby: $7 - $20

Light Fittings

Light fittings can make you a bit of money – but I can’t explain why!

Here are some of the light fittings we have sold for more than we expected:

Planet Lamp. Elliott has one in ET. These are quite popular at around $50 - $70.

Pair of brass hanging fitting: $90

Retro standing lamp: $50

For more Vintage Lamps visit "Lamp of the Week"!

eBay Begins at Home

The first place to look for things to sell on eBay is in your own home. Big, small, old, new – one persons trash is another’s treasure!

Have a good look around the house, in the garage, in the shed, the back of cupboards and see if you can find thing like:

• Furniture you don’t want anymore
• Unopened gifts
• Decorative vases, figurines, platters
• Unworn clothing
• Good quality clothing in good condition
• Baby goods
• Children’s toys
• Old toys
• Books in good condition
• Old promotional material (fast food store toys, merchandise)

1 thing to remember though is that others will never have the same sentimental attachment to your things as you have. So don’t get carried away and sell things you will regret loosing later.

Once you have a few ideas, follow the ‘will it sell’ post to see if your old trash could be someone else’s treasure!

Have a look at this post to see some of the things from our home that got us started….

Our Beginnings

Back in the beginning, we had a look through our old stuff, and some newer stuff, and thought we’d have a go at selling on eBay. Here are some of the things that we though people might be interested in…. and were!

Old inflateable Coke bottle from a Easter Show Bag. Sold:$16

Metallica sunglasses, never worn: $20



Then we started looking at garage sales and found these gems early on.

Retro drink bottles: $3

Heineken clapping bats: bought 20c, sold $5

It's not huge money but % wise - it was big and it was early days!

The Baths

It is even possible to make a profit out of buying things on eBay and selling them again on eBay!
We were renovating our bathroom and I was looking for a bargain bath. While browsing through the Home -> Bathroom category I came across a lot of 7 baths. They were new, but some had been scratched in transport. I took a punt and ended up winning the auction and buying myself 7 fibreglass baths for $200.
I kept the best for myself and started to sell the rest. One by one they sold. The ones in basically new condition went for up to $120. And the most scratched went for around $10 to someone who wanted a bath for a holiday house - and was absolutely stocked with the bargain!.
So we now have a lovely big new bath in the bathroom that wasn’t just a bargain – it made us $100!!

Retro and Vintage Aluminium

Keep an eye out for aluminium canisters, biscuit tins, cake tins, etc. We have had great success with these types of items. If you manage to find a set of canisters in good condition, you’ve hit the jackpot!
Brands / Makers: Waratah, Raco, Jason

Where to find retro & vintage items to sell on eBay

Garage Sales

Probably the easiest (and more than likely the cheapest) option to use to find items to sell on eBay. Your local or community newspapers will generally always have listings for garage sales. We head out EARLY on Saturday (and occasionally Sunday) mornings to hunt some bargain items.

Tips:

1. Plan ahead. Look for an area with several garage sales located closely together, or look for combined sales (several houses, or an entire street, getting together to hold a sale). This way you can maximise the number of sales you visit and increase your chances of finding a bargain!
2. Get there early. Our motto is sometimes "if it's after 9am, it's not worth it". We've never arrived at a garage sale before the sun has risen, but there are plenty of people who do.
3. Persistence pays off. Don't listen to anyone who says "if it's after 9am, it's not worth it". We have found some of the best items and biggest bargains by not giving up, and visiting the last couple of garage sales on our list.

Church fairs, school fetes, market stalls & other community group sales

These are an absolute goldmine! Imagine 50 garage sales combined into 1 massive sale! We've learnt that if we only visit one place on any given day, that place should be a school fete or church fair.

Tips:

1. Be prepared for these places to be BUSY. We're not the only ones who know the potential value of these places, and people can be mercenary and go to extreme lengths when it comes to finding themselves a bargain! It won't be until you've been elbowed out of the way by a 70 year old woman or seen a grown man jump a fence to get into a sale ahead of everyone else, that you'll know what we mean.
2. Know what you're after. We love retro and vintage kitchen ware, so we make a beeline for that sort of stuff. You might be into books, vinyl records, clothes, whatever it is go straight to it, you might not get a second chance!
3. If there's more than 1 of you - split up, this way you can cover more ground.

Op Shops, Charity Stores & Second Hand Shops

Generally the people that work in these places know what they're doing. They'll know the brands and makers, so you're unlikely to find a $100 item for 50 cents - but occosionally we've found bits and pieces at bargain prices. The big "depot" Op Shops or Charity Stores are probably the best (and the most fun to spend time searching through) for finding a bargain.

Auctions

We've only had limited experience with buying items at auction to sell on eBay, but we've had a reasonable level of success when we've done so. The type of auction we look for is where the entire contents of a (hopefully old) house are being auctioned. You'll have to register as a bidder (most likely on the auction day) and can view the items up for auction (most likely on the day or for a few days prior). It was at one of these auctions we discovered the Planet Lamp!