‘Tis the season for taking photos and documenting all those merry moments (plus a little bit of family dysfunction). Yet your current camera isn’t up to snuff, and you find the huge selection of makes and models out there just plain overwhelming. Sound familiar? Fear not. Here, we make choosing your next camera purchase as easy as answering some simple questions about yourself, your lifestyle, and how your plan on using the product. Family types will discover rugged models that sticky fingers won’t destroy, while budding shutterbugs will find the perfect upper-echelon-yet-not-too-advanced selection. With all the stress this time of year, we wanted to take the anxiety out of the equation for at least one decision on your plate. No need to thank us…just Photoshop in our favor next time.

(Via eBay Gift Guide)

Some fragrance companies release very limited editions of special colognes or perfumes that usually sell out quickly. One example would be Tabaróme from Creed. Originally launched in 1875, Creed has, in recent years, limited production to low number special editions (and has stated with the last that there will be no future editions). Following the trusty law of supply and demand, existing bottles of this gem tend to go for high prices, like this example.

Note that if you should find a bottle of Tabaróme in your travels, the sought after version at high prices is Tabarome and not Tabaróme Millésime, which is an entirely different fragrance from Vintage Tabaróme and is still in production.

We recently received word from eBay seller Amy Weintraub of ShopItLA that she sold the entire contents of Dr. Earl Mindell’s Authentic Old-Time Pharmacy and Apothecary Museum from her eBay store! The museum, located in Los Angeles, houses the lifetime collection of Dr. Mindell and is considered one of the most comprehensive collections of vintage and antique pharmacopia and apothecary items in the world.

The final Buy It Now sale price was $68,000. Amy says that the buyer is a pharmacist in Ohio and that he plans to recreate this “museum” exactly as is was and attach it to his pharmacy and open it up for his community to enjoy.

The sale included the contents of three room including the, fixtures, cabinets, furniture… pretty much everything you can see in the photos in the listing.

When Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’ daughter, Lucie Arnaz decided it was time to part with some of her parents’ personal items and memorabilia, she turned to her good friend and eBay seller, Maida Webster (eBay User ID connectibles) for advice.  It took a little coaxing, but eventually Maida convinced Lucie that eBay was the best venue for offering her family treasures for bid and there was no better seller than herself! And no better year to sell the collection than 2011, which is both the 60th anniversary of the ground-breaking, I Love Lucy show and the 100 anniversary of Lucille Ball’s birth.

The first lot of what is promised to be several hundred Lucy and Desi items that Connectibles will offer in the coming weeks and months is now available for bid. In this first lot, there are signed letters, photos, personal clothing and accessories and household items as well. 

Lucille Ball's TANO Spain Tortoise Lucite Cigarette Case

But so far the most popular item of the first lot has to be the LUCILLE BALL personalized own Tall Director’s Chair. In less than a day, four bidders have battled up the price to $535 (and counting!)

There is something to suit the tastes and budget of any I Love Lucy fan or collector so preview and bid today!

Finding good sources for collectible merchandise, whether for one’s own collection or for resale, can be a fun, if often challenging, endeavor.  Thrift stores are becoming a popular hunting destination for more and more collectors and dealers. Recently, I sat down to talk to two of the most famous experts in sourcing at thrift stores, Bryan Goodman and Jason Smith who together have created the web site and the service called, “Thrifting* With The Boys.”

The "boys:" Bryan Goodman and Jason Smith

[* "thrifting" and "to thrift" are recently-coined verbs referring to the act of visiting and shopping at, thrift stores. - Griff]

Griff:  Jason, how did you two meet?

Jason:  When Bryan was here for the eBay Radio party a couple of years ago, we decided to out and go thrifting and I took him and a couple of others. I was very apprehensive at first to take other people into my thrift, figuring of course they would be buying stuff that I would have bought had I not been there.

But I learned – we learned a lot of from each other that day, and that’s where the magic started.

Griff:  And now you have a very popular Facebook Fan Page.

Jason: Yes. We presented together for the first time at the eBay Radio Party earlier this year. It was really our first time doing a presentation together and we were really shocked at how well received it was by the people who attended and even more so by the people who missed out by sleeping in that morning, who were just clambering to hear what we had to talk about because they had heard so many good things from other people who did attend.

After the event I said to Jason, “We need to start a Facebook group page for these people,” and he said OK.  I said, “You want me to start it don’t you?”  So that’s what I did.

My feeling was that there were plenty of other places on Facebook that you could talk about a variety of things, that you could complain about, you know, shipping problems or problems with eBay fees or whatever it might be.  That really didn’t have a place the “Thrifting With the Boys Facebook” group.

I wanted it to be about thrift store finds so that people could share with other people things that they were looking for and would find and how well they did with them.  And if you had questions, you could shoot back and forth and it’s really become what I envisioned, and I know Jason felt the same way about it.

Griff:  What have you learned from your new endeavor so far?

Jason:  We were actually very shocked by the amount of people who sell on eBay but who do not “thrift.” Not that everybody needs to thrift, but it is such an easy way to find collectibles and turn a profit on them. I have always been a “thrifter.” There are tons of collectibles in our local Savers every day.

For example, I collect Tiki mugs, and between my assistant and I, we find at least three or four tiki mugs a week, every week. We have not found the million dollar seller yet, but quite a few of them have turned us a nice profit.

Griff:  Are there tools that you use in the field, for items that you find when you are thrifting that maybe perhaps your intuition tells you, you should buy but you are not sure of say, value?  Is there a way to conduct research while in a thrift store?

Bryan:   Yes, definitely. With mobile applications on your device, whether it is a tablet, or and iPad, or a smart phone, it is pretty easy to take those tools along with you as you are searching. For example, one tool I use is Terapeak. It allows me to see if there is something similar that has sold on eBay; what it sold for, if there have been a number of sales. This has been very helpful for my in researching while thrifting. 

One of my other ways of determining if something is worthwhile purchasing or not;  I shoot an email to Jason or other experts along with a  picture of the item, and ask, “Hey, what do you think of this? Is this worthwhile?” and most of the time the response will be, “No do not bother,”  and, other times, it is a “Yes! Yes! Yes! Buy it!” or “How much is it?” and so on.

Determining what to buyt is pretty easy for somebody like Jason, who has a passion, when he is out there specifically looking for Tiki mugs. And the same holds true with other people depending upon what they collect or what they used to re-selling.

They can easily find items within their niche, no matter whatever they collect, or search for.  What is more helpful, though, is, being able to expand your horizons a little bit to so that you can find other things that will be worthwhile to other collectors.

For example, now, every time I go into a thrifty store, I am looking for Tiki stuff. I still do not know much about it, but because I know it is something that Jason can either use himself or tell me how to sell it, I am more likely to take a chance on it.  But, just in general, for people out there that are collecting just one specific thing, once you expand your horizons a bit, and you are able to find some things and make a $100 here and $50 there and a couple of $100 or more there, well, then you will have some ready cash available to go and add to your own collection.

By the way, did you know that Jason recently lost out on a Tiki mug that went for almost $300.

Griff:  Whoa.

Jason:   And the mug was chipped and cracked and it still went for over $300 that’s how rare it was.

Griff:  Jason, what do you use for tools?  Do you take a smart phone or a tablet with you?  What apps do you use?

Jason:  Yes, I definitely – one thing I use more so than Bryan is either Skype or Facetime with my mom because she also thrifts and shops for me and she lives in Cleveland.  So some days I’ll be sitting here at my desk and she’ll be at a garage sale or a thrift store with her iPhone and she’ll Skype me and we’ll video chat while she’s walking through the store showing me things. I’ll be like, “Yes… no… yes… no… yes… yes…”

Griff:  Do you have an iPhone as well?

Jason: I have an iPad. As Bryan was saying,  if you’re going to be serious about thrifting and looking for collectables it is very important to bring along the right tools. For me, I have a tablet.  Smart phones work but boy, a tablet comes in real handy if you can sit down for a second especially in a thrift store.  And there is always a table and chair set up somewhere in nearly any thrift store. Often I will sit down at a table and set up a little office. I  bust out my iPad, set up a little stand, type it all out, figure out what’s good, what’s bad and move on from there.

Griff: Bryan what kind of cell phone or what kind of tool do you use when you’re out thrifting?

Bryan:  I have an Android phone and also a tablet that I use to help determine value, etc.

Griff:  When the manager of the thrift stores observes you working away on your phone and talking to people and how does he or she react? Do they even react?

Bryan:      Well I’m not quite as flamboyant as Jason so I don’t get as noticed as much.  But …

Jason:  Thanks, I think.

Bryan: …No problem. But I get noticed a little bit at times usually by other customers who might say something but not much. I mean these days most of the time people realize that you might be taking a picture of an item to send to somebody because you’re interested in buying buying it or you’re interested in asking someone else, “What do you think of this color?” It’s not like I’m out there shouting “Hey I’m buying all this stuff to resell.”  So I don’t get noticed.  I do at the checkout at times and it’s funny how people will say, “Oh you’re doing your Christmas shopping early!”

It did happen recently when we were in Kansas. We were checking out and I was purchasing a bunch of Harley Davidson manuals from last 10 years or so. The woman standing next to me said, “Oh you have a Harley?”  I said, “No.”  She said, “So, you just like motorcycles?”  I said, “No I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle in my life.” And it just went on – the questions just kept coming and coming.  And I never did reveal exactly what I was doing with them.  There are so many other people out there who just don’t have a clue as to why we’re buying so much stuff or buying particular items or using our smart phones or tablets and other devices to scan, photograph or check products. It is kind of amusing in its own little insider way.

Griff:   What’s the most exciting or valuable thing that you ever found while you went thrifting?

Jason:   Well probably the most valuable thing I found, oddly and not surprisingly, was a Tiki mug that was mismarked.  It kind of looked – it was red and yellow and it kind looked not “Tiki-ish” but “clownish” so it was marked “clown mug – $10.” I bought it and sold it on eBay for a hundred and a quarter.

Griff:  That’s a good price realization.

Jason:  Oh absolutely. I would love that to happen every day.  I also buy a lot of clothing too, mostly t-shirts… concert and band t-shirts especially,  and if you dig through enough t-shirts, you find the vintage ones that go for $50 to $100 and I only pay usually about $2 apiece for them so yes if I could do that all day, that would be awesome.

Griff:  Bryan what is your memorable find? 

Bryan:  My favorite was last year but not in a thrift store. At a garage sale I happened to run across a nice set of tires and wheels that would fit my car.  And I was thinking of getting them for myself and I didn’t know what the woman wanted for them and after a little back and forth I asked her, “Ok, how much?”  And she said, “What are they worth to you?”  Now, I knew how much these things were worth.  I said, “Oh, I don’t know… $50 for the set.”  The woman thought for a minute. I knew the car wasn’t around anymore, that it had been totaled (she had told me as much). These tires were like new. She thought for a moment and said, “OK.”

What’s funny about the story is that I didn’t even have the $50 on me.  I gave her $10 I said, “I’ve got to clean out the car so I can put the tires and wheels inside.”

Griff: You are an incorrigible thrifter.

Bryan:  So I said I’ll be back in an hour and I cleaned out my car, got the rest of the cash, came back and when I go to pick them up she said to me – she handed me a card and she said, “You got a good deal. If you don’t want them for your car this guy is interested in them.”

But naturally I didn’t call him. I did wind up putting them up on eBay. I listed them for about $1,000 for the set with best offer and somebody came up with an offer for $750 and I said, “Sold!”  So that was a good find.

Griff:  Yes, I’d say that was a very good find.

Bryan:  And that’s one thing I’d like to mention to anybody who’s just getting into thrifting. You can call on different aspects of your life like different jobs that you’ve had, different interests you have had in the past and use them to help focus your thrifting search. For example, I was in the car business for many years and that’s how I knew the tires were good ones.  Even though I’m not involved in the car business anymore,I knew something good when I saw it.  I find cameras all the time while thrifting, for $5 or less that I know I can get $50 or more on eBay.  That’s because I was also in the camera business 30 years ago.  So you really have to think a little bit outside the box even though you may be collecting say, old records you can use different aspects of your past careers to help you find things to buy and sell in thrift stores and use the profits to buy more old records.

Jason:  I would just to add to Bryan’s point, when we teach people we tell them this: If you’ve never thrifted, start – like Bryan said – with what you know.  We teach a lot about buying clothes.  I always say, start in your size.  So if whatever you buy doesn’t sell, hey you’ve got an extra shirt for two bucks.  But start with what you know and then work up from there.  I buy purses and dresses and stuff, not really in my wheelhouse but I’ve learned it because I know I’ve made good money off of them, so.  I started in big boys shirts and then moved on from there.

Bryan:  And now you’re a transvestite.

Jason: Yes. But it takes a while to put an outfit together because I am a big guy.

Griff:  Well, that’s just fantastic. What is your website?

Bryan: Thriftingwiththeboys.com.

Griff: Thank you both for taking the time out to talk to us today.

eBay has been a locus for collectors of all types of items since its inception in 1995. If you can think of it and it’s collectible, it’s on eBay, and if it is small, easy to describe and photograph and easy to ship, it is tailor-made for selling and buying on eBay.  Trading cards for example.

ACEO stands for “Art Cards Editions and Originals” and is a very popular field of collecting on eBay.  An art card is a small work of art on a small card of a standard size of 2 ½ by 3 ½ inches to easily fit into plastic trading card sleeves. The back of the card usually contains information about the artist. The card may be a unique original or one of a numbered edition.  ACEO is a recent offshoot of an older form known as ATC or Artist Trading Cards. The difference? ATC cards are traded between artists and are not normally bought or sold (no exchange of money). ACEO cards are can be traded for other cards or for money.

There is an active market for ACEO cards on eBay with over 16,000 examples from hundreds of artists at any given time in a wide range of genres and subject matter. Many artists are themselves collectors.

Prices for ACEO examples on eBay range from a $1 to as much as $500 depending on the artist. The ACEO work of Nicole Wong, Jim Kyle, Randy Siplon, Lucia Stewart and many others consistently command some of the highest number of bidders and prices on eBay. These are just a few of the artists who have established a robust market on eBay for their work.

If are looking for something small, fun, and affordable to collect, check out the ACEO items on eBay. These delightful little gems offer an very inexpensive entry into the world of art collecting and best of all, your hobby will help support deserving artists.

Find the ultimate dorm items in one place. Enjoy the detailed dorm room guide and shop for Back to School items on eBay.

Pierre Donzier | eBay Customer Strategy

Welcome to the first in anew series entitled, “eBay Employee Collectors.”  Each month we will interview an employee who also has a passion for collecting something unusual or notable. This month, we interview Pierre Donzier of Customer Strategy (who keeps his collection at home and not in his cube).

Griff: Welcome to our first in the series, Pierre. So, what do you collect?

Pierre: “I’m an avid aviation fan. I collect flight helmets, flight jackets, old airplane models…anything related to aviation”

G: Do you fly planes as well?

P: I do! I have my pilot’s license.

G: How did you get started collecting aviation items?

P: I remember this moment: I was a little child playing on the beach on the sand with my shovel and pail and suddenly I heard very loud thunder… just over my head. I looked up and I saw this amazing image of a jet plane flying so low I could almost see the guy in the cockpit and I thought, “Wow…That’s what I want to do when I am bigger.”

G: How old were you?

P: Six

G: And you have been collecting ever since then?

P: Absolutely. I started with Star Wars figurines.

G: And now you collect aviator jackets and helmets. Do you buy mostly on eBay?

P: Yes that is right.

1914 Army Air Corps Leather Helmet

G: Some of these helmets look new and some very old. What is the oldest one of this group?

P: I have an amazing 1914 Army Air Corps leather helmet with big amazing goggles.

G: How much would that helmet be valued at today?

P: It depends. There are a lot of factors. Item size, the original owner, the condition. And this one has the goggles intact. I would say between $300-$400. But newer flight helmets for jet aircraft can be even higher in value. The technology alone inside the helmet can be very expensive.

Let me tell you a little story. I wanted to buy a component for a certain newer helmet and I couldn’t find it anywhere, including eBay. So one day a sent an email to the actual company that used to manufacture this particular helmet. A few months later I received an answer from the CEO telling me, ‘Sorry, we can’t sell those to individuals since it is technically considered a “weapon,” and we are not allowed to sell it to you.” Shortly later, I found one on eBay.

G: Of course. Of all the examples in your collection, which one is your favorite?

Rafale French Air Force Helmet

P: I don’t have just one favorite but I think one of my favorites is this one, a Rafale French Air Force Helmet.  And I have another favorite that was worn by an F14 pilot and is similar to the one worn by Tom Cruise in Top Gun.

F14 US Navy Helmet

Mirage 2000 French Air Force Helmet

 Another favorite of mine (which collector has just one favorite?)  would be the one worn by a Mirage 2000 pilot and belonged to a very specific squadron which was testing nuclear rockets so the visor is very specialized for that mission.

G: Amazing pieces of machinery. How do these end up on the market?

P: I don’t know for certain but I believe that the pilot owners must take them along when they leave the service and then they offer them for sale. Or they may have been army or navy surplus.

G: Any other remarkable stories about collecting these items?

P: Yes. I was selling one of my airplane models on eBay and a guy reached out to me and told me that he flew in that airplane, could you sell it to me? Of course, I sold it to him for the market price. I know that he might have paid double that but I was so moved by his story that I let it go for the average market price.

And another story that comes to mind: Some of the helmets I buy often need to be repaired. I like to repair them myself but I could not find anything online in the way of instructions on how to repair them. I came across a guy who was selling a helmet on eBay nearly identical to the one I needed to repair and I emailed him saying, “Sorry I don’t want to buy the helmet. I just need some help finding information on how to repair the one I already own.” Two days later, I received an email from the seller, along with an attachment that turned out to be a detailed guide that he had put together, with photos, and step-by-step instructions on how to repair my helmet. He did this out of passion!

G: What would be one tip you would offer a new collector on eBay?

P: I have two. The first and most important: Save search! Many people don’t know about this feature. I didn’t know this feature and it changed my life when I discovered it because before, I was constantly checking the eBay website every day, for one hour or more, searching for items I need for my collection. I was a slave of my passion. Now, I just set a saved search for those items on eBay I seek and when a new item matching my search pops up on eBay, I get an email alert and it saves me a lot of time.

Another tip I would share is to know the market. Know the products you seek and own and their values. You need to invest a little bit of time to make sure you don’t buy something that is broken or is inauthentic.

G: Are there fake helmets?

P: Yes, there are. Check the feedback score of the seller making sure he or she has good history of selling on eBay and who knows what he or she is selling. Buy from sellers who know what they have.

G: Good advice! Thanks Pierre for sharing your collecting passion with us.

Everyone knows that  choice examples of rare computers like the original Apple are highly desirable today. But keyboards as collectibles?  Well, when one of these shows up on eBay, the keyboard collectors come out in force. 

The iconic M15 ergonomic keyboard, manufactured by both IBM and Lexmark from 1994 to 1995, may be the holy grail of computer peripherals. Why? Unique design, rarity (few were made and even fewer survived due to the complex attenuation design), and that solid, clickety keyboard action all add up to high collector demand and ultimately,  big bucks for those lucky enough to own or find one and put it up for bid on eBay.

Recently, two of these sold on eBay. One for $665 and one for $711. But neither comes close to one that sold on eBay on Nov 7, 2010. That it was sealed in its original box, never opened might account for its $1835 final bid. 

data courtesy of Terapeak.com

Most old computer peripherals are not worth an investment of more than a few dollars, or even that but do keep an eye out for one of these gems during your treasure hunting expeditions. They are just the sort of unwanted curiosity  that is bound to show up at a yard sale or in a thrift shop for pennies.

April was a busy month for the Antiques and Collectibles categories on eBay. Highlighted below are examples from the hundreds of thousands of sold items for the month. As always, we’ve included a mix of results from both Fixed Price and Auction-style listings (bidding activity for these examples was especially robust!)

One listing of special interest : The set of 120 Kodachrome slides from a family in Santa Barbara CA in the late 1940′s. I included them here to show the high demand by collectors for slides and photos of everyday life from the 20th century. I believe these generated high interest due to the quality of the composition as well as the content, which provided a wonderful window into the life of one family right after WWII. Keep an eye out for similar examples in your treasure hunting.

All items are vetted for positive sale (item paid for, delivered and not returned). This is the reason why it takes until mid month to post the previous month’s list, by the way.

Navajo Classic 3rd Phase Chiefs Blanket

19th Century Navajo Classic 3rd Phase Chiefs Blanket
Sold for $7,600.00  (8 Bids)

McCoy Cookie Jar

RARE McCOY GREEN BAREHEADED COOKIE BOY COOKIE JAR
Sold for $7,211.00 (23 Bids)

Western Union Ticker Tape Machine

 
RARE WESTERN UNION TICKER TAPE MACHINE WITH DOME
Sold for $8,225.00 (34 Bids)

Wedgewood Teapot

C1800 WEDGWOOD ROSSO ANTICO EGYPTIAN TEAPOT
Sold for $1,827.00 (26 Bids)

Antique Paperweight

Heavy Art Glass Flower Blue White Vintage Paper Weight
Sold for $22,300.00 (32 Bids)

1 of 120 Kodachrome Slides circa 1940's

Set of 120 1940s California FAMILY SLIDES, Kodachrome!
Sold for $329.00 (19 Bids)

Tiffany Tea Screen

 Tiffany Studios New York #904 tea Screen
Sold for $2,121.21 (15 Bids)

Antique Shivan Rug

Antique Caucasian Shirvan Wool Kazak Carpet
Sold for $2,707.77 (31 bids)

Antique Mandola

1915 LARSON-BRUNO Artist Mandola
Sold for $3,176.00 (12 Bids)

Antique Tiffany Lamp

Antique Tiffany Lamp with Tulip Shaped Art Glass Shades
Sold for $12,260.00 (10 Bids)

Japanese Folding Screen of a Tiger

Japanese folding screen BYOBU Ganku TIGER
Sold for $4,630.00 (34 bids)

Antique Bronze Elephant

Antique Bronze Elephant by Franz Bergman
Sold for $3,250.00 (22 Bids)

If you find a good candidate for inclusion in the monthly Top Collectible, Antiques & Art Listing secion, send it along to griff@ebay.com.

Until next month’s list, happy hunting!

Griff