During the month of August a total of 86 Garage Sale eBay Challenge items sold. Here are the top ten items along with what they brought and some thoughts on each of them. Since there were three items that sold for the same final price all three will be shown, making a total of eleven this month.

1. A nice Reuge music box - I paid $4.00 for this and it sold for $204.52.

Music boxes of various shapes and sizes show up frequently at garage sales and quality examples by established manufacturers are always worth picking up if the price is right. Many of the Swiss manufacturers such as Reuge and Thorens will regularly bring into the three figures and there are plenty of others that will approach that figure. Hint: look for wood boxes that are either inlaid or have distinctive grain.

2. Hand painted Royal Bayreuth bowl - I paid $.15 for this and it sold for $152.50.

This was one of the items I purchased at the Manvel city-wide garage sale. Royal Bayreuth isn’t all that rare, and many pieces don’t bring this kind of prices. What this one had going for it was that it had animals on it and most of it’s inside surface was covered by the design. Many pieces have much smaller designs.

The wide variety of colors in the painting doesn’t hurt it’s desirability either.

3. Old Zenith long range wooden table top radio - I paid $1.00 for this and it sold for $133.55.

This was one of several old wooden radios and related items I found at one sale. They were priced at $2.00 each/or make an offer. I offered the lady $5.00 for everything and she accepted. So far, I’ve listed three of them. All three sold, but this was the only one that came near three figures. The other two sold in the $20 to $30 range. You can make money with these if you can buy them cheap enough, but before going on a buying spree, keep in mind that many of the wood radios from this era were good sized, and finding a box to safely ship them in can be a headache unless you are ready to spend some money at the local UPS store. They aren’t cheap.

4. German celluloid roly-poly cat - I paid $.05 for this and it sold for $113.50.

Another of the Manvel city-wide garage sale items. Another item with several things going for it. It would have appeal to collectors in several areas - celluloid items, toys, and cats. It was also in fantastic condition for a toy of it’s age, with bright vibrant colors. This added to it’s desirability.

While I was certainly happy with what this toy brought, in hindsight, I may well have left a considerable amount of money on the table. Stephen A. commented that he thought this toy could have been manufactured by Schoenhut, which is a German toy manufacturer. If I had researched the toy more thoroughly before listing it, and been able to establish that it was in fact made by Schoenhut, stating so in the auction title and description would have drawn Schoenhut toy collectors into the bidding and it may well have sold for considerably more.

When Stephen contacted me about the possibility, the toy already had several bids so I was unable to edit the title or description. To change it, it would have been necessary to cancel all the bids, write each bidder explaining what I had done, and then re list it. Probably silly, but since I’d only paid $.05 for it, and it was already at close to $50.00, I chose to just let it continue.

5. A Lot Of 35 Time-Life Home Improvement books - I paid $5.00 for these and they sold for $98.12. No picture of this one because I forgot to save it before deleting it from my hosting service.

This set was missing one volume to make it complete which may have pushed the auction a little higher.

One of the many series sold over the years by Time-Life through the monthly subscription model. Some of these series sell quite well on eBay and others attract little, if any, interest. If you are using garage sales to find eBay inventory, you need to be aware of the many series Time-Life published and what ones regularly sell well. You can find a comprehensive list of the different series, and the books in each one, at Leggman’s Time-Life Library.

Some of the Time-Life series that regularly do well include: the Civil War series, The WW II series, Home Repair & Improvement series, the Old West series, Australians At War series (probably the most expensive and toughest to find), the Third Reich WWII series, and many of their cooking series. Do some research on eBay and you will find several others you should watch for also.

I would recommend you only buy complete, or near complete, sets. Buying a small partial set and trying to find the individual volumes to complete it can be a lengthy process.

6. Harry Potter Volumes 1 - 5 - I paid $5.00 for these and they sold for $69.99.

8. Harry Potter Volumes 1-5 - A second set that I paid $10.00 for and that sold for $51.01

I’m always amazed by what people will pay for the first five or six volumes of this series. The first five books in the series will nearly always bring $45 or more. A lot of the first six, or all seven, books will bring even more.

I’m convinced that, between garage sales and thrift shops, nearly anyone could put together six to eight sets from this series in a years time. You won’t get rich from them, but paying one or two dollars or less for each volume, will always bring a nice profit as long as the books are hardcovers with their dust jackets, and in nice condition.

These are the kind of thing that regularly pays for the gas you burn when out looking.

7. Fire King Blue Mosaic snack set - I paid $2.00 for this set and it sold for $60.22.

In addition to this snack set, Fire King also produced three sizes of bowls, a sugar and creamer, two sized of plates, cups and saucers, a large oval snack tray, and a platter in this pattern. If you come across any of them, buy them. Apparently Florida was a primary distribution point for the snack set, so if you live in the Florida area, concentrate on watching for them. This pattern is particularly popular with Japanese collectors so, for maximum profits, you should be willing to ship internationally.

Gene Florence, recognized expert on depression glass and other kitchen glassware collectibles, once said this was the most common snack set around. I think most people around the country will disagree with him. Many consider this pattern to be one of the toughest Fire King patterns to find.

9. Old wooden acorn/oak leaf butter press - I paid $2.00 for it and it sold for $55.00.

I don’t know about other areas of the country, but around here these don’t show up at garage sales very often. When they do, they are usually new reproductions. The easy way to tell them apart is the finish and size. All the new examples I’ve seen are finished and considerably smaller in diameter than older examples.

Value for these is, to a large degree, dependent upon the design. All other things being equal, various animals such as birds, horses, cows, pigs, reptiles, and such regularly bring $50 or more if in good condition. Fruits and vegetables also often do well. The acorn on this one added some to it’s value. If it had been just the branches and leaves, likely it wouldn’t have done nearly as well.

Auction sales can also be a good source for these. Often you will be bidding against general-line antique dealers who aren’t aware of what designs bring higher prices.

10. Atari 2600 game system with games - I paid $5.00 for this and it sold for $51.01.

The Atari 2600 game system and the hundreds of game cartridges made to go with it have a huge collector interest around the world. Working 2600’s in good condition with their paddles, joy sticks, adapters, and power cords should bring at least $25.00. Start adding game cartridges to the auction and the price goes up depending on the number of games included and what games they are.

Don’t pass up the chance to buy a good-sized lot of just game cartridges either. Some games are extremely rare and easily bring into three figures when they appear on eBay. Even lots of 15 to 20 or more of the most common games will usually sell fairly well on eBay.

If interested, you can find out which games are common and what ones are rare AtariAge offers a rarity guide to all known 2600 games along with games for several other Atari systems.

11. Fosston Minnesota Centennial book - I paid $1.00 for this and it sold for $51.01. Another auction I forgot to save the photo for.

Many counties and small towns around the country published comprehensive histories in conjunction with the 50th, 75th, or 100th birthday of the town or county. Nearly all of these will sell on eBay although, as a rule, county histories will usually sell better than town histories. When you find these at garage sales, or thrift shops, they are often priced between $1 and $5 each and are always worth picking up.

Many of these contained massive sections containing family histories of early residents which also make them attractive to genealogists.

Some of the county histories consist of more than one volume and, while individual volumes will sell, you will always get more money for the complete set.

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