Received a Package Filled with Future eBay Flips

No yard sales today, I spend the day with the kids. We went walking around Saint-Michel (kids love the Saint Michel fountains and the "dragons" that spill water). We walk along the Seine a bit and went for a lunch at the Great Canadian Pub; unfortunately they were out of Moosehead so I had to settle for a Coors Light.

We got home and I had a package waiting for me. Some lovely little French porcelain pieces I am going to flip. I bought them online and will see how it goes.

Beautiful shabby chic French porcelain pieces

Pont Neuf, Paris. Photo from our walk today

Civic Holiday Walk in the Park and Yard Sale

Today was yet another civic holiday. I was too tired to get up early and go to the yard sale I targeted. And I was only mildly motivated because I knew in advance it would be mainly professional sellers. The site that list the daily community sales also gives the price it cost to rent a spot and also says if they accept professional sellers. The only one that seemed big enough today was quite expensive and open to pros, so I decided to sleep a bit longer.

Today's treasures

Then when everyone was up, we dressed the kids and head up to the sale very late, after 10h30. I did a very fast run, because I wanted to spend time with the kids in La Villette park. I end up buying 2 enameled door signs / plaques (one "toilette" and "cuisine": restroom and kitchen) and one Limoges porcelain door sign still in package.

I also bought for myself a lovely but battered vintage tin flower pot. Far from perfect but I love it. I always need planters anyway.

Here's a few pictures from Paris 19th:

Interesting Urban Decay in Paris

Fountain at Cité des Sciences

Vintage 70's Adidas Shorts

It's flashy, it's orange and it's nylon. It's also vintage Adidas, made in Germany. Back in 2005 I sold these for $78 to a buyer in the UK. Groovy.

Market is still good for those shorts, price are all over the place but they do sell.

Remember the 2 Littlest Petshop Collie Dogs?

A few weeks ago I bought 2 LPS for about $1.50 each (see this post: http://myyardsalefinds.blogspot.com/2014/05/yard-sale-finds-littlest-pet-shop.html) I sold both rather quickly and for good money: $19.99 and $39.99.

Here's a screenshot:

You can find the most recent selling price for them on eBay here, price varies a little depending on condition mainly:




Now a little warning about LPS sold by Chinese sellers: these are fake! Do not buy LPS from sellers located in China. 99.9% are fake/counterfeit Littlest Pet Shop. If you buy them from China sellers for cheap and try to sell them back for profit you may end with item not as described cases against you!

 LPS are not the only fake, cheap and low quality products coming from China, almost everything sold by China seller is fake, counterfeit and bad quality and buyers have a hard time getting refunds. Ebay is harboring and helping the dumping of cheap quality knockoffs since they allow China sellers on their site a few years ago. And it is only getting worst. Some categories are overrun by them. try searching for vintage silver jewelry and you will see what I mean: vintage that is not vintage and silver that is not silver. yet eBay let them run free although they give "bad buyer experience".

Sunday's Yard Sale Finds: Birkenstock Feiyue Playmobil

I picked today's yard sale based on the numbers of potential sellers and I also wanted to avoid any sales that was including "brocanteurs" (professional dealers), so I ended up in Paris 13th at the end of the 14 metro line.

I was there early, around 8, and it was a slow start. Many sellers were not even there. I quickly found a pair of silver Birkenstock sandals (silver Rio, very cool for summertime) and Feiyue sneakers, the Moto 777 model. Feiyue are extremely popular here in France and hip teens love them. I'll need to see if they can sell on ebay.com, if not I'll list them on some of the French sites.

Cute Birkenstock summer sandals

Fashionable Feiyue sneakers

My lucky streak with Playmobil has continued, and I found a nice set for 2 euros (3$). It's Playmobil 4139: pirate island compact set. Looks almost complete and I spotted a few extras. That was a great price.

Playmobil 4139

I also bought 2 "things" on a hunch (at 1 euros pieces I figured I could make my money back somewhere). They are some kind of Kawaii squishies "Ikiru and friends". They are wrist support gel like creatures. I checked ebay and they do sell. Mine are mint in pack. I found a pink bear and green frog.

Last thing I bought and will probably keep, are funky psychedelic vinyl decals from the early 70's, mint in package. Each pack contains 3 size of the same design. I have one pack of turtles, 1 pack of cats and a pack of owls. They are very cool. I'll probably open a pack to test and see if they are still adhesive. I may sell them, but I love them.

Ya man, psychedelic decals from the 70's

Vintage Dean's Dairy Powdered Milk Tin Can

This is one of the can from a lot I bought from a French seller (read here). vintage tin can of Deans powdered milk. From Chicago illinois. Circa late 40s early 50s. Sold for $66.01 in spring 2009.

Front

Sides

Community Yard Sale May 18th

This morning the yard sale I attended was right at home, so I didn't have to take the subway, which means I was there early. It was huge and I did two runs: when I started at 7h30 not everyone was there, so by the time I finished the first round at around 9, more sellers were installed. I walked from 7h30 to 11h30 and I found a lot cool pieces.

Today's yard sale finds

The first things I bought was a plush teddy bear. I had no idea if it was or not a good pick, but when I saw it I knew it was good quality and it was clean. So I figure 1 euro ($1.50) was no big deal.  It's a Giorgio Beverly Hills bear and my instinct was good because they sell well. I also bought a Dumbo elephant from Nestle (these were premiums gifts in Europe). I do think I can sell it.

Giorgio Beverly Hills 2006 Bear

There's no yard sale for me without some Littlest Pet Shop. I bought a storage case filled with 51 pet shops and lots of accessories. I haven't sorted them yet, but at the price I paid even if none of them are ultra rare I'll make a profit. I plan on selling the case and accessories as a lot, and then sell the figurines separately (or in small group for the cheap ones). Also bought some more Playmobil (I haven't even started sorting the pounds and pounds of them I found last week!)

Big Lot Of Littlest Pet Shop

Remember the owl I found a few weeks ago? Well I found another one! Not sure what it is with them, they follow me everywhere. Found a porcelain trinket box, some miniature perfume bottles, a lovely miniature vase from Japan with Koi fish decor and a mug from Sandusky Ohio.

I also found a pair of Birkenstock women's sandal size 37 to resell. They are in excellent condition, I doubt they've been much used.

Birkenstock women's sandal in very nice pre-owned condition

I bought some more clothes and books for the kids and me, including a colorful tunic for the summer. I also found a Scooby Doo bed sheets set for my son who is a big fan. A Sherlock DVD as well. Oh and I never can have enough drinking glass, so I bough a pair of goldfish drinking glasses.

Oh and I ended up having to buy a bag to carry more stuff. Paid 1 euros ($1.50) for a lovely colorful handmade bag from Ecuador.

Vogue Couturier Design Pattern #190

I bought this one for pennies and it ended up at $38.99 in a bidding war. That was over 10 years ago but these patterns still do well. A quick look at complete items for Vogue Couturier patterns show good prices on the older ones.

1988 Kiowa Lodge Belt Buckle

I bought a lot of belt buckles back in 2009 from an US seller to sell to French buyers. Usually I do the other way around: buy from French sellers and sell back to US or worldwide.

 I paid under $6 each (including shipping). This is one of them and it sold for 15 euros ($22.50 back in 2009).

This is a lovely limited edition Kiowa lodge centenary belt buckle. Condition was like new.

Vintage 70's men's platform shoes

I don't remember what I paid for these, but as my rule of thumb is never over 3$ for shoes it must have been under that. Or the seller begged me and bribed me into taking them!

Well they might look ugly to you (or to the man who sold them to me) but they did sell pretty well. $83. They were size 10.5 and in excellent condition. That was back in 2005, when sellers were still doing pretty good with auctions. In today's market I doubt I could get that kind of price for vintage, no brand, funky pimp men's platform shoes.

Yard Sale Finds: Littlest Pet Shop Collies and Silk Ties

This morning I went rummaging near Père Lachaise cemetery. It was a good size community sale. I was there rather early, around 8, but there was already a lot of shoppers. Still manage to find some nice items before the rain started to pour.

Today's finds

I am getting good at finding LPS (littlest pet shop), but I should really make and print a master list of the good ones and try to memorize it. Anyway these 2 were good ones, I paid 1 euro each (less than $1.50 each). They are collie dogs, the chocolate one sells for about 40$ and the other one about 25$. So not bad.

Rare Littlest Petshop

I also bought 3 silk ties (this is something I am testing). All are either Italian or French made (Nina Ricci, Rosso Fiorentino and Alain Figaret). I pick them because the prints are lovely. 2 have flowers and birds and one is fleur de lis. I don't expect a huge profit, but I am confident they'll sell.

lovely silk ties

I also picked 2 piece of French enamel wall plaque, one says "cave" and the other "toilette" (bathroom). They are cute. Probably from the 70's or early 80's. 

Everything else I bought is for the family: some clothes and books.

Looking forward next weekend, another big community sale is announced right next door! Can't wait. meanwhile I need to get going, kick my behind and start listing....

Another Civic Holiday in France Means Yard Sales in the Middle of the Week!

Today May 8th is one of the three May's civic holidays in France: May 1st is Labor Day, May 8th is the 1945 Victory day and May 29 is Ascension. And day off means yard sales (and long week ends since the French loves to make "le pont" or bridge: many, husband included, will take a day off work tomorrow to enjoy a 4 days weekend..... yep 3 long weekends this month!).

So yes today I attended a yard sale in Paris 20th, not that large BUT a real yard sale without any pros (professional antique dealers). just real people and family selling off what is no longer needed. And let me tell you, I found so many nice things!!!

My Yard Sale finds

Bought books and clothes for the kids.

Books I bought at the yard sale

Lots and lots and more Playmobil. I mean a lot. Really. Let's say many pounds of them in a large bag that includes lots and lots of vintage ones as well as many small sets such as the Romans, some circus ones, Egyptians and so much more! Oh and a nice sea dragon for the kid's bath (they'll have a surprise Sunday).

Literally pounds of Playmobil with many older pieces

Many Playmobil sets

Also found a Biche de Bere necklace (always a good buy, I didn't even haggle the price). A lovely enameled lunch box in a nice unusual color. I bought a large smurf figure (a McDonald's premium from 2002) and some mint in pack VHSC cassettes.

Biche de Bere necklace, tapes and a lovely French enameled tin

After that, I met my husband at a near by metro station and we walk down Saint-Denis toward the Seine and Saint-Michel. We are enjoying 4 days without our kids (that were just too happy to go with their grandma).

Porte Saint Denis

Beautiful passage on the way to Saint-Michel

Target: The Great Canadian Pub in Paris for beers and club sandwich (burger for hubby). The Moosehead was delicious (been a long while I didn't drink a Canadian beer) but not cheap (but hey I was still on my birthday extended celebrations). Service was great, typical friendly Canadian staff. And hockey on TV (sadly not the Habs)

The Great Canadian Pub in Paris

My Moosehead

Afterward we did walk some more and I went to a Tunisian pastry shop and bought a few delicious snacks:

Tunisian pastries

More pictures from our day out:

La Tour de l'horloge

An Hector Guimard Metro Entrance (fabulous art nouveau design)

Details from Fontaine St Michel

Vintage Sherwood hockey sticks hoody sweater sweatshirt

This cool sweater sold for $20.25 in 2005.

Back then vintage t-shirts and sweatshirts were doing a killing on eBay. There were a few sellers that specialized in vintage tees and were doing great. A few of them are still alive but many have moved elsewhere.

 Three of my favorite were "Smith and Pooter" , vintagevantage and Defunkd. None of them are on eBay any longer (like a lot of ebay's old timers) but Defunkd is still in business and has its own website. 

You can still find great gems on ebay even though there are now a lot of competition for vintage clothing from platforms such as Depop, Grailed, Poshmark and many others.

(this post was updated in 2022)