One of my Best Find This Year

I can't believe my luck. This one has been sitting on a French small ads website (a cross between eBay and Craiglist) for a few weeks and no one snatched it! Why? Thanks to the seller who used no keywords in title, no pet number and uploaded a bad picture. His title was "bag with a pet shop".

So for 12$ I can now flip (when I find the time) this Littlest Pet Shop #1542 Collie Dog mint in package with all the original tags attached.

I love selling Pet Shop: easy to list easy to ship!

Here's my precious (sorry bad pic, will make a better one of course when I list on ebay). Still mine is much better then the one the seller used, no wonder it did not sell fast! Or I am just lucky......

 Littlest Pet Shop #1542

Cute Playmobil Princesses with Hoop Skirts

You know you have come to the right place when your first find of the day is a LPS Great Dane #588 for 50 cents! Followed by a few more interesting (although not as expensive) Littlest Pet Shop and some cheap very sought after  Playmobil princesses in hoop skirts.

Top that with a cute Strawberry Shortcake bedding set (European pillowcase, fitted sheet and duvet cover).

As they say:

And now the pictures:

My eBay haul

More LPS

Playmobil Ladies with hoop skirts

2 biche de Bere Necklaces Sold on eBay

These are the two first Biche de Bere necklaces that I sold on eBay. I found them at a yard sale and had no idea who what was Biche de Bere at the time. But they were nice and at 8$ each it was not a big gamble. I love the style so I figured I could always wear them if they are not sellable.

Both sold for $29.99 each. I could have priced them higher, but as I said I was a bit unfamiliar with the designer but now I know better.

Since September 2012 I have sold around two dozens of Biche de Bere necklaces and I am always on the hunt for them.

Biche de Bere "hedgehog" necklace

Biche de Bere necklace with orange beads

Stupid Me Going To A Toy Sale With Not Enough Cash!

My toy ebay haul: lots of  Pet Shop again!

It finally happened! I usually hit yard sales with plenty of cash in small bills and loads of coins (best way not to miss any good deal... you know, not all sellers are prepared and have enough change for large bills).

This morning I didn't bring as much as I usually do and well I had to leave one small inexpensive lot of Lego Fabuland. Good thing is that I was able to pick one of the 2 sets. Lesson learned, next time I bring as much as usual, even more! Fortunately, I manage to buy everything else I wanted.

Lego Fabuland raccoon and bear

It was yet another toys/kids sale. I picked a lot of Littlest Pet Shop, a small lot of vintage Lego Fabuland (with 6 figurines) and a very fun board game by Haba. It's a ghost game, in English it is called "Shiver-stone Castle". Bought the French version. I was going to keep it for the kids but I might end up selling it. Looks like an hard to find game and fun too. It's the final haunting exam at ghost school and the little ghost must scare as many people as he can. The board comes with a magnetic ghost that can be moved around with a magnet underneath the board. Very very cool!

The little ghost haunting Shiver-Stone castle

Found for Free Sold on eBay: Coasters

Free stuff are among my favorite things to sell on eBay. There are lots of freebies around that can be resell. No worries about fees and profits because.... it was free!

Coasters, especially beer coasters do sell. Depending on the rarity I either sell coasters in lots (for the general coasters collectors) or, for the more unique and hard to find pieces, I sell them separately (or in small lots of the same brand) for those who collect everything related to a specific brewery.

Prices are all over the place, so it's worth checking your coasters and put aside the rarer ones. These should not be sold in lots.

For example, this Boreal beer coaster with Rodin spoof sculpture sold for 5$, while the lot below also sold for 5$ (both sold a few years ago). One was rare and more interesting to collectors, while the lot was made of more common coasters.

Front and back of Quebec's Boreal Beer. Rodin spoof coaster

Coasters lot sold on ebay

Fake Littlest Pet Shop Sold on eBay by Chinese Sellers

Littlest Pet Shop from China and Hong Kong sellers on ebay are 100% fake!

Collectors of genuine Littlest Pet Shop figurines will pay good prices to add to their collections, which is good news for sellers.

Unfortunately, as so often happens, Chinese manufacturers have flooded the market with cheap, shoddy versions (knockoffs) hoping to cash in on the popularity of these cute little figurines, with eBay opening doors to many sellers from China.  While competition is healthy and definitely good for the buyers, eBay is now one of the most popular venues for sellers of fake collectibles.   With labor and material costs being extremely low in China it is very easy for manufacturers to replicate figurines at prices that are unbeatable.

For those who may not be as savvy about how to recognize authentic figurines the prices offered for the ones from China must seem too good to resist.  Sadly none of them are real.  Obviously price is not automatically proof of authenticity, because some of the ones from China are priced as high as the real ones, thereby fooling some people into believing they are in fact purchasing a genuine item.

Sellers of genuine Littlest Pet Shop figurines are having to compete with the huge influx of fake figurines being sold from China, and it can be extremely difficult to do so when potential buyers are being lured away from listings for authentic items and enticed into buying the cheaper priced fake knockoffs.  

Even when buyers who have purchased the fakes realize their mistake there is little that can be done. Reporting the seller to eBay is one avenue, but for every seller that gets shut down there are a great number more waiting in the wings to take the sellers spot.  

There is another course of action that buyers can take.  By simply refusing to buy the fake knockoffs the Chinese sellers will eventually realize there isn't enough return on investment and will move onto producing knockoffs of the next popular collectible items.  It may take a while but the more knowledgeable buyers become about authenticity the quicker the Chinese fakes will lose their footing in the market.

Collectors should find reliable eBay sellers and only buy from them, avoiding the Chinese sellers altogether. And this is true for almost everything on eBay. Don't even get me started on Disney knockoffs from Chinese eBay sellers. It's a wonder Disney hasn't yet sent their lawyers. EBay is harboring and helping the sales of counterfeits and knockoffs on their site......

Poor Toy Sale

I went to 3 sales today: 1 never happened and was cancelled, the second was a typical indoor community sale and the third a "bourse aux jouets" (toy and kids stuff only. Very popular at this time of the year).

My fault I was a bit late and really didn't find anything worth much. Nothing to be exact, except a few Littlest Pet Shop (oh no! Not again!).

The toy sale was crowded as I expected, for the next one I'll try to be there at the opening, not an hour late. But I needed the sleep more then I needed stuff I guess!

So here's my thin pathetic loot of the day:

Make The Most Of Random Playmobil Pieces With Custom Sets

Playmobil always performs well on eBay because it is one of those toys that sells in a box, without a box and even as a incomplete set . Even single, tiny accessories can make money, vintage or not. This is encouraging for all of us that buy lots of Playmobil at yard sales; however, it is far too easy to end up with too much stuff and be stuck with things that cannot be sold separately, either because of high shipping costs or a lack of interest on characters are just not sought after or sets with that vital, collectible piece missing. 

So how do you make the most of all those random pieces you cannot sell on their own?

You may think those unloved characters and buildings are doomed to sit in a cupboard but they can be given new life and value quite easily. What I do when I end up with those characters and accessories that just won't sell well is I make custom sets! Look at what you have hidden in your collection and use your imagination to make some fun, themed sets with a difference. They can be big or small, realistic or outlandish, and you could even make your own version of a popular movie. The important thing is to experiment and have fun!

Need an example to help you get started?

As Christmas is around the corner, this is perfect time to share a story about one of my own custom sets. Recently I found myself stuck with a few nice animals that didn't really belong anywhere and couldn't really be sold separately because they were quite heavy, meaning shipping them as single items was pretty much out of the question. Those three animals were a donkey, ox and dromedary camel – very different animals with one instant connection that I could let my imagination run away with. And so my custom Nativity themed set was born and, with the extra touch of some cute little angel girls, I was able to put a product titled "Playmobil Lot Christmas Nativity Scene Decorations Angels Ox Donkey Dromedary" up for sale to see who might be interested. Thankfully, the venture paid off and it sold. 

My little custom Playmobil nativity set: a good start for a complete nativity manger scene

I partly put this success down to good timing because people were starting to shop for Xmas décor at that point and I offered them something fun and unique. Of course creating custom sets from Playmobil is not just for Christmas; once you start thinking creatively you can take advantage of all the various holidays throughout the year. Christmas themed sets may be the more obvious choice but with some time and thought you can also make Halloween theme sets, or perhaps Easter or Thanksgiving ones.

Dig out all those pieces you had given up on and look at them again with a fresh eye.

Hopefully this has inspired you to try out some custom sets of your own and see those random mismatched pieces in a more positive light. You will be amazed at what can sell; I have made a few sets over the last two years and all have sold! What odds and ends of Playmobil sets do you have that can be put together to form something new and interesting for families this holiday season? You may just surprise yourself with the results.

Custom Playmobil forest scene with animals

A custom Playmobil Roman camp with tent, horse, legionaries and centurion 

Antique French Chocolate Mold

Sold this old antique French chocolate mold pan with 8 different fish design. It's a G. Mora Paris mold #1505.

The mold has 8 different 2 inches long fishes, below you can see the front and back of this vintage French chocolate mold. Condition was not perfect, it had a few tiny rust spot. But so unique that it sold very fast.

Chocolate molds are highly collectible, keep that in mind!

I paid $25 on a French auction site and sold for $89 to a US buyer.

Front

Back

French Cafe Au Lait Bowl Coffee Chocolate Bowl Purple Polka Dots Cute

Real genuine and vintage café au lait bowls do sell well, and this one was very original with its purple polka dots! Although it was unmarked and had some tiny flea bits on the rim, it still sold for $34.99 to a Japanese buyer. With airmail shipping added, it wasn't cheap of course but she was very very pleased with it. A very unique French café au lait coffee bowl indeed.

I always look up for them in brocantes, vides-greniers and online, but they are rarely cheap. This one wasn't cheap either but I knew it was unique enough (purple polka dots) for me to make a profit. I paid around 15$ for it. It took me some times to list it, but once it was it sold very fast!

Here's the precious:

My beautiful café au lait bowl went to japan!

Polka dots coffee bowl

Inside

Some little flea bites

Some more flea bites

If it's unique enough it will sell. If you spot cafe au lait bowls and are unsure if they are worth it, look under it. If the bowl has a mark it can help, especially if it's the Sarreguemines there are plenty of Sarreguemines collectors around. Otherwise if unmarked or a mark you are not familiar with, make sure it as a nice design: fruits and flowers sell well, so are the ones with polka dots.

Here's a few recent price realized on eBay: Vinatge French Cafe Au Lait Bowls

Barack Obama Election Day Newspapers From Canada

Following what's hot, following international news and keeping up with what people are passionate about is another way to target items you can sell on eBay. Barack Obama stirred a lot of passion all over the world back then. So in November 2009  buying these newspapers at my local newsstand was a no brainer. I sold a couple of sets for $29.49 (total cost for me was under $2 per sets). I sold a few to US buyers and also to a couple of buyers overseas.