Question
Just curious, I was reflecting just now on all the thousands of different items I've sold...and which ones I most regret selling or at least which ones I most regret selling at the price I got for them....
Any body have any thoughts? My biggest regret was selling one particular old postcard from around 1905. I didn't think it was worth much, so I sold it for around $6. I later came across a dupe, which I put on eBay and sold for over $100.
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I was pre-ebay, but I was having a yard sale and went SELL crazy.
Sold a wonderful old Zenith radio sign for $12.
To a lady who also stold some items at the same time.
And who later put it in her mall booth for $95.
Which was fine, but what I regret is that the sign came from Dad's
hometown buddies old store....
Siiighhh
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Mostly financial regrets - rather than selling and later regretting anything of sentimental or personal value...
I once sold a doll for around $500 which was great since I paid $4.00 for it. But if I had done my research properly - and written the ad accordingly - it would have sold for more like $1500. Nice return in any event, but still kind of galling. Learnt a good lesson though!
I also sold a set "great writings kind of books" Purchased for $20 and routinely sold (back then) for around $120. They came in their original shipping box tightly packed in two tiers. I pulled out the first tier and checked through them, and then left the second tier in the box, but made a note of all the titles. Auctioned successfully and shipped, and shortly thereafter received an email from the buyer announcing that the whole second tier was rotting and crumbling from long ago water damage! So that lesson was "check all items thoroughly to avoid mortification."
Christine
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Burners for a whale oil lamp. Came across two of them over the years and figured I'd never have a lamp appropriate for them. They each sold for $70.00 plus.
So guess what I got for Christmas (without a burner)?
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An old basket that sold for around $15.
Turned out to be worth at least $100 as it was an actual Indian basket.
And I collect those kind of things...
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The first couple Viggo Mortensen books Recent Forgeries. They sold under $75. Wish I would have waited and saved them until the time I sold the last one: over $200 ...
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A few years ago I very unexpectedly found myself in a situation where I had to support my family by selling on eBay. It was our only source of income.
Several months before, I'd spent ten days in Europe with my mom helping to take care of her very ill sister. Browsing through the attic of what had been my grandparents' 600 year old house (in which my aunt and uncle now live), I came across some ancient-looking iron keys, corresponding locks having been long lost. The keys were huge, about 6 to 7 inches long and pencil-thick.
I asked and was given permission to take a few of these keys back to the States. The keys are amazing; wonderful pieces of history. One in particular had a huge ring at the top, large enough to fit on the knob of my closet door.
When we fell on "hard times" I decided to list this key. It sold for over a hundred dollars, and they money went immediately to pay bills. To this day, out of all the many personal posessions of mine that I sold during that stint, I sorely regret selling that key. I so wish I hadn't.
-Nancy
Here's the auction photo I used for the key. This was one of the shorter ones, about 5" long.
http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/42/41898/czkey.jpg
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Silly very small regret. Before I'd ever tried a french press coffee pot, I picked up an very nice unused chrome one at a yard sale for a couple of dollars and sold it for about $15. Now I love coffee from a french press and yanno I'm never gonna find a new chrome one for a couple of dollars ever again. In fact, considering that I'm pretty much ending my online selling career or at least turning it into a very part-time hobby, I'll probably pay about $15 for one retail.
The filter on my current one is getting a little worn which is why I even thought about it.
Peace,
Sadie
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this is fascinating! All these great stories
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Apology for going off topic a sec, but... French press coffee pot - is that where you mix the grounds with the water, let it brew, and then push a filter through like a plunger, from the top, until all the grounds are pressed to the bottom? Then you serve the coffee and the grounds stay pressed on bottom?
I have one like that. It makes like two cups of coffee. It was a Crate & Barrell item from about 15 years ago.
-Nancy