Collectible Christmas Ornaments are Hot Sellers on eBay

Today's post is contributed by one of my clients, Pam, who has special knowledge of Hallmark collectible Christmas ornaments.

For Hallmark ornament collectors like myself, Christmas starts in July during Hallmark's Ornament Premier Event (it was July 10-12). This year, Hallmark had 4 different designs of "Register to Win" ornaments. They could not be purchased; the only way to get one is if they drew your name. I was lucky enough to win one and it just sold on eBay for $140! If you search "Register to Win" you will see that they are selling very well.

There are many other Hallmark collectible Christmas ornaments that are big sellers and I thought you might want to clue in your readers in case they're unaware of what they might have stored away in their Christmas decorations! Off the top of my head, here are a few of the good sellers:

1) Beauty of Birds series - if you have the 1st one in this series, it is going for $200+



2) Hallmark ornaments sold only at the San Diego Comic Con Convention (SDCC)- especially the Star Wars ornaments.




3) Not exactly sure of what specific ornaments, but anything Star Wars, Star Trek, Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind - if you have any of these, it's worth looking into on eBay. (And Terapeak!)




4) 2004 Christmas Cookies ornament (it looks like a stove) - very hard to find, even on eBay (and it's one I want!) - goes for $80 on the low end - $150 on the high end.




5) 2009 Seasons Treatings (a small cookie sheet with cookies on it and 1st in the series) - selling at around $80+

6) Frosty Friends series - this series has been ongoing since the early 1980's. If you have the first in this series - you probably want to sell it!




7) Hallmark collectible Christmas ornaments - "repaints", "limited quantity", "special edition".


8) Hallmark also sells recordable books. Last year, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" sold out very quickly and was selling on eBay for around $60.

Just a few ideas! Unfortunately, I tend to hang onto my ornaments, much to my hubby's dismay! I have some of the "hot" ones but can't bear to part with them!One more thing... Hallmark ornament collectors are very picky about the ornament box as well. No rips, tears, creases, etc. and do not remove the price tab! :)

Those are just a few off the top of my head; I'm sure there are many more!

Thanks, Pam, this is great information. If you have a guest post you would like to share, send it to me at ebaycoach @ yahoo for consideration.

Collectible McCoy Cookie Jar Sells for $241 on eBay

Dawn sent in her success story:

We bought this cookie jar for $2 at a church yard sale. We really had no idea what we had. Just knew McCoy Pottery was good. Here is the completed listing:



Dawn's price = $2
eBay selling price = $241.39
Profit before fees = $239.39

Outstanding! Those are the kind of sales we all hope for. Thanks for sharing, Dawn.

If you have a success story to share, send it in to me at eBaycoach @ yahoo.

For a FREE list of more items like this, click here for my list of thrift store finds to sell on eBay.

Selling Vintage Typewriters on eBay

Today's post is by my friend and fellow seller, Lori McAulliffe, eBay ID – rocketcitysales.

After reading Suzanne’s post about others finding and selling old manual typewriters making a nice profit, my husband began looking for old typewriters out on his visits to Auctions, Thrift Stores and the like. Well I can finally report he stumbled across an old typewriter at a local thrift store this past Tuesday (July 13, 2010). The typewriter was marked $20 he talked them down to $15. This particular model came with the case and key to lock the case. The typewriter and case had been very well kept and clean for its age. Once he brought it home, I immediately began the process of researching Royal Quiet Deluxe Typewriters. What I discovered was very exciting.

Using Terapeak research, I discovered this model would sell for an average of $50 on eBay, plus I learned for the same model that came in colors (pink, red, blue and white) these can sell for upwards to $300 and more depending on the color. That made for great information to keep on file when out searching for other typewriter finds. Upon completing my research in Terapeak, I began formulating a Keyword title and description in TurboLister.

I soon discovered that this item is searched for by DeLuxe and De Luxe, so I was sure to include both spellings in my listing title. I also discovered that the word Manual was an important keyword to include. I would have thought the word vintage was a good keyword, but soon discovered this word did not improve searchability or increase views. The auction listing description I created included a self story as well as accurate information about the item and links to detailed information about buying typewriter ribbons and other manual typewriter sites. I also found an instruction manual for this typewriter posted on the web in a PDF file that I could print and include with my Typewriter since it did not come with the original manual. Here are links to some websites about Typewriters I located:


My Typewriter.com

The Classic Typewriter Page

Your Royal Portable

Next step was taking detailed pictures to show off the condition of this typewriter, plus actually typing on a piece of paper and including this in a photo I found was key to showing buyers item worked and verifying clarity of the keystrokes. I took over 12 pictures of this item and since it was the middle of the week, decided to try to sell my item in a one day listing with starting price at $39.xx and a Buy It Now of $50.00.
I can testify that all this hard work paid off. In less than 12 hours our $15 find sold for $50.00 plus shipping. Here is the listing:



Thanks for this great information, Lori! Congratulations on your sale.

Vintage Perfume Bottles

Today's post is provided by Amy Kagey, our resident vintage perfume bottle expert on the eBay Mom's Facebook Group. Amy keeps us informed and always shares her great finds with the group. Here is Amy's advice:

It is always a good idea to look for perfume and even empty perfume bottles at garage sales, thrift stores and estate sales for resale purposes. Many people collect vintage perfumes and others are simply looking for their favorite perfume that has been discontinued. Other times, buyers are searching Ebay for designer fragrances so they can get a lower price.

I will usually purchase perfumes that aren't completely full, also, if they are collectible or sought after.

I look for:

1. Current designer brands (Chanel, Burberry, Armani, Dolce & Gabanna....)

2. Discontinued fragrances (Almost any discontinued perfume has a disappointed fan somewhere. Some older Mary Kay does well in this category.)

3. Older perfume bottles are very collectible, even if they are empty. These tend to be bottles from higher-end fragrances. Look for heavy, well-made bottles, unusual designs or figural bottles and anything marked France. Some very collectible bottles were made by Lalique, Tiffany, Baccarat, and Steuben.

I'm often asked about Avon bottles. Avon made many hundreds of styles of bottles, most labeled as collectible. I have found that most don't bring much money on Ebay at all. The exception to this are the newer high-end fragrances that Avon has been producing recently and some fragrances that were discontinued.

I have found perfumes to resell at garage sales, estate sales (check the bathrooms and dresser tops), thrift stores, auctions, and overstock stores. There is a great market out there for collectors and just people searching for their discontinued favorites. I hope this article will help you in your Ebay travels!

Thanks so much for sharing this information with us, Amy! Visit Amy's blog at Collectibles Online Sales, and her eBay store called Collectibilities.

Are you knowledgeable about a particular eBay niche, collectible, or vintage item? Submit your guest post for consideration to me at ebaycoach @ yahoo. My readers and I would love to hear from you!

eBay Bulk Editing to Improve in September

Did you receive the email last week regarding eBay's Fall Seller Update? One of the features is improved bulk editing. The lack of this feature has been one of the most aggravating parts of eBay - when a rule or policy changes, sellers must change all of their listings to be in compliance. If you have hundreds or thousands of listings, this task can take weeks. It is about to get easier!

The update states the following:

Edit more fields - which includes shipping. Bulk edit many more fields on your listing - item description, listing categories, shipping details and options, payment options, product details and specifics.

Use "find and replace" to make bulk changes to listing descriptions. If you make a global change to your policies and want to change several listings, you will be able to do this in bulk.

Revise more listings. Send fixed price listings to auction in bulk using Selling Manager Pro. The new functionality will allow revision of 500 listings at once.

Click here to read about the changes to bulk editing and learn how to use this great new feature!

Also, be sure to visit and subscribe to my column on The Examiner where you will find a library of more information about selling on eBay.

Cache Jacket - eBay Seller Success Story

Karla from the eBay Mom's Facebook Group send in her success story:

"I bought this jacket yesterday at a yard sale for $5.00 and sold it today after posting it last night for $125.00." Here is the listing.



Karla made $120 on that item in one day (before fees) and the listing only had 7 page views. But all it takes is 1 buyer! Great sale Karla, and thanks for sharing.

For more ideas on what to sell on eBay, visit these posts:

Thrift Store Items to Sell on eBay

Vintage Items to Sell on eBay

Discontinued Items to Sell on eBay

Drive Traffic to Your eBay Store Using Amazon Reviews

Did you know you can write book and product reviews on Amazon? Here is a neat way to interact with your target audience and promote your eBay store just by writing short reviews on Amazon.

1. Sign into Amazon as either a buyer or a seller. If you do not have a profile set up, you will need to create one. This allows you to review books and products.

2. Go to the YOUR ACCOUNT page that looks like this:

2. Scroll to the bottom where it says PERSONALIZATION and choose YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE:

3. Set up your profile and include a link to your eBay Store as your web page. Amazon allows this. Your profile information is on the left side of the page:

4. Review books and products that your potential customers will be looking at. For example, let's say you sell baby items on eBay. Go to Amazon and look up books about pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, or infant care that you have read, like this one:


5. Click on where it says REVIEWS and you will be taken to a page where you can write your own review. Keep it short, around 300 words. Your review will show up with the others and people checking out this product may hover their mouse over your name and they will see this:

6. Shoppers (your target customers) may click on your profile where they will see your link to your eBay store. (You can also use this technique to promote your website or blog. )

Does this sound like too much work? Some will think so, however, it is a simple internet marketing technique. Here are the benefits of this strategy:

1. Google will find you. If you name your Amazon profile with your business name (ex. Earth Friendly Baby Products), your Amazon profile will show up on Google. If someone Googles the book or product you reviewed, they may find you as a reviewer. If someone is on Amazon and lands on the book or product you reviewed, they may find you.

2. You are putting your link in front of potential customers who are shopping on the competitor's site.

3. This is free advertising. All that is required is your time.

The strategy here is like article marketing - the more content on the internet you have leading back to you, the better. The more reviews you write RELATED TO YOUR EBAY PRODUCTS the more hooks you have in the water and the more fish you will catch.

So, have you read any good books lately?