At Auction Bay, we often have little decorative figurines brought in by consignors for consideration.  If those figurines are made by the Goebel company of Germany, then they almost always sell!  Goebel figurines, most commonly created by the artist M.J. Hummel, or others of that family, are collectible and fairly well sought-after.  Their collectors often buy up and swap out these figures in large numbers… but we’ve got at least one consignor selling them one by one.  For instance, check out these figures we’ve recently sold:

Grandpa’s Boy & Grandma’s Girl Figurines – $122.50

The Artist Figurine Hummel # 304 – 1955 – $78.05

The older the Hummel figure, the better the sale!  But watch out for all the imitations out there.   

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Here’s an eBay hint for all you home eBay enthusiasts!  When selling a Hummel figurine, make sure to get a good photo of the underside of the base of the figure, which is where you can find information about its date of manufacture or production run.  Make sure to put these numbers in the title, too!  After all, some collectors might search by the figure name, while others will be searching for its catalog number!  If you’re not sure of its name or number, having one will help you find the other.  And check out similar figures on eBay – you can accurately identify yours by another seller’s item!

Jason here, with an item to share.  First, I must offer a confession.  I’m a geek.  Yes, I am an absolute geek… a fan of sci-fi and kung fu movies, with my own small collection of little plastic spaceships.

So it was no surprise to me when this item began to get bids, but each of us at Auction Bay were floored to see how well it sold!

This auction was for a pair of toys, one played-with and one new-in-box.  These toys, made by Mattel, replicate the Eagle One Spaceship from the science fiction epic SPACE: 1999.  The toys date to the 1970s, and are fairly sought after by people like me.  So sought after, in fact, that these two toys sold on eBay for a whopping $325.00!

Yessir, we geeks love models and toys that remind us of our childhood, or which simply look cool!  We’re willing to dump loads of cash on items like this, so if you happen to have some old toy space ships or laser pistols or action figures or other toys from any old sci-fi or fantasy movies or series, don’t be quick to toss them or donate them!  Instead, bring them into Auction Bay and we’ll check to see their potential value.  You never know when that old toy could be just what we want to buy!

One of our employees recently found this great item and knew he wanted to list it on eBay.  A simple clean-up project turned into a big moneymaker when this Fire Engine Siren turned up.  Made by MARS, sirens like this are collectible items, sought-after by firefighting enthusiasts and siren fans.

This great item would have sold anyway, but we knew that to get the most money out of it, we’d need to let people hear it!  Just check out the video and see (and hear) for yourself:

This great item was bid up to $109.30 on eBay, and will make a great addition to any Fire Truck restoration project, or could have all manner of other uses, like setting up an alarm system or playing a prank in a dormitory… just think of the possibilities!

Here’s another example of a vintage toy selling like crazy!  This is a kids’ sized replica of a Pullman Passenger Car, like those that traveled the country 100 years ago!

This is an all-metal toy, designed with sturdy construction for small children to play with or even ride upon.  Made by the Cor-Cor company, it boasts suprising detail.  It got a lot of attention on eBay, and sold for $117.50. 

So don’t just toss out or donate your old toys!  There is always a chance that your vintage toy is being sought after, and eBay is where it’ll be found!

We’ve just read this article on CNN’s website wherein it reports of people facing difficult economic circumstances have sold treasured posessions in order to get by.  We want to offer this rebuttal: You can sell things to make extra money without the remorse!   At Auction Bay, we will gladly help you sell most anything you bring in, and when it comes to personal treasures and heirlooms, there are many options. 

We recommend selling excess things on eBay, first.  Most of us have some old toys or pieces of electronics sitting about, which may or may not have seen use in years.  These are precisely the things that could help turn your financial tide.  Start out your eBaying with these things that you can do without, or items that can easily be replaced (especially electronics and hobby items).  Trim off the excess, sell the extranneous items, and you might find you like the extra space and extra cash more than you liked the extra thing! 

When it comes to items that have special value to you, or intrinsic value, like an old piece of jewelry which belonged to a family member, or an antique which has been in the family for years… these are items which you should wait to sell until other options are exhausted, or until opportunity presents itself.  Sometimes an item may have a surge of interest thanks to a movie or event, and as such, would sell all the better when the timing is right. 

But when it comes time to sell the special items, you can still rest easy, thanks to this:  In order to find something on eBay, you have to search for it.  By virtue of this fact alone, anyone who bids on your item will have first have had to try to find it, or at least have been browsing the category.  This means they are interested in it!  That item which is special to you could easily be as special to them.  This is one reason why items from the Second World War sell so well – there are collectors, historians, re-enactors, and even prop departments for plays and shows, all searching for WWII items on eBay to finally complete that kit, or display, etc.  Your item will almost certainly be going into the hands of someone who wants to treat it well.

Once again, an old Schwinn bicycle brings in the bucks!  This Schwinn Fiesta bike has a Blue Girl’s Frame and 26″ tires.  In great shape, it brought $135.99 on eBay.

Our rule of thumb is that nearly anything with the Schwinn logo will sell on eBay, thanks to the numerous collectors and bike restoration enthusiasts out there.  Sometimes, a buyer simply remembers a grand old bike from their childhood and wants to ride that beauty again!  Other times, people see a great opportunity to bring a bike from disrepair into great working condition and offer it for sale again.  And even still, there are many who desire an affordable method of transportation to cope with difficult economic times, and what better way than with a great bike?  Whatever the case, these classic bicycles bring interest and a pretty high yield to an auction.

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Here’s another eBay hint for you home eBay enthusiasts out there!  As with most things, when selling a bicycle, the more pictures, the better.  Make sure to grab photos of the gears, but also focus on any extra parts, like chain guard and pedals, and especially lamps and accessories that might be marked with the maker’s logo.  These parts may be rare and sought-after.

Recently at Auction Bay, we listed an old Nikon Model MS Inverted Lab Microscope, while simultaneously listing a number of lenses compatible with it.  The microscope was a high quality lab instrument dating back 3-5 decades, and we were pleased that it sold for a healthy $255.00!  But some of the lenses were even more impressive!

Some of the lenses sold in the $50-100 range, but the best of which was this Zeiss Plan-NEOFLUAR 40 lens, which sold for a whopping $504.00!  Now that was a real shocker!

But we’re not done!  Those lenses did so well that our consignor was back for more, and now we have another collection of old objectives for sale, including this Bausch Lomb 100x Flat Field Objective Lens and this Leitz Wetzlar Oel 100 / 1,30, so don’t miss out!  And if you’ve got any old optics or microscopy equipment taking up space, we will happily help you sell it!

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Here’s an eBay hint for all you home eBayers! If you ever sell a piece of optical equipment or lens, or perhaps a telescope or even a camera, try to get one of your photos through the optic itself while it’s focused on an object.  A potential bidder will have a lot more confidence in your item if they can see a nice clear image through the lenses, showing no cracks or ‘dew’ or delamination.  It can really make or break the sale of any optic!

Spring is here, and the showers have been impressive!

Mont Blanc makes high quality and collectible writing implements, and they fetch pretty prices on eBay!  We recently sold a ball point pen of the Writer’s Edition by Mont Blanc.  This pen featured the engraved signature of a great writer: the legendary Oscar Wilde.  It sold for an amazing $535.00 on eBay!  For an aspiring writer or literature fan, owning such a pen would be a real treat.

We also listed an ink well and stand by Mont Blanc, which on its own sold for an impressive $207.58!

If you happen to have any writing instruments by this famous maker, we can help you sell them at Auction Bay!