E-crater buyers, your success stories?

[MoonwishesStore]

I sold a housecoat/robe pattern exactly like the one I had made for myself when in college. When the buyer bought the one I had for sale she said she had been looking for it for years. I wasn't surprised because I had been looking for the same type pattern ever since the initial making of the robe (not the same size anymore). It is little things like that that give you the warm fuzzies.

I too think the mouse tray had to be for "If you give a Mouse a cookie". I loved reading that book to my boys. What a super teacher!!!

[GoneFunky]

You guys wanna hear something even more funny? When I did the pricing for overnight shipping it was late probably 11:30 or so. When I printed out the shipping label the next day it was $6 higher than the price I had quoted her. I happily ate the $6...it was for a good cause.

I too love hearing all the great stories, a nice place to kick your shoes off and do some reflecting as well!

[ThePastLane]

It is interesting all the things out there that people want. Old manuals for vintage electronics and equipment, old advertising items, something their parents had that they liked, but that got lost or sold off after they passed away, hard to find replacement parts, etc. There is still a market for so many of those things, I wonder how many people still do plain google searches as opposed to google product searches.

[MoonwishesStore]

I just picked up some needlepoint things today at a FOL sale and since the original owner had her name on many of them, I did a Google search. She apparently died this January and someone has pitched/donated her things thinking who knows what, but she had some great stuff including self-published lessons on gold-work needlepoint. I cling to things like that thinking if I hadn't bought them some would have ended up in the garbage even though what is in them is valuable information and I'm sure some needlepointer out there would like the info. I'm wondering if I should try to contact the family to let them know I rescued the stuff.

I love collecting old sewing things and old cookbooks and all those things that reflect a life gone by when things didn't seem as crazy.

[viewfinders]

Excuse my ignorance but what is an FOL sale?

[ThePastLane]

Moonwishes, I'd advise against contacting the family. Of course, that's just me, but living in a retirement area, I've seen things involving families after the parents have passed away that aren't very nice. I've seen the heirs pitch stuff in the dumpster without a second thought. You never know what the family dynamics are, they may get embarrassed or even angry. Of course, it is my own personal experience, it might not be yours. You have to do what your heart tells you to do.

What's a FOL sale?

I, too, like things that reflect a better life gone by. That's why I call myself "The Past Lane", that's where I live.

[ThePastLane]

If I see heirs pitch stuff, I'm not too proud to go dumpster diving. In a way, I feel if I pass the stuff on to people who want it and will treasure it, I'm doing some good. My ex dug an old guitar body out of the neighbors' garbage one time. The body was still in good condition and he sold it to a collector for a few hundred dollars and the guy was thrilled, it was pretty rare, by an old master instrument maker.

Nothing like a good, productive dumpster dive.

[vintageinterestnmore]

Also was waiting on what FOL means.
In the meantime, my mind said Funny(Fabulous) Old Lady sale.
Freaking Out Laughing Sale
lol ok, I finally googled it.
Friends of the Library right Moon?

[MoonwishesStore]

FOL=Friends of the Library one of the many sales that small and large libraries have to raise money for the library by selling old or 'ex' library books and donations. My local library is where I get my reading supply for the year. This big citywide one is where I picked up all the goodies. I now have a huge stack of craft pattern pamphlets, craft magazines and craft books. So currently my backlog is now bigger, but as a needleworker myself I just can't let that stuff sit or be thrown out.

I have done some research on the lady and found in the stuff a list of her classes that she went to and her teachers to show why she was now up to giving classes herself. I doubt I will contact the family as I know that could be a tough one. But she sounds like an interesting lady. Started out as an RN and worked her way up to many other things. More than anything I would like to see some of her completed projects. When I get a huge bunch of items from one source we tend to refer to it by the ladies name. For instance Clara's stuff netted us well over $1000 and if I had been smarter I would have bought more one the first day I had been at her estate sale, but I foolishly let others get some of it.

These ladies having a huge bulk of needlework related books, magazines, patterns have a fortune in the stuff and even though some individual items would go for only pennies, to be able to make up a Lot of the items helps and also gives you an idea of where they were heading in their work. If all you see is beginer patterns and books you know they never got far and most of the stuff isn't probably worth much, but if you see lots of advanced techniques you know they were advanced and usually those advanced technique books, etc are worth more because they are scarcer. I'm probably off topic since I can't remember what it was, but I find all this fascinating as you can tell!!!

[ThePastLane]

Moonwishes, you're not off-topic, this thread could sort of go where it wants to, I guess. Thanks for clearing me up on FOL, I go to those from time to time.

[MoonwishesStore]

I got a email today that one of my customers that hasn't sewn clothes in over 30 years. She had bought a nightwear pattern and told me that she had terminal cancer and spent most of her time in jammies and decided to sew some for herself as she felt up to it to keep herself occupied. She sounds like my kind of person--"get busy living or get busy dying". Even while dying you can still be busy living.

[vintageinterestnmore]

Good for your customer who hadn't sewn in years. I'm sure that is quite calming and productive for her.

I'm sure your research was fascinating Moonwishes. Many items take me down a totally different path than I've been before. It's quite an adventure.

In March, we sold a 1969 Apollo Lunar Spacecraft by Revell to an individual in France. He wrote back and said "It is the same model kit I had in hands when I was a child in the seventies... It will be very funny to build it again for my "home little space museum."
I thought that was another winner. Just last month, we visited a section of a science center with many of the replicas, pictures, and toys from the beginning space program, I can appreciate this gentleman's re-creation of a special part of his childhood.

[ThePastLane]

I don't know if we're allowed to post links to articles here, if so the mods can just delete it, but I thought this article from the NYT was very interesting. "Will Last Century's Styles Open Today's Wallets?" The idea being that the styles of yesteryear provide comfort in times of anxiety. Companies are going retro.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/business/12nostalgia.html?src=busln

[zickit]

[GoneFunky]

Thanks for the link...some interesting info there.

I have another story, not heart warming but pretty cool. I had a vintage train case listed that was awesome...great shape Aqua, a really neat old piece. I had it priced pretty high, but thought I might never sell it cause it had the owners initials engraved on the front! HLW

So yesterday this lady contacts me about it for her daughter. We end up on the phone together and talked about shipping details. She seemed rushed, so I mentioned the initials on the front of the case. She laughed and said the initials on the case were the same as her daughters! How ironic to say the least!

Any-whooo I thought that was a fun story...her daughter will be shocked to get a piece of luggage from the 50's that has been personalized just for her!