Connecting You with Your Favorite Collectible

I thought it would be nice to show a picture of the beautiful little Johnny Playpal

Well tonight’s eBay auction set a record for us – the highest price we have ever received for a doll – Johnny Playpal went for $920.99. A great find and the buyer is very happy to get this rare doll. Anyway, two more great finds this week that we are very excited about. A beautiful and rare Mermaid Doll we purchased from a private seller. By pure coincidence, one of the recent Donald Trump Apprentice shows featured a task of producing a new jingle for Chicken of the Sea and Clint Black won the task. So we put up a little video of the Mermaid with Clint Black singing the Chicken of the Sea jingle. Check it out, I think you will love it…Very Cool!

In addition to that great find, we came across a unique piece of dollhouse furniture. It is a Mid Century Modern EAMES style Doll VANITY Metal 18″ Scale. These two items should help traffic into the store this week. I also hope to find the time to get several of my vintage computers listed this week.

I’ve found an amazing computer in a large estate sale in Connecticut a few weeks ago, and I have decided to sell it and several other vintage computers I have been storing in my house for the last twenty to thirty years. I hope to get these posted to eBay in the next two weeks. In addition to the Data General One, I also have an Apple II, Macbook 145B, Compaq Presario 3060 Desktop, Tosihiba Libretto, IBM PS/2 Model 30 and maybe a few more when I start digging. Stay tuned at connectibles.

We really picked up some nice vintage items last Thursday, some of which will get listed today. But this week it is all about Johnny Playpal. We found this rare boy doll (Patti Playpals little brother) in an old estate in Connecticut, it should provide a lot of traffic into the store this week at connectibles.

I am starting to really appreciate this style of recycling. It is amazing the number of 50’s-60’s items that are in demand today. This is certainly a great way to bring these collectibles back to the baby boomers who owned many of them when they were children.

So where have we been? Well, in addition to the normal Thanksgiving hustle and bustle, we have opened up our Yahoo Store @ http://www.buyconnectibles.com and also opened a Bonanzle store @ http://www.bonanzel.com/booths/connectibles. We are going a 100 miles an hour to grow the business.

We also picked up some great designer shoes (some new and some slightly worn) from a consignor in Connecticut and they have been selling very well. Designer shoes from Prada, TODS,and Chloe are great holiday items. In addition we obtained some great retired American Girl items from a Connecticut collector. Several great dolls and many outfits, plus the greatest doll bed ever – the retired Felicity four posted bed pre Mattel.

Anyway, stop in the store and look around for some great holiday items

As eBay sellers, one of the great services providers we have found is “What Do I Sell“. This subscription services, that was founded by Lisa Suttora, provides a central online learning location, and a place to learn the latest strategies for building an eBay business, and also a place that provides entrepreneurial support and networking for its members.

One of Lisa’s latest live audio class concerned the changes eBay recently announced. She developed and delivered a great class to help us analyze and develop the strategies required to implement and cope with the many eBay changes. It constantly amazes me at the number of support businesses that have been built around the eBay business.

A great find for our eBay store today was an absolutely mint condition complete set of the McDonald’s 2000 edition of Happy Meals for the “102 Dalmatians” from the movie tie-in. A really neat set! To flourish in a collectible business like this (vintage collectibles) you must be constantly on the lookout for unique and interesting items.

A really great weekend! We traveled to three large estate sales on Friday morning, and made some great purchases. We bought a very large lot of new Barbie stuff (still in the box). It will show up on eBay in about a week, if we can get around to making the listings.

Here is a nice eBay Widget for our store:

In addition we went to a doll auction in Jewett, Connecticut. We got some very nice newer designer dolls, but the older compo dolls had all been painted and did not look great. Even though they were good prices, the ability to resell them was questionable. But all-in-all we had a great time and acquired some execllent inventory.

But the highlight of the weekend was Becca’s birthday, we celebrated her turning eight. A great party and all the grand daughters were together.

Two years ago we decided to search for a few “new” items to our eBay business. Collectibles are my love and focus, but having several top quality new items in the store can help bring additional traffic into the store that might drive sales of the collectibles.

The NY International Gift Fair seamed a good way to get started in our search. However, getting approved to attend the show and finding quality items that have limited availability online proved to be a real challenge.

I will be at the show today and tomorrow and will post some notes about great finds this year.

Several years ago I retired from a 40 year career as a marriage counselor and am absolutely delighted to now have a full-time presence on Ebay! We’ve been buying and selling on EBAY since 1998. In fact naming my store connectibles came from the realization that I was starting to look at my Ebay listings as a “matchmaking” service — connecting you, the buyer, with that special collectible that I was fortunate enough to have discovered! I love the “search” for interesting pottery, art, dolls or toys that have been hidden away, and then the delight in hearing from happy buyers who have added these finds to their homes and their hearts. I may not find you the perfect “mate”, but I can hopefully help find you your heart’s desire in locating that unique item you’ve been searching for!

My husband of 41 years also enjoys the hunt and does all the packing, shipping and accounting for the business.

I will use this blog to talk about our eBay business and to document the many interesting “finds” we come across at the auctions, estate sales, flea markets and the antique stores we visit.

As I start this blog, I have already been a member of eBay since 1998. The first six years were strictly as a buyer, never dreaming that in my retirement I would find a great opportunity to start a business that I love.

In all started about three years ago after the death of my mother. As I was sorting through her accumulated possessions, it became apparent that after selecting several of the items to keep as remembrances, I had to dispose of the remaining items. I did not feel right about discarding the items, and beside, some were vintage item that could be considered collectible. Since I was already familiar with eBay as a “buyer”, why not try it as a “seller”.

After some initial success selling my mother’s things, I started going through the house gathering up the many things that collect in the back of closets, in the attic, garage and basement. Well, this was a lot of fun, getting rid of all this “stuff” and also making money. This was the start of a new and exciting career.

As the story now unfolds, we have a feedback rating 100% positive on over 4,100 transactions. I hope you will follow along with us and feel free to visit our store at http://www.connectibles.net.