Lynn’s eBay eZine May 8th, 2014 Volume X, Issue 06

Hi!

Happy Spring & Happy Mother’s Day!   It has been crazy busy here and the estate and garage sales have been getting much better.  Yay!  The thrift stores are finally dropping their prices now that high season is over and the snowbirds are flocking back to places far, far away.  Thank goodness!  Our thrift store prices have been OUT OF CONTROL.  Seriously, $1.99 each for plastic salad plates and $3.99 each for coffee mugs?  I don’t think so.

Here is a vase I just bought at a garage sale for $5.  Well, I got two of them for $10.  The dinnerware company is Lynn Chase and a big thanks to Queen’s Court member Danni for letting me know that this is an awesome brand to purchase.

Click here to see this auction.

How could I ever forget Lynn Chase?  My name is obviously Lynn, and my mom’s last name is Chase.  Pretty simple to remember, right?  Now, I hope you remember that name and maker’s mark.

Houston and Indy have been crazy busy as usual.  But we did continue our college tour over Easter weekend with a formal tour at Pepperdine in Malibu and an informal drive-by at UCLA.

I am sorry folks, I just can’t promote my cross-town rival (USC graduate here) to the kids.  So, like we do at many garage sales, I showed them the campus from the car (a drive-by).  Their chances of getting admitted to UCLA are slim to none.  Apparently, UCLA had approximately 90,000 applicants last year and accepted only 5,000.  Houston and Indy should have a better chance at USC (although the odds are about the same) but, both kids are double legacies.

However, we all fell in love with Pepperdine.  As we got out of the car, an outdoor good Friday service was being held and the choir was singing “10,000 reasons” a Christian song that both kids know and immediately began singing along with.  It was one of those “goosebump” moments.

Here is a picture of the kids sitting with the bronze statue of founder George Pepperdine and sharing a Jamba juice (that a student offered to buy for us).  I was blown away by how nice all the students were!

Not only do both kids want to attend Pepperdine (which also has very high standards) but Houston would love to play baseball for Coach Steve Rodriguez.  Here is Houston on the field.  If anyone has any connection to Pepperdine, please let me know .

Before we headed into Santa Monica, we stopped by one of my old haunts for a quick lunch, Gladstones.  Boy have the prices gone up!  Here are the kids at the restaurant on the beach in Malibu enjoying the view from Gladstones.

After lunch, we managed to hit quite a few thrift stores and I found some great stuff!  Here is a listing for a torte pan from Poland that did not sell at auction but is already listed in my store.  Gotta love checking out thrift stores around the different areas (and colleges) you visit!

Click here to see this auction.

After our “drive-by” tour of UCLA, we met my brother for our favorite Chinese Chicken Salad at Chin Chins in Brentwood.  It was really fun and Lee even had on Pepperdine colors…by accident of course (orange and blue), they are the waves.  So my brother started doing the wave with his hands and both kids were cracking up holding onto their chopsticks.  Houston was still wearing his “We are Pepperdine” shirt that we had purchased earlier that day.

Funny side note.  I texted Lee and said “do you want to meet us at Chin Chins for dinner” and he texted back “motor oil”.  We had taken our grandmother, Cheryl Leaf, to dinner there after touring the original Getty Museum in Malibu way back in 1989 when I lived in Brentwood.  She HATED the Chinese Chicken Salad and said that it tasted like “motor oil”.  Leave it to Cheryl Leaf.

After our current 2014 dinner, we walked behind Chin Chins and I took a picture of my old apartment.  Houston spotted the “For Lease” sign and immediately got out his phone to call and see how many places were “going for these days”.  It was hysterical.  We were all laughing so hard as he was pretending to be an interested renter.  Come to find out (from the Goose’s sleuthing) that a two-bedroom is only about $2,100.  Hasn’t gone up that much since I lived in there in the late 1980’s and we paid $1295 for a three-bedroom.

Below the photo of me in the late 1980’s, there is a photo of Houston making that phone call in front of the apartment I used to live in.  Believe it or not, I show that photo of myself standing on that same top balcony talking on my figural Mickey Mouse phone (wish I still had that ) in my book Home Run story #6.

Here I am on that top right-hand balcony many moons ago.  I was 22 years old in that photo.

Here is Houston (over Easter Break) looking up at that same apartment building and making the call.  He is almost 18 (only 4 years younger than when I lived there).  All I can say is WEIRD—we are both on phones.  Me on a corded landline (that is all we had) and him on a cell.

And here is that story for those of you who don’t have my book Home Run.  Notice how I mention Chin Chins in it!

OH MY Gosh, Before I forget, my awesome webmaster, Todd, has gotten most of the old ezines listed for easy reading.  Here is a link to the eZine Archive page on the website where they are located.  I can’t believe I have written so many!  We will also list them at the end of this ezine so that they are easier to click directly on the issue you would like to read.  Thanks, Todd!

For those of you who missed the “Sporting Good’s Secret” call with Coco, you still have a chance to purchase the download before the price goes up.  Click here to buy it now.

Check out this email I received after the call…

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This is what Coco taught us in our first ever teleseminar together. Well, actually it is our second teleseminar together because she guest hosted March’s Queen’s Court Q & A call for Mo. Mo had to work late at her “other” job and missed the call. Coco filled in at the last minute and was a pro!

Here is a photo of Coco, her sister Robin, and myself, at a dinner, they cooked for my mom and I last Friday night in Orange County, before we went to a really awesome community garage sale on Saturday morning.  But more about that later.

Coco is an expert eBay seller with fourteen years of experience. She specializes in items that you may consider “guy stuff”. However, sporting goods run the gamut from ladies’ golf shoes, tennis racquets, golf bags all the way to snowboards. Although, most of the snowboards she finds at the garage and estate sales she gives to her nephew CJ.

Coco also has another sporty nephew, Erik, who pitched for the San Diego Padres during the 2011 season and is now with the Maryland Blue Crabs working his way back into the Majors. Coco is obviously very well connected in the sporting world and knows her stuff!

Check out this wooden water ski that Coco sold for a king’s ransom…

It sold for over $350! Coco paid only $10 for it at a garage sale. Go Coco! I usually say to her, “Congratulations, but I would HATE to ship all the stuff you sell.” and she responds with, “Congratulations on your dinnerware sales, but I would HATE to ship all of that”! She always responds with, “It is easy if you know what you are doing.” Coco knows what she is doing and the recorded phone teleseminar was AWESOME and is available for purchase here.

In the 70 plus minute teleseminar, Coco taught us…

• How to Source the best selling Sporting Items
• What brands to ALWAYS buy
• What brands to NEVER buy
• What brands are QUESTIONABLE
• What niches are the most profitable
• How to ship these crazy oversized items
• If she ships internationally
• What is her favorite sports genre
• What sports niche should you avoid
• What sports niche should you embrace

If you are lucky enough to be a Queen’s Court member, this was your April Gift. If not, you can still purchase it here before the price goes up.

Finally, a very BIG Thank you to Coco for sharing her Sporting Goods Selling Tips and Tricks!  Sporting Goods can be found for low prices and can reap great rewards. Why not add this exciting category to your online business?

To purchase now before the price increases, click here.

Here is one last amazing score. She paid $20 for this at a garage sale and it sold for over $160.00.  Coco coached us on what to pay for Snow Boards during the teleseminar.  I saw two last weekend but the man wanted $75 each and I knew from Coco’s advice to pass them up.  I wonder if Coco saw the same two since it was in Orange County.

And a recent score that Coco just got listed.  She purchased 7 English Saddles for $20 each.  Wow!  Check this one out.  She is trying a new strategy with this saddle and starting it at 99 cents.  I hope it works!

Click here to see this auction.

But back to that great dinner that Coco made for her sister Robin, my mom, and I.  It was amazing! And the next morning we headed out to a huge community garage sale.

I decided to try my hand at a sporting goods item.  Here is my first purchase and it is already listed!  I paid $2 for these new football shoulder pads.

Click here to see this auction.

At one of the garage sales we attended on that same Saturday, the people holding the sale actually had an ATM in their driveway.  My mom and I couldn’t believe it and I had to ask them why.  The lady told me that when they have poker parties and their guests run out of cash, they can use the household ATM.  I am thinking of getting one for my kids because they think that I am their own personal ATM….Just kidding .

Now I have seen everything at a garage sale!

That same day I got an AWESOME set of Japanese Lithophane China for $20.  For those of you who don’t know what a Lithophane is, check out this listing.

Click here to see this auction.

My mom drove down from Washington for the big sale in the OC and it is great to have her here and for her to have her own car.  It is so helpful to have an extra driver with their own vehicle.  Can’t wait until Indy starts driving in about one month (with her permit and an adult).

Whenever my mom is here, we often talk about my grandma.  My grandma is always on my mind and in March I sold a piece of jewelry that had belonged to her.  I don’t think I have shared this with you yet, so will do so now.

Click here to see this auction.

It is an amazing antique piece of jewelry that she bought in Russia back in the 1980’s and I knew I would probably never wear it.  I had tried selling it on eBay and it had sold once but was returned, so I decided to try a different route.

I took it to one of our local consignment stores that charge 35% to sell your item.  The jeweler priced it at $1000 and if it sold, I would have received $650.  It did not sell within 60 days and they were going to mark it down to $750 and then I would have only received $487.50.  I took it off of consignment.

By the way, the entire time it was at the consignment shop, it was also listed on eBay for $1,999.00.  If it would have sold on eBay, I would have taken it off of consignment then.  One day (not long after I picked it up), I got an offer for $950.00, with a super sweet letter from the lady who wanted to buy it.  I knew that it had found a better home and I accepted her offer.  She LOVED it!  Thank you, Grandma.

Since we are on the subject of Cheryl Leaf, I must tell you about my friend Kate who holds estate sales in our area.  She had moved away, but I had received an email from her several weeks ago saying that she was back and having a fantastic sale that I should NOT miss.  Well, I get about 400 emails a day (not kidding) and I read it and forgot about it STUPID.

Well, God or a crow (this will be explained later if you read clear to the end of the ezine) or Cheryl Leaf was looking out for my mom and I, and we decided to hit two sales in Palm Springs on a Friday morning.  We RARELY go clear into Palm Springs.  The first one was at the Presbyterian Church and it was a BUST.  The second one was INCREDIBLE.

I was checking out the dishes when I heard a lady say, “Hello Lynn’s mom” to my mom.  I turned around and there was Kate.  No way!  I told her I thought she was still in San Diego and she said she had recently emailed me and it all came back to me.  This was the sale she had told me about.  By the grace of God (or a crow), we were there!

The items were beautiful and as my mom was looking at a bronze inkwell, she said to me “Grandma would love this”.  I said “For sure” and Kate piped in with “Cheryl Leaf lives on”.  My mom and I cracked up.  Apparently, Kate actually reads my ezines.  Thank you, Kate!

Here is a photo of Kate with my mom and I.

My mom even has her loupe around her neck.  Good job Mor Mor!

I bought an amazing set of Royal Albert Old English Roses in the Mother’s Day version (how fitting) and a Saurregemines Jug.  Let me just say a Happy Mother’s day again to all of you who are Mothers!

Here is a listing for one of the cup and saucer sets in the Mother’s Day pattern.  Turns out these are actually kind of rare cups because they have two holes for the finger instead of the typical one.  I learn something new every single day.  Isn’t it fun?

Click here to see this auction.

I did mention a Sarreguemines jug I bought at the same sale from Kate, but I will wait until the end of the ezine to share that with you because I always like to end with a score!  But, do you remember this Saurregemines jug from ages ago that sold for $515.00?  Yikes

I paid $2.50 for this on the final day of an estate sale back in September of 2013. It was priced at $5.00 and was ½ price on that last day .

Click here to see this auction.

I can’t believe the final sales price! Also, it had 14 bids from over ten unique bidders (all from France). I made sure I emailed the buyer immediately to make sure he knew it had a chip. He had also asked me right after the sale to “Please double box it”. I HATE double-boxing items and think that it can be more dangerous in some cases.

But it all worked out wonderfully well!  $515.00 for an “as is” very rare Sarreguemines. Don’t miss my new potential score at the end of this ezine.

We have now completed six videos in our teaching series.  They are helping many of you and that makes me super happy.

Here is an email I received regarding the most recent, A.L.L. or Nothing,

Here is a list of the downloadable videos so far and links to learn more about each one.  Remember, each of these is a key step in learning how you can use “Assembly Line Listing” to ramp up your eBay sales.

• Shipping is as Easy as ABC
• What 2 Look 4
• Research Round-Up
• Write-Up Rodeo
• Shooting Gallery
• ALL or Nothing

Indy even made a sneak preview for you to watch from A.L.L. or nothing.  Here is a link to that sneak peek free two-minute video.

Houston has been named player of the game again!  Yay!  And it was for his pitching and his hitting.  Praises be!

Here is what they said about the Goose.

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And here is a picture of him on the mound.  How cool is this picture?  I caught the ball in mid-air.  Wow!

Indiana did something super brave this past week at school.  On Monday, she got up in front of the entire student body (about 600 kids) and gave a personal five-minute reflection.  Indy wants to be a youth minister someday and I would have to say, she is on her way!

Here is a photo of her practicing her speech.  A reflection at Xavier is a person’s personal thoughts regarding a subject that is chosen by their pastor/priest.  Indy’s subject matter was thanksgiving.

I asked Indy if she wouldn’t mind sharing it with you all and here it is if you would like to read it.  I will tell you this much….I will never look at a crow the same way again.  Thanks, Indy Girl!

And that from 15-year old Indiana!   I believe she has an old and beautiful soul.  I was holding her and rocking her very late the night my grandmother passed away and my brother called to give me the very sad news.  Indy was 19 months old and had a fever that night and I always felt that when my grandmother passed, Indy’s fever broke, and somehow she took over my grandmother’s role in life.  To always shine her light when things get dark.  I am very blessed for both of my kids!

Let’s get back to an eBay score!   Finally!  Here is my most recent Saurregemines score!  Well, hopefully, a score to be.  I bought this from Kate last Saturday and she was asking $65 for it.  She is one smart lady!  I couldn’t read the name on the base but I just had a feeling.  I took a big risk and hopefully it will pay off.

I found the exact same Saurregemines mug/pitcher online and the auction house estimate was $300 to $500, so I priced it at a $299.99 starting bid.  Fingers crossed it has a bid by the time you read this.  I don’t think it will sell for as much as the bighorn sheep/ram even though that one was as is because I don’t think this woman is as rare, yet you just never know with eBay.  That is what makes it soooooo fun!