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2) Flip of the Week Contest 11: Cool '80s Skateboard, Wedgwood, Signed Vase amid the Junk
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[ To enter the next contest, simply email me at juliawilk@aol.com with the story of your find!]
Hi Julia,
I found your blog while searching for the 26 mile yard sale in Alabama. I signed up for your newsletter and have really enjoyed the few I've read. I'm going to check out the archived ones. This is a story about my best flip.
My husband is a licensed auctioneer and we own a live auction house in Pine Mountain, GA. When we are not having our own auction; we are at some other auction or yard sale. Believe it or not we can buy at a yard sale and make money selling at a live auction. We are certified yard sale and auction addicts!
Recently a small local live auction advertised an Antiques and Collectible Estate Auction. When we got there we were sooooo disappointed. There were no antiques; only JUNK with a capital J. Box deals of old telephones. Dollar store collectibles (is there such a thing?) Anyway, you get the idea.
They did a table choice full of such box deals and invited everyone to come up and look. I went of course, I can’t pass up looking at old junk; always in search of the TREASURE that someone missed. And there it was lying on it’s side in the middle of all those old worthless huge cordless phones that they don’t make batteries for any more, and broken and repaired dollar store items. I acted not very interested but bid $2.00. No one else bid and I got my choice of all those boxes of treasure.
The pottery vase I had spotted had a mark on the bottom of a potter at a potters wheel and Pisgah Forest 1939. That night about midnight when we got home I looked at the completed listings on eBay and there was one that sold for around $50.00.
I looked at current listing and there was one listed for $50.99 that was ending the next night.
I listed mine early the next morning so Maybe the person bidding on the other one could have a pair. I listed it for $35.00.
A fair price I thought because mine wasn’t perfect. Some glaze flaking off around the bottom of the piece. Within a few hours I had my minimum bid. The next morning it was at $100.00 and closed at a phenomenal $178.50. Here is the link. It was purchased by the curator of a museum in Washington state. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190243941367&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT
Here is the listing:
Turquoise Vase Pisgah
Forest 1939 North
Carolina Pottery
Estate Sale
This beautiful old piece is really special. It is large 9 inches tall by 19 inches around the widest part. The base and the mouth are both 4 inches across. It has a beautiful turquoise crackle glaze and the inside is a creamy pink color. Both colors are vivid not faded at all.
This piece has the following trademarks: Pisgah Forest 1939 with the logo of a potter working at the potter wheel. (see the pictures) The condition of this item is good there are no breaks, cracks, or repairs there is however; a lot of crazing or it may be the type of glaze that is crackled (enlarge the picture and it will be visible), also around the very bottom edge of the piece on one side there is some chipping off of the glaze.
It can still be displayed and look good by turning the side with the chipping to the back (again if you enlarge the pictures you can see it.) I took a couple of pictures up close of this area. There is also some bubble pops inside the mouth (again see close up picture.) These small imperfections don’t detract from the value or beauty of old pottery; it is still a fine example of American folk art.
Here is some information from the website of the Mint Potters Museum in North Carolina:
In 1901, W.B. Stephen and his mother, Mrs. Andrew Stephen opened their first pottery in Western Tennessee, named Nonconnah Pottery. Later, in 1913, after the death of his mother, W. B (Walter) Stephen opened the Pisgah Forest Pottery, at the foot of Mount Pisgah, in Ardon, N.C. The pottery is chiefly known for a turquoise blue glaze that is sometimes crackled.
Marks vary from "Pisgah Forest Pottery," with or without a rough motif of a potter at work, to "Stephen."
The Pisgah Forest Pottery was owned and operated by W.B. (Walter) Stephen from 1926 to 1961. Today, the pottery is operated by Tom Case, who is the grandson of Walter Stephen.
Many of the pieces produced at Pisgah Forest in the early 1900's are excellent examples of American folk art. A number of museums such as the Smithsonian, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Mint Museum in Charlotte own examples of Pisgah Forest Pottery. inches
My user ID is countrysideauction and my eBay store is Countryside Auction.
I have been selling on ebay actively since May 22, 2008 after I stumbled on one of Lynne Dralle's articles and was inspired beyond all reasoning; to jump in deep with both feet!!
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Hey there countryside auction! ;) Sooo sorry for the delay; I know this is pathetically late. Two family members (incl. myself) have had a horrible flu. A new newsletter is percolating now and I will def. put your entry in.
Great find! Don't you love it when those lame sales redeem themselves with that one special item? I think that's what keeps us at it. ;)
A lovely vase indeed...I always turn those things over and look for a mark..lately my luck has not been so good! I bet you have a lot of great finds if you run an auction house.
Well thanks again for the entry...new newsletter coming soon!
Keep selling! Julia
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Hi Julia,
I can't find the link to send along my "Flip Of The Week".
[Note from Julia: there actually is no link per se, tho I should create one; you simply email your find story to me at juliawilk@aol.com.]
However, if you're accepting them here, here it is:
I reluctantly went to an auction with my husband in Pennsylvania, and we were only there to look around, but I couldn't resist the urge to bid on the lower-priced table items.
I struck up a conversation with an actual antique dealer who kept nudging me in the side whispering "bid on that, bid on that!" I took her advice and raised my paddle and won a big (really big) box of porcelain plates and bowls for $7.50. Well I let it sit for 6 months and last week I went through it and found a dinner plate that was selling in the range of $99.95.
I figured, "whole box, $7.50," I'll be conservative and list the plate at $59.95 and it sold for $66.01. WOW! A dinner plate for $66?!? Who would have ever thought? Now I'm going to try to sell the bowls too -
Oh, ALL WEDGWOOD COLUMBIA GOLD (Sage Green).
[Note from Julia: The above photo is not Bev's actual find, but a photo of a similar plate in that pattern I got off eBay].
lol,
Bev
Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should just relax and try to get used to the idea.
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Hey Bev!
I'm sorry -- I think I missed seeing this flip on time! That's wonderful...Wedgwood stuff can be awesome. :-) Hard to believe a plate can sell for that much..but it can, and more! I think I wrote a while back about how I bought a reticulated old Meissen cabinet plate for $150 and sold it for about $300. The book value on it was even more.
I'll enter you in the next flip contest, as I just sent the last newsletter out. Great entry and thanks for your patience.
Keep reading and selling,
Julia
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Hi Julia!
I've been reading your newsletter for about a year now and have always wanted to send in a unique flip idea and finally got my chance recently!
My husband was a skateboarder in his day and has always told me to look for old skateboards during my garage sale-ing hours. I know I've seen a few but I just didn't believe him that those old broken looking boards were worth anything. But one brave morning, my friends and I hit a sale where I spent a lot of time because I found a whole tub of Legos for my son (oh, if only I could eBay them - it would break his heart!) and the teenager selling them told me the price was $5. Well, while I was drooling over the tub of Legos, I noticed an old broken down skateboard leaning up against their mailbox.
For some reason it caught my eye. My friends and I left the sale and as we drove away, I started to realize that the stickers on it were for 1980's skate brands. Not sure how I remembered those brands -- maybe because I grew up in a surfing town where skaters and surfers were sometimes one and the same. I saw "Jimmy-Z", "Gotcha", and "Airwalk" stickers. I asked my friend Andrea to slow down after we turned around and I rolled down my window. I asked him how much for the skateboard and he said $4. I took the chance, paid him, and put the skateboard in the trunk.
The minute I walked through the door with my garage sale finds, my husband's eyes lit up.. Apparently he had a similar board and it was rare. We looked it up and it was a "Santa Cruz" Rob Roskopp #3. Who knew? I sold it last week for $147.
It's sold for a lot more in the past but my husband says my pictures falsely make it look like there is damage. No use crying over spilt milk, however, as I'm happy with my $143 profit!
Here's my auction link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280269754830&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT&ih=018
Thanks, Malia
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Hey Malia! So sorry for the delay...son has been ill, various other random stuff that slows me down. Wow..that is so fun about the skateboard! Another niche I don't think I ever thought of. Esp. that the '80s skateboard stickers, brands etc are so desirable.
It's funny..I bought a board that looked a lot like that one, minus the stickers, for my son for a few bucks..gonna have to go back and take a look at it!
You're entered into the contest..thx so much and watch for a new issue soon!
:)
Happy selling,
Julia
OK, so for the winners..countrysideauctions and Malia tie for first...you'll win a set of eBay-related books or a complete set of eBay collectible pins. Bev is runner up and wins a tote bag and the other eBay trinkets I have left from eBay Live 2008 (oh the suspense of it all!).
Entrants all, pls. email me at juliawilk@aol.com with your USnail address. :-)
Next issue we'll have more fabulous prizes! So mail in those entries.
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What's the PERFECT eBay product? Learn How To Make Money with information products on ebay.
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