My good friend and long time eBay consignment cohort, Liz, is back! And, this time, I think she may have outdone herself with unusual items for me to sell on eBay!
I get lots of requests to share my eBay consignment journeys. Folks always comment how they always learn something new about;

• how to sell on eBay
• eBay marketplace research
• how to use Terapeak
• eBay SEO

So, let’s jump right in and see the nifty (and, hopefully, profitable) items I’m selling for Liz on eBay!
The Imperial Puppy of Satsuma is a large figurine from the Franklin Mint.  It’s one of those types of collectibles you’ve seen as an insert in a magazine or in a TV ad. It’s the kind of item many people cannot resist. The unfortunate thing is that sometimes you think you are buying an item that will be worth something great one day and unfortunately this is not one of those Franklin Mint items.

There is only about a 9% sell through rate which means the odds are not in our favor. So to help it out a bit we will not list it too high and shoot it out as an auction with a fair starting price which will keep it safe in case it does only receive one bidder.  

Starting bid $24.99 with free shipping which is the lowest price of any others listed live on the site right now. Our puppy is  eBay item # 401106458931 and will be listed as a five day auction.  Why 5 days? Because I felt it had better odds than a longer auction.  Now keeping in mind, this is not the strategy I use for all items. Only on items with lower selling odds. SOLD $29.00.
Tods Purse – Never have I heard of this purse line before.  This is one of those things that makes my job so much fun and that is learning about new and interesting products. Tods purses are good sellers. Showing on Terapeak a 21.15% sell through rate with the highest priced bag selling for $450.00! Cha-Ching!  

Now our purse is not one of the higher end types. After much research I did discover that our purse is called a Lady-D Tote Bag thanks to WorthPoint. I couldn’t identify this bag using Tereapeak. Worthpoint is a brilliant tool for projects like this. The one I found on Worthpoint sold for $295.00 on July 9, 2009.  However, that one had an additional strap and this one does not. It is also a chocolate brown color which is not a more desirable tone.  So, my call on this one is to do a 10 day auction and start the bid at $49.99 and roll the dice.  eBay item # 401106507469 SOLD $49.99 – the owner decided she didn’t like the purse and returned it. UGH I know but this happens sometimes. It’s all good. I’ve listed it again, eBay item # 401131975273

Part of this consignment package are a set of 5” Pewter figurines that have been kept very nicely in a large wooden case. The research on these have been tough because these are not the most popular types, which are the “Presidential” figurines made in the USA by the Lance Fine Pewter Company. Lionel Forrest is the designer.
The figurines I’ll be listing on eBay include 24 in this set of soldiers. Although they are all the same designer, it’s important to list each one by name. Doing so creates a better experience for the buyer and gives us an SEO boost as we’ve included tons more keyword qualifiers.

And they are:

1. Hunnish Warrior – 433-453 AD (with a removable spear in hand)
2. Louisiana Tiger Zouave – 1861-1865
3. U.S. Dragoon – 1846-1848
4. Assyrian Warrior 6th Century B.C.(no arrow in hand)
5. Colonial Light Infantryman 1781
6. Crusades Knight – 1096-1270
7. Marlborough Staff Officer – 1701-1714
8. Samurai Warrior – 1156-1160
9. English Civil War – 1642-1651
10. Napoleonic Grenadier – 1796-1815
11. American Infantryman – 1812
12. U.S. Infantryman – World War I – 1917-1918
13. Potsdam Grenadier 1756
14. Roman Legionaire – 50 B.C. – 100 A.D.
15. U.S. Infantryman World War II – 1941-1945
16. Napoleonic Hussar 1810
17. Spanish Conquistador 1519
18. Landsknecht Mercenary Soldier – 1500-1600
19. Crossbowman 1356
20. War of Roses Knight 1455-1485
21. Greek Warrior 336-323 BC (yes, that is what it reads) With removable spear.
22. U.S. Federal Cavalry 1861-1865
23. Saracen Warrior 600-1200 A.D.
24. Viking Warrior 800-1000 A.D.

What an interesting bunch of soldiers!
Each one stands about 5” tall with an exception to the Potsdam Grenadier. Because of his hat he is 6.5” tall.
The highest set I could find that sold in the last 90 days according to Terapeak
was a set of 33 U.S. Presidents, eBay item # 252331272872 sold on March 24, 2016 for $742.50. And, according to WorthPoint that same Presidential set sold for $1,200.00 back in 2012.
Based on all the research I’ve done on these, my educated guess is that these soldiers are more hard to find than the President’s. And ours is has a lovely large wooden box measuring about 9” tall 13” deep and 20” across. Solid wood with no markings.  Blue felt covers the inside, top and bottom. This makes a great place to keep them safe.  The market value on the Presidents has fallen over the years. The average selling price for these types of figures by Lance was about $35.00 each!

Based on that, I’ve decided to list these at a high price and include make-an-offer because the owner is not in a hurry. This is good because it means we can sit on these for a while until an offer comes in that we are both happy with.
So, let the games begin!
I’ve decided to start with a 7 day fixed price and all offers will be considered with a starting price of $1010.00, eBay item # 391437404196. This will give me a “feel” for the current market interest. We can always list it again and change the price or an auction. High hopes it will sell for a good penny!
Well, the listing ended with no bites. So it’s time to start dropping the price. Round two, Fixed price with make an offer $989.00, eBay item # 401112423095. NO SALE – Relisted for a Good Til Cancelled list $899.99 with make an offer. eBay item # 401118578045
 
Nippon vases are beautiful as you may know but when you have one like this with roses, it is more than beautiful it is breathtaking with beauty!  Research shows these prices are all over the board with many not selling because of setting a high asking price.  I was able to identify the marking which dates back to 1891, the green maple leaf is ¼” tall. I also learned that fakes had a maple leaf of ½” tall so I’m happy we have the real deal here! Items like this, I like to allow the current marketplace set the price so I will start an auction with an opening bid of $9.99. Let the bidding begin! eBay item # 401108528333 – SOLD $125.67

Too bad this train cookie jar has lost its lid. Although “Abingdon” trains are not one of the higher end cookie jars it would’ve helped a bit more to sell it with a lid and I did find a tiny chip at the tip of the train. After researching this brand, I found the highest price one that sold was a “Witch” and it brought in $1245.00 according to Terapeak. It sold on February 6, 2016, eBay item # 151968019577. WOW too bad we don’t have one of those!
Interesting fact I discovered about this company. It originally started out as a “commode” manufacturer from Abingdon Illinois in 1908. Then when the depression hit and commode sales slowed down they developed cookie jars!
This one could be used as a planter. I was thinking it would look adorable in a baby’s room or as a nice addition to any room for the train collector.   According to Worthpoint there were a few different styles to the train. One had yellow trim and others had pink around the windows. Our listing is the pink trimmed windows. The highest price pink window one sold for $152. But that was back in 2007. The prices have dropped since then. Most recent ones without lids were as low as $14.99 and high as $20.00. Ugh right?  So, we will take it out for a train ride and list it with a starting bid of 9.99 and hope for the best. eBay Item # 401108549843 – NO SALE – Relisted Fixed Price with make an offer eBay item #401118522657.
The two tall porcelain figurines took me awhile to identify since the words on the bottom are so hard to decode but thanks to Worthpoint I was able to nail it! The first one, according to Worthpoint is titled: 1910 CAPODIMONTE DI PIETRO FIGURE NAPOLEON ADMIRAL OF FRANCE JOACHIM MURAT and it only sold for $20.50 in October of 2016. Our figurine is an exact match. Worthpoint further reads: “The admiral of France Joachim Murat, he was the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, through marriage to Napoleon’s youngest sister, Caroline Bonaparte. He was noted as a daring and charismatic cavalry officer as well as a flamboyant dresser and was known as “the Dandy King”. The figure stands 12 ½ inches or 31.7 cm high, and is 3 ½ inches wide at the base. The piece is all hand painted and accented with heavy applied gold highlights. It is marked on the bottom with an “N” and crown mark along with “DI PIETRO MURAT” and the mold number “1261”.

The sell through rate on Terapeak is only about 3%. Not good odds for sure. But hey, we have them and we will give it a go!  I will put the two together since one does have a repair.  There are a few current listings on eBay with sellers having high hopes using high dollar asking prices. CLICK TO VIEW the current listings.  Because of the low sell through rate and low odds I decided to list these as an auction starting at 99 cents and hope for the best. OH BOY, bad news.  I just found more repairs to the other figurine so now these are for sure not worth listing on eBay.  I will hold onto them to return  and/or donate to Hospice per instructions.
This is a great example of how important it is to tune into the details. I wasted a bit of time if I had only cleaned them up first although I did learn a few things during the research process so it’s not a total loss. But honestly I will pass on these to list on eBay for now even if I do run into them while treasure hunting based on the current market value.
Okay, next up is a Pioneer Laserdisc player. Model CLD-S201. Price value on these are all over the board according to Terapeak product research with a 48% sell through rate and an average price of $73.26. Prices do adjust if the remote is included and/or some movies are included.  Too bad we don’t have the remote but at least we have the manual. Starting bid $49.99 eBay item # 401114071611. NO SALE – Relisted, Fixed price with make an offer. eBay item # 401118526284.  SOLD $89.99

We do have a lot of movies and I have been sorting through them. Some will be better to sell on their own while others I will create lots because they are heavy. It’s always important to research these types of items one-by-one because you never know, there could be a valuable one mixed up with the bunch!
Movies listed on their own are:

• Aliens – #401108681249
• The Andromeda Strain – # 391438360963
• A Bronx Tale – # 401109684715
• Star Wars – # 401109678738
• Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back – #391440169862
• Star Wars – Return of the Jedi – # 401109669537
• Twilight Zone Vol. 1 – # 391440180719
• Twilight Zone Vol 2 set # 401109284088
• Jaws – # 401110253286
• Jurassic Park –  # 391440844308

The rest of the discs I will put in bundles. And they are:

• 4 Star Trek Movies – # 391440771609 SOLD $4.99
• 6 Lot – ET + Misc # 401110322575– SOLD $19.99
  • 6 Lot – Ben-Hur & Misc # 401110841422 – NO SALE Relisted eBay item # 391453390243
• 6 Lot – Close Encounters + Misc # 391446027263 – SOLD $26.00
• 6 Lot – Scarface ++ # 391446042355 – SOLD $17.99
• 6 Lot – Die Hard ++ # 401114029477 – NO SALE
  • Relisted # 401118583177
  • 6 Lot – American President ++ # 401114042839 – NO SALE Relisted # 391453396089
• 6 Lot – Superman ++ # 391446110552 SOLD $20.99
  • 7 Lot – Racing With The Moon + # 401114055047 NO SALE Relisted # 391453395080

Reel-to-Reel Players I used to always grab if I ran into them while treasure hunting and this one is a beauty! Pioneer Mode RT-1011L. Terapeak shows a 21% sell through rate on this model with the average selling price in the last 90 days at $118.88 so with that said, I will run a 10 day auction and that will be our starting price! eBay item # 391439533649 SOLD $261.00

I’ve sold a few Salvadore Dali prints over the years that honestly never brought in more than $50.00 as I recall but those were print and here we have an original etching with a stamp of authenticity on the backside. Very impressive!
It’s titled “EL CID” from his Spanish Immortals series. Nothing came up on Terapeak using that title. The sell through rate on “Salvador Dali Etching” holds only a 2% rate. The highest priced one sold on Feb. 21, 2016 for $200.00. The seller was actually asking $299.99 and he accepted a best offer. It was an etching of Van Gogh by Salvadore Dali. eBay item # 281941018845.

Thanks to Worthpoint I did learn that there were 5 etchings in the Spanish Immortals series. The highest price the five together sold for was $1,999.99 in June 2015.  The most expensive single EL CID sold on eBay for $475.00 in October 2011 and again in 2015 and others as low as $185.00.  After this review I feel to give it a go with an auction, starting bid $99.99 and hope for the best. eBay item # 391439620692 SOLD $99.99.
This is a 1st for me to have received an item like this: Confederate Banknotes!  Just another reason why I love being a consignment seller because not only do I get to meet awesome people I get to learn about awesome items like this one! These type of banknotes do sell on eBay and it seems many of them sell for close to the value on them. Here we have a large One Hundred Dollars note dated 1863 and you can see the signatures are the real deal. I like the way they’ve been framed because not only is the large note at the top but below it, showing 7, four dollar notes from various years: 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1868.

I’ve decided to run an auction on these with a starting bid of $49.99. eBay item # 391439719252 SOLD $49.99.
Everyone loves Tiffany! I’ve sold a lot of different items by Tiffany in the past ranging from Pendants to bracelets and today we have a lovely Holiday decorated trinket box. Although it is not box shaped, it is a round shape with a lovely lid. 1st step is running a Terapeak search with the words “Tiffany Holiday Trinket” and the results show a sell through rate of 40%. Nice! The highest priced round one sold on eBay, April 16, 2016 for $59.95, eBay item # 201558670442 and the highest price “square “ one sold for $60.00 on Feb. 21, 2016, eBay Item # 222025367107.
There are a couple currently on eBay now listed as Fixed prices. One is $75.00 and the other is $95.00 – CLICK to View current Listings.  One sold recently in March, 2016 for $34.00, eBay item # 111943472480. I noticed they ran an auction with a starting bid of $20.00.  Based on my research I decided to include two categories: 1) Trinket Boxes and 2) Tiffany. I noticed the other sellers did not do this as they either picked one or the other but not both.  This should help increase the odds and I will run a 10 day auction as the other seller only ran a 7. Little things like this create a stronger possibility of a higher ending price on this particular item all based on research.  

I’ll start our bid at $34.99. eBay item # 401109564051 SOLD $34.99.
The Kenwood Stereo Double Cassette Deck KX-W4040 does not have a very good sell-through rate according to Terapeak it’s only 7% with only 14 listings.  I’m afraid the odds are not in our favor on this one. After taking a look at current listings, there are only 3 listed with the lowest working one at $51.43 eBay item # 331841679661 and they have free shipping. Based on these search results I will list it as a fixed price also with free shipping $51.00. Auctions are not a good idea on items like this based on the low selling odds. Ebay item # 391446180688.

I actually changed my mind and raised the price to $74.99. Why? Because after I thought about it, this was the highest price of the one that sold according to Terapeak so I decided to list it the same because the lower priced one may sell and then mine will be the only one available so I won’t have to adjust the price later and since we’re not in a hurry it may be worth the wait! I did add a make an offer option as well so, we will see!
The final item from this collection is the “Cowboy Statue” which has a repair and a few chips, stamped Austin Prod. and dated 1972.  
The highest priced figurine marked Austin Prod was an eBay listing titled:  “Afternoon Stroll Alexsander Danel Sculpture Austin Prod Woman Dog Large” and it sold on March 17, 2016 for $599.99, eBay item # 141911633279. I must share the description because this statue is not mint and it reads : “Beautiful Austin Inc Sculpture from Alexsander Danel 1989 Afternoon Stroll sculpture.  This statue comes with its Austin Sculpture card with information on the company and artist. Made of Durastone in the color of grey silver and black. There are a few nicks, corners of base are chipped, someone else painted,  but all around it’s a beautiful sculpture. Please see photos & use the close up option. Model AP 3559. Size is about 17 1/2″ X 27″ X 5.75″. This is the Large version, very heavy. My pictures are part of my description, please use the close up option and take a good look. This is by no means in great condition”.
After reading this and others that I’ve seen on eBay it seems “Durastone” is the proper type of these statues aka figurines.  
I actually found a current one on eBay which is an exact match, eBay item # 282014186040 and they have it listed as an auction with a starting price of $149.95. It will be interesting to see how it does. It ends on Monday, May 2, 2016. UPDATE – I see it did not sell for them so they relisted as a buy it now with make an offer for $129.00 – eBay item # 282025467348
I conducted more research on Worthpoint and some cowboy statues marked  “Austin Prod.” did sell in the past years but not recently.  I’m going to be a bit more realistic and start the auction at $49.99 and roll the dice! eBay item # 401114116328. NO SALE – Relisted # 391453399244

All items are officially listed belonging to Liz. It’s been my pleasure researching and listing this assortment of items. Check back to view the results. I will mark SOLD with the amount they sell for or if the item did not sell then I will post the new item number once it’s relisted.  
Feel free to contact me with any questions and for those of you reading this that may be interested in having me list your items on eBay, please visit my consignment page and contact me with a list of what kind of items you want me to sell for you.