Book Board Chat

Just back from a long hot day of garage and tag sales. Same scene yesterday. I bought Water-Babies illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith from 1912. I found that in some God forsaken attic in sweltering conditions but was happy to find it. I also found a limited edition of an anthology of the sex life in the Levant. Surely some one will be interested in that.
My sales for July were very good because of the Stephen King books. So I won't repeat that report but my other best sales were: Audace perfume $52 Joy perfume $36 Circular Springbox puzzle of Old English Inns $21.50 Another Springbok circular puzzle of The Epiphany $16.66 and a pair of Lake Men's brand new Bicycle Shoes $50
I just have a few things listed now and will not add any more till my return from Ireland.

Yes, I missed the news about Maureen. Even though the reports from her were increasingly bad news, I still find it a shock. She was such a great contributor to the board and had such spiritual for lack of a better word- energy. God bless her and may her soul rest in peace.

Hi Beth. I am doing a Springbok puzzle that is an octagon shape. It is a mosaic pattern and will probably cause me to have to join AA. I always think of you in connection with Springboks. Tomorrow I shall list some American Girl stuff and then that will be it until September. I will though keep going to the estate sales.
Is there any news of Maureen?
Irene, if the number line includes a 1 then it is a first.

Once again, I was lucky in finding the Vince Lombardi yearbook. I only bought it because it was my Alma Mater and didn't even look to see if anyone famous was in it. It turns out 3 of the Seven Blocks of Granite were seniors and also Wellington Mara the deceased owner of the NY Giants is also in it. It did get a bid as soon as I listed it.

Greeting from a comparatively cool summer day in NY. Well, last week I put on Leaves of Grass by Pater Pauper Press. No one even bid on it! So much for great literature! No great finds this week- did get some American Girl stuff which always seems to sell and also bought some G I Joe stuff. I know nothing about G I Joe but find until I actually have to research the stuff before selling it is when I have the most interest. Also found a Fordham University 1937 year book (my school but I graduated a little later) which has Vince Lombardi in the senior class pictures. Seth if you are out there, will this add to any value? I shall be going to Ireland in two weeks for two weeks and hope to take many photos. Will post some if my technical skills allow. I've enjoyed the book talk here as I plan to load up my IPad with lots of books for both the plane and those inevitable rainy days.

Thank you for all the congrats on the King books. It was such a thrill to share with you all. Only this group knows the true excitement with these lucky finds. My friends generally say: "gee, get me one of those when you go to your sales..." They just have no idea!

Good mornig! Drumroll please! The fin$3,al total for the Stephen King books plus an autographed copy of Jurassic Park is $3,100.83. i am thrilled but the most exciting part of it all was looking up those books and realizing the value. That was the peak moment. I have them all packed up and ready to mail. And now back to the search for some more great items.

Yes, my EBay ID is askannem. I had to change it once as someone got into my account. Beth, I always think of you whenever I find Springbok puzzles. I have to complete them myself as no one else wants to do them. I do enjoy them but they can be very tough. Yes, the Stephen Kings may be my best find yet. Will know by Tuesday.

Good morning, everyone. I am running the air conditioner full time these days. Garage sales were in full blast yesterday and although it was hot I found it not as bad as last weekend. Maybe I am just getting used to it. Bought a pair of new Lake bicycle shoes, a large new Vera Bradley beach bag, and 2 Cook's Illustrated cook book annuals. The Stephen Kings I bought last week will end tomorrow and I am excited about what they will end up as selling prices. Have there been any news of Maureen? Diane, where is Orange Beach? Is it a town or an actual beach? Sounds like a very nice day's outing. Watch out for the sun!

AEG I know exactly how lucky a find the Stephen Kings were. It was a professionally run sale but there were no book peaople there as it was mostly flea market stuff. I just don't know where that box came from. Maybe it missed the movers or something...too late now. Anyway, I just had such a good time discovering how good they were and that they were signed and numbered. I recommend Firsts magazines as they had a 2 issue article on all the Stephen King books. I like to read Firsts but seldom have the need to research anything as what I find is not usually that caliber. Just wanted to share a good experience.

Nice sales Beth. I always think of you when I list a Springbok. I have learned a lot from you and I appreciate it. I have listed the Stephen Kings that I got over the weekend. It is fun to have something good and watch it go.

So sorry to hear that things are not going too well Maureen. Prayers and good wishes to you. Is there anything you need that could be sent to you. I too live too far away to be of help but sure would if I could.
My sales for June would probably be ok if I chose to look at them but I had such problems with one buyer of the Franklin Library books I just want to forget about June. This guy emailed, called on the phone, and had me mail books to his buyers rather than to him. It was an endless month.
However, June is over and at the end of the month something good happened. I went to a sale because they advertised Barbies but they were all new so I bought none. They had bins of Hallmark Chirstmas ornaments so I spent about an hour picking out about 50 of them. I love Christmas ornaments and it was an air conditioned room so I was happy. When I went downstairs there was one small bookcase with one decent book- Drums with NC Wyeth illustrations. I saw nothing else but then spotted a carton and when I looked it there were about 8 Steven King books. I don't read or have an interest in SK. However, the books were is slipcases and some still had the original shrink wrap. I also found an authographed Jurassic Park. So the price was a dollar a book but she gave me my 12 book for ten dollars. When I got them home I looked up one SK and it was a first edition of The Gunslinger with dust jacket. I had no time to look at the rest as I was playing Bridge for the rest of the day. So when I cane home I took out my issues of Firsts on Stephen King and found that the slipcase ones were signed by SK and the illustrator and mine were that signed limited edition. I am not sure as to how to list them -auction style or buy it now but I will stury the prior sales. The point is: the thrill of the chase is just so much fun. I just wonder how did such valuable books wind up in a box where the people selling them neither knew nor cared what they had.

I just came back back from the local school book sale. I got there early but they had already opened. That is always the way. If I get places real early they don't open until the stated time and if I get there on time they open early. Anyway this was not a great sale. I bought 2 DVD's on the life of Churchill and one paperback about the Hurrican of 1938. I want to read it as I always remember hearing about the devastation it caused.
I have spent the last 2 weeks listing Franklin Library books and thankfully they all sold. One person bought 22 of them which was great but she seems to have multiple places she wants them to go. As long as she pays me I guess I dont mind.. Packing and mailing 63 books was hard work so I am glad it is over. Now, I must go to as many sales tomorrow as I can so I can find more stuff.

I was planning to place a bet on the Derby yesterday but time ran out. There are no more OTB's in NYC so I would have had to go to the track in Yonkers and I was busy with garage sales. I went to an estate sale on Friday which was a small house but the owner had been an illustrator so there were some nice prints and paintings. I didn't get any of those because I was too slow. Somebody grabbed some really nice advertising art for Esso and Ritz Crackers. His name was Larsen. I did get dome hobby kits for HO trains. I looked them up and they seem to sell so I am hopeful. Yesterday, at the end of the day, at the last sale, I saw boxes of books on the floor of an empty room and saw they were Franklin Library ones. They were being sold as a set of 63. I asked about them and was told a woman had already offered $50 for them and might be returning. I offered the $50 and they put them all in my car for me. I am sure I can sell enough of them to recoup the 50 and make some more. Also on Friday at a really poor sale, I saw a copy of a 1958 book on Paul Klee. The binding is torn but the book was only $2 so I am hopeful too that it will sell. Just wanted to share the thrill of the hunt so to speak!

I have good luck with finding dolls. Some of them sell very well. I don't know about these Ginnys' but will report back after they are sold.

Sorry, I just real the how to manual and I don't think I can post the pictures. Anyway they were very cute.

[IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb235/askannem/DSC04476.jpg[/IMG] Hope this worked. I really enjoyed finding them.

[IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb235/askannem/DSC04476.jpg[/IMG]
This should be a picture of 3 of the dolls. Now will try for the other 4.

I bought some Ginny dolls this weekend and of course I can't find my Ginny reference book. I think I will list at least one anyway as otherwise they will just sit here forever. There are lots of other stuff sitting around too. Will try to post a link to a pic of the dolls. I got 7 and all but i have their original tagged clothes.

Great news. My NPB has paid up and said he found the money. I hope that will put an end to any NPB transactions and things will go smoothly....at least for a while.

I was watching Deadliest Catch last night and I do admit that is a much worse situation than selling on EBay. Flying hooks, swept away decks, gigantic waves, etc. What an amazing occupation those guys have!

I sold some Legos for a good price and then had an email from the buyer wanting to cancel the sale. He was in an auto accident and needed the money to buy a car. I said fine, no problem. Then I went to the second bidder and offered him the Lego at his bid which was only slightly less. Never heard back from him so now what? I don't mind being understanding but I don't find any milk of human kindness from EBay. Am I able to relist this again without paying more fees?

Sorry to hear you are not feeling too well, Maureen. Do let others help you. It is sometimes a kindness to let others be kind to you. I went out for tea yesterday with a good friend. It was an old fashioned setting with unmatched tea cups and lots of various teapots on display. We had a choice of teas and then were served with ss mult-tiered plates. On the bottom were savories and sandwiches, then crumpets and scones, and at the top a choice of mini dessert tarts and fresh fruits. It was delightful.
As for book suggestions, I was at the library today and took out The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis. Another choice was An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas. Both are mysteries which are my favorites. For non-fiction, I took out Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage. It it about the Titanic's first class passengers and their world.
There do not appear to be the usual number of estate sales this weekend. This is the first year I notice a decline in the number of sales. Still I plan to get to at least three and then back home to slog away on EBay.

I have just returned from a four day trip to Naples, FL. I went to meet up with an Irish cousin who visited our mutual cousins down there. It was lots of fun to hear his brogue and delightful stories. We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade there which was quite an event. And now back to NY which has FL weather at the moment. I feel refreshed and ready to get back to the EBay grind. A few days away is a great idea!

I saw a play this week, "The Road to Mecca." It was ok but the star was Rosemary Harris who is 84 years old. I don't know how she does on the Wednesday two performances and she was great. She is pretty much on stage for the entire play and and verbalizes throughout. She is really an inspiration.

I went to an estate sale today in CT. It was the estate of Andy Rooney (60 Minutes) and there were loads of people there. I did not find anything but I was #69. Anyway, on the way there I stopped at another sale and bought a perfume lamp. I don't know about them but now I will find out. Tomorrow I plan to hit some NY sales and hopefully will have exciting finds to report.

It is sort of a light rain and light snow drizzle here this morning. Since there has been no snow so far this year the weather people hyped this one but nothing is happening. I bought about 6 books yesterday at an estate sale but on my current listings the books are the only ones without bids. One book I bought was an early 30's Nancy Drew with the dust jacket so I will list today and live in hope.

Kathleen, I really enjoy hearing about Swifty's apartment. Now he will be decorating upon his return. I can imagine the TV screen on the wall. and leather couches etc. I watch too much "Selling NY." NYC is a great place. There is so much to see and do. Hopefully, his job will not be all consuming.

i made something last night called Champagne Chicken. It was in a book of recipes by Vincent Price. I read it and saw that it was not complicated. It was great but uses lots of butter and cream plus French (only French) champagne. Anyway, it just reminds me reading the board as to what a world belongs to a reader. It seems to be a common thread on this board which of course given its name makes sense. I really enjoy reading what everyone posts and gain new knowledge every day.

The SuperBowl was awesome! Tomorrow will be the parade in NYC. I was biting my fingernails and also watched Downton Abbey. Great shows, both of them. There is lots of excitement and happiness here over the Giants win.
Loved the Downton episode too.
Patsy, do you walk every day? I saw you refer to your "cardio walk" and wonder if you walked before your episode or took up walking after it. The weather is nice enough for me to get to the track but i need motivation.

Hoping for some good estate sales this weekend. There have not been too many sales this winter and that is unusual as there is usually something doing all the time. I need to stock up on inventory. I did sell the books I bought last weekend but for the most part the sales were disappointing. Things on the river with high prices sold for about half of those prices. But they are just prices not what someone would pay. They flocked to mine as the prices were low.

Sure Bob! I'll wave to you from Bronxville. Dreary rainy day here but a warm one. After the PO, the library, and then off to play Bridge followed by dinner out with friends. I guess I can handle all that.

Thank you Bob. I appreciate your advice. I have to go to the post office today and will do that.

Good morning everyone. I have an annoying situation regarding a buyer who has not received his books. He asked for the tracking number which I sent. I use a management program so he would have gotten the tracking number from EBay when he got the sent mail notification. So I sent the number and now he says the number should have 20 digits and the one I sent has 22. I checked the number and it still has 22 numbers. He also wants to know how I am going to proceed. Well, do I refund his money even though I sent the item? I can see now why so many put warnings on their items as to their lack of responsibility for loss. I like to keep things simple and i don't see the need to insure or ask buyers to insure for low cost items unless they request it. So, what now? According to the tracking the item is in New Jersey as of December with no further info as to where it is now.

Saw Jake on 60 Minutes and was totally impressed. Hope he has a very happy life. He certainly is an exceptional and talented person.
I still am lacking motivation to list but hopefully tomorrow will face the demons.

JoAnn, Don't dwell on the number in regard to age. I've met twenty year olds who were ready for the retirement home. My older friends are a treat. They are always looking to do things, movies, plays, eating out, etc. They initiate entertainment and don't look to others to provide it. My age level friends are wimps sometimes by comparison- they have excuses like "no, it might rain, or the crowds are too much, or it's too far to drive." Attitude is the key.

Forgot to say thanks for the cozy British mystery suggestions. I picked up a few new names that I will try. I found some Ruth Rendell DVD's so am going to watch them between listing my five items.

Downton Abbey was wonderful. I just love the patriarch, so kind, so endearing, his wife too. I went to see The Artist yesterday. I would describe it as a tribute to silent films and it was very clever. I enjoyed it but was glad it was only an hour and forty minutes. I would have run out of patience.
I have nothing listed at the moment and am still trying to motivate myself to get busy. My goal is to put on at least five today.

Patsy, I think you should stick with Upstairs, Downstairs. I think it will grow on you as you adjust to the accents. It takes time to get used to some of these series. I watched Mad Men and hated it. I decided to watch at least two episodes and suddenly I was hooked.
As for Tinker Tailor it is a great story. I loved Alec Guiness in the original version and want to see it again as maybe I am remembering it to be greater than I think. Anyway, the new movie is great but you really have to pay attention.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a British mystery series with detectives either male or female. I would like it to bring me mentally to England, Wales or some part of Britain so I can envision scones, chips, cold dank cottages and cosy pubs. Thands.

I have reserved the old PBS version of Tinker Tailor to see how it holds up compared to the current one. This weekend I plan to see the new version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or maybe War Horse. There are no estate sales near here today so I am looking around at the stuff I already have but haven't listed. I find if I don't list things right away they tend to sit here forever.
I shall go to the library this morning as a treat and then off to play Bridge. It looks cold but a sunny and clear day.

I have no good things to list and feel somewhat discouraged. Will there be some good estate sale this weekend? I hope so. My non paying buyer contacted me and said she had been out of town. How would I know? I filed a non payment claim and relisted the item. I did not leave her negative feedback so will this hurt her in anyway? I understand things happen so I am not mad at her but this was a waste of money so far.

I just reviewed my December sales and they were pretty blah. I really did not have anything much to list. I lack motivation sometimes as really nice things seem to sell for so little. So I must acquire some good stuff at very low prices. Perhaps the estate sales will be good this month. I had one good sale but the buyer never paid for the item. I don't get it. She has perfect feedback and did contact me to say to resend the invoice as she saw she must not have paid. I did so and still no response. Ebay has her now as a non payer but I did not leave any feedback so I don't see how other buyers would be on alert.
So for December:
Coach backpack $47
Cook's Illustrated $15.50
NYC Hudson Railway car $30

I saw the movie Tinker Tailor over the weekend. I liked it but it was work. The plot as they say "thickened" as the movie gathered steam. I remember seeing Alec Guiness in the role on PBS so I feel the need to watch that one again. Anyway, the ambiance of the spy world in the present version is certainly captured and the office party was a highlight. If anyone has seen it I would love to hear their thoughts.

I have no movie report from the weekend as I went to a Christmas concert by Cherish the Ladies. It was just great - a mix of Celtic with Christmas and excellent music by real pros. If you get a chance to see this group, take it.
I found an old Chess book on Friday and I am hoping it will sell. Of course, I have to list it first. Today I am setting up my tree. It is ready for the lights and ornaments. It came from Vermont and appears very fresh and nice. Deciding on the lights was a big decision. I like to change them up every year. This year I am going with all white. It was so funny at a large Christmas decorating store as many people were looking for white lights and they were out of them. How can you be such a large store and be out of your specific product two weeks before the holiday.
Beth, I see they have green Christmas tree Peeps and other holiday Peeps. I don't recall seeing them before.

Well, Radio City was spectacular! The site itself is so amazing with all the Art Deco in the lobby and surrounding buildings. The show was awesome, totally updated and yet still with the Nativity scene at the end. We had lunch at a restaurant that faced the ice rink and that was a lot of fun. The rink was packed with skaters both newbies and those who knew what they were doing. The weather was great so all in all it was a 10 on the scale.

I am on my way this a.m. to see the Christmas show at Radio City in NYC. A neighbor had tickets and invited me and we will be eating lunch too. This weekend i did the estate sales and garage, school, and whatever sales were around. I bought a cookie jar, about 17 books in a series called The Classics of Medicine Library. I checked and they do not seem to sell on EBay. One person described them as looking like Easton books which is true and those did sell. i am thinking as describing them as decorator books for doctors but that might be too cute.

Went to see A Week with Marilyn yesterday. Not good in my humble opinion. I am reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand which I am enjoying very much. i do recommend it but maybe others have already done so. I hear it is popular.

I am fortunate in where I live. It is in the suburbs but the local theater has a showing of about 4 movies each week. They change about every month. Now a new theater has opened which has 12 movies. That is great but the fact is that there are not 12 great movies around. However, there is a good choice. Sometimes we go on a Sunday to NYC to some of the art theaters and that is fun. There is usually good parking on a Sunday and great places for lunch or brunch.

I go to movies practically every weekend. Some are great and others not so. Saw "The Descendants" over the weekend. It had great reviews but it left me cold. I left a review on Rotten Tomatoes. It seemed to be all over the place trying to catch hold with one of its many themes. The scenery of Hawaii was fine but I could see that in a travelogue., George Clooney seemed very dour and his kids in need of tough love. He was in awe at their language and actions. yet seemed to use the same language so why the surprise. I hope that this is not the typical family as it would be quite sad if it were. Some scenes were totally unbelievable so then they took a comedy line. I like to think that while most people struggle with life they aim high and don't settle for the lowest of what is out there. This movie was based on a book so maybe the book was better. Did anyone read it?

One Christmas book I enjoyed was "No Holly For Miss Quinn" by Miss Read. She wrote the series about a teacher in the UK and this book although not part of the series is in a similar vein. Actually, I think I will try to get it from the library today.

There are no estate sales around here this weekend. I have been up and reading past Christmas issues of Martha Stewart. I love the Christmas decorating and cookie recipes, etc. However, there is always some "simple" thing to use like some kind of carpenter's tool to give the cookie dough a rustic look. Where am I going to find that? I am worn out just reading and speculating on what I could do. I guess I will just pull out my regular decorations and perhaps do one new thing for the season.
Sorry Mainer to hear of your loss. Hope this coming new year will be good to you and your family.

June, I think that is a very appropriate activity to do on your mom's birthday. It is a nice tribute to her. My nephew just came back from Ireland. It was his first trip there. MHey mom was born there and I have been many times. He emailed me for advice on what to see, etc. Fortunately, I have a very reliable cousin in Dublin who took Kevin and his friends out. By coincidence, there was an anniversary mass for a cousin who passed away last year and Kevin joined the family for that event. He was thrilled to meet so many relatives and he was the star of the show as they were entrance with meeting him for the first time. Anyway, somewhere in heaven my mother is smiling. It was a good prelude to Thanksgiving.

Did not have much luck at estate sales this past weekend. Only found one church sale and did buy some Lego but that was it. This weekend there will not be any professional sales but am hoping for at least some garage or moving sales. i always look for Christmas presents too so hopefully there will be some finds to report.
I am completing a circular Springbok puzzle so I can list it in time for Christmas. It was a killer but as I am down to the last 50 pieces out 500 it is getting somewhat easier.

OK Bob, I will read a book about postcards. I do have one somewhere. These cards I have are not anything great but I was attracted to the towns I know and the fact that they were very early. I know some are town scenes but I don't believe they are real photo. I will have to study that book.
There is a fairly new pizza place near me named Pepe's pizza. They are also in CT and they make really good pizza. In summer they have a "summer pizza" made with fresh tomatoes. Also a Whole Foods just opened near me and I do enjoy going there as they have some nice soups and sandwiches. I justify buying them as it save me time to get take out and I can list so many more things. Ha ha- just an excuse.

Thanks for the input on postcards. I shall list them individually. I was leaning toward that and your opinions confirmed my thoughts. thanks for the input.

At a recent sale I came across some postcard from about 1904 through 1916. They are from different sections of the country, maybe 4 from N.J. from the same county and others maybe at most 3 from the same town in upper NYS. I am not sure whether to list them one by one or group by state. Does anyone have an opinion? I have not listed post cards in quite a while.
Really enjoyed that Vintage Clothing article.

Bill, Congratulations on your great sales! i love seeing what other people are selling. It motivates me somehow. Well I spent the day cleaning and tomorrow I will finish up as the train with my cousin will be getting in around 2:30 p.m. Hopefully her room will be ready and now of course my room looks like a hoarders delight.

My town does a parade for the children on Halloween and they march through the town and collect candy at the stores along the way. I am not sure they had it this year due to the storm.
I spent most of yesterday planning how I would clean my guest room if I felt like cleaning it. Today I must forget about feeling the vibe and just clean it as my cousin arrives tomorrow.
I had a good EBay month this October but did not list that much. I need to get more stuff. Anyway my report is:
Tiffany earrings and pin $354.88
Goebel figurine $890.75
Shinnecock Hill Golf Club print $99.00
PICO model train set $49.26
Springbok Puzzle-International Horse Jumping $33.99

Well, when I last posted on Friday I was looking forward to the Saturday sales. Since I assumed it was going to rain and then snow later in the day I was totally unprepared for the early arrival of the snow. Only got to two sales as one cancelled and the other was in Connecticut (a school sale) followed by a professional one in Stamford, Ct. The price at the latter were out of sight but they did have lots of clocks and trains. i know nothing about either so did not buy anything. I would have if they were not high priced items but alas they were. As we were driving back to NY we saw trees down left and right so aborted any further tag sale expeditions and headed home for the couch. Now I must begin to clean up for the arrival of a house guest. I have made a schedule for the cleanup so must stick to it. i have 3 days including today.
I really enjoyed reading about the book dealer co-op Kathleen. The Irish night sounds like great fun. Your talk of "getting out more" sounds like a plan to me. I don't spend enough time searching out sources but will try to do so.

I had a Halloween bridge party today which meant I missed the estate sales. Oh well, sacrifices have to be made. I shall make up for lost time tomorrow. I did enjoy hosting the party as I have some nice decorations which I found through the years. It was fun to display them. However, I had to throw everything into my computer room which I now have to empty out by Wednesday as my NH cousin is coming for a visit. She wouldn't even be able to open the door to that room at the moment. i just will have to keep tossing out and cleaning up each day.

Everytime I throw something out a need for it arises. I had to mail out 2 bedspreads today and remembered that I had a plastic bag that shrink wraps items. Of course then I remembered that I just tossed it as I never used it. Alas, i may have to put them into 2 boxes using flat rate regional whereas they would have fit into the large flat rate one being compressed in the plastic.
I received a lot of messages requesting the buy it now option on a figurine. Several asked for me to send it first class international, lower the value on the custom form and mark it as a gift. I really find that most annoying. If I lower the value what happens if it never arrives. That sort of person doesn't sound like they would just say oh no problem I asked you to lower the value so you can just return the lower amount. Do they expect me to insure at my expense? Well I rejected all the buy it nows anyway as I don't see any advantage if there is great interest in an item.

I had a really busy day with lots of school and charity sales. Started at 8 a.m. and back at 5 p.m. Covered 2 states. Got some DVD's of TV shows, postcards from the turn of the century, some model train stuff, a Goebel figurine that might be really good, and just good stuff for Christmas presents. There was stuff everywhere today so hope that will be true for next weekend.

Hello, back from some garage sales. Nothing much but did get some cookbooks and books on collectibles. Have already listed them. Yesterday I bought a collage of Ronald Readgan memorablia from the first ingaguration. Not really sure of the value as all the stuff is glued down.

Thanks for that report Seth. I still buy yearbooks but generally sell only one or two out of five. i don't look for particular ones as my finds are hit and miss. I don't buy newer ones, only those from the sixties or older. In the beginning of my going to estate sales I saw a bunch of old West Point yearbooks at twenty dollars each and I didn't buy them. Now I picture all the great men that were in those yearbooks. Alas!

It took me two days but I completed one of the Springbok puzzles that I got last weekend. It was a circular type with lots of horses in it. It was designed by Sam Savitt, the illustrator. It has horses all over the place in every direction. It took lots of coffee to get through it and if it had gone on any longer it would have required stronger beverages. Well I was so happy that all the pieces were there.
I am going to visit a friend in Cape May, NJ tomorrow and will be away for the weekend. So I am listing my five best of the month today. My top item was a total surprise. I bought a lot of small dolls that I really thought I overpaid for and actually I did overpay. But this one item recouped my losses.

My best sales for September were:
Two little celluloid dolls 356.61
Marghab cocktail napkins 128.45
Lladro figurine 345.00
Byers Choice Child Caroler 76.00
Nike Womens Lacrosse Cleats 40.00

Does anyone who sells overseas use an outside insurer. I use first class mail a lot but don't want to get stuck with paying for items that don't arrive. I have heard that there are insurers other than the USPS. The USPS doesn't sell insurance for first class international.

Beth, I was thinking of you today as I bought 5 circular Springbok puzzles. i have some others that I bought in the last few months. Now that fall is here with winter close behind I am going to try to complete some of them and then put them on EBay. i don't see any selling at any great prices nowadays but I still really like them. I like your Bryer horses.
I had a good time yesterday and today at sales. Today i got two framed signed golf course prints for $50 total as it was the second day of a sale. Yesterday I found two Snoopy bedspreads from the seventies so that was fun. No matter where I went I found stuff so it was a really nice weekend. I felt sated and now to get busy and list all.

The doll that I just posted the pictures of is one of many that I bought at a sale the other day. Most of the rest are just travel dolls and not worth anything. i got carried away and bought too much junk, alas. The only other good ones were 2 Lenci's but they were not the old ones, again they were travel types.

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb235/askannem/Beswick%20Horse/?albumview=slideshow
Does anyone out there know who this doll is? She has Vogue on her head and Vogue Doll on her back. Thanks for any info.

All the food mentions reminds me that a friend was looking for fresh lima beans. I don't ever recall seeing anything other than frozen. Are there fresh lima beans out there? We have a wonderful French bakery in my town. I love to go and just look as everything looks so great. i try to make do with a humble croissant. i am reading a British mystery by Elly Griffiths. It is her first mystery and is called The Crossing Places. I am really enjoying it. The main character weighs 12 & 1/2 stone. I have forgotten how much that is...a few more croissants and I will be in that territory though.

I am researching my items purchased over the weekend. In the background I am listening to the reading of the names at the World Trade Center. It is a truly beautiful memorial site and was lit up last night I believe for the first time. It is hard to believe ten years have passed as the memory is so vivid of all those lost souls. Here in NY time has gone by but the impact lives on. The beautiful children and family members will never forget. God give them the strength to endure their burden and God bless the USA.

Bill, I agree with you about Picker Sisters. I also could not stay with it because of the decorative aspect. They were just not even interesting use of stuff...particularly buying a silo to make modern furniture out of it. it is amazing though that now there seems to be so many programs of this type. I too would like to know the ratio of how many storage units they go through to find valuable stuff. My favorite show as of now is Storage Wars. I watched Buried Treasure with the Keno brothers and it was too drawn out for my taste. I really dislike when these shows go to long commercials and then come back and repeat everything they have shown already as though you may have forgotten. it is really annoying and a waste of time.

Dupo, thank you for explaining your method of listing the aviation books. It makes sense. My other question is where do you keep all your books and how many do you have left? I think I remember that they were your husband's books so do you still buy more of that type or do you have enough to list for the future?
I went to about 15 local garage sales yesterday and bought nothing. I probably had better and more stuff in the trunk of my car than were at these sales. I do better at the professional tag/estate sales usually. This weekend there were none in my area so hopefully next week things will resume.

Beth, the Pampers phenomena is quite amazing. The purple box sounds like the Holy Grail of diapers! Who would guess?

Beth, what is the fascination of 1972 Pampers? That was an amazing sale. Dupo, your books seem to be moving along quite well. You must have loads of aviation material. How do you decide which ones to list or do you just go by a hit or miss selections.

I just love seeing the best of the month items. Looking back, I felt encouraged that I did have a few good and interesting sales. My best sellers for August were:
a book-The Disney Villain 49.99
another book: Ruhlmann: Master of Art Deco 81.00
Blue Ridge china cups and saucers-Christmas Tree pattern 81.52
Dinkey Supertoys McLean Tractor Trailer 101.00
Gucci Scarf 56.00

I thought that was an excellent tip about selling like items at one fell swoop. I try to do that but a lot of times just have a single item or maybe two at most. I love to find a whole lot of one thing.
Are we going to continue the custom of posting our 5 best items for the month? I ask as today is the last day of the month. I always enjoyed seeing what BookBoarders found out there and how well they did.

Yes, it was Diane who is interested in reading The Help. It will go out to her right away.
I had a new experience with paying for postage on line. I do it all the time and kind of take things for granted. However, I just got a message from a buyer in Ireland that he is still waiting for his item. Well when I checked I see that the postage was paid for on PayPal using an EBay label but since it was first class I don't think I can track it. So now what? Should I refund this guy both postage and cost of item?

Clemintine, if you are not in a rush to read The Help I have a copy which I would be delighted to send to you. I just found it in my half hearted cleaning up methods. Please send me an email with your address. I think it is you who mentioned the book. i just saw the movie and it was pretty good.

Beth or other horse people, I bought some Breyer horses last weekend. By coincidence, I had listed 5 others as a lot. They sold but the postage is so high sending that many. I think there were five of them. So my question is, should I sell them as a lot or do individual listings? This time I have about 6 large ones and about 5 smaller ones. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hello. The hurricane seems to have departed and things went well in my immediate area. There were periods of wind but nothing steady so some branches are down but no heavy damage. The rain was steady and there is flooding but again not in my immediate area. The warnings were good I think as people were prepared and seemed to be staying in and not driving about on the roads.

Lludwig thanks for the welcome. I live right above NYC in a small town actually a village called Bronxville. Nothing is happening here yet. Don't worry about Swifty...he seems to be very capable and New Yorkers are actually quite great in emergencies so he will be in good hands.

Thank God! I am so happy to be a member here. I am going to be home for the next two days as we are awaiting the arrival of Irene. I have loaded up on reading material and have a case of wine so things should be fine. There have been loads of preparation for this event by the local officials so hopefully all will go well. This is an unusual event in these parts. The main concern seems to be the possible major flooding.