Selling Hot Wheels on eBay

Aside from their popularity as toys, Hot Wheels cars are also popular with collectors!

Something that you almost always see at garage sales and thrift stores is that beat up box sitting in the corner with small cars and trucks. Well, let me introduce you to one of my favorite obsessions:

Selling collectible hotwheels on eBay!

The earliest of Hot Wheels cars are the most valuable. The early ones (produced between 1968 and 1977) are called Redlines. Here is a quick eBay search to get your "wheels" turning:

Redlines

They are called "Redlines" because of the red "stripe" on the outside wall of the tires. Check it out:

Here is a "tip" if you find a stash of redlines.....Hot Pink was mainly considered a "girls color", it is the most rare color to find and can mean a big difference in price. A car in lime green for instance may fetch 1/4 of the price of the same car in pink.

So as you can see there is a market out there for these little cars! When you find some, you need to make sure you know the correct name of the car and the year. Here is an AMAZING site that can help you figure that out!

http://www.southtexasdiecast.com/hwguide.html

Simply scroll down to the identification chart and each year is complete with pictures and names to help you!

Selling Hot Wheels on eBay not only is profitable, but is fun too!

Remember, as always, for over 100 hot auctions on eBay just like the Hot Wheels I talked about today, email me at hotauctionsguide@charter.net for information on purchasing my personal guide!

Thought of the day:

It is the thrill of hunt that makes the reward so sweet!

Vintage Clothes on eBay bring BIG BUCKS!

I love, love, love selling clothes on eBay. It is one of my favorite categories!

Typically, I stick to children's clothing or a few higher end adult items. Name brand clothes are fun for me and super easy to make a profit on. Garage Sales, thrift stores, or Goodwill are great sources for clothing. If you have patience to look and are very picky about what you buy ~ you can make some serious cash in this area!

There is also a great market for vintage clothing! I keep a list of the BIG vintage moneymakers that I am always on the lookout for.

I will share a few:

Levi's Jeans...
First, let me say I LOVE a great pair of jeans. There is a huge collector's market out there for jeans, especially Levi's.

What to look for at first glance is the little red Levi's tag on the back pocket. If has the little 'e' like LeVIS...then it is a newer pair of Levi's. If it has the BIG 'E' like LEVIS...then you better run to the register!

Here is a site to help you identify your Levi's....ilovebluejeans.com

Here is a recent auction on eBay:

$2000 Jeans

Pretty crazy, huh???

East/West Jackets

A little background: Starting out as East West Musical Instruments in a very hip San Francisco in the 1960s, East West Leather became primarily a clothing company due to the enormous success of their custom leather and suede jackets.

East/West Jacket

Hawaiian Shirts

Here is the thing: I am not sure why people like to collect vintage Hawaiian shirts, but man, they will pay big bucks for something that most people think is a joke! Here is a guy who has an entire site dedicated to his collection!

vintagehawaiianshirts.com

Here's an auction:

Hawaiian Shirt

unbelievable...

Vintage Polo

Yes, Ralph Lauren does have "older" (I wouldn't call them vintage) items that I am always looking for:

This Sweatshirt

This Sweater

Anything that is dated...even in the 1990's does well.

Nike Shoes

Apparently there are some serious Nike collectors out there also. These are from 1995 so if you happen to have these laying around ~ I would get it on eBay ASAP!

Nike Shoes

This barely even scratches the surface of vintage clothing that you can find at thrift stores and make some great PROFIT on! Just keep looking and you'll find one of these treasures!

Expectations of Motherhood

I am a member of the WAHM Bloggers Network. They occasionally have Questions of the Week that I never have answered before. This week I felt like I wanted to contribute an answer so here it is!

How does the reality of being a mom match up with the expectations of motherhood that you had before you had children?

Before I had children I thought that motherhood was simply fitting another persons’ life/schedule into your own. I thought that I would still be able to keep my full time job, work out 3 times a week at my local gym, meet with my girlfriends for weekly shopping outings and have plenty of “dates” with my husband. I thought that adding children to our family would be a blessing. I would still have “my life” but be blessed with another!

Well, fast forward 6 years ~ I am a Work at Home Mom and can not even tell you where my gym is anymore! I have not been shopping without my 2 boys in years and my husband and I have our “dates” on the patio while our kiddos play in the yard! I can tell you this: my children are the best thing that has happened to me!

I sell on eBay for a living and this allows me to be home with them. I love the fact that I am here when they need me and I get to watch them grow and learn every day. I would not trade it for the world!

25 cent toys = $100's in profits

One of my favorite things to sell on eBay is toys. I love searching for older toys that people will pay big bucks to complete a "set", or to simply "relive" their childhood days! While these hard to find toys can bring a big profit ~ they aren't sitting at each and every thrift store or garage sale that I go to. If they were, they wouldn't be "hard to find", right?

What I want to share today is those toys that ARE sitting at nearly each and every thrift or garage sale I go to! I am talking about everyday toys, when grouped into a "COLLECTION" will make you HUGE profits!

It all started a few years ago when my oldest son saw the Spiderman movie. Instantly he was hooked. He wore his Spiderman costume day and night and even tried climb up a brick wall! Needless to say, my husband and I gave in to his first "infatuation" and let him start a small "collection" of Spiderman figures. Now I am talking about plastic toys that we bought from Walmart, not true collectibles...he was only 4 at the time! For his birthday all of his aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends gave him (what else) MORE Spiderman toys!

Fast forward a few years and guess what???

Spiderman is OUT & Power Rangers are IN!

Figures....

So I was stuck with a huge rubbermaid container of Spiderman figures with matching cars, bikes, boats and whatever else that little guy need to get around. I thought to myself...there has got to be another 4 year old out there who would get as much enjoyment out of these as my son did. So what else would an eBayin' Momma do????

Yep, I went to eBay listed this HUGE lot and made quite a nice amount considering they were very well played with! I was happy to make room for our next "infatuation"...the Power Rangers...which aren't doing so bad on eBay either:

Power Ranger LOT

So I started researching what other toys I could sell in lots like this. Now you know in almost every thrift store or Goodwill there is a toy "junk box" that hold the random pieces that just don't seem to go anywhere.

This is now your goldmine!!

The best part about these "toy lots" is you can pick up one piece one day, another next week, just keep on adding to your collection. I have separate bins in my attic that I organize these "lots". It is such a small investment and these things are everywhere!

Here are just some of the items that you can get for 50 cents, 25 cents each or even less if you are lucky!

Ninja Turtles
Legos
The Simpsons
Little People
Barbie
Toy Story
Transformers
Star Wars

I think you get the idea???

Any toy you can think of will almost always make you more money in a lot or collection! For a minimal investment you can start building your own lots and make a nice profit!