I’ve talked before about how even things that are broken can sell. I’m not asking you to bring in junk. Let’s get that straight right up front. When someone comes in to the store and says “I’ve got some junk for you”, I’m not impressed. Junk is junk. Throw it away or recycle it.

Moving on.

Some things are not in perfect condition or sometimes not even in working condition, but if they’re the right things that someone can fix, they just might sell. Game systems are a perfect example. That old XBOX 360 might have gone haywire and you replaced it with something else. Someone out there wants that broken one for parts.

Here’s another example of something we’ve recently sold. We sell a lot of wheels. Aluminum wheels are soft and if you hit a pothole they stand a decent chance of bending. However, they can be fixed.

These were replaced with a new set and instead of scrapping them, we sold them. The seller gets a chance to recover some of his money and the buyer will just have to take one wheel to a repair shop, get it fixed, and he’ll be stylin’.

For a damaged set of wheels, the seller did pretty well. Click here to check out the wheels

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We’re selling 4 Bon Jovi and Kid Rock Tickets at Soldier Field on July 30. Tickets of all sorts sell well on eBay and these will do well also. It’s the hottest concert of the year!

Every time I hear Kid Rock’s name I think of a clip I heard on the radio. Kid Rock was at Wrigley Field and sang “Take me out to the ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch and what happens at the end just cracks me up.

This clip includes a bunch of other unrelated stuff at the beginning, so fast forward to about halfway through to hear the funny part.

If you’ve got tickets to sell, bring them in. If you’d like to bid on these tickets, click here now

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We sold something this week that we’ve been working on for several months. That’s much longer than a normal sale for us, but we pursued this one a little more aggressively because it was a great opportunity for everyone involved, the seller, the buyer, and our store.

It was one of those types of items where there isn’t much of a market and you have to find just the right buyer. An interested buyer called and said he was deciding between our listing and one other off-eBay item in Pennsylvania.

He said he chose our item because we had a great video showing the product working.

It was the video! I think I was more pumped about the fact that the video made the difference than I was about the actual sale.

I love when we can do something like that to make the difference between selling and not selling. That’s why we do what we do.

What can we do to make a difference for you? Have we already done something that amazed you? Leave a comment on this blog and tell us about it!

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We’re often asked the question, “what’s the wierdest thing you’ve ever sold”. While we try to stay away from downright quirky things that have no value to anyone, we’re not against selling something that a collector would really want but is a bit unusual. Sometimes you need a little fun.

Here’s one that really got us laughing. It’s Barbie’s friend, Growing Up Skipper.

Here’s the goofy thing about Skipper. You twist her arm around in a circle and, well, she grows up, or out, or both.

Do you have something odd that you’d like to sell, tell us about it below? Got something strange you’ve sold? Let’s hear about it!

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Next Saturday I’ll be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Bolingbrook. I’m looking forward to the event and helping raise money for a worthy cause. I’m a few dollars short of my goal and would love to be able to show up at the event having raised $1000.

In the 2 minutes it takes to make a donation to my American Cancer Society Relay For Life® team, you can help me save lives – and improve the quality of life for people who have cancer.

The American Cancer Society invests much-needed funds raised through Relay For Life® to save lives from cancer. They’ll use your donation to:

• Help people stay well by educating them on ways prevent cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable.
• Help people get well with FREE hands-on support through every step of their cancer experience.
• Find cures by funding groundbreaking research that helps us understand cancer’s causes, determine how best to prevent it, and discover new ways to cure it.
• Fight back by working with lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and rally communities worldwide to join the fight.

Every donation really does make a difference. Please visit my personal Relay for Life page to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation.

If it’s easier to spread your donation over several months, you can do that by choosing a “sustaining gift” option. Thank you for joining me in this effort.

To learn more about Relay For Life®, please visit RelayForLife.org

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We’ve had the opportunity over the past five years to speak to many different groups about buying and selling on eBay.

Just a few of the topics we’ve spoken about have included:

• How to be a better, smarter eBay buyer
• What sells on eBay and how to find it
• Protecting yourself from online scams

We’ve met with church groups, senior groups, service organizations like Rotary, library guests, corporate audiences, even singles clubs. If your group is looking for an energetic, fun, and informative presentation, give us a call at (815) 293-0300 and we’ll customize something for your group.

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Somebody complimented me the other day, saying, “you must know everything”. I was flattered and wish that was the case. Kellie says I’m full of “useless knowledge”. Sometimes that useless knowledge comes in handy.

The compliment came up when we were talking about our business and some of the things we’ve sold recently. I realized that since we opened in 2005, we’ve learned quite a lot about stuff you’d never think about until you need it.

Until starting this business, I would have never been able to:

• Spot a fake Coach purse
• Disassemble a WII Japanese sword to find out if it’s signed by it’s maker and then reassemble it perfectly
• Understand the date codes on a Coleman lantern
• Know what makes one beer sign valuable and another junk
• Know how to safely prep and ship something by freight carrier
• Find the model number, date, and city and state of manufacture for a vintage Singer sewing machine
• Identify the bolt pattern, offset, and backspace for a car rim

Even more valuable, that experience has taught us to understand the most important things buyers are looking for in a listing to get them interested in a listing. That experience is what makes the difference and helps us realize top dollar for you in this marketplace.

Got something to sell and want to make sure it’s sold the right way? Bring it in and we’ll make it happen for you.

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If your business has surplus equipment or excess inventory, don’t overlook eBay as the place to turn it to cash. Since opening in 2005, we’ve sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in business equipment and shipped it worldwide.

Many people make the mistake of thinking eBay is just for small stuff. We can help with the larger and heavier items too. We ship items by motor freight often and we’ve even arranged shipment for vehicles.

Household appliances and furniture, although large and shippable by freight carrier, don’t generate enough interest because buyers aren’t willing the pay the cost associated with freight shipments. Businesses are a differenct story. They understand the cost of shipping and use freight requently. If your business has an item that has enough of a market and people are willing to pay the freight cost, this can be a great market for your product.

Give us a call at (815) 293-0300 and let’s talk about selling your excess equipment today!

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A little over a year ago, a very good friend of our daughters was diagnosed with cancer. In a short 9 months, Brianna finished the race strong but ultimately lost her battle with the disease. As a father, watching a child’s life cut short was heartbreaking. It’s hard for me to even write about it.

I’ve formed a team for the Relay for Life in Bolingbrook to make a small contribution and maybe help one more child enjoy another birthday and I’m asking for your support.

In the 2 minutes it takes to make a donation to my American Cancer Society Relay For Life® team, you can help me and my team save lives – and improve the quality of life for people who have cancer.

The American Cancer Society invests much-needed funds raised through Relay For Life® to save lives from cancer. They’ll use your donation to:

• Help people stay well by educating them on ways prevent cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable.
• Help people get well with FREE hands-on support through every step of their cancer experience.
• Find cures by funding groundbreaking research that helps us understand cancer’s causes, determine how best to prevent it, and discover new ways to cure it.
• Fight back by working with lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and rally communities worldwide to join the fight.

Every donation really does make a difference. Please visit my personal Relay for Life page to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation.

If it’s easier to spread your donation over several months, you can do that by choosing a “sustaining gift” option. Thank you for joining me in this effort. I will keep you updated on my progress.

To learn more about Relay For Life®, please visit RelayForLife.org

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A good friend and long-time customer, Frank Kovachik, came to our store this weekend and gave us a copy of his first CD. Frank’s been making music for years and is a great musician. The CD is quite impressive and features a great mix of original music. In addition to writing, performing, and engineering each track, Frank also created all of the album artwork. You can meet Frank at http://www.frank-kovachik.com and you can hear samples and buy his CD, “The Ecstasy of Illusion” at CD Baby.

When we opened up the CD and took a look at the liner notes, I was shocked. While reading the “Thank you” section, we saw that our store was included on the list! Honestly, it nearly brought tears to my eyes. I can’t think of a time when I’ve been more flattered or honored. We are truly proud to call Frank a friend and to have helped him work toward his goals.

Thank you Frank!

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