topic Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting? in Selling

Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

jellybirddesigns — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 02:46:27 GMT

In the past few months, I've sent a few orders (cushion covers) out which have landed up in some interesting places.

1) A BBC studio

2) A photo shoot in the US for a interior decor magazine

3) The Ringling Circus Museum in Florida (who knew there was such a thing!)

4) A couple in Canada who were who so taken with their visit to Australia that they made a model of the Opera House complete with Aboriginal paintings and lights as an addition to their headboard and wanted some of my Aboriginal cushion covers to match.

Where are some weird and wonderful places your items have gone to?

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

joztamps — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 02:52:32 GMT

Well, if you sell stamps, they go everywhere.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

gutterpunkz05 — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 03:01:29 GMT

A Movie Props Department - Norway (from memory)

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

kopenhagen5 — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 03:32:52 GMT

Some bolts to repair machinery in remote Alaska.

Or banknotes to Siberia. (Still in contact with the Russian guy)

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

padraicpaul91 — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 03:39:10 GMT

A Metallica poster to Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

countessalmirena — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 07:10:06 GMT

I know that my voice was used in a Russian commercial, but I never heard the end product and have no details.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

purplemon18 — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 10:57:30 GMT

I once had an order in the middle east that was so remote the customer included Latitude and Longitude in the address.

Unfortunately, his local postal service must be lazy because they just sent it back to me.

I get plenty of sales to remote aboriginal communities too. Mostly computer games.

Does Burnum Burnum Jr count?

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

heihachi_73 — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 20:50:49 GMT

I sent a PS2 game to the main Telstra building in Adelaide, another PS2 game to Russia (NHL 03 I think it was), and also a vintage PC game (Spear of Destiny (aka Wolfenstein 3D), on the old big 5.25" floppies) to Sweden.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

chameleon54 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 00:21:34 GMT

1) Machinery components to the North Pole

2) A book to Allen Jones ( I did a google search of the address and think it was probably the talking head )

3) Some years ago a rare collectable to a famous American musician. I cant for the life of me remember who it was, but it was addressed to them via their agent.

4) Sold bulk lots of new old stock electrical components ( 60 - 70 years old ) to buyers in China. ( selling coals to newcastle there .... )

5) A few items to small South African states that neither I nor the Post Office staff had ever heard of.

6) An ultra rare 24 page parts manual for an Australian racing version of of a Suzuki motor cycle. Only 20 of the bikes built. It was purchased within hours of listing by Suzuki in Japan for their collection / Records.

7 ) A full set of instruction manuals on how to fly Boing 747,s to the Philipines

I excluded middle Eastern Countries from purchasing that listing.....

😎 A Set of blueprints for a 1960,s racing car went to the Manufacturers archives in England.

9) A set of new old stock sales brochures and owners books on a rare Australian built car ( The Zeta, made by a washing machine manufacturer....) to the National Motor Museum. I delivered these in person and and took the family for a freebie tour of their collection. Had a lovely day out.

10) I currently have a beautifull studio photo of a veteran car. On the back is an inscription stating that it was the first Government car in Australia. The official archives show the first record of a Government car as being a different make and a few years newer. I have had discussions with Comcar Archivists in Canberra and also taken the photo to the National motor museum. At this stage we hav'nt nailed what my photo is, but in the process, we have worked out that the official photo of the first Government car that is published in numerous books and government pamphlets etc. is not the same model car as in archive records, so an imposter. An interesting mystery.

11) A ram scull with horns from a rare ancient breed of mountain sheep went to a national theatre company for use in a witches scene of a play........

12) I get quite a few, really nice items come through such as owners manuals for Ferraris and Lamboughinis and rare sales brochures for 1800,s horse drawn Australian farming equipment. etc. I dont keep any of it, ( too expensive to keep ) but its nice to have it to hold for a short while. This stuff usually goes to overseas collectors who are willing to pay the high prices.

You never know when you will stumble across the next gem and the research, history and final destination of rare items keeps ebay interesting.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

jellybirddesigns — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 00:42:04 GMT

Just remembered another interesting one -

Back in the days when I was still selIing antiques, I had a large number of antique New Zealand newspapers - I think about 50 of them, all from the 1800's.

The NZ National Library contacted me and bought all of them in one go.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

chameleon54 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 00:51:03 GMT

@heihachi_73 wrote:
I sent a PS2 game to the main Telstra building in Adelaide, another PS2 game to Russia (NHL 03 I think it was), and also a vintage PC game (Spear of Destiny (aka Wolfenstein 3D), on the old big 5.25" floppies) to Sweden.

Nooiiice item ( always on the lookout for that type of thing, but havnt found it yet )................

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

purplemon18 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 00:51:46 GMT

Huh. I never new there was a motor museum in Australia. I will have to add it to my holiday destinations.

Came accross a couple of interesting photos when I googled it.

That's a Holden?

The Nimbus has come along way!

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

chameleon54 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 01:08:51 GMT

Ebay can be a lot more than just buying stuff, listing it and packing it. My ebay business started from a hobby I already had and if you trade in items that interests you to start with it can be a fascinating way to make a living.

As mentioned, its those types of unique finds and the places they go that keeps ebay fresh. The research element can also get you in, trying to find out exactly what it is you have. Solving the mystery, all that stuff.

If you watch the " American Pickers " show they use one line over and over again. " Knowledge is money in our game " I really enjoy just browsing ebay sold items and noting the unusual items that get sold and what they are worth. I had a great example of this earlier in the year. I had been browsing rare tools in ebay sold items when I noted an unusual tool kit. It was round and fitted in the centre hole of a spare wheel in vintage VW,s and Porsche's. A complete kit sold at auction for over $1800.00.

I went to a clearing sale of a country garage that had closed down a few weeks later and found one of the empty tool boxes ( no tools ) in a small pile of scrap metal thrown in a corner of the yard. Ten dollars later it was mine and it sold on ebay within hours of listing to an American buyer for $380.00

I,m sure the American pickers are onto something when they say " Knowledge is money ".

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

chameleon54 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 01:36:34 GMT

I,ve had a few items for that Holden over the years and also the Force 7 Leyland 2 door coupe. Less than ten built, but the owners manuals come up for sale from time to time.

Some of the random stuff sitting around the office. The Wheels mag includes a feature on the rare 2 door P76 Coupe, part of a Porsche owners manual set, sales brochure for an old war era cabinet radio with sailor and soldiers standing nearby, Porsche AMG sales brochure book in hard box with cloth ties, old horse drawn ploughs and old photos. This is the sort of stuff I trade in and find it all quite interesting. I also trade in " hard items " such as vintage car components, old electrical stuff, militaria etc. Thats all sitting out in the shed., but the photo above shows why I ( usually ) enjoy selling on ebay. I Love all of this sort of stuff.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

jellybirddesigns — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 01:48:57 GMT

I love finding and selling old stuff too.

I spent several years attending deceased estate auctions and made some of the most memorable finds for just a few $$.

I used to sell antiques and vintage items on Ebay. They were the most fun to source and even more rewarding when they went for a great price. Some I have kept back from selling as they are just to lovely to part with and they are really unique.

I do miss the antique/vintage scene in some ways, but I don't have the storage space for that kind of endeavour any more.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

digital*ghost — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 02:09:18 GMT

Nothing too fascinating as far as I know - I've had a few purchases that were sent to people working at the ATO (i.e. it's addressed to them, at their workplace) which while not all that interesting, as a business owner it can make you wonder (if you have paranoid tendencies, anyway, which I can indulge occasionally ).

I've sent items c/o film studios several times, and send to a regular buyer at Sony Pictures NZ, I dunno what they get used for, but other people have been asked to sign permissions to allow their items to appear in films / tv shows so lean more towards it's someone buying stuff for themselves and just getting it delivered to their work.

The most interesting sales (and messages, lol) I get about my items are from the people who use my jewellery in unintended ways, usually in the bedroom, IYKWIM - a lot of that is TMI, but it's still an interesting place and more power to them for enjoying my craft . I did have a very nice convo with someone that used something I made (i.e. mostly I make jewellery) as a replacement part on their car. They said they'd contact me again in a year to let me know how it held up, and they actually did, exactly one year later. (The part was working superbly, so that was good).

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

purplemon18 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 05:27:56 GMT

come to think of it, I sold a bikini to Fox Studios in Sydney, but I think it might have just been a girl in the office.

Interesting solution fixing a car with a bit of jewelery. I can imagine several different ways that an earing or something might solve a car problem. Even at 22 carot gold it's probably cheaper than the proper part.

I figured that car was a GM import or something, it just surprised me because it is so different to the shapes I think of when I think Holden.

I'm really enjoying this topic, it's interesting to see the fun people have here.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

davewil1964 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 06:32:49 GMT

@purplemon18 wrote:
Huh. I never new there was a motor museum in Australia. I will have to add it to my holiday destinations.

Came accross a couple of interesting photos when I googled it.

That's a Holden?

The Nimbus has come along way!

That's the Torana XU-2, I believe. Much prettier in person. Never produced; I think the clampdown on overpowered cars was in effect around then. So no XU-2 and no Phase 4 GTHO.

Although Holden did shoehorn a V8 into a not much bigger Torana anyway.

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

go-tazz — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 08:28:26 GMT

Not so much the destination but the people involved was my strangest one.

I had a book of poetry that had 112 pages and the entire book was stanza's of 4 lines (nothing else apart from

the opening pages and the publication details).

It was hand cut and published in 1908 and I tried reading it but wasn't really my thing.

Put it up for auction and couldn't sell it at all over a 3 month period so put it on the bookshelf.

A month later I got an inquire from someone in the US wanting to buy it and the buyer wanted it for research

(he saw it via Google).

Sold the book for $20 as my one and only sale to the US and two days after I sent it I get two more enquiries

from US members who wanted to buy it as it was the only copy they could find worldwide.

I Emailed them back stating that it had sold and asked why the interest now and one of them replied that it was

for a University project based on the author also being into the occult and this book was supposed to be the

key into finding out why.

The first part of the project was for the class to find the book and who ever got it first was to receive extra

credits (so no idea how the teacher even knew if the book was available or if he had a copy).

Re: Have your items ever ended up somewhere interesting?

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 08:58:16 GMT

If you like motor museums there's a George Taylor store (hardware) at Grassmere, about 10 minutes drive from Warrnambool, that has something like 108 vintage motorcycles on display. Anyone can go in and have a look - they have a donation box but it's voluntary.

They've got a balcony (can't think of the proper word) around three sides of the store and most are displayed there but some are sitting up on top of stock display shelves all over the shop. I started counting the upstairs ones as I walked past but soon lost count, but one of the shop assistants told me how many there are, and it's also on their website. If you google George Taylor stores you'll find their website and pictures of a few of the bikes.

I can't remember a lot of the details now but they had a few motorbikes from the second world war but I think the oldest was a Peugeot from 1908. They had a small car that was made from the cockpit of a German plane and the notice on it said that when WW2 ended there were a lot of planes that there was no use for so they turned a lot of them into cars. It was definitely different to any car I'd ever seen before. There was another unusual car too but I can't remember the details.