Chapter 665

Jan 26, 2024

Sell, Sell, Sell

it's a gamble not a gimbal

Yes, I sold the century old steamer trunk, finally. Had to reduce price down to $30. A local auction house said he sold them for $25 and they didn't want any more. Nice lady loved the trunk, we stuffed it into her little Honda and she actually gave $30 she was so happy. Even sent me a picture of it in her living room. Doctor's bag not yet sold, but also did move three sets of snow shoes on Facebook.

People ask why sell stuff. Yeah, because it is stuff. And too much stuff. 

I've always had a life long interest in knives. These are 22 (and more) of what I have accumulated over time. Missing is the Remington that just sold on eBay. Upper right Girl Scout and Camco also listed on eBay now.

My custom made South Carolina George Heron top left should draw thousands, but I got to work up my experience before going all in. Just found my Swiss Hubertus switchblade typically going for $170 on the knife forums.

Dad gave me this 1930 Remington model R-1630 when I was a kid. It is worn, cracked handle and the blade doesn't lock in place well. Perhaps Grandpa Hayden originally had it- unknown. On eBay as a member, I can see what things actally sell for. Prices ranged from $1 to $172. I left it in the raw untouched condition and chose the 7 day auction starting price $10. It brought $38 which was satisfying and about what I expected. Buyer was Shawn in Ohio, a Judge of (horse) Ponys there. There was potential to have gone much higher as there is a large collector knife community out there. I had 246 views, 30 put it in their watching folder, and 6 bidders.

The selling fee was $7 about 15% not bad and eBay is allowing me about a thousand free listing currently. The shipping is a pain. I used the $10 flat rate small box, which the buyer paid for but I'd like to have cheaper costs. Mark at the post office was fantastic: humorus, congenial and knowledgeable- unlike some that you run into.

Believe I traded with Jim Knapp for this in second grade when I began my bartering dealing career.

Cleaned it up and listed on ebay : Girl Scout Kutmaster Utica (1948-72). [Model UTA 14 3 3/8" overall Celluloid Green 1950-62] . All About Pocket Knives web site gave date information, (including 1950-65 gold shield with eagle). Some sell for $60 on ebay, I'll get less. I started bid at $10 for 10 days.

Had this Camillus Camco four blade forever (since 50s-60's) and it went many places from fishings, hunting, hiking etc, maybe went up Mt Marcy.

Took the time to clean and polish since it's just a run of the mill item, but desired by some. The Camillus Company began with a German immigrant from 1870. The company became one of the largest in the country producing knives for the U.S. military: Ka Bars and pilot survival knives. The CAMCO was a division of the company.

Also cleaned up my Camillus Electrician's Model. The Camillus Tang Stamps dated mine to 1960-76 due to the long line under Camillus and no periods in USA. Another well worn used knife took hours to clean up. Wont get a financial reward but it was satisfying and it reminded me of endless hours in Dad's garage cleaning up tools for him. Maybe will receive $10-$40. 

Dug out old photo of Dad's garage. Just one small corner. Whole shop was packed with tools and machines. Maybe my mechanical interests were born here?

How many more items will be on chopping block. Don't know, but for now it feels good to go more minimal. I'm starting with five that could bring $30. Most of the rest have little value. My last purchase was a Chinese fixed blade for $12 that is a great knife surprisingly but I think it fell off the roof of my truck after a winter hike last year. 

Plenty more other stuff to go. It's kind of fun. Almost like a treasure hunt in reverse. And I'm learning some history.

Craigslist Hunter is a pawn shop on youtube entertaining and  inspirational. My Pawn Broker channel today showed how a Disney pin was selling for $500 when it shot up to $1000 in the last minute. But there are scammers putting up fake bids and never paying.