Check Your Kids' Closets! You Might Just Find Some Cash In There...

... in the form of old board games.  There are many board games that are no longer being made but still have a big following.  Many have older versions that are still quite popular.  Also, people who have those older games are often looking to replace lost or broken game pieces.  This is one more area you can make some nice profit in on eBay.  They are readily available in thrift stores, attics and kids' closets.

One of my best sellers in the board game category is the RISK board game.   My best RISK sale was a Lord of the Rings edition that sold for $74.99.  If I remember correctly, I purchased it at a local thrift store for somewhere around $2.00.  There are MANY different editions and versions of the RISK game and you will need to know which one you have in order to accurately describe and list it for sale.  Here is a great resource for researching the different ones:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_licensed_Risk_game_boards  Once you know for sure which one you have, make sure that all of the original pieces are included.  If you aren't sure if all the parts are there, you can often find the list of parts on the inside of the box.  If there are pieces missing, you have two options.  If there are only a few missing pieces, you can always purchase them on eBay to make a complete game.  OR, you can "part it out" and sell the pieces as replacements for those looking to complete THEIR game.  Here is the link to all of my current RISK games and parts:  http://stores.ebay.com/Fallen-Leaf-Books-and-More/_i.html?_nkw=risk&submit=Search&_sid=1085039    

RISK is not the only board game that you can turn for profit.  I am always on the lookout for obscure and fantasy board games, like the one I sold yesterday called Cosmic Encounter.  It sold for $31 and I paid $1 for it.  It was a complete game in excellent condition.  I always get quite excited when I find old board games in excellent condition for cheap!

Duel of Ages is another one that brought me a nice profit, selling for $75.99 after I paid $1 for it.  This is a strategy game that is no longer being made.  Apparently, it has a cult-like following around the world, since mine sold to a buyer in Australia.  

A 3-D board game called HOTELS was probably my best-selling game of all time.  Once again, I found it for a mere $2 or so and sold it for $129.99 to a New York buyer.  

Another obscure board game that I had great success with is called Broadsides and Boarding Parties.  This one went for $98.50 and sold within days of listing it.  This game is described as a suspenseful sea duel between a pirate ship and the Spanish galleon.  The setting is the 17th century in the Caribbean Sea.  How cool is that?    

One of my newest items is the Jumanji board game (remember the movie?).  I paid $1 for it and have had it listed for a few weeks.  I'll keep tweaking my asking price and it will eventually sell.        So... as you can see, obscure, fantasy and strategy board games are a great find that you should always consider picking up whenever you can find them.  

Microwave Glass Turntables

So, you broke that nice glass turntable in your microwave.  What to do?  Go to eBay!  That's what LOTS of people are doing and it's meant some pretty nice profits for me.  I rarely leave a thrift store without at least one microwave glass turntable for around $1.  Sometimes, I get "lucky" and they'll be accompanied by some indication of the exact make/model microwave they came out of.  Most of the time, they do NOT.

The listing to the right is one that I sold just minutes before writing today's blog.  I actually found it at the Goodwill Clearance Store (aka "the bins"), where you have to dig through big blue bins where they've thrown all kinds of STUFF.  But, there are treasures in those bins!  This particular one came out of a beat up Sunbeam microwave and the turntable was still enclosed in the original Styrofoam packing with the user's manual included.  I removed it from the oven (you're allowed to!) and paid $1.19/lb for it.  It probably cost me a couple of dollars.  Listing it was super easy!  After I took the photos, I measured the diameter of the turntable, the outside diameter of the track on back and included that info. along with the make/model. 

When, as is usually the case, all I have is the turntable and a measuring tape, here's what I do.  Measure the diameter of the turntable and the outside diameter of that track on the back.  Indicate any letters/numbers that are stamped in the glass.  SOMETIMES, you can do a little research with the information you have and find out what make/model it fits... but, not often.  Below is a turntable that I recently sold.  You can see that I could not indicate the exact microwave(s) that it fit, but it sold, anyway!  It included the support with wheels (the wheels that fit into the track on back).



I have been taking my turntable photos on a white background, but I plan to start using a black background because I think it will show all the details much clearer.  Good, clear photos are very important to the success of any eBay business!

These turntables are VERY costly if purchased new from the manufacturer.  And, quite often, the needed turntable is out of production, so they CAN'T be purchased new.  As far as shipping goes, you have a couple of options.  You can take a larger box and cut it down to make sort of a "pizza box" to ship it in.  Here's my friend, Jessie's, pattern for doing so:  Make a Pizza Box!

Or, you can purchase some 16" X 16" boxes from eBay, which is what I eventually did.  Make sure you wrap the turntables in bubble wrap and pack them in packing peanuts to prevent any breakage during shipping.  The US Post Office is quite rough with packages! 

That's pretty much it!  So, never pass up a ROUND microwave glass turntable for resale.  Leave the square ones... they don't sell.  Here are the ones I currently have listed:  Microwave Glass Turntables

I'd love it if you'd share with me some of your success stories with the turntables!