A little info about me

Welcome to Mostly Marilyn’s Serendipitous eBay Finds - a blog to answer questions about where I find my things to sell on eBay, how I research and why did it sell for so much!

I am often asked by my friends and family members who watch my auctions these very questions. The question I hear most often is “You sold THAT for $XXX!!! WHY???” To be honest, many of my things that bring high prices are just as much of a surprise to me as they are to my auction watchers. This is where “serendipitous” comes to play.

But, I also strongly believe that “LUCK” is when Preparation meets Opportunity. I have studied more in the last few years of selling on eBay than I ever did to get my college degree!

I have always been interested in antiques, but my first career was in retail women’s clothing. I owned and operated three stores in Denver from 1978 to 1991. All of my stores were decorated with antique furniture and accessories, not for sale, but as displays. This is where I caught the bug of antiquing. A few years of trying to find a new career lead me to eBay as a buyer, then as a seller. I went into my basement and picked out a few of my childhood things to sell to give me seed money to start my eBay business. My first sale was an autographed photo of Lucille Ball that she sent me in response to a fan letter I sent her when I was 9 years old. That hooked me!

The first thing I did was buy a book “Garage Sale and Flea Market Annual”. I read it cover to cover many times and took it with me every time I went “saleing” at garage sales. Now, almost 10 years later, I am doing something I am passionate about and making a living along the way.