The eBay Life "Score of the Day" is a pair of 1980's vintage sneakers purchased for $1 and sold for....

A few years back I purchased a pair of vintage Nike men's shoes at a yard sale.  They were pretty cool.  They had kind of a Bosnian gangster look to them.  (Track suit, gold necklace, sneakers... know what I mean?)
They were a men's size 9. I tried them on, but they made my feet look big, so I decided to sell them.  The soles were a bit yellow, and I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in purchasing them, so I let them sit and sit and sit. They sat in a garbage bag in the garage for at least two years.

I finally listed them last week.  When researching these sneakers on Terapeak, I searched for "vintage Nike."  There were a lot of vintage Nike shoes that had closed in the last 90 days.  I didn't see a pair that resembled these, however.  That should have tipped me off.  I listed them for $9.99.

They ended up selling for.......................

                                       $52 

I sold them to a guy in Spain!  He ended up paying almost $100 for these because only Express International offers tracking.  But there's more to the story.......

I did a really bad job listing these.  For one thing, I didn't have a style name in the title.  The only information listed in the shoe was the size and the words "Made in the Republic of Korea."  That's how I knew they were vintage.  I don't usually sell vintage Nikes, and I wasn't sure if this particular style was in demand or not.  

In addition, I let them end at around noon on a Friday -- Friday or Sunday night would have been better.  (Then again, the guy who bought them lived in Spain...so that may have been better for him.  Hmmmm.)   For American buyers, however, this was not a good time to end the auction.

Finally, I didn't include the word "leather" in the title.  There is a big difference between leather and canvas Nikes.

A few hours before the shoes ended, a guy from France sent me a frantic email saying that eBay wasn't allowing him to place a bid on my listing.  He wanted me to help him, but there was nothing I could do because the auction was about to end.  He said he was willing to pay $115 + shipping.  He claimed to be a collector of the "Bruin" period Nikes.  

I didn't really take his email seriously.  Who would pay over $100 for a pair of old Nike tennis shoes with yellowing soles?  Besides, the guy's email looked like a ransom note.  He wrote in all caps and used a ton of exclamation marks.  To tell you the truth, I thought I was dealing with a scam artist.  LOL

But just in case this guys was legit, I looked the shoes up on Terapeak using the keyword "Bruin."  Sure enough.  Two similar pairs had sold for $100+.  Nooooooooooooo!

Well, at least I gathered some good information.  I will know better next time.  Now you, too, will know what to look for when you're out at yard sales.

For eBay selling tips and tricks, follow my blog! (Look to the right of this post and click "follow.") If you need shoes in hard-to-find sizes or name brands, check out my eBay store,  Bluefrogshoes.com! And if you're itchin' to work from home, take an eBay class at Oroville Adult Education.  Call 530-538-5350 today!

Have a great weekend!