My Cart is never empty. I often lose on eBay auctions, and sometimes the packages I receive come with pests, but something just keeps me going back to this wondrous place filled with baseball cards and the former belongings of the now-deceased. I first compiled this list at the end of 2025, when I was trying to make up a fun writing exercise to round out my year. Obviously, since I'm writing this in August of 2026, I never quite got around to it. Anyways, here are some of the things I found useful or interesting from my 2025 eBay purchases.
1. # 50 Pattern Hooks (Used) Good Condition-Used to hang and to store pattern pieces
I love organizing. Or - I love the idea that I have the option to organize my things and improve (optimize?) my life and surroundings. You may think that 50 pattern hooks is way too many pattern hooks. Where do I store them? Don't you need to also buy a pattern hole punch in order to properly use pattern hooks? Ok, so pattern hooks bring me a sense of security and comfort. It's like I know what I'm doing creating my patterns, since I'm storing them in such a neat and tidy manner. And it's certainly a step up from the binder clip-rubber band contraption that I formerly used as my pattern storage system, which actually works surprisingly well in a pinch. Well, that is the case as long as you don't mind the pattern pieces slipping out of the grasp of the binder clip from time to time, then having to find the correct style to return them to.
2. Vintage Lot 80 pc Earrings Enamel, Button, Hoop, Retro, 60's 70's 80's MOD
Who doesn't enjoy wearable trinkets that you can stick through your earlobes? This lot came with all shapes and sizes of decorative earrings of the costume variety. A large percentage look like they came straight off of a woman wearing a pantsuit with shoulder pads and a bouffant hairdo - which is a plus for me. They're a great conversation starter, especially when I wear the triangle shaped plastic ones that resemble wedges of sharp cheddar cheese.
3. # AGL Womens Size 8 Blakely Cap Toe Ballet Flats Studded Leather Slip On Shoes
These are the flats that I wear at least once a week. They're the perfect chameleon shoe for work and leisure. Unfortunately, I've worn them so often that the seams near my big toe on the right foot are starting to fall apart, and now I've got to either take them somewhere (unlikely) or try to fix them myself (also unlikely). Not only is the color absolute perfection, the studded toebox section is so adorable and make a nice zipper-like sound when you accidentally brush them up against some sort of metal fixture.
4. Lot Damaged Wool Fabric Clothing for Crafting Upcycling Reuse 100% Wool 9 lbs
I haven't really touched these yet for reuse, as I've been working through some other similar wool fabric in my stash. But I do have to say - these are quite nice in hand feel.
5. Antique Victorian Edwardian Bodice For Study As-Is
This is something that I bought on a whim as I've been wanting to copy the pattern of an Edwardian or Victorian bodice from an extant garment. While there is considerable damage on this item, I've started the process of extracting a pattern from it and things are coming along quite nicely. I especially love the buttons and am trying my best to find a method to make some similar buttons myself.
6. # SOFT ARAN WEIGHT PURE WOOL YARN 400g CONE - 8 BALLS UNDYED ECRU MACHINE KNITTING
I have to say - this is probably the most reliable and consistent cone yarn seller that I've interacted with and bought from on eBay. Buying yarn is tricky online; similar to most crafting supplies like trims or fabrics, it's hard to really understand the quality of the item from visuals alone, especially when that visual is a blurry image captured on top of a bedroom carpet from someone's mobile phone. But this seller has delivered on every purchase I've made with them, and the yarn that I've bought so far has been lovely and packaged nicely. The only drawback I can think of is that they are based in the UK, and therefore the shipping is a higher price than usual. This yarn in particular is amazing compared to the other wool cone yarns I've had the pleasure of utilizing - it's got a weight to it, a nice hand when knitted up, and you can both feel and smell a faint hint of lanolin, which I quite enjoy.
I have been trying to cut back on my spending this year, which I would say has been a pretty unfruitful venture. My my new job no longer allows me to make a large amount of frivolous purchases, but that hasn't stopped me from adding items to my watchlist for future must-buy items (and end-of-year lists)!