Famous/notable people who purchased from you?

[billythekid16]

From my entire time of selling on eBay, I only had two buyers who got my attention...

A Boston Globe sportswriter (currently on staff) bought a Boston Globe Magazine several years ago from me.  He told me in his eBay message that he wrote the cover story on that magazine, but forgot to grab a copy for himself (!) and was elated that he checked on eBay and found my listing.

An American book author and actor bought a high school yearbook from me 10 years ago.  His fame was  appearing in a few Apple (Mac computer) TV commercials years ago and was an occasional guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  He told me (via eBay message) that he never bought the yearbook before he graduated from that high school, and regretted it for many years.  And was glad he found it on eBay, even though the one I had was a used copy.

I know a majority of you don't care about the backgrounds of your buyers and only the sale.  But if someone was famous or notable reached out to you, like a top executive of a corporate company, or a famous actor buying something from you on eBay, I think that you would remember them?  Especially if they directly messaged you...

I was wondering if any of you had any buyers who were famous or notable.

(NOTE: I think I remember that revealing the real names and eBay IDs of any buyers are not allowed on these forums.  But you can reveal their occupation and what they're famous for, like how I described mine.)

[pickermall]

I sold a stereo unit to the Mythbusters some years ago... last year a member of Three Dog Night bought an item... the Sopranos and Fresh Off The Boat TV shows were customers... my wife has sold to Prada in the past.

I think there were one or two others, but those are the notable ones!

[ne*1*huskers]

No one famous, but, I have grandchildren, great nieces and nephews of authors of 50 & 60's Harlequin Romances, who never knew their relative was an author.  

About 20 years ago, someone, from Australia told me he didn't find out until his great, great aunt passed away and they were cleaning out her house and he found old documents and contracts with her pen name on it.  Found out that the family had been ashamed that she was writing "thooose" type of books and she was (gasp) a spinster. He was trying to get a copy of all her books.  Great sale that day as I had over 20 of her books, under 3 different pen names, the other two he didn't even know about. 

[ckimodog]

@billythekid16 

Years ago when I was trying to sell my art work, one of the Kansas City Chiefs bought one of my pieces that was already framed.  He was also a personal friend whom we sadly lost 2 years ago. He picked it up where I was working that day and gave me an extra $50 as well.  He told me he hung it in his bathroom and it got lots of compliments when he had company.   😜

[djvp53]

Neat story. I wonder why they didn't just pay the $800.

[tree*fern]

Sold vintage dinnerware pieces to a late-night TV host. 

A vintage 1960s Mattel Ken doll outfit to a fashion designer at Louis Vuitton in Paris.

Two old-school, first edition 1.0 software manuals to two different law firms in the same week. Made me curious so I looked them up and found they were representing the two software companies in lawsuits against each other!

Vintage items and books sold to prop houses, and theatre and film production companies. Most interesting was a Lenny Bruce biography sold to a documentary film producer. I almost didn't list it because it was in poor condition, but it was a very hard to find edition.

Cookbooks and other books sold to the authors.

[happyhippyshack]

Several years ago I listed a Kahala Hawaiian shirt with a huge hula girl on it. I priced it at $49.00 and it sold within minutes of it going live. It was shipped to the Kahala Corporation in Hawaii, little did I know that Dale Hope was the original artist of the shirt. About a week later I got a hand written thank you card in the mail with a $150 check from the Kahala Corp! Dale wrote that he had been on the hunt for that shirt for years! He had a saved search on ebay and said he would have paid 4x's the amount I listed it for.

I also sold a vintage 90's Bart Simpson t-shirt to Matt Groening, shipped to Fox Studios...I sold a vintage pair of Jordache jeans with a big horse head embroidered on back to the Los Angeles Pop Art museum.

[squinkercat59]

Years ago I decided to part with my collection of Gene Kelly  movie posters, lobby cards, etc.  Some of them were purchased by his widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, who at that time was intending to use them for a project involving his life and career.

[reallynicestamps]

@steve-stuff Also sold a sealed package of seasoned tomato jello from the 50s to Kraft, the owners of jello. They put in their museum.

When people hear about those jello salads (lime jello, marshmallows, olives, anchovies, carrots, mayonnaise! yum!) they don't realize that there were vegetable flavoured jelly powders too. They were not sweetened.

The original recipe likely called for celery jello, and some really bad cook decided green is green. Like confusing mayonnaise with whipped salad dressing.

[reallynicestamps]

I sold a cheap paperback of the marginally obscene variety (Think titles like "Bordertown Lust") to the daughter of the writer.

Daddy had supported his family writing BDSM pron and daughter was now collecting his titles.

Wasn't that sweet?

[evry1nositswindy]

I sold a lovely set of children's books to an HGTV host/carpenter who collects children's books. 

I also sold a book by Norman Mailer to someone in NY with the same last name, but I didn't ask if she was a relative.

I sold an autographed photo of an opera singer to the deceased man's family.  The man was buying it for his wife as a surprise gift.  The singer died before she was born, but he was hoping she would love a picture of her grandfather in his prime.

I sold a boxing magazine to the cover boxer's nephew who was putting together a collection of his memorabilia.  That was the only time he appeared on the cover of a magazine and he was thrilled to have it.

I sold a book to someone with the same name as the author of the book, so I messaged him and asked if he was related to the author, as the author was dead.  He said no relation, but he collects his books to put on his shelf because they have the same name!      

Putting paper items where they belong is one of the best parts of selling on eBay!

[katzrul15]

Sold multiple items to the Golden Bear that were evidently for his Grandson and then his son bought several from me direct vs the Golden Bear buying them.  They both used their real names - shipped to Florida.  Thought it was really a nice hoot!

On the last shipment, I enclosed an extra hoping for a little note or something from them - heard nothing - not even for the extra item sent along.  LOL

Have shipped a couple of times to a Paramount Studios address - no idea if they used my items in anything.  That was years ago - back in the early days of selling.  Would have been great to figure out if they ended up on a set or in a show/movie.  Probably just in some stack of kitschy klutter!

[sextons-sweet-deals]

celebrities / famous people are no different than any other human being. They shop like anyone else. Just be respectful of their identity and don't go blasting their I.D. or e-mail on social media. 

[monroe67]

"I finally noticed that both buyers had the same Ship-To: address, a Hollywood prop house, so clearly they were on a mission to find and buy as many vintage bike accessories as possible, and this went on for about 2-3 months. I always wondered if I would spot any of my items in a film set in the 1960s, but unfortunately I never did."

These posts are giving me hope.  I have two large golden/yellow glass hanging lamps that my folks purchased when they moved our family to California 60 years ago.  They have been stored, in their original boxes, in my closet for most of the last 20 years.  I have often thought they would be perfect for a TV show or movie that needed/wanted MCM furnishings.  And I still live in Southern California, so a local pickup, a hand-over somewhere off the I-5 Freeway could be arranged easily!  

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@silverstatetreasureboxes wrote:

When I was running the antique store here in town, two large biker looking dudes walked in. They ended up buying something and asking alot of questions about the vintage coke machines.

     Couldn't take my eyes off the guy with the bandana and pony tail, turns out they were Danny the Count and his buddy with the spikes from Counting Cars.

    Love me some bad boys!

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@silverstatetreasureboxes  The Count is a cutie, I would have swooned!  

My most famous encounter was a Broadway Producer.  I don't follow Broadway & was clueless.  It was a complicated & frustrating tx to be honest & his asst called me & said the items (heavy magazines) had to be overnighted, which I didn't offer as a service.  I thought it was all bovine excrement, til I looked it up afterwards & it was on the level.   I've posted about it before, it was a fun tx, but not worth the effort for the $25 or so.  They did teach me about Western Union though, as the Producer was very demanding in having to have the stuff overnight (I could hear the fear in the asst's voice) & so they WU'd me the extra money to overnight, they explained how it worked & told me I could go pick up the money at my local grocery store, which I had no idea about.  All in all, it was memorable.  The item was a huge stack of vintage 80's Cosmopolitan magazines, that the guy wanted to use in a play.  They sent me a bit of extra money & being honest, I returned it.  Guy calls me in a New Yawk accent & is like, you shoulda kept the money & bought you's self a Margarita LOL.  

[stephenmorgan]

Did you know Billy The Kid is consider a Hero in New Mexico.

He has a New Mexico Highway named after him.

https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-visit/scenic-byways/billy-the-kid/