Looking for Top Dollar at Edrop Depot

Earlier this week, I wrote a quick story about unique items listed on eBay with a Crofton connection. 

This prompted an email from Joyce Brown, who runs the the Edrop Depot store off Route 3 in Crofton. 

"I thought you might be interested in knowing some of the things that we have listed," she said. 

So I stopped by the store this week and found Brown amidst a wide array of items, from classic books to baseball memorabilia and even a small slot machine. 

"You would be surprised what people buy," she said with a bemused look. "We get some of the most interesting stuff in here."

Brown has been operating the store for about nine years, but it moved into its current location on Crofton Lane last year. It was previously located near the former Jasper's Restaurant. 

EDrop Depot is known as an eBay "trading assistant." In short, Brown and her staff of two will do all of the dirty work in getting items listed on eBay, sold and shipped. In exchange, she takes about 25 percent of the sale price. 

"I used to sell my own things on eBay, and then people would ask me, 'Hey, can you help me sell my stuff?" she said.

Brown said people turn to her because it's convenient, but that she is often able to help people get top dollar for items. Through special subscriptions, she has access to selling data that average sellers don't have, and she understands how to present items on eBay to get maximum bids.

"We're usually at the high-end of the scale because we've been doing this a while," she said. 

Also, because she is a high-volume seller, eBay charges lower fees from each sale, thereby offsetting at least some of the cost of doing business with her. 

Brown is also perfectly willing to tell a seller if she believes an item isn't worth selling. Once, she encountered a World War II veteran was part of a submarine fleet at Pearl Harbor. He had received a special Geisha doll from a Japanese soldier at the end of the war.

"I said 'why would you want to sell this?" she said, ultimately convincing the man to keep it. 

When asked about the most unique items she's sold, she checked off a long list. There was the original copy of the plans for John F. Kennedy's inauguration, signed by the architect. There was the $27,000 car. The Donald Duck comic book that sold for more than $1,000. The $6,000 watch. The 50 lots of yarn, with 30 spools a piece. 

One man drove from the Midwest to pick up a soft-serve ice cream maker he won. Another drove from Maine to pick up a wheelchair. 

"Anything you can think of that's legal, we've sold," said store employee Karen Lanouette.

In a given month, Edrop Depot will have between 400 and 500 active listings. Brown said she'll rarely list anything for seven days, but will re-list items if she believes they'll sell. 

"With eBay, it depends on who's looking at any given time," she said. 

Edrop Depot is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. It's eBay store can be found at stores.ebay.com/edropdepot.