Vintage Harley Davidson

How I Ended Up Owning a Ton of Harley Davidson Merchandise

I learned about the popularity of vintage Harley Davidson items a few years ago after I found myself owning a ton of the stuff.  There were no actual Harley Motorcycles involved in that particular transaction, but I think I ended up owning a little bit of almost everything else!

I'm exaggerating a little bit there, but seriously, I had a LOT of Harley Davidson gear in my house. I never realized there was so much Harley Davidson memorabilia made until I had so many samples of it scattered all over my home.

I had gone to a large neighborhood garage sale and probably visited over fifty different houses looking for things I might want for myself or that I thought might sell on eBay.  One particular house caught my attention because it looked sort of like a department store.  There were clotheslines full of shirts, various items spread out on tables, the works.  When I walked up I saw that it was almost all vintage Harley Davidson merchandise.  I didn't really know that much about Harley gear, but the shirts were from all over the United States and many of them had dates on them going back to the 80s and even 70s.

The lady who was selling the stuff came up and started talking to me.  She introduced herself and explained that she and her husband were both pretty big into riding for a long time, but he had been injured pretty badly in an accident the year before, and they didn't ride anymore.  She seemed pretty upset when she mentioned the accident.  I think her husband had spent a good bit of time in the hospital after it happened.  Anyway, she said that she was selling the stuff off.  We talked for a while and I bought a few things before moving on.

Vintage Harley Davidson Motorcycles for Sale

The Harley Davidson Gear Pays Off Big Time!

Later that afternoon I started looking on eBay to see if any of my newly acquired merchandise might be worth anything (this was how I used to shop in my clutter building years).  I really should have known that it would be.  Back in the 1980s and 90s, I had been in Daytona during Bike Week on two different occasions. Obviously some money was getting spent on all of that Harley gear.  It turned out that the vintage Harley stuff was incredibly popular.  I jumped into my van and quickly drove back over to her house.  I felt a little sick when I saw that everything had been packed up and taken back into the house.  I guess I was feeling pretty bold at the time because I actually knocked on her door to ask if she was still interested in selling any of the Harley stuff.  I explained that I thought I might be able to re-sell it on eBay and that I was interested in buying whatever she was willing to sell.  I asked her how much she would want for everything she had just dragged back inside.  Unbelievably, she said I could have everything for FIFTY bucks!  That was fifty dollars for well over one hundred vintage Harley T shirts, Harley Davidson Helmets, Harley Davidson jackets, Harley Davidson patches and decals, Harley floor mats and steering wheel covers...the list goes on.  She just wanted to get it out and didn't want to bother with putting it all away again.  I jumped all over that deal and loaded up my van with all of the Harley Davidson merchandise.  As I was loading the van, I actually started to feel a little guilty.  I asked her if she was sure about the price, and she confirmed that she really just wanted to get the stuff out of the house.  I had seen her husband up and walking around, but I think that his accident had really put him off of the idea of riding again.

People Love Harley Davidson Collectibles

That may have been the single best purchase I ever made as en eBay seller.  I was selling that stuff off for the better part of a year and I had more than made my fifty dollars back just from selling one of the jackets.  I was constantly doing research about what used Harley Davidson items might sell best and I found that although there are people looking for Harley Davidson motorcycles for sale, it seemed that even more of them were looking for Harley accessories and collectible items.

This is another one of those areas where eBay shines for buyers looking to find something.  The old vintage Harley stuff still looks very cool.  Some people search out parts for vintage bikes, but I believe that even more are looking for those old items you can't get in a bike shop anymore.  The commemorative shirts from bike week events in places like Sturgis and Daytona did very well.  Vintage 3D T shirts picked up bids almost as quickly as I listed them.  As I've been checking recently I've noticed a lot of interest in almost anything celebrating the Harley Davidson 100th anniversary.  That anniversary was in 2003, so items from that celebration aren't quite vintage yet.  But they are definitely popular and if you search on eBay, you will probably find that someone has listed some 100th anniversary stuff as vintage.

Of course, some people are looking for Vintage Harley Davidson motorcycles.  As far as used bikes go, they seem to do pretty well.  I've never tried buying and selling anything that would involve me investing as much money as that would involve, but they are a nice investment and they certainly seem to hold their value well.

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