Super Sunday

Will it be a super sunday with plenty of bowl parties and large screen tvs.
If you believe Walmart all the goodies can be had at next to nothing. Of course if you've lost your home and or job recently nothing is affordable.

Are we spending to save the economy or saving what money we might have in order to survive this recession/depression? Yes new figures are out on the largest decline in home sales in 26 years, and more unemployment than we have seen since the 1980's. So who feels safe to go out and buy a refrigerator when the one is still working. Bad enough we have to spend more just to get "free" tv--though I heard a news comment that the DTV has been set back to June since over 6 million households are not ready for the move! As if people not being ready ever stopped industry or government.

On another topic--has anyone sensed or seen a decline of good items up for sale on ebay?
I've done some searching recently on favorite items and the hit list just gets shorter. Are people selling elsewhere because of the recent changes? Where can one get as large an audience? I've looked at Rubylane but you need to keep a good number of items up and refresh those regularily just like a booth at the mall.
I try to use ebay to sell items too small to be safe in an unmanned booth or maybe of a slightly lower quality than would put in the booth. Some of those odd items in the box lot I got because it had 2 good items for the booth. Selling on ebay hasn't been too bad for me--more of a time issue to get more items photographed and posted.

Spring into ...

Spring is here somewhere besides on a calendar. We expect 1 to 3 inches of snow late today into Saturday. I was talking with a woman who has a sister in the "north of England" who told her she was out in the garden and it was so nice she didn't need a jacket! Weather is getting topsy turvy.

Hope in the next 4 weeks it clears up to a nice spring as we start our road trip west to Monterey.
I've thrown out any expectations of getting to a destination by a certain time or even day. Constraints now are when we leave and we get back. Luckily we all have 2 full weeks vacation time. I keep finding more and more scenic drives, bypasses, sites etc that I'd like to see and we have to stop in Vegas.

Despite the soaring gas prices we are GOING!. May cut into our motel budget and we downscale but, oh well. Carpe Diem!

EBay goes on hold as well as any other antiques business. I hope this could be a "busman's" holiday but I may not have time to shop--oh no, is that blasphemy?

When will it stop?

End of February and yet another 4" plus snow dump. I'm beginning to realize why many people just hate this month. The last several Februaries have been better weather and sunshine-- the lack of sunshine always another complaint I've heard about the month. I always associated lack of sun to November with cold rainy days.
Gee it's snowing even harder/heavier right now!
I've been able to track of sales at the antique mall with every snowstorm. Absolutely nothing on that day and also sometimes the next--depends on when the roads clear.
Thinking when should I call it quits with the delusion of an antique dealer? 2007 wound up with a loss of just under $500 not so bad, but total sales were under $5000.
What's a real business look like? yeah it's only part-time and I'm learning every week and getting perhaps a better eye to what might sell. I started ebay to sell off some of the lesser items. Jan and Feb have been better there. But then new fees and in spring increase in postage bites in. Anyone tried other online auction sites? or part of a group sales like Rubylane?
Can't wait til April 18. Perhaps Paul Reveve started his famous ride that night, well I get to knock off a lifetime goal of driving across country to CALIFORNIA. Getting my road trip cds in order and stocking up on junk food!

Happy New Year and new attitudes!

New Year and new goals rather than resolutions.

The point is to be positive and do something if only baby steps.
So here are my goals/plans:

Continue eBay sales
Drive to California and back--planned for April
Increase sales at antique booth
Attend auctions at new sources
Stay in my own frame of mind and not swayed by others
Keep it short and hopefully achievable!

Winter has never been a favorite time of year, I much prefer sunshine and warm temps about 65 to 80! Now if I won the lottery, look out Florida or another warm weather state, here I come!

Let's make 2008 great and do what we love as well as what we have to do, perhaps they can become one and the same!

What a let down!

I purchased a Wedgwood red jasper ware Xmas ornament on eBay and was surprised to find that it was made in China!

Last weekend at an outlet mall I visited the Waterford/Wedgwood store and they had neatly covered the made in china sticker on the box with their "discounted" price sticker.

What has the world come to? Now I don't trust if Waterford is still made in Ireland.

How can a brand keep their reputation if they outsource work out of the country?
Has anyone visited the actual store in England at the factory and seen items that were made in China?
Maybe it's only stuff shipped to the US like the toys with harmful elements versus what the Chinese buy. I'm not bashing China, only the companies that are outsourcing to save money while their employees or former employees have less and less job opportunity.

Perhaps all artists should be free agents and use eBay as their marketplace to make a name for artisan goods actually made in the country of residence.

I buy what I like rather than by brand as many high end brands are offering items that look no better or hold up no better than a less expensive item.

Even the "stores" on eBay selling the designer items through keeping up the real deal versus any knockoffs aren't divulging where the item is actually made. Is an Hermes scarf really worth over $400 based on name recognition. Maybe owning a one of a kind is tres importante and a business has to make money from the richest--if so then why move down the ladder to an online
auction site for NEW goods?

I'm just not a shopper/buyer.

Summer drawing to an end

Labor Day is upon us and I always think of that as the official end of summer. Traffic moves up to normal pace, my street gets tied up with parents driving kids to school.

Summer flew. I actually saw a maple tree that was 99% red this past weekend and dry leaves swirling in the road. Thankfully the other trees realize this is way too early!

I was able to get to 2 auctions in August with little results. I drove part of the M25/M29 road sale around the thumb of Michigan. It has to be the prettiest road sale. The glimpses of Lake St Clair, the St Clair River and Lake Huron are so refreshing among the schlock for sale. I can see why the Blue Water bridge is so named from Port Huron to Sarnia Ontario. The best buy was gas at $2.71 a gallon, probably a lot less than the Canadian drivers had to pay over in Ontario.

eBay sales waned in the last part of July and early August. I'm gearing up for listings Labor Day weekend. Sales at the antique mall are down--part road construction with access on and off expressway and part the back to school spending that leaves little for the adults to spend. The mall was almost empty of customers on my last visit. Hopefully a rearrangement of items and some new items hinting of Fall will attract browsers.

I have a 4 bowl set of Fiesta from the late 30's that I think I will take up but I really don't want to break the set--so will probably price 1st at a set level. All are in good condition as my mother hated using them because they were so heavy. I swear she concocted more food once she got a set of lightweight pyrex bowls.

If work schedule and gas prices are opportune I hope to get out to a late night flea market on Saturday. Otherwise it will just be the trip to change around the booth and dig into storage boxes for eBay items! Weather outlook appears good, but wait 24 hours and the forecast will change completely!

Found this great picture circa 1962, of one of my favorite restaurants as a kid, we always sat in a booth, and would go there after a shopping trip downtown, and were done in time to catch the loop bus home!

eBay Seller

Finally got the act together and listed a dozen items on eBay before the end of June. Last night I completed my FIRST sale--a Beswick, Beatrix Potter figure I had picked up at a yard sale.

Photo not so great though. Perhaps the Ratatouille movie will make mice and rats a more collectible item.

Ordered a scale so for the next listings I will be better prepared for shipping costs. Almost all the packaging from my own test purchases is reusable so I can contain costs a bit for a couple of weeks. Got boxes from USPS and had some bubble wrap from helping a person pack up and move, same with tape and dispenser.

Now the hunt will be on for smalls that are attractive to eBay buyers.

eBay Buyer experience

Fascinating seeing the variety of packaging used for my purchases. Everything from inside out Fed-Ex envelopes, reused boxes, handwritten labels, a ton of stamps to printed postage.
2 boxes arrived smashed in and 1 item was broken. The broken item was wrapped in bubble wrap but I think the damaged box was what broke off a pitcher handle on a fragile piece of jaspareware.
I found 2 Coca Cola employee shirts that I haven't come across at auctions.
A few items will turn into stock for the mall booth.
Books for reference and pricing will become my "professional" resources.
I've spent a ton of time doing searches on eveyy conceivable item I might want to buy. I see the importance of selecting a category and using key words in the right place. Most importantly I have a better understanding of the need for a photo in the gallery and additional photos as well as the quality of photo. Rulers and measurements are certainly a useful description.
Still hesitant to become a seller, though I started a list of what I think I would sell, and I ordered some boxes through USPS.
New month fast approaching, that may become my goal for June!