posted on February 24, 2004 09:36:06 PM new
Just a quick thought....The Indian double vase is an Indian Wedding Vase. In case you don't sell it this time around...you may want to add to the description.
"The parents of both the bride and the groom give the young couple advice to help them have a happy and successful marriage. Then Indian holy water is placed in the Wedding Vase and the Vase is turned around and given to the bride. She drinks from one side of the Vase, turns it around again and gives it to the groom, who then drinks from the opposite side of the Vase. This ceremony unites them as one.
The couple will treasure the Vase throughout their married life. Should one of them outlive the other, the remaining person will give the Vase to a couple known to be living a happily married life. The Wedding Vase is treasured and protected always; it is never broken or destroyed."
This was taken from another auction, so you'd need to reword it.
I have an Indian Wedding Vase and if I wanted to search it on ebay yours probably would not come up. Great Pictures, though....
posted on February 24, 2004 09:53:47 PM new
Don't forget that Vendio gave us a spell checker so use it. I know it comes in handy and I try and use it on all my auctions. Sometimes I forget. It's hard to spell a word when you have no idea where to look in the dictionary so use Vendios spell checker.
posted on February 24, 2004 10:59:12 PM new
Great photography, second & third lighting sources to kill shadows.
Good length on description & TOS, yup, loose the caps. Statements like "LOOKS GOOD NO DAMAGE" are unwise, because it includes an exclusive declaration. Maybe, "Looks good to me, has aged gracefully" or some such. Fenix?
Listings are too sterile, people like reflectoporn, remember? I have made deals on stuff in the background before, wish it had happened more often. One time a co-conspirator sold a background car for $2600 and it was a reasonable deal.
Always put in shipping for continental US. Pad it a mite for your time, packing materials, and error margin. Many people just pay this figure (GREAT!), and for buyers that question it or want combined shipping you can dial in their shipping and add the break-even amount. Everybody loves a bargain and this is the one where most eBayers, if they think they are cutting a fat hog, come back. Quote shipping and spice it up for repeat buyers, "...that's the shipping total for all of my current auctions you win." Don't do this if you sell cast iron!
You don't leave interesting feedback. Just an observation, that may be the wiser course.
I don't see the word 'comic' or 'book' anywhere in your Perry Rhodan listing, tsk tsk. 'Samaria' is great, nice oops, in addition to 'Samarai'. Shake it up use a larger selection of words and spellings, gently push the limit on keywording. I love searching for things like 'not a pipe'.
Your Royal Doulton auctions are not optimized. All information should be listed including the type of bird. Only one or two at a time should be up. Your highest bidder (a newbie with great feedback) has paid $30 to $50 for lesser plates! These could make you a fairly easy $500 or more gross. and it looks like you will get less than $300. "Hi, Thanks for bidding $54.00 on my plate. I actually have the entire series. If you want any of the others at this price, let me know. You can see pictures at XXXX. No additional shipping." Ka-ching.
You weren't obvious about inviting me to look at your other offerings. Tell them, tell them again, and then tell them what you told them.
No 'about me' page? Tsk, tsk, tsk. That is more advantageous than you might think, List your pets, your hobbies, any widgets you might be looking for, why you sell, your best eBay buys, favorite links. Good will, for a minimal investment.
I think you are doing a great job. You could profit more from it and I think you will.
posted on February 25, 2004 12:10:44 AM new
Cheryl, I looked at your auctions and they are nice and clean, easy to read.
My only comment is that you might do better leaving out adjectives in your titles, like "beautiful, loads of" - Use the room for NWT's, N/R or something more appropriate to your listing. No one will list an ugly hat and I doubt people search for "cute hat" but they may search for "Easter hat new".
posted on February 25, 2004 03:15:58 AM new
Getalife, forget about the punctuation I will never be any good at it. I have no idea what the word "apostrophe" means. ha ha. But later I will look it up. You are right about my background color. I have a few more auctions that I already have photos for after that I will try a blue color. About the photos my Sony camera MVC-FD75 does a great job. I am on my second Sony.
sparkz and jimsdeals, You are right the nice people that took their time to reply made this a great post. Not only should new sellers read it but it can also teach the old dogs like me a few new tricks.
To the new sellers. Try to find a product that you can renew from a supplier and copy and paste your listings for auction. Listing antiques one at a time is a real pain in the butt. Very Very time consuming.
posted on February 25, 2004 03:44:44 AM new
>>> You don't need visual aids. If you read Antique Trader, you were a professional. >>>
Oh, yes, the old Antique Trader days. Great for certain items (just like eBay). But I also remember not listing items that needed too much description (they charged by the word for their ads, and you could spend $9.00 writing an ad for a $15.00 item if you weren't careful; I think some people did that). No computers then. Write the ad, the check, mail them in. Took one or two weeks for them to appear, then the first rush of calls/letters. Then some would still dribble in months after. And there were the clueless then, as well. Remember, no photos, but you still saw ads such as: Pretty blue dish $12.00.
posted on February 25, 2004 05:27:18 AM new
The Trader *was* great. I haven't looked at it in a few years. You would get things like the couple up in Oregon who claimed they were unloading their lifetime accumulation of stock and took out full page ads for several months. Doing "deals" like 5 assorted toothpick holders for $40. No pictures.
I wouldn't try to sell anything for less than $50 in the Trader. It just wasn't worth it.
posted on February 25, 2004 05:35:05 AM new
bigpeepa, what kind of photo editing software do you use? Just wondering.
I don't think his backgrounds are all that bad. On my laptop it looks like a peach color.
I guess if I had anything other to add, it would be to crop closer, and if your photo editing has a sharpen feature, to try using that.
hotcupoftea (wonder how she's doing these days?) taught me to beware using the words "mint, perfect etc" because what is mint to you might not be to a serious collector and a magnifying glass.
The part about the shipping costs is right. Did you raise your prices when the PO changed their rates? Where I used to be able to ship anywhere for about the same price, suddenly became a serious issue when something goes from FL to CA, as it seems like most of my stuff does. If for some reason, I overcharge way too much and they live closer, the customer is always happy to hear that he has a refund.
posted on February 25, 2004 05:39:28 AM newHow can you tell when something is silver or silver-plate if it is not at all marked?
Heft it. Does it have good weight for its size? It's probably silverplate. Since silver is a precious metal, pure sterling objects are usually lighter than a comparable silverplated object.
This will eliminate about 95% of mystery pieces.
If you visit a good antique store and heft a piece of sterling flatware vs. a piece of silverplate, you'll feel the difference. Keep doing this and before long you'll be able to tell the difference just by running a finger over the piece. Sterling *feels* different on the surface. Smoother, more luxurious, I can't really describe it.
The heft test doesn't count for sterling-handled knives, since the blades are stainless steel or silverplated and the handles are weighted so the knife is balanced correctly in your hand. And it doesn't count for weighted sterling, which is basically a shell of silver foil that is filled with lead or shot to give it substance. (If you want to see weighted silver, search on "duchin sterling" on eBay.)
posted on February 25, 2004 06:45:29 AM new
bigpeepa: your auctions look good to me (I list in caps too and haven't found that it hurts a thing and saves all kinds of time for a non-typist like me - I do use a different font).
I am not even near an expert in the kinds of things you sell so I can't address those issues. It seems to me that you have decided to use your time listing more items instead of spending it on research. This is a business decision we all have to make. Some people spend hours and hours of research on worthless junk in hopes of finding the diamond in the trash heap while others just throw items out there and hope for the best. Seems to me there is a balance somewhere and we should all try to use our time effectively.
I don't know how much you have invested in the items you sell, but if you are making a nice profit, perhaps the philosophy of listing more and researching less is working well enough. You might not reach the full potential of some of your items (on the other hand, I'll bet some of your items exceed potential)but you are moving your inventory and hopefully making a nice profit.
It also seems, from your feedback, that you have not misrepresented the items you sell and your buyers are pleased. You must be doing enough research to stay out of trouble! Your "sell through" rate also seems to be a lot higher than other collectible sellers' postings on this board would indicate..you must be doing something right!
I would think that buyers are more interested in the items being sold than a "slick" presentation. In fact, I am sure some sellers enjoy good sales BECAUSE their ads are a little rough around the edges (making buyers feel like they have the edge). Unfortunately, the Vendio spell-checker does not pick up all errors, especially homonyms and grammar.
Certainly maximizing the use of key words can drive even more lookers (and hopefully bidders) to your auctions and something we should all be aware of.
Fluffy and many of the other posters had many good ideas...this is a great thread!
[ edited by neglus on Feb 25, 2004 06:47 AM ]
posted on February 25, 2004 07:37:33 AM newI don't know how much you have invested in the items you sell, but if you are making a nice profit, perhaps the philosophy of listing more and researching less is working well enough. You might not reach the full potential of some of your items (on the other hand, I'll bet some of your items exceed potential)but you are moving your inventory and hopefully making a nice profit.
This is a fine philosophy for brand-new items where you can phone the distributor and order a couple hundred widgets at a time. You make a couple bucks on each but you do a huge volume.
However...
Unless bigpeepa has the mythical magical unlimited-amounts-of-good-stuff connection every antique dealer would give his or her left hoo-hoo for, it absolutely makes the best sense to maximize the profit from each item.
You save time:
-by not having to list so much
-by not having to source so much merch
-by not shipping so many low-margin items.
posted on February 25, 2004 07:50:50 AM new
I believe the the double Indian vase is called a Wedding vase and looks to be from the Jemez Pueblo in NM. Even some of the pueblos, up and down the Rio Grande, that are renown for their black pottery do some on those colors too. I can't recall too any AZ tribes doing pottery. They are more into beading and blankets/rugs.
Wonderful collection of things. I too have had many varied itmes to sell as a fund raiser but never anything as nice as what you are showing. Good Luck!
posted on February 25, 2004 07:59:41 AM new
fluffy
The silver pieces are very, very light and thin. At first I thought tin, but that's way off. I did your "heft" test with some things I have at home and you are right. The silverplated objects are heavier compared to the silver pieces I have.
posted on February 25, 2004 08:11:18 AM new
Bigpeepa, I am in no way an expert. The one thing that jumped out at me though was the Violin Pin you have for sale and the shipping at 2.00? People easily pay 4-5 for shipping (maybe more) on the penny auctions. Its a way of life/tradeing on ebay, and hardly anybody even bats an eye at it, if it makes you feel guilty - dont. So maybe you should change that while you can. Otherwise, you are barely making your listing fee on it especially if it does not get bid over a dollar or two.
posted on February 25, 2004 12:16:43 PM new
fluffythewondercat, Thanks for all many replies and lots and lots and lots of suggestions. I am surprised you don't seem to know what touch mark silver is. Not all silver is marked sterling don't ya know? Lots of early American silver and later European silver is not marked sterling. What I don't know about the vase you said I misrepresented is if its 800, 850, or 925 fine but that vase is silver. Do I make mistakes sure I make mistakes but if I made a lot of them I would not have the feedback's that I do have. You talked about key words well sterling is a key word. Yes, I know I need to work on my key words and will try to make better headings just like you said. I will take all your suggestions seriously and I am flattered that you took so much of you time to help me out. If I can ever return the favor I will be glad to.
posted on February 25, 2004 12:32:47 PM newI am surprised you don't seem to know what touch mark silver is. Not all silver is marked sterling don't ya know? Lots of early American silver and later European silver is not marked sterling. What I don't know about the vase you said I misrepresented is if its 800, 850, or 925 fine but that vase is silver.
Big (may I call you Big?), you are full of it.
I know exactly what touch marks are. I also know what faux marks are, which you do not seem to.
Since 99% of the silver objects on the market are cheap silverplated ware manufactured in various eras (and I'm not including Sheffield ware or rolled silver), it is utterly incumbent on the seller to establish the silver content of the object he's trying to sell. ESPECIALLY since so many silverplate manufacturers over the years resorted to a little friendly deception by marking their goods with faux (phony) marks to make people think they were actually worth more than they are.
In other words, if you claim it's sterling you damn well better prove it's sterling.
If you knew a bloody thing about style you would realize that that vase is from the twenties or just maybe thirties...an era during which EVERY silver manufacturing country marked its ware. If American, it will be marked sterling. If Continental, it's one of any number of marks (and it may not be sterling, 800 silver is NOT STERLING). If it's from any country in the UK, it will be clearly and precisely marked as to origin, date and maker. It's the law.
That you provided one tiny out of focus picture and no description whatsoever of the mark, yet claimed it is sterling, is misrepresentation. You have represented this object as something that you cannot prove it is, and as something that it most likely is not.
posted on February 25, 2004 02:19:50 PM new
fluffythewondercat, thank you for your wisdom. From your replay to a post that was not directed at you in the first place. It seemed that you didn't know what touch mark silver was. Sorry for my mistake. Good bye for now and good luck with your sales.
and I doubt people search for "cute hat" but they may search for "Easter hat new".