posted on May 22, 2001 05:37:28 AM
If I know the history of an item, I'll either try & put it in the description or gladly share it if asked.
If I don't know the history & someone asks, I usually just tell them I found it locally & put it up for auction in hopes someone had a good home for it. That seems to satisfy most.
posted on May 22, 2001 06:39:22 AM
Great Thread. I try to get as much info as I can from the auctioneer or seller because a good true story will always sell an item at a higher price. I will not embelish the history of an item, just state the facts in a good story form in my discription. Although I have had many items w/out history of any kind and still get buyers who somehow "need" a story on the item (I won't make any up for them) But one case a buyer localy I know bought a rather expensive piece from me via my mall space and would not leave me alone as to where-how and how much I got it for. I never tell another dealer my source. So I just told him I got it at a garage sale one street over from his house for five bucks (big fib. I'll sit on a hot rock in hell for that one I'm sure) I just know he knocked on every door on that street.
posted on May 22, 2001 07:27:34 AM
Beginning five years ago, the three senior members of my family (mother, aunt and uncle) died in a period of four years. Neither my mother nor my aunt ever threw anything away and therefore had a lot of their mother's things in addition to their own. As a result, my sister and I found ourselves overwhelmed with "things," some of whch we didn't want. A few years ago, my sister decided to start selling these items on eBay.
I became the designated write-ups person. Our situation may be somewhat unique, but because we are selling family items (Grandma's Westmorland candy dish, for example) I am able to give a provenance for every item, and I think it has helped our sales a lot. I can, for example, state that item XXX has to be at least XX years old because it belonged to my grandmother, who died in 1969, and I have pictures taken in her living room in the early 1950s where this item can be seen clearly.
Eventer is on the right track by trying to put the history of an item in her write-ups. It saves the buyer and seller a lot of time in the long run --- anticipating questions means you don't have to answer them --- and I think the history of an item, however vague, serves as a "personalizer" in an impersonal medium.
posted on May 22, 2001 07:41:30 AM
Buyers might ask questions if you sell figurines or collectible knock-offs. If you inadvertently sold a counterfeit, the buyer might ask where you got it. Instead of having VeRO intervene, the buyer might be the copyright holder wanting to trace the source.
Also, someone might recognize something from an auction photo that they think may have been among some items stolen from Grandma's cottage. You never know. Just my 2¢.
[ edited by marble on May 22, 2001 07:45 AM ]
