posted on October 9, 2004 09:04:08 AM
I have a sweater that my grandmother knitted back in the 1960's. It's a wool golf sweater. Most of it has been put together, but it remains to have the sleeve sewed in place and the collar sewed in place as well as buttons added. I'm wondering if selling it as is would work. I'd attempt the sewing job, but. . . I'm wondering also if you know of a good site where I can get quick instructions on how to sew in the sleeve and collar if I decide to go that route.
Another question. . .it smells of moth balls since it was stored with them (thankfully!). Should I attempt to remove the smell and if so, how?
Cheryl
. . .if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend.. . - War and Peace, Tolstoy
The problem with trying to sew the sweater together will be in matching the yarn. Do you have any of the yarn that she used to knit it? If so, it's very easy to sew the sleeves together and sew the collar on, as well as the buttons. For the sleeves, it's just a matter of matching up the stitches from the bottom up. With the collar, you would probably do best to start at the center of the collar and the center back of the sweater, working from center to front to ensure that it is centered properly. For the buttons just use a safety pin to mark where the buttons go (lined up with the button holes).
As for the mothball smell, try putting the sweater in an airtight container with a dryer sheet. It should take the smell out. Another alternative would be to try Febreeze, but patch test a small drop of itt on the inside to make sure the yarn is
colorfast.
posted on October 9, 2004 10:20:18 AM
Thanks, Diane. Fortunately, I do have some of the thread. She did a lot of this work in the 60's and 70's until arthritis took hold. I'm selling two crewel kits she had but never worked on. Both 1970's. I can cross stitch (counted), but I have trouble with crewel.
Cheryl
. . .if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend.. . - War and Peace, Tolstoy
posted on October 9, 2004 10:22:24 AM
Diane - I have a question also...
I have 10 brown grocery bags FULL of old crochet and knitting books/magazines/leaflets that I picked up at an estate sale a few months ago. I haven't listed them yet because I really didn't know how. They are all from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
I read your other thread about the customer trying to rip you off (and sure do hope you stand your ground, by the way). You referred to the pages being pulled from a magazine, I think. Is that the best way to sell these, or should I sell the books individually, as lots, etc. Cross stitch I know, but am clueless with knitting and crocheting...
If you can help, thank you! thank you! thank you!
__________________________________
"The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work." - Richard Bach
posted on October 9, 2004 11:52:27 AM
I am not Diane but I will try and answer your question about taking a book apart. Many patterns are started on one page and go to another. If the patterns aren't on the same pge (back & front) it is almost impossible to sell a pattern like that. You might only get 1 or 2 patterns out of a book and maybe you haven't picked out the good ones. You have to be sure that you have the whole pattern and not just part of it.
If the books are vintage I would sell them as a book not piece work. Some collectors only collect books of their favorite pattern maker.
posted on October 9, 2004 04:41:19 PM
Libra -- I have been doing this for a year now and this is the first time it has come up. I do double check my patterns to ensure that all pages are there. It is very easy to take a pattern out of a magazine and follow the "continued on page" and then pull that page out as well.
WGM -- Because you don't have any experience in this category, I would suggest that you try to sell each book/magazine separately for the most profit. Make sure you have plenty of pictures of what is inside of the magazine. Bidders want to see the patterns that they are buying. If the pattern book has both knitting and crocheting patterns in it, then double list into both categories for maximum exposure. Other than that, without seeing them, I can't advise you as to which ones will sell well and which ones won't. Take a look in the knitting and crochet pattern categories and do the search by "highest price" first. This will give you an idea of what is really hot in that category. If you'd like more help with keywords and such, e-mail me at [email protected]. Good luck!
posted on October 9, 2004 05:00:04 PM
Cheryl ... Did you receive the book that I sent you? I hope so! I haven't done crewel in ages and I have a ton of counted cross stitch kits that I will be selling because I've lost interest in it. I spent all of spare time either knitting or crocheting.
posted on October 9, 2004 06:08:15 PM
Diane, I am not saying you did that but someone who isn't an expert like you can easily miss part of a pattern. Many books continue patterns on a couple of different pages and that is hard. It breaks up other patterns. Why I suggested selling the books is that I had about 3 of a certain designer from the 40's, but I can't remember the name, and someone from a Australia bought all the books. she did say she collected her books.
Do you know how cross stitch books are going now? I'm putting some on. I didn't want to sell them, but I need the money more than I do the books. Something has to be sold.
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
posted on October 9, 2004 06:35:07 PM
glassgrl -- It's pretty hard to tell. Items that are machine crocheted are too "perfect". In other words, even the best crocheters still will have the occasional stitch slightly larger here and there.
libra -- I understand what you are saying. That's why my advice to WGM was to sell the books whole and not in pieces. If someone isn't experienced in patterns, they could easily make a mistake.
gtootie -- I don't sell cross-stitch books, but I have ventured over there from time to time. It is a category that is flooded with tons of books and leaflets. There are 3x as many cross-stitch books as there are crochet books. The ones that do the best are characters such as Strawberry Shortcake, Disney, Care Bears, etc. As with crochet books, the designer is important too. If you have a popular designer, they will sell well. Personally, with a flooded category like this, I would put a bidding price down and a BIN price slightly higher (say $2.99 starting bid and BIN at $5.99). Or another suggestion would be to check out UK Ebay. Alot of items can't be found over there and will bring in a good amount. Good luck!
posted on October 9, 2004 06:35:50 PM
Bizzy, I just checked the crochet category and am amazed at the prices! Geez, do you get that kind of money because you have a following or what?
I have several boxes of patterns I had been saving for someday when I had time to crochet again. But those years are so far off that I may sell them. I'm still stunned, I thought I would be lucky to get .50 for them at a garage sale.
posted on October 9, 2004 06:38:25 PM
gtootie -- I have another thought on your cross-stitch books for a marketing angle. Cross-stitch charts are also used for filet crochet as well as stitching designed on afghans, etc. Perhaps by cross listing them, you may get more bids.
posted on October 9, 2004 06:42:30 PM
ltray -- You need to catch my auctions on a closing night. None of them close tonight so the bids are still low. One night I had a leaflet close for $78 and then the next I had another close for $75. I walked around with a silly grin on my face for two days! The highest one that I sold was $128.
I do have a following now, but it wasn't always that way. I worked hard to learn what was selling, how to list it, etc. I also try my best to establish a rapport with each individual customer whenever I can. I lost alot of money in the early days, but with the knowledge I have now, I have been steadily making money. I sell about $1400 - $2200 per month. I average about 200 items sold each month.
posted on October 9, 2004 06:52:43 PM
I have a question Diane, do you always put in your listings that some of the patterns are pages torn from a book or magazine? Do buyers ever complain when they get the pages from magazines, and think they were getting books or leaflets?
posted on October 9, 2004 07:04:49 PM
Amber -- I rarely have a problem. When I list, I either say a crochet pattern, a crochet pattern leaflet or a crochet pattern booklet. If someone writes to me expressing disappointment (and I think this has happened a few times out of over 1400 transactions), I explain that some of the best patterns have never been published in a leaflet form, and I therefore, could never offer it for sale as such. Personally, I have bought hundreds of individual patterns. If I like it, and I would like to make it, I buy it.
I have to say, it's nice having an expert on this subject on Vendio. When I have time, I love to crochet and do counted cross stitch but I know nothing about pattern selling.
Thanks for your help.
Cheryl
. . .if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend.. . - War and Peace, Tolstoy
posted on October 9, 2004 07:44:10 PM
Diane - thank you so much! Like I said, I know absolutely nothing about knitting and crocheting. Some of the designs are beautiful, but I don't even have time for cross-stitch right now LOL
I sincerely appreciate your help!!
__________________________________
"The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work." - Richard Bach
posted on October 10, 2004 12:33:29 AM
Bizzy - how are the UK sales going for you?
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 10, 2004 05:44:56 AM
You're welcome everyone.
Fenix -- I haven't had time to sell there. I'm having trouble keeping up with what I have in the US sales. I do have items that I want to list in UK though. The problem is that Ebay's imaging hosting stinks and Vendio doesn't support Ebay UK. I know about the other auction management program (I think it's Auction Works), but right now my business can't support paying for two management programs. I hope to split up my day between US sales and UK sales, thereby allowing me time to do both. The sales from Ebay UK should support Auction Works. I really don't want to give up Vendio for the US sales. Any thoughts?
AuctionWorks has now changed their name to MarketWorks and they also changed their pricing. If you are planning on just doing sporadic sales there, you may not want to invest in it. On the other hand, you may try out the UK market and find that that is where you want to focus your sales. They do a two week free trial. You might want to give it a try and see what happens. If you don't think it is going to be worth the investment you can always cancel it or you may just fall in love it .
If you decide not to try MW at all, you can still use your vendio hosted images in a manually posted auction on ebay.uk
Good to hear you are doing so well - hope it keeps up for you! As so many complain and predict doom for ebayers, there's nothing more fun for me than hearing about someone that finds their nitch and makes it work. Congrats!
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on October 10, 2004 10:09:57 AM
Fenix -- They must have discontinued the two free weeks trial period because I didn't see anything about it. It's prices are fairly reasonable. The one thing that I didn't see is the supersizing of pictures. Does it have that? How about templates? I'm not very computer oriented and don't know how to make a template. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the congrats. It did take a little bit, but once it connected, everything fell into place.
posted on October 10, 2004 10:39:17 AM
I just helped someone sign up last month and the trial period was still there, I think the mention of it got lost when they did the redesign.
They do have templates but they are basically just color - there is no art in them. They may not be "pretty" but I have seen no drop in sales because of a lack of graphic ribbons and flourishes in my auctions so I don't mind. It allows your item to be the focal point. As for "Super-Sizing" images.... when you set up your master template for your auctions you dictate the size you want your images to be. If your actual image is larger there will be a "view full size" text link under the image in your auction that will bring up your full size image in a pop-up window. I generally set my images to 250-300 pixels in the template with the actual images being 400 pixels.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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