junkaholic31
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posted on February 1, 2005 05:57:46 AM
Since EBAY chose to separate EBAY motors from the rest of the auction site I think it might be a good idea to spin off the Antique and Collectible site as a seperate unit- These are items that usuually appear in stores or markets devoted solely to to them- The site would include antique and collectible items like books, jewelry art etc- Anything that meets the criteria-It would eliminate the "junk" like posters printed yesterday and selling for .99 cents competeing with vintage posters selling for realistic auction prices- THat stuff could still be listed but not alongside the" real "things-
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stopwhining
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posted on February 1, 2005 06:08:53 AM
there is no way to stop seller listing new posters under antiques and vice versa.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
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Damariscotta
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posted on February 1, 2005 07:00:46 AM
There have been eBay competitors going the antique-only route, but they always seem to fizzle out.
I think that many of the buyers for lower-end antiques and collectibles prefer the flea-market free-for-all atmosphere (just as they do in the real world).
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stopwhining
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posted on February 1, 2005 08:22:27 AM
years ago Ebay bot Butterfield and Buterfield and launched great collection?? and invited many brick and mortar antique stores to list with lifetime guarantee and full refund etc.
Results were poor,Ebay bidders prefer to wallow in the regular ebay collectibles and antiques categories looking for the next HOPE DIAMOND equivalent of whatever category they were searching.
But i think the answer is somewhere in between,not the tastess resin junk or the high end ,high priced antiques,something which suits the great american middleclass.
There are some boutique style auction houses which are doing well,there are several which auction japanese woodblock prints and they thrive.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
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Damariscotta
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posted on February 1, 2005 08:56:28 AM
...something which suits the great american middleclass....
We have it. It's called Homegoods (or TJ Maxx, or Marshalls, etc.) where they can buy "decorator" items made in China.
This segment used to be the mainstay of the traditional antique shop - and they are now pretty much out of the picture. And the higher end customers want a lot of hand-holding, and are not the most likely prospects for on-line auctions (at least now). I sold items in the shop that involved waits of weeks (if not months) while they (go home and think, ask their decorator, need to have a photo sent since they don't use email, etc.).
A good niche auction site will work only if they run it the way the best group shops are run - with someone at the helm who can be the arbiter of what is allowed on the floor.
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Kevinatgrannys
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posted on February 1, 2005 09:01:55 AM
Damariscotta, I thought that I was the only one that had to wait months to complete a sale through my b&m store. I even had a couple of people who wanted to take the item home and see how it look in place before they would buy it. Not very practical when you are talking about a several hundred dollar Hoosier. No wonder my store is closed for the winter, possibly to never open again!
Kevin
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junkaholic31
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posted on February 1, 2005 09:13:06 AM
When EBAY started It was basically an Antique and Collectible market-that's how they made their nmae and all that went with it-THey have hurt the Antiques and Collectibles market in general because they have leveled the playing field-
Scarce Items that were thought only available in one section of the country are now available worldwide-great for the buyers- not for the sellers-All I am saying is that EBAY might rethink that aspect of their market which is shrinking and try to do something to promote it as a quasi seperate marketplace that will bring back the old time buyers who are leaving in droves-
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Damariscotta
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posted on February 1, 2005 09:47:17 AM
..the old time buyers who are leaving in droves...
Are they leaving or just dying off?
And there isn't much eBay can do about either case. There is not a lot of competitive demand for run-of-the-mill items, but some sellers seem to think putting them up for auction is the way to go.
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junkaholic31
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posted on February 1, 2005 03:14:25 PM
I don't believe they are dying off-business at the antique flea markets and shows are still good-but as I live here in the cold Northeast I have to wait for Spring to take advantage of the sales there-I don't like the indoor shows-Ebay is losing because they police the wrong things on their site-If they had a site dedicated ONLY to antique and vintage stuff with the recognized cut-off dates they would get a much better viewership-It takes too much time for example to search thousands of junk knives and swords for example to find the few genuine antique items in that catagory-Antiques and Collectibles should be treated as though it were an Antique Mall-
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Damariscotta
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posted on February 1, 2005 03:41:42 PM
...vintage stuff with the recognized cut-off dates ...
Lots of luck! Remember the early days when there were only two antique categories (Before 1900 and after 1900)? Sellers couldn't even figure that out (or had a history deficiency). Civil war flag? Duh, after 1900 I guess. Marilyn Monroe photo? Yeah, that's old - must belong in before 1900.
Just who is going to police the mess?
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junkaholic31
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posted on February 2, 2005 07:35:08 AM
I think if this was a true antique and collectible vendors market the dealers who post by the rules would police it-EBAY has a pretty good police system- try posting anything that has it's origins in Nazi Germany-The collectors are still out there-but you are right they are dying off-and the new generation does not have the patience to sift through the garbage- everything is instant gratification- they have the money and the desire for the merchandise but not the time-
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ladyjewels2000
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posted on February 2, 2005 07:45:36 AM
I think it's a good idea and have suggested it to ebay more then once.
If there are enough categories, it could work. The real collectors know what's real and what isn't most of the time.
Seller could help police it too. I would help for sure
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junkaholic31
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posted on February 2, 2005 08:29:39 AM
I think that based on all of the negatives Ebay has been getting latly they might consider going back to their roots at this time-I recently watched a documentary on the costs to Southeby's and Christies when they got greedy and tried to monopolize the art auction market- I hope the gurus at EBAy were watching too-
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