posted on July 29, 2008 07:48:59 PM new
EBay at its best - micro-niche collectors are able to search for and find items they would never find in their local markets. I'm afraid that with the exodus of sellers, many of these buyers, willing to pay top dollar, will also evaporate. Some of the more unusual micro postcard niches (which are a sure sale) that I always am on the look-out for: postcards (especially real photos) featuring ladies reading, hereford cattle postcards, postcards with photographers and cameras, postcards with frogs, orangutan postcards. A buddy at my postcard club collects beach/seaside scenes, concentrating on a new theme each year. She started off with a broad theme, romance at the beach, and has since narrowed it to Christmas at the beach, music at the beach- this year it is elephants at the beach. Are there micro-niche collectors you list for? Would they still shop on eBay if you and your ilk stopped listing there?
[ edited by pixiamom on Jul 29, 2008 07:51 PM ]
posted on July 29, 2008 09:29:39 PM new
Good point, Pixi. Reminds me of the 1945 church bulletin from Heidelberg that I put up for sale a few years ago. It actually sold for $10, and the buyer told me he collects church bulletins from all over the world but didn't have one yet from Heidelberg.
Since the speaker that day in the church was a military officer, I assumed that would be niche I'd be appealing to! You never know. . . .
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posted on July 30, 2008 05:14:19 AM new
I have had some success with old greeting cards, even those that have been signed and sent. The trick is to not cut anything off the card, leave it intact. People collect certain artists or scenes or brands of cards like, Brownie, Scribbles and the like. I have a very good buyer that I try to find cards for and she has been very helpful.
posted on July 30, 2008 05:37:02 AM new
Pixiamom, You have me on your list, "photographers and cameras". I have a box of duplicates to sell but don't think I'll put them on eBay but on our cyber mall.
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“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on July 30, 2008 08:04:47 AM new
I'm afraid I don't have many micro-niche collectors since I specialize in a broad arena - 19th Century Decorative Arts - what I'm scared will disappear is those surprise sales where one of those micro-niche collectors, who knows how to search for their niche items using non-specific terms, will start to disappear.
I have one now - a European silver tazza I have listed - I've received several emails regarding shipping to Hungary, leading me to do further research to find that it is probably circa 1830 Austro-Hungarian 800 silver.
Caroline