posted on July 13, 2003 01:44:18 PM new
I bought a copper plate at the flea today for $2. Normally, I will do a bit of research prior to listing it. Today I was in a hurry because we have company coming over. I listed the plate for $24.95. Well, I had a little time before my company got here so I decided to research who A. Gilles could be (the plate is signed A. Gilles). Turns out, the plate is worth far more than $24.95! The plates sell for upwards of $600. A. Gilles is Albert Gilles who was born in 1895 and died in 1979. His family still carries on the work. These plates are done completely by hand. Wow, did I pull that auction quick. I didn't even have it described right. Research - it's essential if you don't know exactly what you have!
Cheryl
[ edited by CBlev65252 on Jul 13, 2003 01:45 PM ]
posted on July 13, 2003 01:49:02 PM new
Bravo Cheryl!! What a beautiful find!
I recently had an American girl barbie go for about 1100 bucks (pretty nice margin on a quarter investment ). Had that American Girl part not been in the title, it wouldn't have done as well, I'm convinced. It took me hours to find out what I had, not being a barbie expert. The cool bonus is that I now know quite a bit about barbies in general by default.
posted on July 13, 2003 02:55:30 PM new
You should research the heck out of unique items to get the most for them. The ebay marketplace will then decide the current market value. On items that have great potential such as your beautiful plate I always go for a 10 day run to get the maximum exposure and possibly spring for the gallery or extra category. If you're going to make a nice score you might as well sping for a few extra bucks to increase the chances of maximizing the final bid.
It's those rare plate finds like yours that make looking threw all the worthless crap at flea markets worth well.
Congrats!
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For the OTWA lurkers --- real message boards allow sig files! We had a revolution and threw off our moderator oppressors! ( not really, Vendio was broke at the time and laid them off ) ...
Yes, it certainly does pay to do your research. Without it, how would you know what keywords to include in your title?
A while back I posted asking for help with a Mexican Talavera vase I'd had for decades. I'd Googled it and eBayed it every way but upside down and couldn't find out anything specific.
Another poster sorta-kinda recognized the mark and pointed me to the Uriarte factory. I included a link to Uriarte in my description.
The vase (which in reality was an urn) ended up selling for nearly $100. If I hadn't known it was antique Uriarte, I wouldn't have put a reserve on and it might have sold for a lot less.
posted on July 14, 2003 06:02:07 AM new
Hi Cheryl, what a find! it certainly is pretty, and your pix are excellent. Good Eye as they say. did you want to keep it at any time? that is my problem after all these years I sometimes say let me keep this for a while, but after that research I would be happy to send it on its way. Good luck with it.
Reenie
). Had that American Girl part not been in the title, it wouldn't have done as well, I'm convinced. It took me hours to find out what I had, not being a barbie expert. The cool bonus is that I now know quite a bit about barbies in general by default.