posted on October 27, 2003 08:52:34 AM new
I have a collection of Headvases that I have been putting up on EBAY one by one with almost no bidding??? Two years ago vintage marked headvases were a real bidding war item- Anyone out there have any clues about what happend to the interest in these items? I have put them up with low opening bids so I don't think that is the problem-
posted on October 27, 2003 09:16:24 AM new
It's almost every category on ebay that has expierence the decline that your wrote about.
Actually it's a very sad situation yet more and more sellers flock to ebay further depressing the final prices and bidding activity. Only the rarest of the rare auction items have been spared from these steep price/bidding activity declines.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on October 27, 2003 09:43:02 AM new
I also see steep price declines which in the collectable and jewelry category ( unless shipping is inflated ) makes it a great site for dealers to pick up stock. I see the prices asked for at flea markets for certain items and compare them with the final bids on e-bay (if there is a bid) and e-bay stuff goes dirt cheap. Should think that at some point sellers who have been at this for awhile would throw in the towel and wonder if there are suffient new sellers to replace them. Perhaps e-bay recognizes that the auction part will slow because of this and so is promoting their stores as a wave of the future.
buyhigh
posted on October 27, 2003 10:00:23 AM new
While there is a much larger offering of head vases on ebay now than there was a few years ago, I think the market is still quite good for them compared to many collectibles.
Have you checked auctions for headvase and head vase? Head vase has the most listings but many sellers use both in their titles.
As with anything else, it's supply and demand and many of these sustain some kind of damage on the eyelashes or flowers, etc.
posted on October 27, 2003 10:21:07 AM new
Many collectibles have a cycle.
1. They start because they are inexpensive and amusing.
2. Then they get written up and become a fad.
3. Then they start getting more attention - distinctions are now made about rarity, etc.
4. "Experts" now appear on the scene, and collectors clubs form.
5. Prices increase.
6. Then the crowd separates into the casual vs. committed collectors.
7. Then the repros appear.
8. Then they start to sit in the cases at the antique malls (or not get the bids on eBay).
Sometimes they have a revival, sometimes they just go into oblivion.
That's all for now. I have to go water the Beanie Babies.
posted on October 27, 2003 12:42:09 PM new
I noticed the price dip with headvases about a year ago. Same thing has happened with wall pockets. There are some new fakes out there now. I also think, as a wall pocket collector, when I see so many for sale, that I can afford to be more selective than I used to be. As my tastes have narrowed and refined, I now know that I want art deco pockets mostly, and I go a long time between purchases, bec. some of these go for what I think of as big bucks ($60 and up into a hundred or more). I may be typical of wall pocket collectors - and maybe not!
___________________________________
Junk: Stuff we throw away.
Stuff: Junk we keep.
posted on October 27, 2003 01:42:13 PM new
Agree with the past 3 comments but explain this. Took all my collectables etc that never got a low opening bid even on a re list and the ones that others listing on e-bay received no opening bids or sold for peanuts and put them out for sale at a community garage sale a month ago for more than my opening bid. They were all snapped up like hotcakes with several people grabbing for the same item at the same time. The only things I came home with were clothes I no longer wear and had out for 25 cents to 50 cents. It looked like a lot of buyers were dealers. Might add that I live in a metropolitan area and not out in the sticks.
posted on October 27, 2003 02:14:34 PM new
Every antique dealer will tell you that people will pay more at a (live) auction than they will for an identical item in a shop.
At the community yard sale, there is more incentive to act because once someone else picks it up to buy, you have lost your chance.
In spite of the changes eBay has undergone as it has grown, there are some items that are best sold on ebay. But, there are also some items that are best sold at live auctions. There are also some items that are best sold at flea markets, and so on, and so on. The stories I could tell you of what I have seen over the years!
You just have to know your markets and your area.
posted on October 27, 2003 07:13:51 PM new
Buyhigh, and then you have your people who love garage sales been doing it for years, and don't do the internet. I think that may explain some of it. Are dealers the biggest junk collectors around? ha. Probably, right?
