posted on November 5, 2003 12:31:33 AM new
Okay, going through an estate and after a 100 percent group of sold auctions...this pack of costume jewelry hardly generates hits.
I am talking up some of this stuff, breaking it into bite sized lots.
Then I look at the massive lots of unrelated stuff, some with amazing photos (mine are not so bad, many angles). Even with large bids the average is just a few bux a piece. I mean dolls mixed with weiss pins etc. It must be hard for a collector to see one little thing in these 100+ item auctions.
Or are resellers buying?
Is that catagory just down generally?
I know little about this stuff. The librarian just laughed at me as I left with a pile of books...yeesh.
Just a little late night venting...but, upside, my other auctions all did well and peops are paying.
yay.
J
posted on November 5, 2003 05:18:03 AM new
I hate to make predictions, generally, since they're based on opinion rather than fact, but the trend is unmistakeable: Business is just going to get tougher and tougher in the future on eBay.
Sellers will have to get tougher to survive. Tomorrow's successful eBay seller will have to learn marketing, will have to figure out who her target customer is for every item she sells, and will have to know her products inside and out.
So, who are you expecting will buy your jewelry? A collector, a reseller, a hobbyist?
posted on November 5, 2003 05:24:52 AM new
i agree,it is getting more like the real world,if you dont know what you are selling,you are going to lose your shirt.
easy money on ebay is history-those days of grabbing just about anything which looks old and interesting and throw them onto cyberspace and hope somone will bid them to the moon!
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
[ edited by stopwhining on Nov 5, 2003 05:26 AM ]
posted on November 5, 2003 05:42:24 AM new
Fluffy are you saying only female sellers will succeed?? See below a quote from your last post.
( " Sellers will have to get tougher to survive. Tomorrow's successful eBay seller will have to learn marketing, will have to figure out who her target customer is for every item she sells, and will have to know her products inside and out. " )
posted on November 5, 2003 06:23:28 AM new
Fluffy, I guess I am finished selling on Ebay because I'm a guy. Power to the woman. HA HA just kidding!!!! I agree with everything in your post. Ebay is a tough place to sell and getting tougher.
posted on November 5, 2003 07:04:14 AM newFluffy are you saying only female sellers will succeed??
Oh please.
While traditional usage is "he" and "his" when referring to persons who could be either gender, some writers (myself included) simply choose to alternate the usages. "He/she" and "his/her" are awkward constructs that impede the flow of the sentence. I used them in the past but was never happy about it.
A few people have chosen to deal with this issue by making up new words that are gender-neutral, like "hir" for "him/her". Frankly, that looks kooky. Sometimes new constructs are generally adopted and thus added to the language ( "Ms." ), but "hir" and its siblings have not found acceptance.
Finally:
The writer who chooses to use generic he and its inflected forms in the face of the strong trend away from that usage may be viewed as deliberately calling attention to traditional gender roles or may simply appear to be insensitive.
Source: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Deity knows I always try to avoid appearing insensitive.
--
MEETINGS: None of us is as dumb as all of us.
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Nov 5, 2003 07:04 AM ]
posted on November 5, 2003 07:05:15 AM new
>>
easy money on ebay is history-those days of grabbing just about anything which looks old and interesting >>
When I began my latest foray into eBay antique selling after a long hiatus, I decided to model myself after the sellers whose auctions I followed. I noticed that they would have no (or very low) reserve auctions, reasonable starting bids, and consistent merchandise.
But key was that they were able to photograph and describe, providing the information that buyers for that type of merchandise wanted to know, enabling me to bid confidently.
For example, on many antique dishes, there are common restorations. Even if the item is described as perfect, I would not bid unless it is clearly stated "No restorations".
There are many more things sellers can put in their descriptions to indicate that they are knowledgeable about the item. (While it may be enticing to think you will get a buy from a "novice", you will usually either regret the purchase or wind up returning it.)
I noticed the sellers that use these common sense approaches seem to have a regular following (indeed, I keep many of them in my "favorite sellers" and check on them every day to see what they have on offer).
As I have often said before, look at the clueless sellers in the "antique" malls - they don't have a clue just because they went on-line.
posted on November 5, 2003 07:15:11 AM new
the brick and mortar antique mall dealers often #*!@ and moan that they have not heard of ebay earlier.
by the time they start selling on ebay ,their starting bid is often too high.
if they have a cybershop in cybermall,they dont work the shop-they dont answer email promptly and they dont really understand how e commerce really works.
posted on November 5, 2003 08:52:10 AM new
I agree with what fluffy said, and it is getting to where timing is everything. You can post something and if it is the wrong time of year or whatever you can forget it. I try to post alot of my stuff when I see the interest being showed for that item again. Here latley I have done well with certain records and its just records I keep an inventory of all the time but I only run every now and then.
posted on November 5, 2003 08:55:48 AM new
My target audience is collectors. So I have many photos and lots of description. And as much research as I can put into an item. Plus some decent copy.
I guess I could dump it into one lot.
I am not sentimental, just trying to break it up into lots a collector or aficionado would like.
J
(up early to go meet a farrier - and my horse!)
~~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~~
All the monkeys aren't in the zoo,
Every day you meet quite a few,
So you see it's all up to you.
You can be better than you are,
You could be swingin' on a star
posted on November 5, 2003 09:07:24 AM new
'collectors'??
this is just like saying 95% the world population either eat rice or bread or pasta ??
many dealers shop on ebay,they are collectors as well as dealers,they dont bid unless they think they can resell at a profit.
the reason starting bid has to be low is that there are more and more of these dealer/resellers ,you just hope they will bid and if they win,you get even or etch out enough to enjoy a cup of starbuck coffee or you hope a true private collector will come and top his bid,then you will be making some decent money.
pity those dealers who list a platinum/emerald necklace at starting bid of 120,000??
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
posted on November 5, 2003 09:12:49 AM new
So you're saying those 21 bids on the massive lot is usually dealers? Do they have shops/booths/etc? Break it up for resale in smaller auctions? This falls under the catagory of "know your stuff and bid for resale" right?
Sorry, learning curve a little ragged.
I think my bids are low. They are nothing near the book prices. (what do they even use for the schiffer guides? I saw a $45 item finish at a penny...guess what I have one! It's moved to a "lot"
Thanks, as usual, gender syntax issues or not, this board rocks!
J
(off to the barn!)
posted on November 5, 2003 09:33:29 AM new
i dont know what massive lot are you referring to??are they costume jewelry??
if you are averaging a few bucks for each piece of jewelry in a lot,you are doing quite well,my friend.
there are also indiviudals who buy and sell on ebay,yes,they will break up your lot and sell them piece by piece.
take a look at a seller,zcountess and countess,one is for bidding and one is for selling.
she used to have a store and i guess no more,i follow her just to see what she bids on.
every now and then ,she will list a lot for sale -all vintage and antique items with black velvet and red rose and crystal rock and oodles of photos .
she knows her trade,unfortunately many of her items ended without meeting reserve and many of her lot sales ran amok as high bidder cant come up with the dough/
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
posted on November 5, 2003 11:52:26 AM new
Dealers will bid on large lots if they think it can be broken down for resale.
Collectors and or specialist dealers will go after single items.
I don't know much about costume jewelry, but I would assume that the craze for it has drawn a lot of it out of hiding, possibly depressing the market.
If you were consider the number of women over 60 in this country, just think of how much of this stuff is sitting in their bureau drawers. Not many of them ever throw it out.
