VintageAds4U
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posted on May 25, 2005 07:16:00 AM new
...or how to sell a $3 ad for $33.
This is a great marketing lesson. See this sellers store: Period Paper (http://stores.ebay.com/Period-Paper)
Troy enters the oversatuarated vintage ads market on eBay (where anyday you might find 50,000 ads for sale). And asks himself, how can I differentiate and make some money.
Answer..marketing.
His hook? All of his items are graded by the National Archive of Illustration & Advertising Art (NAIAA). Who founded the NAIAA? Why the owner of the store, Troy.
This guy has worked really hard to create an awesome site, with affiliations, charitable work, etc.
I do think it amazing that people will pay $33 for an ad that is selling at Steve & Margies for $3.
It is all marketing and hard, hard work.
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neglus
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posted on May 25, 2005 08:10:57 AM new
Wow! I am in awe - you're right - it does come down to marketig - even on ebay. Probably the more savvy collectors will still find the $3 ad but this probably appeals to folks who want to frame and mat the "right" sort of ad for their new home theatre room - price no object.
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
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Roadsmith
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posted on May 25, 2005 08:12:00 AM new
Verrry interesting!
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VintageAds4U
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posted on May 25, 2005 08:56:25 AM new
Neglus: Have you considered forming the National Archive of Post Card Illustration Art (napcia.org). You could do the same thing. All of your postcards could be verified by your own archival organzation. 
Also, his is the second store I have seen using Marketworks. Make our little vendio efforts seem like chump change. I bet that Marketworks is more expensive tho. Sure is nice. They can offer all kind of specials.
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neglus
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posted on May 25, 2005 09:42:33 AM new
LOL VIntageads! NAPCIA it is!
I agree - Vendio looks kind of taped together compared to Marketworks. I have seriously thought about moving - just seems like Vendio is struggling to keep abreast of changes and isn't moving FORWARD! The thought of moving all of my listings (you are in same position i think) is keeping me back though. Perhaps the task of moving all of my unsolds from yesterday to my store without a bulk relister will be the impetus I need - I don't have TIME to edit the format on each one! I don't know about MW pricing - it LOOKED more expensive last time I looked but if you think about all the time the "work arounds to get Vendio to do what I want it to do" takes, maybe not more expensive after all.
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
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tOMWiii
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posted on May 25, 2005 10:13:18 AM new
Geeez! 
I feel small, insignificant, and EMBARRASSED with my little pic of poor ole Ralphie on my ENTRANCE...
OTOH...
[ edited by tOMWiii on May 25, 2005 10:14 AM ]
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sthoemke
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posted on May 25, 2005 10:46:56 AM new
They have an interesting marketing ploy.
On each item description is the following paragraph:
Accompanying each image will be a Certificate of Authenticity issued by the National Archive of Illustration & Advertising Art (NAIAA). Each item is certified authentic and will be registered in the NAIAA database and assigned a unique number which will be on the certificates and will be used to identify the digital master file maintained in the database. The NAIAA uses a two-part authentication system and will issue both the COA and a Print Identification label with matching numbers. Each certificate and label will have the NAIAA security seal and each are printed on different custom papers and embossed to eliminate reproduction. All certificates are hand-signed and dated and document the grade issued according to the NAIAA grading system. For more information, please visit our XXXXXX eBay Store and go to the page titled Grading.
It kind of reminds me of a time when a friend who bought an "authentic" Muhammad Ali autograph at a sports card show, and the dealer pulled a Certificate of Authenticity randomly from a bag containing 100's of other Certificates of Authenticity.
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fenix03
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posted on May 27, 2005 09:33:03 PM new
On Marketworks... Their base plan is 29.95 and includes 100 MBs of hosting space. There is no fee for listing, closing fee is 2% with a min of $.20, max of $3.00 per successfully closed item (less for dutch auctions). Total monthly fee is the greater of Base price or total closing fees. Their store is free, closing fee is 3%. The also allow you to set up "channel Feed" profiles to select outside services such as Yahoo!Shopping, Shopping.com and Froogle (or Kelkoo if you use their UK lisiting option). their reporting system is absolute primo stuff! on top of regular sales reports you can check any single inventory item you have to see listing dates, views per listing, success rates, individual and total profit margins with a single click.
It does take a bit of time to get things set up but once you are done, you are pretty much on cruise control. I've used a number of different services over the years but I have to say that Works is the best program I have ever used, incorporates everything into one fell swoop, (even incorporates PayPal fees if needed). It may cost a few extra dollars each month but advanced reporting capabilities have also allowed me to reevaluate and revamp how some items are marketed so I have more than recouped that few dollars in increased sales and decreased unsuccessful listings.
They also have a great referral plan. Refer new customers to them and you get a cut of their fees credited to your account for up to 12 months.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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neglus
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posted on May 28, 2005 06:49:09 AM new
YIKES! I am currently using 2,110.35MB Image Hosting at Vendio. I use a base plan of $29.95 month with FVF of 1.25% - no minimum (most of my items sell for less than $10 ) - I would really get stung on the minimum FVF!! I guess Marketworks is not for me!
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
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CBlev65252
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posted on May 28, 2005 07:17:30 AM new
I pay under $5 for 100 mb for my image hosting and do my own auction templates. I use Seller's Assistant and get Accounting Assistant with it. I don't care to spend an additional $29.95 per month on top of my eBay fees. The whole idea where I'm concerned is keeping my fees down.
Cheryl
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VintageAds4U
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posted on May 28, 2005 07:50:23 AM new
Neglus: I have two new scanners (one with my printer and and an oversized one) and am re-doing all my images to reduce them to 1/3 of their current kb.
Right now my images don't look real good, but found a shareware program, IRAN which is making them look better.
I hope this will allow me to reduce my costs. Don't know how big your images are. I was impressed by marketwords ability to customize differnt "lines". Their example is a clothing retailer on ebay that has several lines: baby, oversized, etc. Each line has its own channel but all are co-ordinated to build brand image.
It may be that the extra costs can be re-couped in great sales.
I just can't imagine what I would do with the 8600 items in my VD store. And I get very good business in my VD store, a lot of which is repeat customers.
Beth
www.vintageads4u.com
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fenix03
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posted on May 28, 2005 08:20:18 AM new
Neglus - do you use photoshop? Your file sizes seem overly large. JUst thinking you might be able to drastically decrease you size allotment using the "Save for Web" feature in Photoshop.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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fenix03
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posted on May 28, 2005 08:27:33 AM new
Vintage - If your Vendio store items can be downloaded to an excel file it's a matter of reformatting that file to the Works format then you can upload en masse. Also Works will allows you to maintain multiple Ebay accounts on the same account so if you want to divide multiple lines across different accounts there is no need to maintain multiple accounts.
As far as your images go...did either of your new scanners come with LE? If so and it has the Save for Web option you can can toggle between the various jpeg quality levels and see how the images will look at each lvel before saving. Should save you that extra step and a lot of time. If not you might want to look into buying an older version of Photoshop that will cost hundreds less that the current version but still have the options you need to edit and optimize your images.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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neglus
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posted on May 28, 2005 09:04:54 AM new
I do optimize my images using "roadkill" (IRFAN) - I scan postcards at 150% size and a good resolution because I had problems with chrome postcards and yellow lines. My images range from 47 - 98 KB - averaging about 60. The thing is I don't delete images (I know I know) because my unsold go to my ebay store. I probably list 2,000 -3,000 items during non-summer months, each with a unique image. I have 5,000 items in my ebay store with 1,000 ready to move over when I get the time.
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
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pattydavidson
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posted on May 28, 2005 11:08:24 AM new
Hey Fenix,
Can you give me an e-mail...I want to find out more about Auction works and take a look at your E-bay listings.
Patty
[email protected]
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fenix03
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posted on May 28, 2005 11:19:31 AM new
my email is [email protected]. You have to post here and tell me to check it though... I don't check it unless I'm told 
I will warn you that I don't show my auctions though. My own special form of paranoia. Besides, I'm not a good example of templates they offer. I use ones of my own creation.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by fenix03 on May 28, 2005 11:21 AM ]
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sharronn
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posted on May 29, 2005 07:36:26 AM new
What that seller is doing isn't called "marketing", it's called FRAUD
[ edited by sharronn on May 29, 2005 07:37 AM ]
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mbv2602
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posted on May 29, 2005 02:46:37 PM new
I still use the Pay As You Go plan. With the monthly fee plans, it is the listing (if plan has listing fees)and/or fvf's (if it has fvf's) and the monthly fee on top of that? I'm wondering how that would be cheaper than MW.
[ edited by mbv2602 on May 29, 2005 02:47 PM ]
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fenix03
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posted on May 29, 2005 02:57:50 PM new
MBV - if you read what I posted, there are no listing fees, the closing fees are a percentage of final value and the monthly charge is the GREATER OF fees vs monthly fee, not a combination of the two. Given the picing information provided above, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes and a calculator to figure out what would be the best choice for you. "Wondering" nearly always pales in comparison to "Researching".
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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VintageAds4U
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posted on May 29, 2005 03:24:41 PM new
It looks like it would be about $120/month for me. Boy you sure can create a beautiful site with their tools.
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mbv2602
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posted on May 29, 2005 04:23:55 PM new
fenix, I understood the MW fees. I wasn't sure if Vendio charged the same way or if they added the monthly fee on top of the other fees.
I get brain fogs sometimes and what might be easy and obvious to you, is not that way for me. That's why I asked.
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