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After many years of selling clothing I am branching out into the art pottery world. I’ve always been drawn to it but the niche is so large it’s daunting. SO many artists and the marks are almost impossible to read. But recently I picked some up for pennies on the dollar and as it turns out they are rather valuable. I ordered 4 books on the subject of American art pottery and I am about to take a deep dive. I will still sell clothing while I’m learning this new field.
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@my cottage
Dictionary of American Pottery Marks by Gerald DeBolt
American Art Pottery : A Collection of Pottery, Tiles, and Memorabilia
Warman’s American Pottery and Porcelain by Susan D. Bagdade; Al Bagdade
The Kovels’ Collector’s Guide to American Art PotteryAny other books you think I might need?
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You’re going to realize you’ve been passing up all kinds of treasures on your way to the clothing racks 🙂
Books are cool, but you have a good eye for quality. Just buy the items you think are quality and then research what you have. UNLESS you plan to go higher end and buy expensive art/pottery to sell for even more.
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@jay I have picked up hard goods here and there, but when I get to the thrift the first place I head is to the clothing racks because I feel sort of safe there. If that even makes sense. Like, I know what I can sell from those racks. I know a bit about fine china, crystal and a whole ton of knowledge on flatware which I love to sell. But pottery, that’s been calling me for awhile now and it’s time to learn about it. I see it at estate sales all the time and it seems like no one is interested in it or wants to figure out the worth. After finding some valuable pieces, I’m motivated to learn about it.
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Well he’s graduating from college next May and his room is currently full with 2,500 clothing and shoe items. My biggest challenge is that in the next couple of years we will be living the snowbird life. I’m going to have to figure out how to do this between two states. None of the ideas I’ve thought of are viable as of yet. And even more complex now that I’m going to be concentrating on breakables.
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I’m only 49, so I’m not quite ready to be bored yet. My husband is 61 and is looking to retire soon. If our two rentals pay for themselves, then I could scale back a little bit. I never really gave that much thought. I’ve been on earn, earn, earn mode for so long, it’s all I know.
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Im 46 so not far behind you. If you need the money, keep earning. But if you have the financial wherewithal, I bet you can learn to enjoy life without the grind of full-time eBay. It all depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.
But going back to original question: I have no idea how you’d run a 2500 clothing + art/pottery store from two different locations during the year.
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@Christine Yup, I joined a bunch. I’ve also heard cinnamon is good to rub into signatures and marks. My GW just this month stopped writing on pottery with sharpie and switched to price stickers. Finally. That was a real problem as I’ve found sharpie does not come off of pottery.
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:O Sharpie! I thought packing tape was bad.
Honestly, I’ve had mixed luck with pottery. The ones priced under $50 seem to not sit as long but I have had a couple of great scores over $100 that were very collectible. In California we have a plethora of earth tone stoneware. I’m not sure about that. Also, I always check down low at the thrift store in the platters. I’ve found some cool pieces stacked in there.
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As I fall down the rabbit hole of FB collector’s groups, I’m finding all kinds of things in high demand like lamps, cake plates/stands, figural animals, wall hangings and all kinds of things I haven’t given a thought to. My goal is to memorize the most sought after brands/marks and the look up the obscure ones as I go. You really could pick up a ton of stuff that has little to no value. So once again, knowledge is everything in this business.
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Yes, I watch ThePaperCastle when I can’t sleep. She shows East Coast brands that I find here where people retire to the warmer climate. Not really art pottery, more china/collectibles.
She’s how I learned about my favorite thing to sell – needlepoint and cross stitch kits. Very overlooked in all sourcing areas. Easy to pack, ship, and list. I’ve found a number of them over $100.
I follow the Bitossi FB group but I’m never lucky enough to find any. Typically I only go to the FB group for id when I’m stuck.
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Sharpie does come off pottery (in my experience- local charity shop uses it to mark the bases). Use toilet cleaner.
Ruskin Pottery apparently had a big export trade to the USA; it’s marked RUSKIN on the base. They also had a big line of ceramic roundels for pewter thingies and brooches.
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