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I use corrugated paper- can be loosely rolled up to do the job of bubble wrap. It’s also good for packing books- a wrap round the book with a slight overlap, and a roll tucked in at each end, and then wrapped in kraft paper.
One item I’ve thought of using, but haven’t yet, is Veroboard for things like postcards. Impossible to bend!
Seeing that brooch reminded me- it may be worth looking out for brooches with colours of purple (amethyst), white and green. These are the Suffragette colours, and they fetch a good premium in the UK.
The list of four countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, South Korea, Russia) seems a bit random to me. It seems that this list is incomplete, and other countries are affected. I wonder if it’s a language thing, in that Amazon may have gone to a third-party payment service with insufficient translation services.
MyCottage: probably not your book, but W. Crawley’s “Is It Genuine?” describes several cases where Chip’n’Dale became Chippendale as it floated up the market.
I rent a glass cabinet in a shop in Melbourne. Derbyshire, which is in a 14th century stable block attached to the Hall. So all the antiques in the shop are about 500 years younger than the building!
The rent’s £55 (70 USD) and there’s no commission on sales. The cabinet is a standard IKEA-type, and a bit small (the shelves are 12 inches square). I share the cabinet with a friend who sells jewellery (that’s the top-shelf stuff) and tat (only she doesn’t call it tat).
Items are priced high by the owners. In fact I often let them set the prices, ‘cos they complain when I price things too cheap, and also when I forget to take the thrift-shop labels off.
The clientele seems to be dealers and passers-by. The shop’s on the route to the teashop, and the area’s popular with walkers. It doesn’t seem to get the “destination” trade that an antiques fair would get, although the owners are building up a trade in repairing and selling clocks. Which is surprising, as the market for grandfather clocks is supposed to have died off.
They also have a cabinet full of Crown Derby paperweights, which are the Beanie Babies of the English lower middle classes- loads of different animal shapes hand-daubed in Imari style. Experience the horror!
Should’ve pointed out that that’s UK eBay. Not sure what the equivalent US category is- “professional”?
Directly on the listing (just signed out, had a look at a listing and checked that was the case). This is because I’m registered as a business seller- the main effect is that there are certain extra safeguards for the customer if the seller is a business. That’s as far as the regulation goes- no licences or registration elsewhere.
I had a prospective buyer contact me directly via my email address, which apparently is displayed on the eBay listing. That was okay by me, since I was puzzling out how to give him the address where the item was stored, without having a repeat of the stroppy email I got from eBay last time I put an address in a message. I know my address and ‘phone number are displayed on the listing, but I was unaware that the email was.
Another type of Grand Tour collectable is the plaster cameo. I made the mistake of buying four in a frame a couple of months back, without knowing what they were. Made in Italy, from plaster forced into engraved moulds which portrayed classical themes, they were intended to be mounted in books. The ones I bought didn’t have the card surrounds, and they were rubbing against the glass of the frame- so bad buy!
On eBay UK it’s “Are you a business seller?” Gives us the choice of running our businesses professionally or amateurishly.
Use lighter fuel (or some petrol) to take the tape off. Might involve loosening an edge, and then washing the area underneath the tape with a brush while gradually peeling back. Works on paper.
Tape is bad news in the long term. The adhesive degrades into a brown stain, which is impossible to remove on fabric. Apparently it’s based on rubber.
Re framed pictures- it’s depressing to find that even “professional” framers are not above using sellotape or masking tape. I just yesterday bought a print from 1888 that had been framed using toilet paper to back the print, and sellotape to attach it to some not-acid-free cardboard. Had a sticker on the back giving the business details of the poltroon who’d framed it.
Some thrift shop chains here (directly connected to particular charities) require any purchase by an employee or volunteer to be “rung up” by someone else, to prevent fraud. The one I frequent uses price stickers with strong adhesive- I know to use naptha or similar to remove them, but I wonder how many things have been ruined by buyers peeling them off!
High-quality blank cassette tapes (e.g. chromium (CrO2) and C90 length).
Film was often stored in refrigerators or deep freezes in bags; might be a selling point if you come across a stash stored like that. There’s also Polaroid instant film and the Fuji equivalent.
Collectable pens and pencils seem to be hot in South Korea at the moment!
Beads: massive collecting base, and plenty of repros and forgeries. Good quality millefiori beads, mid-20th century Chinese enamelled beads.
There’s also a number of collectors of sand and soil in small containers (or at least there were a few years ago). Not sure whether that can be monetised or is just swapping.
London Underground maps- this can be quite profitable. Early ones sell for a lot. Whether this is true of other systems I don’t know- the tube is constantly being extended or tinkered with so there’s a new map issued at least once a year.
Bits of old electronica. A friend bought a Russian core memory thing off eBay (square with lots of tiny wires) and had it framed. Looks quite attractive.
Wikipedia says that Cabbage Patch Kids are “one of the longest-running cabbage franchises in the United States.”
There are other cabbage businesses? (I mean, apart from Sauerkraut Sally’s and Kapusta’R’Us)
In the other direction, it appears to be duty-free (from U.S. Customs and Border Protection site- “Printed matter, for the most part, is duty free.”) I don’t know- I’ve sold books internationally for hundreds of pounds and not had anyone complaining about duty. Specifically a photo album to South Africa where the purchaser told me to label it as “printed paper” (I mean, what’s the difference between a photo album and a book of photos? Silver in the prints?)
Maybe it’s like the postal rate exemption for China- a relic of a time past when books were seen as a cultural necessity and therefore shouldn’t be taxed.
Anyway I’ve just listed a couple of maps, without specifying weight/dimensions, and the GSP is a pound cheaper than Royal Mail, so I” stop whinging!
