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I think some people use the ending of the price as a code to remind themselves when they bought the item or where the item is in inventory, as well.
Sue reports that she’s still selling on both sites, and that Etsy is slow at the moment as well!
I know Sue/OMFUG has been happier on Etsy — so don’t let me scare you away entirely. I’ll see if she can come tell her story. But, for me, eBay has been the better fit.
I started on Etsy and slowly moved over to eBay. It’s hard to compare, because I know so much more now than I did when I started selling online, but I feel like honest-to-goodness full-time quit-your-day-job success on Etsy depends more on things like compelling photos, terrific narratives, social networking on the site itself, and personal branding than it does on simply having a good assortment of decent items. On eBay, it’s been my experience that there’s vastly less need to spend time crafting your personal brand and doing things on the “marketing” end. The fees are higher on eBay, and the prices for some items might be slightly lower, but the number of people shopping the sites can’t really be compared, and I’ve done way better on eBay than I ever did on Etsy (although, again, I know a lot more now than I did then.)
Overall, I’d say it depends on what you’re selling and how — or even if — you want to tell your personal story as part of your shop. For me, being able to list items quickly without the need for evocative narratives, magazine-quality photos, and other marketing/branding requirements has been key as I’ve tried to balance online selling with other obligations. But it would be interesting to hear from people who have gone the other way, because my perception of what’s required could be warped. Sue/OMFUG, we need your story!
So, the auction ended at $157 and change. I think I might be able to do better. Sadly, the artist died quite recently amidst a huge battle over the rights to his work. Right now, these reproductions are not in production but who knows what will happen when the legal battle is decided.
Thanks again for your research!
I have a Foujita story!
I must have read an article about Foujita somwhere, because when I stumbled on a woodblock signed Foujita I was super-excited, even though the work was totally different than the cats. It turns out the piece I’d found was by a different artist — Fumio Foujita. His work is really fantastic. Here’s someone’s Pinterest board, if you’d like to take a quick peek at some of his pieces: https://www.pinterest.com/jisch0497/fumio-fujita/?lp=true — just phenomenal. The woodblock is something I regret selling.
As for “unknown famous artists,” there are so many tiers of artists, so many well-collected artist enclaves (Provincetown white line prints, Rockport and Gloucester Massachusetts painters, Taos painters, Connecticut Impressionists… etc, etc., etc.) that it makes sense to pick up, inspect, smell, touch, and research anything even remotely interesting or unusual you come across. While you’re doing this, you’ll be learning what kind of dross you always see, so when something’s different you immediately notice it. This also goes for pottery, glass, wood, and any oddly designed object. Trying to keep an eye out for one artist (unless you’re in the area where s/he lived and worked) is more of a needle-in-a-haystack approach. It’s my opinion that it’s better to develop an overall sense of the finer points of hay so you know when you’ve got a really good strand in your hands. (Possible metaphor failure!)
Jeez, I didn’t even see that before, the signature and the numbers.
It’s also, I think, an offset lithograph rather than a stone lithograph. I see the dots in the image.
Oh, dear. That’s terrible!
I’ve found them selling for multiple hundreds and am watching an auction for one as we speak, with bidding at $100 and 20 watchers. (Well, 19 plus me.)
Thank you for the bad news. I’m going to go ahead and ignore that Worthpoint result as an outlier!How big was the actual hole? It doesn’t seem that terrible to me. The perfect buyer and a great story!
(I would have priced it higher, but sometimes I feel like I have an art museum rather than an eBay store, so you almost certainly made the right call.)
I agree with you to some extent, Simplico — researching what you find definitely makes the most sense. That said, this site — which is totally new to me, and I’m very excited about — could be a nice addition to the research/knowledge base. I just browsed the top selling midcentury collectibles (or whatever they’re calling that category) and learned about some bakelite/faturan umbrella handles that would not have been on my radar otherwise. Now I’ll be sure to look through the umbrella stand at the next estate sale. I wouldn’t spend a ton of time in this rabbit hole (which it surely is) but it’s a great place for ‘incidental learning.’
Wait! I’m late to the party!
Did I miss my chance to be positively spotlighted to the masses? Dang it!
