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Mike –
Your technical knowledge on art and related subjects is just awesome! Thanks so much for your response.
Trying to go through your message, I cannot see an embossed edge, but, as you said, it could be under the matt. The size of the visible art is about 12″ x 9.5″, which might be kind of large for a book. However, it could be from a large coffee-table-sized book about engraved art or similar, so I can’t go on that.
I have a 10X loupe, but I can’t tell if the print has any structural dimension as viewed through the glass. I do see cross-hatching used to vary the level of black – to look like different shades of gray. I do not see dots. The lines seem dark, not transparent. I do believe that I can see (with the 10X loupe) a bleeding of ink around the edges of the letters as well as the edge of the drawing. The paper itself seems “grainy” not smooth like modern paper – not sure if that means anything.
As far as what I was told about the print, I did not talk to the person who had brought it in for the rummage sale. There was a note on the piece explaining what it was, and I typed out that information in my first comment above. The person I did talk to just told me how they obtained many of the items in that room and how they were priced.
I think I need to take this print apart now that you’ve given me all this information. I don’t have the time to do it today. I need to get through a bunch of other art before I can look further. My goal will be to get to it on Friday or Monday. I’ll take a closer look and come back to this forum topic then.
09/26/2017 at 12:29 pm in reply to: Sourcing – Thrift Stores / Estate Sales / Garage Sales / Auctions / Craigslist #23290My main source is auctions – both live and online. Since I sourced a good bit over the summer, but wasn’t able to keep up with listing, I’m trying to hold off on buying too much right now.
I’ve been going to a few garage and estate sales just to keep things interesting. I’ve been finding that the sales I see advertised with signs on the road, but I didn’t hear about on gsalr.com, are the BEST. They are typically trying to get rid of stuff, but don’t know much about pricing or advertising. Otherwise, I will go to 2 or 3 garage or estate sales and end up buying maybe one or two items.
Thanks Jay – I guess I’m nervous about this one because of the age. I’ve had some ceramics that were a bit over 100 years old, but they really looked it! This print though is over 200 years old and doesn’t look all that bad. I guess that I can say “I’ve been told this is from the 18th century, but I did not get it authenticated” or something like that.
For some reason, that link only shows the first image. This link should show more.
09/24/2017 at 10:31 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 328: Chaos vs Stress, There is a difference in life and business #23182Week of Sept 17 – 23
* Total Items in Store: 1069
* Items Sold: 17
* Cost of Items Sold: $15.83 + $12.30 Commission
* Total Sales: $332.66
* Highest Price Sold: $27 lot of 11 Christmas Salt & Pepper sets
* Average Price Sold: $19.57
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $32.50
* Number of items listed this week: 48I made a stupid mistake this week. I was running late to meet a friend for lunch on Wed, so I decided to go to the post office afterwards. I spaced out and forgot. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except that Thurs was the Jewish New Year, and I didn’t ship anything. Friday was also part of the holiday, but I decided to ship that day. I brought my new packages to the car and found the old ones still sitting there in the trunk. I had been wondering why I wasn’t seeing updated tracking; I should have realized. I had 5 packages shipped late, but at least one will still be within the shipping window. One got to its destination very quickly, so maybe it is still within the window for receiving the package. The rest might be late and may ding my rating. I won’t lose my TRS over this, but I’m just pissed off at myself. I’m one of those people who will walk into another room to get something, but forget what it was once I get there. I write lists or notes to myself and set alarms on my cell phone to remind me of appointments. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any of those things on Wed.
Anyway, the week was decent, but sales dried up on the weekend for whatever reason.
09/24/2017 at 9:14 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 328: Chaos vs Stress, There is a difference in life and business #23175Brian –
I think that there might be an extra number in your “total items in store”.
BTW, I owned that Star Wars double album once upon a time, but I don’t think mine had those posters.
Thanks for this post; this is great information. So, basically selecting lot or bundle, when appropriate, may help with promoting your listing in searches. I’ll start doing this with new listings.
09/23/2017 at 9:08 pm in reply to: Using a Mannequin or Posing Clothes for EBAY Listings. Which is Better? #23143I agree with lying flat and/or posing. Another issue with a mannequin is the size. I used to have a mid-sized women’s mannequin. Clothing in a smaller size looked stretched out, and something very large would hang with the extra fabric. Only items close to the size of the mannequin looked good. I now lie all clothes on the floor with white paper underneath.
What was the measurement map or whatever you called it? You bought it at Walmart?
In June, I bought a rain coat at an outlet store for Fall. In August, I went to a rummage sale where I bought an even nicer, hardly used rain coat in my size for about $8. The rain coat I bought in June is now listed on eBay for the price that I paid.
I’ve bought art for myself. At an auction, I bought a framed painting on silk of tribal masks for $11.50. I bought a framed Agam (a famous Israeli artist) print on fabric for $20 (at the same rummage sale as the rain coat) for $20.
I have my reseller’s certificate on file with all the auctions that I go to and don’t pay taxes when I purchase something. If I buy something for personal use at an auction, I will pay taxes on it when I enter quarterly state taxes for the business. If I buy something at a garage sale or similar, then I won’t bother.
The majority of stuff I buy is for the business, and I rarely buy for myself or family. But, every once in a while ….
Just my hypothesis, but I think that some people are looking for a discount, however small, when they ask a question. I started to respond with the answer and around a 10% discount, and I have been successful making a sale a majority of the time.
09/22/2017 at 12:51 pm in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Roller derby skates, Halloween costume, American Beauties, Carver amp, Boots & shoes, Angel chimes. #23100I had some pretty interesting sales this week.
I paid about $3 for this pennant from an online auction. I think that I under priced it for $48 considering how fast it sold, but I’m happy for the cash. I guess that Playboy would support sport teams at one time?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182756407092I find that I will buy an auction lot for items I’m interested in, but the first item to sell will be something unrelated. I bought a online auction lot of Fiesta Ware plus this large drink dispenser. I haven’t sold any Fiesta yet, but this almost paid for the whole lot at $69:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182754035138My husband is currently working out of a different building because his company is in process of redoing his regular office area. He had business in his original office and happened to notice a pile of old equipment that was being thrown out. Here are two electronic calipers that I obviously underpriced because they both sold very quickly. I thought I had done my homework and priced them at $30, only $10 below a new one on eBay. The difference might be because the other one was 6″ and these were 8″. I don’t really know.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182762701413
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182762723293Here is my favorite of the week. I bought this unopened Cinderella VHS deluxe tape set at auction for about $12. Someone in Australia, who opened an account that day, bought it for full price of $79. I expect that they found the item through a Google search, and opened up an account just to buy my item.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182619803572I bought this old ship lantern at a rummage sale half price day for $4. The insides have been removed. Sold for $49.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182713687368This is something my mom gave to me. It is a refill for a discontinued dryer bar. Her holder broke, so she decided to use something else. The refills are no longer being produced, so I was able to get $33 for this one item.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182765234451I don’t have any insight into media foreign or otherwise, but I thought that I would offer one suggestion. You can find inexpensive translation services through different websites. I used fiverr.com recently for something else, so I checked them out for translation. I found several offers for Vietnamese to English translation. The first one offered 800 words for $5, and they look like they had good credentials. Just like eBay, you should check their ratings and compare to other offers. There are other sites like upwork.com, and you could google for others.
If you had the translation, you could compare what you have to others that have sold.
Of course, you could ask your neighbors, but I assume you don’t want to clue them in to what you are planning to do. Maybe you could not say anything about rescuing stuff from their trash, but casually ask about what sort of CDs and DVDs they had thrown out.
09/18/2017 at 10:04 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 327: Dealing With Stress Traveling, In Life and On eBay #22952Week of Sept 3 – 9
* Total Items in Store: 1038
* Items Sold: 13
* Cost of Items Sold: $42.26 + $0 Commission
* Total Sales: $460.50
* Highest Price Sold: $79 Cinderella Deluxe Video Edition
* Average Price Sold: $35.42
* Returns: 0 (1 cancel)
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $13
* Number of items listed this week: 52When I first met my husband, he almost never wanted to go on trips because of the stress. He eventually got the hang of it. I’m glad that you guys were able to work through the problem.
I had a great week. I had 7 less sales than last week, but made about $40 more. The average price was up about $15!
I just want to mention something I’ve noticed about GoDaddy. On the summary page, left-hand side, sometimes I see a message about repeat customers. If I happen to see the message, I’ll click on the link and see the customer’s name and the items they’ve bought from me. This is not about customers who bought more than one item in a single day, rather, these are purchases with weeks or months in between. If I see that before I’ve left feedback (because I usually leave feedback when I see the item is delivered), I will make sure to thank them for the repeat business. This has happened only a few times, but, so far, the buyer always leaves feedback. In one case, the buyer left feedback for both the new and the old purchases after seeing my message.
09/18/2017 at 5:04 pm in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 327: Dealing With Stress Traveling, In Life and On eBay #22948This is not rambling. This is an amazing discussion of life and stress and how to deal with it. Very well said.
09/15/2017 at 8:53 am in reply to: What Sells On eBay: Christian Dior sunglasses, Bose speakers, Lucchese boots, Artists pochade box, GE Wildcat record player #22850Yes, I remember the Trapper Keepers from school, but I don’t think I ever owned one. When I was taking my kids school shopping recently, I noticed that the brand is still around. It is now owned by Mead.
The binder was part of an online auction. Basically, it was a bin full of mostly junk. I figured I could use the bin itself (even without the lid), and it included a chalk board that would be worth the $1. Once I got it home, I decided to look up the Trapper Keeper before throwing it away, and boy I was surprised at the prices! I figure the buyer either wants it for nostalgia or else his or her kid is going to have the coolest notebook in Guam!
Here is the auction lot, paid $1.10 total:
http://maxsold.maxsold.com/auction/5370/item/mugs-and-more-a-535460 -
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