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I’d also be interested in where you get the test and what kind of test it is. I have quite a bit of silver plate and other metals. This is probably something I should have!
Lovely mirror!
I’m the one who was asking, so who am I to answer? However, I’ll throw out that the silver I know to be silver plate looks a bit whiteish. The silver / nickel plating is darker. That is the reason I don’t think my bowl is silver plate.
Your photos could just be dark, but it doesn’t look like silver plate.
If you go under the Scavenger Life banner, click on the tab “resources”. Jay and Ryanne have links to different types of scales.
I recently wanted a Dymo label printer, so I found a listing for a used one plus a scale. It is an Accuteck digital postal scale with a max of 50 lbs. I’ve been using it for about two months now, and I’m pretty happy with it. It displays pounds and ounces, converts to kg if needed, and also has tare and hold. The Hold button has been useful lately when the box is too big for me to read the weight. I press the hold button, take the box off, and then I can read the weight.
Whether you go with the Accuteck or something different, first click one of J & R’s links because they will get some small amount of money even if you don’t buy from ebay.
I’m not sure myself, but most of what I buy at auction has “vintage dust” (as someone here on the forum called it), so I’m pretty sure of authenticity. However, I did find a site recently about determining the difference between real and reproduction. I haven’t really looked at it much yet, but it looked like it covered many categories. Check it out:
Thanks for that answer. I was thinking that I had it wrong about silver plate.
Does the trim go all the way around? If so, then coverlet makes sense. You can measure it and see if it would fit a twin or other sized bed and use that in your description.
I noticed that the pictures are over a rug, and it is hard to discern which is rug and which is the fabric. You might want a more plain background.
Upholstery fabric that is used for curtains, bed spreads, and such is usually a little thicker than what is used for clothing. I assume this is a thicker fabric?
It does look very nice, good find. You might want to use some of the key words in the Etsy description you found.
I bought this older bread machine for myself at the local Goodwill, but it took up so much counter space. When I saw how much it went for online, I decided to sell. I think people like it because the bread comes out rectangular. Bought it for $14, sold for $55.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182593947009This listing is just a bunch of glass candies I bought as part of an auction lot. Paid a dollar or two, sold for best offer of $42:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182567426974My biggest sale of the week ($200) was given to me by one of my parent’s friends. His wife passed away a few years ago, and this had been her mink coat. Yes, we vintage sellers tend to sell “dead people’s stuff”, but we don’t always know for sure.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182862309365Jay – You need to bookmark this and take him up on the offer!
I’m staying out of this discussion, but I’m finding it very interesting.
Week of Nov 19-25
* Total Items in Store: 1193
* Items Sold: 18
* Cost of Items Sold: $30.19 + $9 Commission
* Total Sales: $568.91
* Highest Price Sold: $200 Mink coat
* Average Price Sold: $31.61
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $32.77
* Number of items listed this week: 35As I mentioned under the “slowest week ever” topic, my week has been pretty normal with 18 sales. I had 6 sales on Thanksgiving Day, but then Black Friday & the weekend were quiet. I did sell a few higher priced items that made my total sales a bit higher than normal.
I was thinking about how to deal with returns. I understand that you guys can just accept a return, and then choose not to refund the full amount because you are in the beta program. For those of us that are not and the buyer is asking you to pay for return shipping, I think that perhaps accepting a return right away may not be the right decision. If it is a light weight item, especially first class, or if a mistake was made in the description, then I think yes, just accept it. But, if return shipping will cost a higher amount, perhaps the seller should contact the buyer first and plead your case as to why a “not as described” is not appropriate. The seller can also contact ebay if the buyer doesn’t respond in a day or two. But, the seller should accept the return no matter what before the buyer has the right to escalate. Is that four days? Then, the seller could call in ebay after the item is returned and plead your case.
A few sellers have recently commented on the forum where they either offered a partial refund and waited too long to respond or have accepted a INAD return and had to pay for shipping after receiving the item back. I think that a seller should document their objections to paying shipping before accepting the return.
Just my 2 cents.
Up through Thanksgiving, sales were pretty normal. I actually had 6 sales on Thanksgiving, which is awesome. Friday and Today have been very slow with one sale each (at least so far).
I think that people actually get to the stores on Black Friday and the following weekend. I remember this happening last year. I don’t think the so called “Cyber Monday” boosted my sales last year either, so I’m not expecting anything spectacular.
Here are some of my interesting sales from the week. I’m leaving out my highest sellers just because they weren’t all that interesting.
My sister gave me two LeapFrog systems and a lot of games. I broke them out into two different listings, and this lot included a LeapFrog with Writing, a case, and 17 games for $32. I found from the feedback that it was sold to a 2nd grade teacher:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182860541708This is a small sale of $9. I originally bought this Rutger’s nursing patch as part of a lab coat. When the coat sat there for about a year with very few views, I decided to take the patch off and throw out the coat. It sold in about a month.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182710697611Last month, I bought an auction lot for the minimum bid of $5 because of the vintage Barbie trunks, but it also came with about 10 dolls. The dolls quickly became a deathpile. Except for a select few, vintage dolls don’t seem to do well for me, and these need clean up and, in some cases, fixing. Then I read an article through Facebook (sorry, can’t find the original article) about items that you might not realize that people collect. Haunted dolls are one of them, and they mentioned that vintage dolls with messed up eyes that look scary also sell. Well, I had one of those. In my research, I saw the word “Halloween” in many of the listings, and I had missed that boat. I figured this would be a long tail item. Sold in about three days for $19. The Barbie trunks are still sitting there.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182902713043Just watched the video, and I’m so sorry about your poor kitty passing away. I don’t think that you had her even a year.
Another comment on the podcast:
I also started buying higher value items this year, and it has definitely helped. What I need to do for next year is to be willing to drop the cheap stuff and just donate it. I’ll buy an auction lot because a few items have a decent value, but I have to list all of it because I can’t seem to leave that money on the table even if it is only $10 (or less). But, it costs me in time and listing fees (because I’m now over the 1000 items in the mid-level store), and I need to let go! I’ve decided that February and March next year will be my time to purge and (hopefully) change my ways.
Comments on the podcast:
I have a much smaller store, but yet I have a reseller permit so that I don’t have to pay sales tax. It wasn’t difficult at all for me to get one in NJ. I can’t imagine that it would be difficult in VA if you have a registered business and a permit to collect sales tax. From the quick search I did, I think that is all you need in VA (but double-check that). Then you have to fill out a ST-10 form and submit that to your auction company.
https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/taxforms/exemption-certificates/any/st-10-any.pdfI find that lots are bid up higher at auctions this time of year through the beginning of the next year. I went to one last week, and I didn’t buy anything until a few hours later when the crowd started to thin out a bit. And, yes, there are people who look through your stuff after a lot has been sold. I think that some people go just to hang out and look at the stuff, so they want to check out what you’ve bought. It is annoying.
Congrats on getting to a feedback of 9000! That’s quite some accomplishment. I’m at about 480 in my tiny little store, and I’m just excited that the color of my star will change at 500!
So here are my numbers:
Week of Nov 12-18
* Total Items in Store: 1178
* Items Sold: 22
* Cost of Items Sold: $22.68 + $60 Commission
* Total Sales: $458.78
* Highest Price Sold: $120 Wool fabric (on commission); $55 Williams-Sonoma pasta bowl set (non-commission)
* Average Price Sold: $20.85
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $34.50
* Number of items listed this week: 57The cha-ching sound is similar to the sounds that slot machines make. They “condition” you to keep playing. As long as you understand that and don’t let it run your life, you should be OK. That said, the cha-ching makes me happy! I feel ripped off if a sale comes in but I didn’t hear it because I was somewhere noisy or wasn’t in the room or something.
