[Sharyn]

Not too long ago, I sold three artsy menorahs to the same guy, but in the beginning of the summer! It is not the Jewish tradition to decorate the home significantly during Chanukah, so you won’t find too much other than menorahs and dreidels. The ones that I have listed that aren’t particularly unusual do not sell as well.

From what I read on the forum, vintage Christmas ornaments, wrapping paper, and certain lighted plastic display pieces do very well.

Although an item is more likely to sell a month or two before the actual holiday, they sell any time of the year. So buy and list them when you can. You should list a few months early if possible. Halloween stuff might be a bit late at this point, but you never know.

[Sharyn]

Exactly what Mike said plus you should remove the word Cutco from your description as well. Does anyone know if a photo showing the brand name is a problem?

The letter states “the first sale doctrine does not apply”. I think that they mean that you have a right by law to resell a product, but not when you violate their copyright/trademark rights. You still have a right to resell it, but it will be hard to do that and follow their demands.

Here is the definition of the first sale doctrine from Wikipedia:

The first-sale doctrine is a legal concept playing an important role in U.S. copyright and trademark law by limiting certain rights of a copyright or trademark owner. The doctrine enables the distribution chain of copyrighted products, library lending, giving, video rentals and secondary markets for copyrighted works (for example, enabling individuals to sell their legally purchased books or CDs to others). In trademark law, this same doctrine enables reselling of trademarked products after the trademark holder put the products on the market. The doctrine is also referred to as the “right of first sale,” “first sale rule,” or “exhaustion rule.”

The first-sale doctrine is one of the limitations and exceptions to copyright.

[Sharyn]

Week of Oct 1 – 7
* Total Items in Store: 1071
* Items Sold: 17
* Cost of Items Sold: $28.81 + $6.30 Commission
* Total Sales: $510.03
* Highest Price Sold: $149.25 Service for 16 flatware NIB
* Average Price Sold: $30
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 1

I had a very nice week of sales; a number of high priced sales really helped.

We threw a family event this weekend, so last week was focused on cleaning & organizing. I only listed one item that I had put off from the previous week. We still have a couple of guests in from out of town that leave Tuesday. I will be listing, but probably not to the normal level.

I bought a used Dymo 4XL, which I am now using. I much prefer the label and size, but I am finding that switching between the Dymo for labels and my regular printer for packing lists to be a pain. Also, I can’t do multiple labels at one time. I haven’t researched solutions yet because of the busy weekend, but I will this week. I guess I still like it better. My purchase included an Accutek scale that goes to 50 pounds, which is also a big improvement over what I had been using.

[Sharyn]

I can copy a shorter link by doing the following:

I go to my “Manage All Orders” page. I find the item I want to post, hover over the item title in the “Purchase details” column, right click, and pick “Copy Link Address”.

Then I go to the forum post where I want to paste the link and paste.

That process ends up in a much shorter link than if you go to the listing and copy the full address.

[Sharyn]

Steve – I follow your sales on eBay, and I had noticed those unique lamps that sold right after your cutoff for last week’s video. I had to wait a week to hear about them!

Here are a few interesting ones of my own:

I continue to sell measurement equipment that my husband’s company was about to throw out. This torque watch gauge sold for $39.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182762848376

These pants had been my father’s. Now they are on their way to Israel through the GSP. Sold for $26 minus shipping to KY.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182459718145

Here’s my biggest sale: A friend was cleaning out his storage and gave me some vintage electronics. This lot consists of 11 zip disks and 2 untested zip drives (I didn’t have the equipment to test them). Sold for $56 to the UK through the GSP.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182593211707

This last sale was interesting for 3 different reasons. 1. Who knew that vintage Sears vacuum cleaners were so popular? In the 10 days it was listed, it got over 340 views. I have things listed for over a year that have less than 20 views! 2. I bought it in an online auction at the minimum bid. It cost me $0.55, and I still have a vintage Detecto bathroom scale listed from that lot. 3. People have mentioned this, but this is the first time it has happened to me. He first made an offer of $25, but then bought it at full price of $36 about 15 min later.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182779027480

[Sharyn]

The place I go to is called Bodner’s, which is located in Edison, NJ. It’s definitely considered part of the NJ/NY/CT metro area. Edison itself is rather built up.

Home

My only hesitation is that I buy some good stuff there really cheap. I’d rather try my luck with eBay than sell this print for cheap. But, like I said, I don’t go to the higher end rooms, and I usually leave in the early afternoon before my kids get home.

[Sharyn]

Mike – Thanks for the confirmation. I enjoy learning, investigating, and problem solving, so the process to figure this one out was very interesting.

For the print with the yellowing, I will just re-frame it with the cheap matt. The damage is done. I only paid $5 for it, so I should still be able to make good money.

I took a class in framing many years ago, and I do remember learning about acid-free materials, how to cut matts, make frames, etc. I’ll go and buy that special tape. I’ll also need some double-side archival-type tape for a few mounted art pieces I purchased (3-D layered type) that are also moving around in their frames.

For the print engraving, I will contact my regular auction house and see what they say. I’m always in their box lot area where things go in bulk for cheap. However, they sell higher end items in other rooms. I’ll have to make a judgement call on whether it is the right auction house or not. I will be there on Oct 12 for their discovery sale.

I do see similar items listed, including ones listed for $400 or more, but none at that price point that sold, at least not for the past three months.

[Sharyn]

OK – Sorry that I wasn’t able to post this until today. We have a family event coming up this weekend, and I’ve been busy with last minute planning.

I pulled apart the frame & print and took several photos. Here they are:
https://imgur.com/a/pIYxQ

I did find the embossing Mike mentioned – I took several photos showing the ridge along the edge (which was behind the matt when framed).

I tried to take a few photos up close with a strong flashlight showing areas where I could actually see (and feel) slight ridges to the ink.

I also showed the paper itself and some of the aging spots (I assume mold?).

Another important detail is the left hand side is not straight. It appears to be cut. I think that Habnab hit it on the spot – this was a page in a book of engravings that someone cut out and framed. Still late 18th century, and I believe a intaglio print per Mike’s links and descriptions. Thanks so much Habnab for the great investigative work!

Also – Someone posted about value in this topic, but I don’t see the comment now. But, in response, I know that something old doesn’t mean it is valuable. I bought some ironstone / transfer-ware last year. I wasn’t so surprised at the reasonable/low prices, but I was very surprised that almost all of it was over 100 years old!

Back on topic: Now I will need to reassemble the framing. This leads to another question. I will need to remove the tape and then re-tape it back onto the matt. I did some research and Lineco linen tape appears to be the correct neutral PH / acid-free tape required for art. Comments?

And, sort of off-topic again, I have a vintage print that someone framed in a non-acid free matt. The print has a yellowed border along the matt edge. Then, the tape loosened on one side, and the print moved creating a second skewed yellowed border. In spite of all this, it is a nice print from a known artist with a low number. Is there any way to remove the yellowed lines? I assume not.

[Sharyn]

It’s blank for me too. I assume this function would be more for someone who sells commodity items with many of each in stock.

[Sharyn]

Jay – If you hover over Listings and get the pull down menu, Inventory is the second item down. I don’t know if that is what Amatino is referring to or not.

[Sharyn]

My husband is the one who is a big fan of that movie and often quotes from it. He got a kick from the title as well!

For those that don’t know the movie, the actual quote is:
My Name Is Inigo Montoya, You Killed my Father, Prepare To Die

[Sharyn]

Week of Sept 24 – 30
* Total Items in Store: 1086
* Items Sold: 16
* Cost of Items Sold: $21.65 + $0 Commission
* Total Sales: $325.20
* Highest Price Sold: $57 Vintage 11 Sealed Omega Zip disks + 2 untested zip drives
* Average Price Sold: $20.33
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $14.50
* Number of items listed this week: 43

Week started out really, really slow, but got back to normal mid-week. I feel like maybe the slow down was due to the mistake I made in shipping out several items two days late. I have no proof of this, but I’m allowed a conspiracy theory every once in a while, right?

My parents are going to be visiting this weekend, and they are bringing me another car load! I still haven’t caught up with my backlog (or death piles), so I won’t be doing much sourcing for the next few weeks. I have an auction on Oct 12 that I want to go to. I’ll just have to be careful with what I buy.

I was looking through the estate sales for this weekend (but didn’t go to any). I noticed the title of one that was pretty funny. For those who like the movie The Princess Bride, you might find this amusing:

My Name Is Inigo Montoya, You Found My Estate Sale, Prepare To Buy!

[Sharyn]

If the comment is positive, why just not leave it there? Most people will look at the number next to the star & the percent of positive feedback. Very few will actually click in to the read the feedback.

Personally, if that happened to me, I’d just block the person so that they can’t buy from me again and move on. Why give them a refund? They can’t change it to negative. Once they leave feedback (positive or negative), they can’t change it unless you ask and set it up for them.

[Sharyn]

Got it. Very cool.

[Sharyn]

I don’t see it. Do you still see it?

[Author]

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