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Yes, I’ve done that with needlepoints in the past as well.
I’ve also seen listings for a group of older wood frames just for decorating. It’s a relatively new trend using empty frames.
https://www.decoist.com/empty-frames-decorating-ideas/?chrome=1&D2c=1&A1c=1
Yes, mine are back, and I’m breathing easier now. Kind of funny thinking about all the jokes and memes I’ve seen about non-existing days in February. Something on the order of “Let’s give up drinking alcohol for February 29, 30, and 31; who’s with me?”. The eBay glitch, though, wasn’t too funny.
VT – It was so funny, in a way. I think that the auctioneer was getting tired and didn’t want to deal with breaking it into lots. At first, people selected one or two pieces, and he would auction just those. That creates “perceived” value, I think, and the prices went up to $20 or so. Then, when he wasn’t getting much interest right away for the rest, I raised my hand, and he didn’t even bother looking for another bid.
Last night, I started dusting them off so that I can bring them into the house. Of note, one was a signed print commemorating the release of a US stamp. I have to check if the signature is the artist who designed the stamp, but I assume it is. There is a commemorative plaque with pennies and nickels that were made during WWII with steel and other metals that weren’t being used for the war effort. There are some decent paintings with really fancy wood frames. I haven’t looked at everything, especially the ones in the bins, but I’m sure there are other stars in there. There are some so-so paintings & prints that have sell-able wood frames. There are some nice prints or needlepoints that will be better sold without the frame. Yes, I will make some very decent money.
Finally, there’s the flea market stuff that I’ll probably give away for free on the local freecycling Facebook page.
Even funnier, though, someone came over to me and bought an old photograph in a frame for $5 (bringing my total to $0.75 for the buyer’s premium). Then two other people gave me extra art they had bought and didn’t want.
I’ll be losing that freed up space very soon.
Glad you guys got to go to a restaurant. We’ve been a few times, mostly in the summer when we did go on a vacation. There’s a place near us that has these bubbles outside with one table each, but they were all taken when we went a few months ago. I hear that they are still cold, but bearable.
Week of Feb 21 – 27
Total Items in Store: 1376 eBay, 30 Etsy
Items Sold: 20 eBay
Cost of Items Sold: $38.02 + $46 Commission
Total Sales: $454.70 eBay
Highest Price Sold: $70 Antique Chase desk lamp
Average price: $22.74
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $5.75
Number of items listed this week: 5Sales were better than last week, but not as high as January/beg of February.
I really hope your coffee shop really takes off! We are only a 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive from Luray. I’d like to make a trip out there, maybe a long weekend, once it opens. I’ll have to figure out how to work it in with husband/son/daughter’s different schedules. Maybe later this summer. We shall see.
The auction house I usually go to has a license to sell firearms in NJ, but not alcohol. However, they auction off “bottles”, and sometimes those bottles happen to have liquid in them. I once purchased one of those lots of “bottles”, and the hard liquors, like whiskey, gin, rum, etc, keep just fine for decades. Maybe we are crazy, but we’re still drinking it a little at a time. I did have to throw some of it down the drain.
Oh, and I’ll sell the empty bottle if it is worth it. I’ve made back the $11 or so I paid for it plus a bit of profit.
So much going on with everyone here. I started out writing condolences/congratulations/empathy, but I figured this would get too long. Just know that I read each post and feel for each one of you as if I knew you IRL.
I listed a measly 5 items this week. Again, they were all linens, which take longer, plus I was busy on my day job. For a mental break, I got out the rest of my whiskey pitchers, which I bought 1 1/2 years ago, and I should be able to list them quickly. There’s over 40 of them, and I have a goal of listing them all this week. We’ll see as the day job is still busier than normal.
So happy to have moved out all those linens, and, with the whiskey pitchers out of the way, I actually have some room in my basement! I decided to go to an outside auction on Saturday as a way to do something fun. I promised myself to be careful as I still have plenty of unlisted inventory. I won only one bid of $5 for some artwork:
uh oh
I heard this was going on, so I just ended the 200 listings that would have relisted next. I’m in process of relisting them. It’s a pain because I have a few with multiple quantities. I have to write them down and then make sure they don’t get relisted to the original quantity. If I’ve sold one or more, I can’t have it go back up.
This happened 2 1/2 years ago, I think, in the summer? Just one of the most stupid glitches ever. I can’t believe that eBay wouldn’t have programming in place to make sure this didn’t happen again. I’ve lost about 30 or so listings. If they don’t fix the issue automatically, how will I know which ones were lost?
I just went to my business policies and took a look at the one I set up for free shipping (which I am not using at the moment). I see a section “Shipping rate tables” with a button for “Apply domestic shipping rate table”. I took a look at that, and it appears to have a way to set shipping costs to different areas of the country. Perhaps that is the new function to replace what paulainmidtown has been using.
Occasionally, I will list something with free shipping. Usually, it is something that I have to ship in more than one box. Because Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, outlying territories, etc. are too expensive to include in free shipping, I’ll make it US only and exclude these areas that are too expensive to ship to. That function is below the Shipping rate tables mentioned above.
Ha! I have a love/hate thing with linens. I just finished up the last photos yesterday, and I’ll be done until I buy them again, which I will do reluctantly.
Awesome bike, by the way.
Last week was pretty light for me, so I hope other people post their sales. Here’s two:
This book was purchased for pennies, and I took an offer of $40. It has a copyright of 1898, but I think it must be a reprint. I’m not used to books from the 19th century being in such good condition.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184540951579
Initially, I thought these candlesticks were brass, but, looking closer, I saw that there was some kind of plating on it. I have one of those acid test kits, so I made scratches on the stone and determined that the plating was around 14k gold. I just listed it as gold plated. It is a consignment item, and it sold for $36.
I find that auctions can be a “hurry and wait” situation. In my experience, people are excited to be there or haven’t spent their money yet in the beginning, so bidding is higher. I’ll just watch until I see the prices come down a bit. Then, you wait until something you want comes up. It’s exciting for the few minutes when you bid, then you wait again. Much of going to an auction is waiting.
It is good that you can see what you are interested ahead of time. Maybe have an idea of what you are interested and what you want to spend. It will help you know when to bid and not get caught up.
For most of the ones I go to, you can pay and go when you are ready. When you get there, you should look for the cashiers so that you can get a number.
If you’ve never been to one, you should arrive right at the start because the auctioneer will go through the rules. You also might want to observe for an hour or two before you make a bid. I think I just observed the first one I went to because I wanted to see how things went first.
There is one auction I’ve been to that does not have numbers and only takes your name. I guess that leaves them vulnerable to someone just walking out, and then the merchandise has to wait to the next auction to get sold. They sell new or returned merchandise, and they don’t let you take it right away. In fact, you have to wait until the end in order to pay, and then come back the next day or two to get your merchandise.
So, it does depend on the auction house.
Trader Joe’s has a Stroopwaffel cake mix that is new for this year. It’s incredibly yummy. We’ve made it twice.
I just came here to talk about Stroopwaffels. That is all.
