So....
Speaking of real art, and the aesthetic movement. They both had me searching some images, and I came across a man just now that I've never heard of, and who's style really grabbed me as I scrolled down the page. Since real arts is the thing here, I'd like your opinion on someone I just saw as a real artist. Am I hot? Cold? in your definition:
http://hoocher.com/Caspar_David_Friedrich/Caspar_David_Friedrich.htm
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Spanky, I see.you popped some more popcorn. I think you should consider sharing some with groovy: He's gotta be plumb tuckered out from all this debating. I'm starting to get worried about the fellow's nourishment, him keeping pace with EH, woody and you too now you've got the fresh popped bag. Poor fellow must be running short on sustenance, and hasn't had time to bring home any more bacon from the ebay store.
Dude....
I am man. I'm so glad it's over for now. I waved the white flag in the haiku thread. 3 days worth. I fought em like an old school WWF Royal Rumble. As soon as they got me down, I'd start shaking the ropes, and coming back to life, then here'd come another wrestler running down the aisle. In the end it was like 7 or 8 in the ring, and the threads kept compounding. I was giving it all I had, but it was getting out of control, and I couldn't hold on any longer. I didn't even get to take a shower yesterday. I started responding at like 9 in the morning, and fought until 2:30 am.
I woke up this morning at 10, and came back down and started again until about an hour ago. I didn't eat the whole day yesterday. And just ate now today. I lost all my strength, my eyes looked like a road map, and my fingers startled crippling on the board. When my gf came down to see if I was hungry I think I growled at her, cuz she ran away fast. Even though that was really fun, I am ready for a break, because I have to list tomorrow. But if anyone needs a good debate partner who can really push some buttons, I'm their man. I'm not at a loss for words. That's for sure. I'm sure there's some funny shit mixed in the middle of all that.
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I found you on Ebay too but I won't tell. A few nice things (and prices) tbh - not at all sure about that art nouveau figure though you should get that checked as it looks a bit new.
On a serious note I'd hesitate before basing a business on Ebay these days. That tinpot Robespierre Donahue is busy culling a lot of smaller sellers (15,000 so far this month) of individual items - by smaller I mean anyone not a big box retailer or chinese crap merchant. They will wrap it up in as many ways as possible but the bottom line is that as a seller if you don't represent a big enough ROI you are toast. Having great seller feedback or how long you've been registered counts for nothing. I guess $2-3k a month turnover minimum to be safe.
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The other you're spot on. That's why I wanted to be just a buyer, and not a whole 1 man company. That's why I can't get ahead. I can make a decent living, but I'm not getting to take any vacations any time soon. Or 6 months off to go on a mission trip to Bangladesh. It's not a matter of the amounts I'm getting, because my feedback shows that I can make hundreds all day with everything I touch, or pick up. It's being in enough places at one time, to provide enough supply for the demand, as well as keep up with the turnover. There's a demand for everything I sell, I just can't get it out fast enough. Like me trying to fight 5 or 6 people on this forum, and keep up with all of them, when it grows to 9 or 10. I can't. That's why you gotta do some cut n paste's sometimes to keep up with whats being thrown at you.
For the past few years, I've been having a lot of keeping up, because so much stuff needs restoration, and research, and I'm attracted to such weird stuff that I can't just scan a upc code, or search amazon real quick for product info, like a lot of people. A lot of that stuff is very rare, and can take me weeks of intense searching to find it. Sometimes I can't find nothing, like the Converse Skoots. I'm having to determine the rarity, and value on my own based on other variables to help me come to a set price.
I could be making $2,000 a week if I didn't have to to complete the whole process by myself from A to Z. That's why I want to be recognized by someone for my talent, and them cover the business side, to let me do what I do best, rescue it all.
Although...
I do mostly agree Paulanna, having great feedback, and the time you've been on does very most certainly count for something. If you're selling the kind of items I am for sure, at those kinds of prices. Very few people want to spend their hard earned money on an item for more than a few dollars from someone who just started at 45% feedback with more negatives, than positives. Or has been on a long time, and is riddled with negatives, and complaints. Who wants to take a chance with that for $500? Not many people. They think the turntable's gonna show up in a box with 2 bricks in it.
100% positive feedback from that long ago shows that you're grounded, and not running away if there's a problem. It shows that you take pride in not alone your company, but every customer who buys from you. It also makes them feel better about pushing the Buy Now button, without the fear of unwanted surprises when the package arrives.
You might then say: "Well, you may not be here tomorrow. Who cares". Well the world may not be here tomorrow, but I'm here today, and so are they. And that's what matters. No one can predict the future, but I can sure represent right now.
I get messages all the time saying that they've never spent that much, but did with me because of those very factors, coupled in with the quality of my items, my communication, great pictures, and an over informative write up.. You want to feel good about your purchase, and when they come to my website, they feel good. They leave knowing everything's gonna be ok, and I can be trusted with the money they just forked over to me. .
If two people have the same item for sale. One with 74% feedback, and numerous complaints, and one with 100% feedback, and all praises, are you gonna go with the scam artist? Even if he's cheaper? I don't think so.
"The bitterness of low quality, lingers long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
When I used to sell siding and windows for the largest company in the US, one of their main selling points was the time they had been in business, and their dedication to customers. It showed they weren't running away at the sign of the first problem, and they were dedicated to making their buying experience a wonderful one.
Not something they'll regret for the rest of their life. It was always one of the deciding factors when I was closing the deal, and between my selling ability, and their reputation I was selling close to $1,500,000 a year in siding and windows. No one wants to get a business card from someone claiming to be a reliable company with p.o. box, an 800 number for contact, and a taillight warranty.
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Did you actually read my post before launching into your usual 'I am the worlds best dealer' speech?
I'm saying that Ebay itself is changing, they don't earn enough from people turning over $500 or $1000 or $2000 a month or even more so they are getting rid of them. $100 a month in fees isn't worth it for them anymore. They have retail outlet stores selling jeans and chinese factories making fake sunglasses who turnover $50,000 a month. I know this from friends who work for Ebay in Dublin - within 5 years there may be no secondhand stuff on Ebay at all. Seriously dude you need to get wise if you are trying to build a business on Ebay. Castle built on sand.
Check out
eBay seller wwolst12. I have no idea who they are; just stumbled upon them several years ago. Could be a one-man operation, small company, or auction house... Anyway, they have great stuff (hardly any mid-century modern, but I can still appreciate the beauty and artistry) and tons of turnover. That should be your aspiration, if you're serious about doing this as a business.
Thanks Woody...
The turnover is good, but you can have that kind of turnover when you have 10 employees. No telling how much is there's because they're a consignment store. They seem to deal in a lot of boring things I probably wouldn't deal in, but it looks like a great history lesson. It's at least inspiration though to get motivated, if nothing else, to sell the kinds if things I like, but on a scale like that. I would like that kind of turnover, but with more fun stuff.
Paulanna
Are you really... Omg... Hold on... I just got up off the floor from laughing so hard. That's a perfect example of where your "if it's not the best, it will never do" type mentality get's you. That's actually got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard....in my entire life. If Ebay dumped every seller except the one's making $50,000 a month, they'd go under. And what about when they don't make $50,000 a month? Will they be dumped? Who would ebay finally be left with?
You think ebay is going to gamble their entire franchise, by putting their eggs in those few baskets? Get real. Ebay makes into the billions a year from all those sales worldwide. They would "never" "ever" discriminate to only qualified amounts to be eligible to sell on ebay. Ebay doesn't give a fukk about fine arts, or anything else that only brings $50,000 a month. The bottom dollar with ebay is profit. The only people ebay would ever ban are the ones costing them money. And the only way you can cost ebay money is by not paying your fees.
That's the only people who would be blackisted from ebay....EVER!! In fact, when you start on ebay, they "limit" your profit margin, until you get established. They actually stop you from making money. There's nearly 5 million people selling on ebay currently. When you take the 50,000 sellers out of that, that bring in $100 in fees collected by ebay a month, that comes out to $5,000,000 a month. $60,000,000 a year. And that's just from the ones only paying $100 a month in revenue. They don't care if you make a quarter on ebay, as long as they get a nickel.
As long as you pay your fees, you'll be cool with ebay, and will always be cool with ebay...Period. End of story. Because it's straight profit until you don't. And your banned within 2 months of not paying.
"No second hand in 5 years"
Your claim would never happen in this lifetime, not alone 5 years, when 80% of everything sold, and 80% of the profits on ebay is from second hand goods. We already have one Amazon, and ebay's not jealous of them. That's where just talking out of your ass, with no common sense get's you.
wwolst12 does well because of
two things:
1. He or she has interesting, quality stuff.
2. He or she starts every auction at 99 cents with no reserve.
I sold on ebay for 13 years and have 100% positive feedback of 2850+ as a seller. I decided in my second or third week of selling to just list everything starting at $5 regardless of what I paid for it and regardless of the value. I used a reserve price maybe five times in all those years.
The reason for this, as I'm sure wwolst12 knows, is that people see that low starting price and they think, "Oooo, I can GET this!" They start to think of it as theirs and they get very proprietary when someone else (who is thinking the same way) jumps in with a bid. It usually takes off from there and most of the time ends at market value or higher.
Some people can't sell this way, though. I used to encourage friends who were dealers to try it. Some did but others just couldn't make the leap. It made them too uncomfortable. It was just too risky (though I don't think there's much risk at all if you have good stuff).
I would routinely list antiques that I paid $100-200 for, for $5, and easily get my money back plus a nice profit. I would say 98% of my stuff would sell the first time I listed it. There was no "Make an Offer" back then so whatever the bid was in the end, that's what I sold it for.
I would spend a week photographing, then editing photos, then writing up descriptions. I would list everything at once, almost always with a 7-day auction format, and then make spend the next week getting the next batch ready, or do shipping--however it worked out. I never had any employees. I also didn't have a day job to take up my time, but still, the ebay stuff was not full time.
I quit because I got sick of being around the jerks who tend to frequent the local auctions around here (auctioneers included). Just finally reached the saturation point with the aggravation and irritation. Now I do other stuff that is more satisfying overall. But the ebay thing was fun while it lasted and I made some good money.
You do have to have good stuff, though. I learned that early on. I went a little nuts buying stuff just because I thought it was cool and it was cheap, and then I ended up with shelves full of things of questionable value---which I dumped and then streamlined.
Gad, I'm starting to sound like you-know-who. Sorry...
Also...
Do we really know how well they're doing, just because the sales are high? Usually when someone sells that nice of shit, there's a reason for it. They're not falling into multiple thousand dollar sales every week from shopping at goodwill all day.
There's an auction house here that you better bring $5,000 minimum every time you come, are you won't go home with much for your store. I see a lot of dealers at auctions pay $450 for an item they'll sell for $600, just so they can have quality stuff. A lot of sellers that make a lot of money, don't make a lot of profit.
I'd rather buy something like this from a junky auction house, that most people like that would never frequent for $2 in the bottom of a box, get a grat hands on history lesson, and then sell it for $4,600. Half of the fun in buying for me is finding a deal, then learning it. Even if you sell less a year. Not churning out 200 items a week, at 20% profit, with $5,000 this week invested in it, just to have the nicest anyone could buy. To me that's when it all becomes just for the profit, and not for the love of what you're buying, because you don't have the time to enjoy anything, because you need to make that profit back right now, or you'll lose the building, staff, home, wife, and car. That's just too big, and it's not for the love of the art first, in my eyes. Maybe it is, but it seems very rushed, and impersonal to me.
http://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2010-04-10/lot-212/John-H-C...
What does...
fee structure have to do with ebay banning all sales of used, and/or second hand items, and only selling new items within the next 5 years? If they want to charge a higher or lesser fee for new, who gives a shit? What does that have to do with the banning of used items on ebay? Please enlighten me.
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