Buying Ephemera on Ebay

[Valerie MacEwan]

I don't know who on here sells and who on here buys and sells vintage papers -- but I'd like to start again a discussion Mike had back in May.

How do ya'll feel about cutting up pages of magazine for their ads? Personally, I'd rather buy the entire page... or the magazine for that matter. I don't sell, though, I buy. If I were a seller, it would probably be different for me... or would it?

[Persephone]

With eBay changing so fast I am wondering what sites other ephemera enthusiasts use to buy. I have searched a number of them based on recommendations I pick up on the Sellers Central discussion board, but none really have any good antique bookmarks. They are either all new (and seemingly mass produced) or there are hardly any.

I do know about PowerSellersUnite, but haven't spent much time there yet. What are the rest of you doing? What change(s) can eBay make that will finally drive you off?

[Valerie MacEwan]

Persephone said:

With eBay changing so fast I am wondering what sites other ephemera enthusiasts use to buy. I have searched a number of them based on recommendations I pick up on the Sellers Central discussion board, but none really have any good antique bookmarks. They are either all new (and seemingly mass produced) or there are hardly any.

I do know about PowerSellersUnite, but haven't spent much time there yet. What are the rest of you doing? What change(s) can eBay make that will finally drive you off?

I swore off ebay last week when PayPal would not let me pay with the balance in my account unless I added a credit card to my account. The point of PayPal, for me, was not using a credit card. So - no more ebay buying trips for me...

[Gary Roberts]

Well, I'm going the totally independant route for now. Working on a POD books / POD data cd / downloadable combination storefront that will utilize one part LuLu, one part Lightening Source and one part a built in function. I ended up with this combination as I couldn't find one venue that provided what I wanted. So, I set up a new domain under a new name and will use that for any commercial sales. Mother Brook Books will go live sometime in the next few months. Hopefully.

But then, I have a fairly good net presence to begin with. Add in some print advertising and I think I can make a go of it. I may add an Ebay downloadable storefront someday, or not.

As for selling stuff, I'm going to resurrect my old email sales list plan and start running a fire sale through the same sources I use for my blog and website. The whole Ebay structure is changing so fast I don't want to continue to have to adapt to it... with the exception of buying. But even there I won't buy now from anyone who doesn't use Paypal. I've had to enact their insurance backing a few times this year and that is a pity.

Gary

[Alana]

Every year a local auction house sells a collection of vintage paper ephemera and it is out of state but close enough to attend for me and I love buying box lots if I can afford them. I also have a real hard time cutting up ads out of full magazines, unless the magazine is just so damaged that it really is worth it to save the ads more than the magazine.

[Country Joe]

Valerie MacEwan said:

ebay prices seem to be what people use to judge the worth of an item. It's gotten really silly. Folks flock to a yard sale and buy according to what they "can make" on ebay, so if I price something at a decent price but not super cheap, it won't sell. It seems people don't buy for themselves, they buy on speculation of what they can sell. It's odd. I mean, if they make money doing that, fine... but I really want to sell my "junk". It takes a lot of time and effort to clean out my house -- why don't they buy this goofy bunch of paraphernalia?

Perhaps many people have never seen a REAL auction. Seen a dealer start the bidding at $5 and the item price quickly slams up to $150. The final price on ebay does not properly reflect the amount of $ an object will sell for, it reflects what THAT particular item sold for. Don't you agree?

I think your amazing box'o advertisements should have sold for at least your starting bid. Guess you can tell that by now, if you've checked your email. I'm making wooden box purses, can't wait to decorate them with ephemera. I'm bring back decoupage (ha).

Greed destroys. Look at .... oh never mind, no politics here on this forum.
-val

[Country Joe]

"The final price on ebay does not properly reflect the amount of $ an object will sell for, it reflects what THAT particular item sold for."

Also that's only in the last 10 days which actually tells you nothing.

See ya, Country Joe
http:countryjoescollectiblestuff.com

[Alana]

I totally agree, what appears to be happening much more than we would appreciate is that Ebay has become the place to "get it cheap" flea market type mentality and your up against other competitors who most often have no clue what they have that they are selling. (This is a great place to get good prices for good pieces sometimes due to the lack of experience and research a large portion of sellers there are doing). There is another world out there that we are often blind sided by who do not shop on Ebay for a number of reasons, part of them is due to the flea market mentality over there and part is not really knowing what they are buying for sure or other reasons. I sell on my own websites, my buyers who land there and buy from me buy at my prices based on my outside resources (not Ebay) and they are a much different breed than the buyers on Ebay. I also have the opportunity several times a week to speak to these buyers via phone when they call me with questions and more info or other reasons. I gain a lot of valuable experience with my buyers thorough those calls, and most of them are very serious collectors who are looking for a specific piece without the stress of digging through an auction site that is notorious for misrepresentation of item. That isn't everyone, but it hurts many of us.

[Tom Murphy]

Gary Roberts said: Well, I'm going the totally independant route for now. Working on a POD books / POD data cd / downloadable combination storefront that will utilize one part LuLu, one part Lightening Source and one part a built in function. I ended up with this combination as I couldn't find one venue that provided what I wanted. So, I set up a new domain under a new name and will use that for any commercial sales. Mother Brook Books will go live sometime in the next few months.

What storefront have you decided to use Gary? There seem to be a whole load of eCommerce storefront packages available...the tough part is deciding which one works best... for the least cost.

Tom

[Persephone]

I used to be like that. At first, and for the first several years, it was "Oooh, I want that bookmark, and that one, and ..." But now that I have a nice-sized collection (about 1,300 would be my guess) and am buying more expensive ones I buy far fewer.

I use eBay's Watch List to keep a list of bookmarks that interest me. But it is constantly revised not just by adding new ones but by making choices. If I see one that really interests me, and I know it will go high, I will often delete earlier-ending ones that I like but can let go and focus my (not unlimited) financial resources on the one I want most.

Valerie MacEwan said:

I'm still at the "oooooooh!! A whole BOX of paper!" phase of collecting. When asked, my husband said, "People get to the stage where they buy single items? YOU might actually buy ONE thing at a time? When will that happen?"

Very funny.

[Gary Roberts]

A very late reply to Thom Murphy (I've been up to my ears in a digitization project this year)...

Rather than use a storefront suite, I'm using what already exists. Lightning Source for POD books through their ecommerce service, SwiftCD for PDF material through their ecommerce service, Paypal for all other purchasable material, an affiliate setup through a private vendor (still in discussion on this one). All of which is being built into a subdomain off my primary website.

Now that I've finished the digital edition of The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, I can get back to work on my storefront.

I did look into Mal's eCommerce, which is quite nice. But I really didn't want to put the time into configuring and maintainging the storefront. It's more cost effective for me to set up ecommerce through existing service bureaus, allow them to do the fulfillment part and bill me monthly along with sending me my profits minus their cut.

Gary

[mike urbanski]

Hi,this is Mike.I have in excess of 3000 cataloged pieces of vintage magazine ads.1920's thru 1960's with the
majority from WWII era from Life,Look,Nat Geo,Liberty etc.All product and subject matter with large automotive
and transportation catagory.This is a 17 year collection I am looking to sell for $800,just pennies on the dollar.
If you are a collector or dealer please contact me at [e-mail] or [phone].