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?

[Valerie MacEwan]

I don't mind that at all. Or using ads in other types of art... I just wish it wasn't counted as inventory #s. The ebay listing could be simply "ads" instead of 100 pieces which leads me to believe there are letters, postcards, etc -- ya' know? Eh, maybe I'm being too picky because I don't want to buy the ads. Yup, probably so.

I cut up *gasp* Literary Digests all the time since we have bound copies of all of them. And Life and Saturday Evening Posts...

[Nancy]

I use to try and sell my Life magazines and others at sales all the time trying to get from $3.00 to $5.00 per issue-- I did sell some but after I starting taking them apart for the ads and selling them at $3.00 to $5.00 each --Well What Would YOU Do-- I Am A Seller NOT A Collector of Old Magazine ADS . I only Collect OLD Paper to sell at a profit and happy to say I have been doing very will at this for over 30 years. I LOVE PAPER!!!

[Ray Kirchmeyer]

I have bought and sold ephemera on Ebay in the past. What I sold was a bulk lot stuffed in a flat rate box rather then a number of pieces. I have been disappointed in the quality I have seen on Ebay recently as well as the prices. Seems with the venue taking bigger pieces of the pie almost daily those incredible deals are all but gone. As far as cutting pages, if a magazine is in good condition I would rather leave it intact then destroy it by cutting it up. I think the reason people do this is that they can make more by selling the individual ads then they can selling the whole magazine.

[Valerie MacEwan]

Yes, I'm with you on that, Ray. I don't mind have individual ads in the bulk lot of papers, I just don't want the seller to "count" them as in 100 pcs of paper. I will almost always bid on a bulk lot stuffed into a flat rate box! I love that.

I am truly disappointed with ebay now. Lots of plastic geegaws mixed in with the ephemera and odd little doll parts in the last box I purchased. And the shipping costs are out of control.

Cutting up magazines and selling ads individually is fine, let me reiterate. It all goes back to including the pieces in a flat rate box rather than counted individually.

I'll keep trying on ebay, though. And keep hoping. I lost 5 auctions last week to some ephemera that ended up selling for over $75 when shipping was included. That's too steep for me.

[Valerie MacEwan]

Genius idea, Nancy. I think you are correct "we are now all dealers". I like the idea of selling ads in a large flat rate box, I know I'll buy (bid). Good luck. Maybe... if ya'll agree... our TEN folks could post links to their auctions on here? Or at least email other members and tell them what's on ebay of theirs? Just a thought...

[Valerie MacEwan]

Nancy-
hmmmmm.... I'm wondering where you should start. I'm not a seller, but as a buyer - I'd expect to start at $20.00 at least and if the min. was $10 I'd jump right in.
What is your gut reaction to that? Anybody else want to weigh in on this? (ha ha, get it? 7.5 lbs... )
What do you generally average for bulk lot of paper items? I guess you could figure an average of $.50-$1-or even $5 per page and derive a price from that? That's getting kind of pricey at the high end.
Right now, I'll give you ??? plus shipping, if you want to sell it outright on here. Email me for $ amt because I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't start that kind of buying thing right here.
Although, I hope we can buy from each other this way -- in the future, don't you?
-v

[Lauren]

Maybe... if ya'll agree... our TEN folks could post links to their auctions on here? Or at least email other members and tell them what's on ebay of theirs?

I like this idea very much, even though I check eBay for bookmarks almost every day to see what is newly listed. However, I also would like--were it possible--this place to have a small auction/sales part of its own. It might have to wait for more members to be viable, but all members here are interested in ephemera, buying, selling or both.

[Valerie MacEwan]

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

[Gary Roberts]

I can't say if I am a collector or dealer. I buy, and sell when the mess gets to be too much, or I get a good deal and need to unload stuff. (ok, so I have 30 boxes of books and stuff in the basement waiting to be sold...what does that say?). But, I try to stay away from bulk lots because then I end up with... 30 boxes of stuff in the basement.

I used to buy bulk, but as I get older, wiser, my feet hurt more and my back is not as strong, I tend to avoid the bulk lots if possible. That's true for me in books, ephemera and antique tools.

[Valerie MacEwan]

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.

[Nancy]

I still love buying box lots of paper at garage sales--sometimes you have to move real fast to get to more sales before others do--so if I see a box lot I will just buy it, but only if the price is right--Will look at the stuff later when I am at home. No time to look at each piece --need to keep moving to more sales-- I do not want to miss anything.

[Lauren]

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?