What emphemera-related websites do you like?

[Persephone]

Hi, I will start off recommending mine, BiblioBuffet, and specifically the column, On Marking Books. OMB is about bookmarks, my interest.

A favorite bookmarks blog is Bookmark Collector by Alan Irwin. There's also Enclosures, which describes itself as "A collection of ephemera found between the pages of secondhand books." And of course Ephemera: Exploring the World of Old Paper. Inside Books shows its "bookmark of the week" along with a short comment.

le Marque-Page is in French, but the bookmarks are gorgeous. The French have much more style than Americans. Les Marque-Pages de Maryse is also French, and the bookmarks are stunning! Mirage Bookmarks is a wonderful site. The owner sells lovely stainless steel bookmarks but also made his site a wonderful place for visitors and collectors.

I've also got other places listed on this page.

[Frank DeFreitas]

I'm beginning to think that there are a lot of sites out there, but they may not be using the term ephemera. For instance the search term "vintage advertising" leads to a host of collectors' web sites, yet no mention of the word ephemera can be found. Of course, to us they're collecting ephemera. But to them, they're just collecting old ads. It seems like it then becomes a challenge to second-guess what someone would call what they're collecting, since so few use our term of ephemera.

I know that this doesn't answer your posts' question, however. It's just an observation that I've made in my travels around the web.

Both the American and British Societies web sites seem to be good jumping-off points, with their list of external links.

Perhaps we could put a list of links together here.

[Persephone]

I like the idea of putting together a list of links, Frank. And I hadn't thought about the limited use of the word "ephemera," but you are right. Words such as vintage, old, used, etc. may be more common. I'm thinking that might be a good occasional project for people here. Think of terms like that and spend a bit of time googling them.

I know that finding sites on and about bookmarks is a challenge, not least because the word is probably more common in Internet terms than in ephemera terms.

[Tom Murphy]

Certainly one of my favorites is Marty Weil's Ephemera blog. Marty is also a member here at TEN and a gentleman who I have come to know (electronically) and respect. I had hoped to get to Asheville, NC (his hometown) last month but never did. Maybe next summer.

Another site that I am getting to like more and more (as I start to hate eBay more and more) is Delcampe Auctions. I'll soon be closing my eBay store (it's just toooooo expensive and the sales are really starting to fall off) and moving more and more of my inventory to Delcampe. Not having to pay listing fees and a monthly store fee will save me a bunch. I just hope that sales from Delcampe will pick up as more and more folks find it and start to buy there.

Just my 2 cents.

Tom

[Persephone]

Hi Tom,

It's nice to meet you. What specifically do you sell on eBay? I still buy there, but am not happy with the way things are going. I have spent a fair amount of time and effort looking over other auction sites, but very few if any have the antique bookmarks I like. Places like Etsy and others have new ones, but that's not really what I am looking for.

Do you know about PowerSellersUnite? I have it bookmarked, but haven't spent much time there. I know one of the discussions is about other sites to sell. (I'm looking for ones where I can buy, of course, but unlike dealers who specialize in baseball cards or postcards, bookmark sellers seem to sell other things and put these up as they find them. Nevertheless, I plan to check out your recommendation of Delcampe. I haven't seen that yet.

Part of the problem is getting the word out. eBay was the first and therefore just about the only one. But as sellers move on they go to different places. That scatters what was one large group into a bunch of smaller ones.

I agree with you about Marty's blog. It's wonderful, and I am delighted to learn he is a member here.

[Persephone]

Tom, I checked out Delcampe and I like it. Unfortunately, there are only eight bookmarks up there but I do think this has the potential to be larger. When I win bookmarks I might mention this place to the sellers as an alternative if they are looking for one. Thanks very much.

[Tom Murphy]

Persephone said:

Tom, I checked out Delcampe and I like it. Unfortunately, there are only eight bookmarks up there but I do think this has the potential to be larger. When I win bookmarks I might mention this place to the sellers as an alternative if they are looking for one. Thanks very much.

I perhaps missed your reply here, sorry for a late response.

In addition to Delcampe I'd recommend you take a look at bonanzle.com. It's a new but growing competitor to eBay. On a quick search a few moments ago - on the term "bookmarks" - I found 1021 items. Unfortunately upon greater scrutiny I discovered that several sellers use the term "bookmark my listing" in their description so the 1021 is quite suspect. Nonetheless, it may be worth a peek for you, you might just find that one hidden treasure you have been looking for.

I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

[martyweil]

Thank you for mentioning my blog, ephemera, among these great sites.

[Persephone]

Hi Marty,

You are most welcome. Please keep it up -- and feel free to contact me if you ever find a bookmark you might be interested in selling!

Lauren

martyweil said:

Thank you for mentioning my blog, ephemera, among these great sites.