Covid Journal, Day 351: The Strangest Things

29 and clear again this morning, another full day of sunshine. Feels like a blessing on my skin.

I am always surprised by what people buy from me on eBay, even though I select and list the stuff. I shouldn't be surprised, right? But I am, on a pretty regular basis. Here's a few things that sold recently, as cases in point:

Okay, to me this is just weird, almost ugly but with a certain perkiness that caught my eye. I listed it for 39.99, and it sold in hours. Made of ceramic, possibly a ceramics class project, this little lamp looked pretty cool when lit up. 

Almost looks like a UFO, doesn't it?

Another ugly lamp, at least to my taste, but I bought it quickly because I felt pretty sure that someone would think this TV lamp was the bomb. I was right. Sold in a week for 39.99. I have been selling quite a few lamps and lamp parts, actually.

Gauges--I knew nothing about them, but sold them to a Steampunker who was thrilled with them. 

Another steampunk sale was this huge and heavy glass lens. it was scratched and chipped, which is how I described it. Another happy buyer.

I loved this phone--so cool. But I didn't have the power cord so couldn't test it. Apparently that didn't matter to the buyer, who wrote to tell me how much they loved it. Maybe they had the necessary cords.

More lighting parts--an antique brass ceiling fixture with no parts except what you see here. Sold in an hour or two for 9.99.

Yes, plastic mistletoe. Actually, the vintage plastic Christmas decor sells well. Tacky? Well yes. But with that midcentury charm that so many like.

That's just a few of the things that surprised me. Vintage nightgowns sold really fast--I listed a dozen and 2 weeks later have 2 left. It's why I enjoy doing what I do, and why I rely on my instinct and not my personal taste when I'm buying for resale. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal, Day 233: Working on the Ebay Workroom

I promised a post about my ebay activities so here goes. 

It's been a busy, busy month for selling. The sale I've been running generated a lot of sales, which is wonderful. Best month I've ever had on ebay, actually. But. My stock was so unorganized that I about had a few panic attacks trying to find things. I had to fix that.

So I spent an entire day sorting shelves. I got through six of them, and have the bottom shelves and the tops of the shelf units still to do. Four big totes and 3 boxes of stuff went out the door, some to a re-seller who gives me 50 percent of sales, and the rest to our favorite thrift. These were items that I'd either had listed for a long time and didn't sell, or things that I'd had for several years and never got listed. Ebayers call those things the "dead pile." Believe me, I still have plenty in my dead pile, but I made a good dent in it. 

So here's the shelves now. 

I sorted by type: all tumblers and goblets on one shelf, another of tumblers, wineglasses, and cups and saucers, a third of candleholders, salt and pepper sets and cream and sugar sets. Then there's a shelf of cake/dessert/bread plates, two of bowls, and two of dinner and luncheon plates. There's also a stack of platters on an unsorted shelf. So at least I know which shelf to look on when something sells. There's a tote of Christmas and several of dinnerware sets, and one of silverplate. Along with several other totes of linens which I need to go through as well. 

At least I've made a start, and will continue stabbing at it as time allows. It's fun to find things I had totally forgotten about--along with the what's-that-doing-here stuff.

Here's a look at a few of the things that have sold recently:

A mixed lot of Colorado vintage ephemera--postcards, brochures and the like, from the 1950's. I had several lots like this, from New York City, California, etc. They were from the estate of an unmarried lady, and I suppose no one wanted them. A friend gave them to me--someone had given them to her. So now these have gone to a happy buyer in Colorado.

A vintage 1980's large binder of knitting patterns. There were over 100 patterns in the book, some of them pretty amazing, others of the OMG variety.

A lot of vintage women's hats and hatbox. I'd had these in one of my booths, and decided to try them on ebay. They sold quickly. 

And of course, glass. Lots of it. This was a favorite, an Early American Pattern Glass sugar bowl, made in 1910 or so.

And these Viking birds, which I've owned for several years. Talk about a challenge to pack safely.

Then there's pottery, too, like this range set of Ransburg,

and plates--lots of plates. Which are work to pack, but a steady seller. These are by Myott-Meakin of England. It was a set of 8, and the buyer liked them so much she came back and bought the matching cups and saucers.

There were many other things too--framed art, aprons, lamps, vintage women's coats, handbags, even an antique wool shawl that went to The Netherlands. 

It's a fun job, selling--a lot of work but so interesting, and I've met many nice people. Maybe one day I'll get organized, and it will be even more fun. I can always hope.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Covid Journal Day 22: Looking Back Over 2 Weeks of Ebay Sales

50 this morning and cloudy, a few sprinkles scattering around. It is supposed to warm up but so far it still feels pretty chilly.

I thought I'd do a retrospective of the last two weeks' selling on ebay today--it's kind of curious what is still selling in the midst of the pandemic. As you will see, it's a motley list.

First is this set of 5 James Fenimore Cooper books published in 1887 and with the most beautiful marbled covers.



From the sublime to the, well, not so sublime: a Rubbermaid turntable.



Then the White Nile dishware by Royal Doulton took off and I sold several pieces. I listed it a month ago with nary a bite until this past week.






A few Hazel Atlas mid-century glass pieces sold too, including these handled soup bowls, and two little cream cheese jars. I actually had a green one too, and sent it along for free. I hope the buyer is suprised in a good way.






One lonely LG Wright goblet went to a new home,



as did this unique Early American Patter Glass dish



and this milk glass "rose water" bottle from the same era.



Then there were these strawberry plates by Mount Clemens Pottery. As far as I can tell these are fairly rare, and I was glad to sell them because they do take some space--but sadly the buyer never paid. So they are still available. Since they're fairly heavy, I expect the shipping cost scared the buyer.



But this sweet little strawberry set did get paid for, and will be on its way tomorrow.



I really like these glasses. These were in Lux detergent, I think back in the 50's. I had 12 of them, but these were the last four.



This vase is one of those "why did I buy it?" things. I could NOT resist the sparkles, that's the truth. I didn't really expect it to sell and had it on my kitchen windowsill to catch the morning light. So now it too is off to a new home.



I had never seen an aqua drip glaze before. I thought the current love of this color would sell it, and I guessed right.



Brand new, but these kind of items are in demand right now. I have one more to sell.



Crystals! A little awkward to wrap and pack, but I managed.



Also brand new but popular, made-in-China jadeite shakers. I make sure to be very clear in my listings that these are new, not vintage. But they're perfect for those who want to use them every day and not damage a real vintage set.I still have several sets for sale.



A Pyrex glass skilled with removable handle. Some people really like them.



Antique light shades sell well and steadily. I buy every one I come across that's reasonably priced.



Even old bathroom fixtures sell well! Who would have thought it?

 

And lastly, pretty plates! I am such a sucker for pretty plates, and have stacks and stacks of them; about 30% are listed but I have a long way to go to get them all up for sale. These are by Royal Doulton and the pattern is "The Vernon." I was so tempted to keep them but for what? My sweet hubby would have them chipped and broken in no time, LOL. I only keep plates I don't care about, or that are already chipped.



I have a large set of this pattern, and have been selling some of it. Again, my heart wants to keep them but my head says no. So off they go. Sigh.



As you can see, a very varied list! I hope sales continue, but I think I will see a downturn fairly soon as people's incomes get hit by lay-offs and other virus-related problems. I don't worry too much about that; I completely understand how priorities will shift in the coming months.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Pretty Dishes and Procrastination

32 this morning, light frost. Yesterday was 42 at morning, and rained or drizzled/misted all day. A good day for inside work, so I got down to something I've been putting off.

In the past couple of years, I've bought sets of china that have been sitting in boxes, waiting to be listed on ebay. I can be a world-class procrastinator, believe me. And I know why I'm doing it now: it's better than working on taxes!

So two sets are now listed, and I am working on the third. None of these are complete sets, so I have them listed by shape (platter, dinner plates, etc).

The first is this pretty blue and white set by Myott-Meakin of England, called Tonquin Blue.

 

 

Next, this gorgeous set of triangular art deco china by Salem China Company of the US. This shape was called Tricorne, but I don't know the patter name. I did not find any with this pattern online. I listed the platter, but might have to keep that one piece because I really like it.

Then there are these strawberry plates by Mount Clemens Pottery. These were hard to find online, none on ebay or Worthpoint, and the only place I found them was by looking at Google images. So not too commonplace.

Another mid-century lot, these green Anchor Hocking Sereno pattern bowls and teacups.





And now I am working on this lovely lot of Royal Doulton's White Nile china. This set is still in original packing for the most part, and appears to have never been used.

I should add that most of these are un-edited photos! I clean them up better when I list them on ebay.

There are still two other sets waiting to be done. Maybe I'll get them all finished this week? It's a goal, anyway, and a deadline--I do better with deadlines. So I'll set this one for myself.

Okay, back to work I go.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.