Andie on tue 30 may 00
I may have missed the first posts on this while I was away, so I hope I'm
not stepping on any toes by jumping in.
I regularly post my pieces on eBay - in fact, when I have pieces that aren't
"seconds", but have been in more than one gallery for shows and still
haven't sold, thus seeming "old" ( a glaze I don't use anymore, a shape I've
since improved upon...) and not as good somehow to me, that's where they go.
I only started posting a few months ago, but am having great success.
Granted, because these are pieces that I would otherwise be storing or
considering a loss, I start the prices low and am willing to sell them for
that, although the strangest, least-expected ones are always the ones that
wind up being bid up from $9.99 to $40 in the last ten minutes. Anyway, I do
have some advice for those who are planning to post pottery:
As repetitive as it may seem, in the description of the item be sure to
include the words (as applicable) potter, thrown, pottery, signed, hand (as
in hand thrown), art, artist, and anything specifically applicable (i.e.: if
it's a coffee mug, I'd include mug, mugs, coffee, tea, cup, coffeemug, etc)
Always use the same username - people do repeat buy
If possible, offer something for nothing - for larger items with higher
prices (like platters), I offer to thrown in a free mug for the lucky
bidder, and had one person bid up the price because they wanted the mug (go
figure). For smaller items, I usually offer to throw in a mini or something
Use a service like auctionwatch.com to track your pages, and also to easily
put in counters, etc, so you know which pieces are selling and which no one
is even looking at
Also, and I'm sure this varies with how big the "name" is, I found that when
I included information about "the artist" or came right out and said I was
the artist, I didn't get as many hits. I think people like to think it may
be some undiscovered treasure, so I say that it is by (my name), but that's
it
Check to see what's selling and if it applies - I've found so far that any
size or shape or color (although blue is currently winning the race) of bowl
just WILL sell, as well as plates and platters, and pitchers do okay, but
vases, miniatures, flower pots, and coffee mugs don't move as fast.
Include lots of pictures, including one of the signature. Up to four or five
photos, this seems to really entice the bidders (I am lazy about photos, so
I don't always do this, and do notice the difference when I don't)
Find a way to accept credit cards through a free service like PayPal or
Billpoint. So far 75% of my eBay payments have come in through a credit card
service. Sales jumped when I signed up with a service like this. I think
some people search for "pottery AND PayPal" or "thrown AND Billpoint"
I'm enjoying selling on eBay without the trauma of walking in a facing
gallery and store owners - it's not necessarily a living, but it's certainly
a great addition.
: ) Andie Carpenter
PS - I've also posted on potteryauction.com & yahooauctions.com, neither one
got a single hit. Maybe it's just me, but eBay seems to still get the most
traffic.
EMAIL: andie@princessco.com
OFFICIAL HOMEPAGE: www.andie.net
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