Changing stuff

Well, the bonanza on Bonanzle was a bust. I didn't sell a thing.

So now I've made a change on eBay. With all the changes eBay has put into place lately, I decided it was time to reevaluate what I'm doing there. I did some figuring, and found that to keep a basic store open and have it be cost effective, I would have to keep 49 inventory items in it at all times.

Since I only have 15 items on line right now, that doesn't make any sense.

So I closed the store and converted everything to .99 cent-start auctions to try to get rid of it so I can start fresh. That also puts me at a better place in the search function.

So now I have a whole bunch of watchers and some bids. Go figure.

Making changes......

After giving it due consideration--like about 5 minutes' worth--I've pulled the plug on my eCrater store. The sellthrough on eCrater stinks, but people are making sales on Bonanzle and Etsy. Those appear to be the most viable competitors for eBay at this point.

eBay surely isn't making things easy for sellers. And they're creating a lot of ill will in the process. At the rate they're going, there won't be enough sellers to keep them going before long.

For what it's worth, I've put my entire Bonanzle inventory on a 50 percent markdown on Sunday afternoon only..........if you're interested, stop by the store at www.bonanzle.com/booths/artemistradingco.

Oops!

Today I was out in my little cargo trailer moving some things around to make room for the shipping supplies that right now are stored in my son's car. There's a lady here in town who loves to recycle as much as I do, and she saves bubble wrap for me--the last time I went I took my son's car and I never unloaded it. Somehow I thought he might do it for me......

Nah. He's going to leave it there until I do it. LOL!

Anyway, my son had unloaded everything from the auction Tuesday night into my trailer for me so I expected those boxes to be in there.

What I didn't remember is that I've put half a dozen boxes of other collectibles in there too.

Oops!

I guess I'd better get started putting stuff on line again!

However, I'm about to ditch eBay. They're making so many changes that are to the detriment of sellers that I'm just about done with them. They aren't worth the trouble.

After the sale

I hadn't been to Ellen's Auction in a while, but I went on the last night. I mostly just wanted to support her and tell her how sorry I am that things didn't work out.

There was a good crowd, but they sure didn't bid like in the old days. The days before this recession, I mean. About halfway through the auction, the bidding just died.

Trays of gorgeous pottery, porcelain and glass started going for $10 a tray. So what was I supposed to do? I can't pass up a bargain like that, because I know each one of those trays is worth well more than that--so I loaded up the front of my truck.

I didn't get home until after 11 PM, even though the auction house was only 15 miles away. I was so exhausted it's taken me until today to write about it.

Ellen was, as always, a class act to the end. They sold everything to the walls, and I thought it felt awful. But she had a smile on her face and a good word for everyone.

Rumor has it that she's going to continue doing quarterly auctions, where she doesn't have to work 7 days a week like she has been. I like that idea. I still want to go back to work for her.

Meanwhile, let's hope the economy improves and all the small businesses that are suffering so badly right now get a reprieve.

Another one bites the dust

Well, the economy has claimed another victim. My friend Ellen Babbitt, who had been the manager of Benedetto's Auction until the new owners ran it into the ground, opened Ellen's Auction House in March of this year.

I had great hopes for her new venture. While there are a lot of auctions around, Benedetto's was a class act as long as Dick and Anne Benedetto owned it and Ellen ran it, and when the subsequent owners let it die an unnatural death it left a definite void in the auction industry in Tampa Bay.

However, it appears that even the combined efforts of Ellen and Anne weren't enough to pull off starting a new auction house in this economy. It's a real shame, too........Ellen's was filling the space that Benedetto's had left open.

Why this is important to me is that Benedetto's and then Ellen's were where I picked up some of my nicest collectibles to sell. So now I'm going to have to find some new sources.

My best to you, Ellen and Anne, in whatever venture you undertake next. I'm sure it will have something to do with auctions and antiques; keep us posted.