BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)

Subject: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 24 May 05 - 07:34 PM

I am preparing to sell my artwork on eBay (don't know why I never thought of this before)...

Anybody got any tips or helpful advice for someone who has never had any experience with eBay whatever?

Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Donuel
Date: 24 May 05 - 07:54 PM

First of all never sell cheap. It is better to have an outrageous reserve and not sell for a full year than demonstrate that your art is worth next to nothing. The advertisement is cheap at half the cost.

Have your presentation appear to be made by an agent and not yourself.

It is your choice to present your work with curator rhetoric or a regular voice. A history of gallery exhibits, book illustrations and reviews is always good if you have them.

Remember size matters and Fed Ex is the best way to ship if you want to avoid dimension restrictions by USP or UPS.

Presentation with excellent video/photography of the object is 90% of a buyers impression.

If the art is more like a craft and you just want to share it for fun, there are no rules.

I used to be the master of parody descriptions in my auctions and received dozens of thank you letters for some of the most humorous auctions people had ever seen.

When ebay started to approach a dedication that resembled work I stopped.

Good luck and have FUN!

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 24 May 05 - 08:21 PM

The first artwork I'm going to try to sell are my pen and ink wildlife prints. This is not gallery or curator material. I'm thinking about selling it printed on note cards, but maybe also as framable prints.

You can see them here. (The originals don't have the scanner flaws and some of the detail is lost in the scanned images.)

Here's a question for you, Donuel... you seem to know a lot about the art biz. When I made these pen and inks, I didn't know about acid-free paper. The paper the originals are on has yellowed over the years. Is there a printing process that will produce good quality prints but that can ensure that the yellowing on the paper doesn't show up in the final prints?

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: LilyFestre
Date: 24 May 05 - 08:33 PM

Having a business where I sell a great deal on eBay, I would suggest the following:

1. Pictures, clear, up close pictures.
2. Options for shipping and insurance. Many folks don't like Fed Ex for their lousy rural delivery.
2a. Make sure to include the dimensions of the artwork.
3. Make insurance optional and state that once the package hits the mail, it is no longer your responsibiility if not insured.
3a. Make sure you post your expectations (auction must be paid within 10 days), what kinds of payments you accept (personal checks/clearing time...which I HIGHLY recommend...PayPal...best option, really....moey orders, etc.)
4. Charge what the shipping actually is, don't be greedy with the packaging costs. Bill them if you must, but be fair about it.
4a. Send out a post when the auction is won.
5. Promptly post feedback.
6. Personally, I don't use reserves. I set the price and let the people decide if it's worth it to them or not. Why make people guess with the reserve? I don't see the point of it at all. After all, if the reserve is not met, are you REALLY going to sell your artwork for what you wanted?

Good luck! Have fun!

Michele

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: LilyFestre
Date: 24 May 05 - 08:34 PM

That last line should read, are you ReALLY going to sell your artwork for less than what you wanted?

Sorry about that!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: frogprince
Date: 24 May 05 - 08:35 PM

Beautiful stuff, Carol; do you have photoshop, or anything with adjust for brightness and contrast? With a little tweaking I can
scan and print from pencil drawings so you have to study to tell the prints from the originals.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 24 May 05 - 08:44 PM

Thanks Michelle. Does it have to be auction? I noticed some people have stores on eBay, where they sell for a fixed amount. I'd like to sell these on a continual basis if there is a market for them.

frogprince, do you print them out yourself, or do you put them on a CD and take them to a professional printer?

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: LilyFestre
Date: 24 May 05 - 10:55 PM

Carol,

   You sure can set up a store if you wish! It's a great way for folks who are viewing your auction (and are seeing what they like) to see more of your artwork!

   You can also get free counters to put on each auction...I always find it interesting to see just how many hits we get a day. Sometimes it is simply amazing! There are also sites that will let you set up the initial auction, track it for you and reset the auction if the item doesn't sell the first time around. They are time savers, especially if you are going to list any volume of material.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 25 May 05 - 10:58 AM

Can I just offer my stuff for sale for a fixed price without auctioning it off, or is the auction part a requirement?

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: RichM
Date: 25 May 05 - 11:19 AM

You can set your reserve price equal to what you want for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: robomatic
Date: 25 May 05 - 11:22 AM

Very very nice prints, Carol! Have you ever worked with an author on illustrating a book?

I'm following this thread because I'm trying to empty a house and several individual items should be put on EBay but I've never done it.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Once Famous
Date: 25 May 05 - 11:29 AM

There are currently very similar prints of these type of critters available right now at Wal-Mart for $9.99 each with frames.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 25 May 05 - 02:09 PM

Carol, you can put them on Ebay and have a Buy it Now price, you don't have to actually auction them. I sell a service on there and always decide what I want to ask and then do it as "buy it now" price. It works well.

You will be given the option of Auction or Fixed price on the first page of the setup procedure for your advert.

Good Luck.

whb

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Once Famous
Date: 25 May 05 - 05:17 PM

Buy similar prints now at Wal-Mart framed for $9.99

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 25 May 05 - 05:17 PM

Thanks everybody! This is very helpful information.

And thank you for your kind words, frogprince and robomatic.

robomatic, I have not done any illustrations for other people's books, but I have done illustrations for professional newsletters and things like that. And I've done some commissioned pen and inks. My first book illustrations will be for a book of my own that is already written and is just waiting for me to illustrate it.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Once Famous
Date: 25 May 05 - 05:36 PM

Pretty good for paint by numbers.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 May 05 - 06:49 PM

Carol,

I've just begun to dabble with Ebay, though I've been using Amazon's auctions for years. Mostly buying, occasionally selling. Before you post anything, be sure every bit of the final package is ready to go, including packing material and mailer. People want their stuff fast, so once the payment clears, be ready to ship it.

Pardon me if you know this already, but I'll add printing information here because it wasn't clear in your earlier posts if you've looked at some of this stuff:

If your finished-but-yellowed art is camera ready and is going to be black and white (or whatever one color ink) then the yellow paper isn't a problem. If you're doing 2 or 4 color, then have someone who is more than just proficient with Photoshop take the yellow out.

I produce newsletters, art cards, a glossy magazine (annual report) and a variety of other projects during the year at the university library where I work. The paper will make or break the look of your project. You can get good acid-free recycled content paper, and depending on the final look you want, you'll need to look at coated or uncoated (if you want a photo glossy look, or a clay-coated paper for a slick look, or a linen or fibre content look, etc.), weight, color, and such. Paper sample books are needed, and walking around a printing plant looking at big sheets of the paper on hand can be very informative. If you want, send a PM and I'll put you in touch with someone at my university's print shop who can answer your questions.

Printing is expensive. Offset printing on good paper is probably the way to go with good art, but you'll have to figure out how many to print before you price and market your art. As is typical with something like this, the more you print, the less $ per piece.

Rest assured that not everyone buys their art in a blisterpack off the rack at Walmart for $9.98 a whack. But that doesn't mean the rest of the population will swiftly beat a path to your door. Good luck in figuring out a strategy that lets you market your art widely and make some money at it!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: frogprince
Date: 25 May 05 - 07:41 PM

I print my own; to repro black and white pencil or ink, I
just use good acid free drawing paper in an Epson 1270.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 May 05 - 08:06 PM

That is one way to do it, but the printer resolution and the ability of the computer's printer to put down durable ink in an even and consistent way that will last for a long time needs to be considered.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 26 May 05 - 05:00 PM

Art is Art in whatever form as long as it is appreciated by someone......You will never know unless you try....Like all other things in life...all experiences...all understandings....everything really.....Go for it!!!!!
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: skipy
Date: 26 May 05 - 06:26 PM

Out of the nearl 300 items I have sold over the past 2 months the "bloody" post office have lost 5!
Always get & keep your proof of postage & consider recored!
Skipy, see you at jolly old chippers.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: PoppaGator
Date: 26 May 05 - 06:38 PM

To reproduce pen-and-ink drawings digitally (i.e., using your computer), it would be a much better idea to use a laser printer than an inkjet. The image will be more permanent ~ inkjet ink is water-soluble and will run if exposed to moisture.

Laser printers have always been more expensive than inkjets, but they're not nearly as expensive as they used to be, and should no longer be considered out-of-reach for home and small-office users. I believe Dell sells a B&W laser printer for less than $200 (US).

Also, toner cartridges for laser printers are a much more economical source of "ink" than inkjet carts, making the laser printers much cheaper to operate (disregarding the initial purchase cost).

Of course, color laser printing is still pretty expensive and impractical for small home-based enterprises. But if you're making money on eBay, you can probably justify owning and operating two desktop printers: an inkjet for photos and other color work plus a B&W laser. Use the laser for most of your output; it's a much more economical source of B&W/grayscale imaging than your inkjet.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 05 - 12:09 AM

I wouldn't use a computer printer to reproduce fine art. The inks may be advertised to last 100 years, but none has been tested more than a few years. Sometimes the old technologies are still the best.

FWIW.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 May 05 - 09:23 AM

Carol, they are WONDERFUL. Before you ship any out the door, please get good images (every time) to keep for your portfolio. You might pick up commissions, or use them later in another project such as sets of notecards. The idea is to think of all the value-added products you can easily produce, once you develop your "line".

Jack, a local artist here we knew well from church (sadly he's passed now), started with water colors of local landmarks. Soon people were collecting them locally, and soon after that people far away who had received them as gifts started collecting by mail order. Each year he sent friends a Christmas card printed from that year's pen and ink's-- and people framed them. He had the eye, you see-- and you do, too.

Our "market" here is small, rural, and poor, yet he made a good buck.

Jack's line (pen/ink as well as watercolor) eventually included:

<> Mugs
<> Clothing (shirts, hats)
<> Framed prints
<> Keychains
<> Stationery

Other friends who raised sheep and had "the eye" had these in their line, plus:

<> Keychains
<> Bumper stickers
<> Kitchen linens
<> Pillows

And could have included more!

The key in both cases was-- develop a following locally and then be ready when it goes big via word of mouth.

THEN you can sell the "originals" for big bucks, and keep the cash flowing from the less-expensive products created from them.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 28 May 05 - 06:32 AM

anybody flogged their cds on e-bay?

I once bought this bass guitar tuition cd and it was rubbish.

Perhaps one of us (who knows about these things) should start a folk music cd shop on e-bay. Amazon seems to charge a lot.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 May 05 - 11:42 AM

Just a note on inkjet printers. There is a new line of inkjet printers from Epson that print with supposidly permanent inks, not the water-based ones. I'm quite pleased with the results from my Epson Stylus PHoto R800 which prints in letter-sized. There is also a wide-format model that uses similar inks.

These machines generally print best on the Epson paper that they're designed for.

They're also great for direct printing onto CD's. Excellent and consistent registration.

Nice art work!

I'm also planning to auction some musical instruments on e-bay. A couple of 5-string Stewart banjos and an 6-string balalika.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 29 May 05 - 11:44 AM

Just checking in briefly while we are out of town visiting family. Thanks everybody who has contributed their thoughts and experiences. I'll look into all of your contributions more carefully when I get back home later in the week.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: mg
Date: 30 May 05 - 02:12 AM

does anyone know about the connecton with UPS? I am trying to look up stuff for a friend in Long Beach california who needs to sell a lot of stuff but is too overwhelmed to do it herself. My cmoputer is so slow it is not finding the answers for me...does anyone know of a place in Long Beach ca where she can just take stuff and split the proceeds with whoever? whomever? mg

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Jun 05 - 02:11 PM

Thanks to the suggestions people have provided here, I have been researching ways to get my stuff printed using digital technology with archive quality paper and inks. With these technologies, what I want to do just might be possible. Thanks again, everyone.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Jun 05 - 02:35 PM

BTW, for anyone who might be interested, here's some information about the technology that Charley Noble mentioned in his 28 May 05 - 11:42 AM post...

http://www.graphic-design.com/Waldron/hardware/epson.html

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 05 Jun 05 - 04:25 PM

frogprince, if you were going to tweak this illustration with the objective of eliminating the yellowing of the paper so that the background is just white, what would you use in photoshop for that task?

http://www.geocities.com/squeezemusette/OldMan.html

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 05 - 11:02 PM

Convert it to grayscale. Simple as can be. I do it all of the time with historic images we use in library publications.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: frogprince
Date: 05 Jun 05 - 11:48 PM

Hi, Carol; SRS beat me to the basic answer; I just tried it and it looks fine. The over-all paper will have a very light gray cast, which isn't necessarily a problem; if you want the background clear white, try picking up the pure white swatch for the paintbucket, set the tolerance to 3, and hit the background on either side of him; that took off almost all the surrounding shade, and didn't appear to affect the artwork; it left just traces of gray to clean off with the eraser. Just took a couple of minutes. If you'd like, p.m. me your e-mail address and I'll pop it back to you as it came out. Dean.

Subject: RE: BS: Selling stuff on eBay (advice?)
From: CarolC
Date: 07 Jul 05 - 06:48 PM

Thanks, Dianavan, and good luck with yours. What kind of subject matter are you working with for your cards?

And how does one embed a watermark?