A new eBay competitor coming soon! - May 23 newsletter
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Mistakes that will cost you money when buying antiques:
- Not getting to the event in time for inspection: I’ve seen this happen time and time again… you get to the auction and miss the preview time. That period chest is about to be hammered at 30% of it’s wholesale price. You raise your bid card and are the proud owner of one of the best items in the auction for short money. Or so you think, when you get it home, you find that the legs are not original and one drawer front has been badly repaired. Now the piece is not even worth half of what you paid for it! Whether it’s a yard sale, estate sale or auction, GET THERE IN PLENTY OF TIME TO PREVIEW.
- Listening to peers without verifying. There a term called “disparagement of goods” that sometimes goes on at antiques auctions, yard sales etc. This is when a dealer will put down the items in question. They may loudly claim that the item is a reproduction or had been doctored or is in some other way inferior. Later on you see that same person bidding on the item. Do the math.
- Comparing apples to oranges: This happens a LOT: You’ll see a buyer pay $200 for an antique table because he/she saw one sell just like it at auction last week for $500. Oops, the one sold last week was a PERIOD table, and the one that sold for $200 is an antique, but not a period piece.
- Or maybe the table that sold for $500 was the beneficiary of a bidding war between to bitter auction rivals who jack the bid on each other out of spite. That happens often. Don’t buy on loose speculation, do your homework and compare prices to as many similar examples as possible, not just one.
- Not negotiating the deal properly. You’ve heard the saying “if you don’t ask you won’t receive.” It’s that way in the antiques world, but most of the time when buyers do ask, they only ask for a discount, and if the answer is no, it’s left at that w/out further negotiation. But why stop there? You can ask the seller to throw in another item instead of discounting the price. You can ask for delivery, change payment terms and other factors.
- Not getting enough information from the seller. Again, asking is the key here. Antiques dealers and auctioneers have a wealth of information so take advantage of it. Ask for provenance on item you’re interested in, ask for leads on similar pieces, advice on how to care for it, phone #s and email addresses so that you can keep in touch in the future. You can ask the seller to give you a call if more of these types of items come in, of if they purchase items from the same estate etc. You’re already you have an investment of time and maybe money, take few minutes more to make your time more valuable.
Don’t forget to check out my further detailed reports on the Brimfield Antiques Show. There will be slide shows, videos and interviews at
http://www.AuctionWally.com/Show
and
Auctions and Antiques Examiner
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GET READY FOR A NEW EBAY COMPETITOR!
For about two months I’ve been working secretly with a company who will be making a run at eBay’s auction business! BooCoo Auctions will be launching BooCoo.com on May 31st!
Now there have been a LOT of eBay competitors, and I know most of them fail or come up short of expectations, but let me tell you a little bit about BooCoo.com and why I think it’s going to knock your socks off!
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George Willard Sr. the head of the company, has been in the newspaper business for many years, and has approached the online auction business from a different angle than you’d expect, but one that makes perfect sense. Mr. Willard has convinced 300 major newspapers throughout the US to promote BooCoo auctions for a percentage of the final value fee in that newspaper’s licensed area.
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Now realize that, these papers, all have branch publications, sister publications and so on. This means, that unlike other online eBay wannabees that have launched, BooCoo.com will have a MASSIVE amount exposure and advertising! When you consider that this advertising deal won’t cost BooCoo.com any up front money, you’ll see it BooCoo’s much needed start-up capital resources.
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Add to the mix, that antiques & auction people are still very “old school” in many ways. We DO still look in the newspaper for auction events, estate sales etc. It may be the one section of the daily newspaper that still gets more attention than it’s online competition. Can you imagine the results from this kind of exposure?! Can you imagine the support garnered by sentimentality of those who want to see a boost to the newspapers stay in business? Can you imagine the potential revenue generated for these newspapers from such a site?
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When George hired me as the Auction Consultant for BooCoo.com I was ecstatic when I heard his plan and it’s been tough keeping my mouth shut over the past two months, but BOOCOO auctions will be here on May 31st! I’ll see you there!
We are still working out fee structure, policy etc. But I can assure you, the top priorities are: Value, volume, safety and simplicity. Stop by and say hello!
Please tell your friends about this launch!
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As I said, I’ve got a LOT of pictures, so one of the busiest pages at AuctionWally.com will include lots of updates to my Prices Realized report slide shows. I’ll be posting updates soon.
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NewsFlash!
Auctionzip.com the famous online directory for live auctioneers, has just launched a new platform called: Auctionzip Live.
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What’s up with you?
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Site of the week http://www.GreenSpotAntiques.com
I don’t know what cartoon the following phrase is from, “he’s everywhere, he’s EVERYWHERE!”, but it certainly applies to the online activity of my friend Vince Jelenic. Not only is he at Green Spot Antiques, but he’s all over Twitter, forums and other sites, helping people by answering questions on antiques, giving opinions on the state of the market and helping people promote their sites and businesses.
Vince likes to focus on the recycling benefits of antiques, and puts a lot of value on the salvage aspect of things, hence the name Green Spot Antiques.
Of course on top of all of this, he offers great deals on unusual antiques and members of his site get special discounts. Go take a look, you won’t be bored.
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Love to sell online, but want to sell more than antiques?
If so, you need to try Salehoo.com There’s room in the marketplace for all kinds of sellers, and many of us are selling new, items that are re-stockable. This kind of selling on eBay & Amazon & Bonanzle, can be lucrative when you have a good source to go to when purchasing stock. Salehoo is a fantastic resource for such product.
Did you know that:
They have just celebrated their 5th birthday
They have over 75,000 members
They have over 8,000 of the world’s best legitimate suppliers.
The company provides education, support, forum networking and more.
I’d like to thank them for becoming a sponsor of The AuctionWally Show and look forward to a long relationship with them.
Take a minute to see what Salehoo is all about.
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News from Barre MA
On Saturday, MAY 29th, I’ll be helping out a friend in the auction business with a massive business liquidation. This event will be the liquidation auction of a large crafts supply warehouse in Charlton, MA. It should be an all day sale, and it’s an absolute event, meaning there are no minimum bids or reserves. Pictures and details can be found here.
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If you can answer “yes” to a few simple questions, you may be able to start making good money as an antiques appraiser. I have a one day seminar that will help qualified candidates start earning between $75 and $150 per hour as a Professional Personal Property Appraiser. Find out more here.
The weekly contest:
- Research what live auctions are featuring each week
- Find out who is selling what and where
- Find out which auctioneers sell what types of items
- Search what things have sold for
- See who is taking consignments
- Find specialty auctions
- Bid online
- Ask auctioneers specific questions
- Qualify auctions for your specific interests
- Search live auction content by zip code
Tammy Kahn Fennell provides tips, interviews and news with a lot of fun.
Auctionwally
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