AuctionBytes-Update Number 46 - September 9, 2001 - ISSN 1528-6703

Tell a friend about AuctionBytes-Update, a free newsletter for online auction buyers and sellers. Forward this entire newsletter or go to: http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/Recommend/recommend.htm l

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IN THIS ISSUE:
1) From the Editor
2) Auction Selling Opens Doors for Disabled
3) Never Stop Testing Your Marketing Activity
4) This & That
5) Collector's Corner: 1970s Glassware
6) Newsflash
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1) FROM THE EDITOR
There was an INCIDENT this week with a neighbor's Bull Mastiff, and poor Maggie the Auction Hound was bitten in the hind leg. She is recovering nicely and suggests that we no longer walk down THAT street any more!

Craig Stark's series on How to Sell Books Online is finished, but he promised to keep writing for us. I've already put in a request to Craig since I'd like to learn more about how he packs and ships his books. You can contact Craig and other experts on our Forum at <http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/index.php >.

David wanted to have some fun today, so he created an Auction Lovers Crossword Puzzle <http://www.auctionbytes.com/crossword/crossword.html>. This may become a regular feature (a little easier than the Sunday New York Times crossword). If you'd like to submit a puzzle for us to post, email David at dsteiner@auctionbytes.com and he'll give you specifics. If we use your crossword, we'll send you $20 inside an AuctionBytes mug!


I'm happy to welcome back Craters & Freighters and Vision-One Marketing to our marketing program! New advertisers are Bags Unlimited, ABF Freight and Andale. Thanks to these services for helping us keep AuctionBytes FREE to all subscribers. Be sure and check them out - they ALL offer products that can save us time & money. Find links at the bottom of this newsletter. Thanks for reading!

Ina Steiner, Editor
email: ina@auctionbytes.com

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2) Auction Selling Opens Doors for Disabled
by Ina Steiner

Many years ago, Marjie had an accident that required surgery. Instead of the expected full recovery, she ended up in a wheelchair as the result of a neurological condition that rendered her right arm and leg useless. An experienced computer user, Marjie began selling online and in 1999 founded AbovetheMall with an online friend.

Marjie sells through her Web site, eBay auctions and through an eBay store. Her partner, whom she has never met in "real life," is responsible for handling and shipping most of the Abovethemall Web site orders. Marjie does all the promotion, and the two partners work together on product lines, descriptions and pricing.

Marjie has always been interested in helping others, and several months ago, she founded the Disabled Ebay Users Association (DEUA). The DEUA is an informal network whose members have discovered a way to supplement their income through selling online. DEUA members meet online through a message forum and an email support system.

Many disabled auction sellers are hesitant to become public, fearing retaliation from Social Security or their Long Term Disability carrier, or Workers' Comp, according to Marjie. But the spiritual good that comes from earning money independently is important to DEUA members.

According to Marjie, a person drawing disability payment of any kind should consult an accountant for advice. Laws vary from state to state and from agency to agency. "I would like to see a way for everyone who is drawing disability pay become so successful with selling online, that they wouldn't NEED disability payments anymore. Or, I would like to see Social Security look at PASS programs to actually HELP folks make online selling their profession and get off the rolls of Social Security."

"There are many folks now who depend on the Internet for their very livelihood," Marjie continues. "When I first had my accident and was put out of work, I was absolutely devastated. Fortunately for me, the home PC was just coming into its own, and never being one to let an opportunity pass, I rolled in with all four wheels. I've never looked back."

Marjie gets most of her inventory directly from the manufacturer as a direct result of her business partner, who is a retailer for those companies. Marjie uses an electronic postage program called Endicia for applying postage to her packages. Her son helps her pack up the orders, and her mailman picks them up from her front porch every day. Marjie says that most of her customers have no clue that she runs her business without leaving her home.

Marjie offers some advice for disabled persons who want to know about selling on auctions.

1. Know your limits. If you know that mornings are your high-energy period, work only during that time.

2. Use your resources wisely. An example of this is the postage issue. Get a postage program and then talk to your Postmaster or Mail Carrier about doing the pickups for you. I've not seen one yet that won't take your packages as long as you've got it metered and ready to go. Enlist the aid of family to help pack, find inventory, and such.

3. Ask for help!!! There are many of us out there with warehouses full of information that will make selling online much easier, and we're happy to share our experiences and knowledge with you.

4. Never, ever use your disability as an excuse to be anything but professional.

5. Get a buddy. Someone who can at least notify your buyers in the event of a medical crisis. Most folks are very understanding if you communicate.

"We're not rabble-rousers or troublemakers," Marjie stated, referring to the disabled population. "We're just a very special part of the online community that needs to learn how to be on equal 'footing' with the able-bodied population. Online auctions give us that opportunity."

The mission statement for DEUA can be found at <http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/abovethemall>.

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3) Never Stop Testing Your Marketing Activity
by Jim Crawford

Promoting auctions and fixed price stores in the highly competitive antiques and collectibles industry can be a daunting task. We all want to do more of what works and less of what doesn't - the key is being able to tell the difference. Fortunately, the Internet gives us the ability to test and measure the results of our promotion efforts. However, we have to use the tools at our disposal. Are you using them effectively?

If you own your own Web site, become familiar with your server logs. This is information you can get from your Web site host about your visitors. Hit counters are fine, but they don't tell the whole story. By examining your logs you can determine not only which pages customers visited, but also which link they used to find your site, where they were when they left, what browser they used, etc. If your host doesn't provide adequate information, you can get software that analyzes your traffic.

You can track your links with a simple trick. After the address, add a question mark and some kind of tracking code, like this... <http://www.auctionbytes.com?test >. The code won't effect the address - it will take you to <http://www.auctionbytes.com > - but when Ina and David look at their server logs, they will know how many of you clicked on this specific link.

After you have devised a method of tracking your results, you can experiment with every aspect of your selling process. Here are a few ideas...

-- Carefully monitor the sources of your traffic. Place specific link codes for each of your promotional activities, including your ebay "about me" page, classified ads, signature files and forum posts. Once you know where your traffic is coming from, maximize your efforts in those areas.

-- Test different auction templates. Here are some nice examples <http://www.auctionbytes.com/Yellow_Pages/Template/template.html>. Once you develop an attractive color combination and layout, you can then test headlines, pricing strategies, product descriptions, etc.

-- How well is your banner in your banner exchange* working? Have you changed your creative recently? Maybe it's time to test a new design. This is true for the design of your "About Me" pages too.

-- Don't forget about after the sale. Do you include information about you or your Web site when you ship a package? Experiment with different offers. Find out which is more effective - a coupon for 10% off, or free shipping on their next purchase. Which work better - snail mail or email thank-you cards?

* Banner exchanges are a way of sharing traffic with other Web sites that share similar content. For every 2 impressions you provide to the exchange, you get an impression on someone else's page. Sometimes the ratios are different. There are several banner exchanges for the antiques and collecting community, including Antique Resources <http://www.antiqueresources.com/banex> and < http://nav.webring.yahoo.com/hub?ring=auction&list>.

Testing different aspects of your selling process is a never-ending task. New promotional opportunities are being developed all the time. Try them, but always find a way to measure the results. Even if you don't have a Web site, there are still many ways you can measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

Once you develop a technique that works for you, maximize it. It's not easy to find something that works on the Web, so go with a winner when you find it. But never stop testing. What works today may not work tomorrow!
---
Jim Crawford is an Internet Marketing Consultant and a stay-at-home father. He likes to think of himself as a "creative resource." Jim spends a considerable amount of time reading publications and researching Web sites in both the collecting and marketing industries, and enjoys networking with leaders in both. His Web site, The Collector's Marketing Resource Center, provides information about Web site design and marketing for the highly competitive antiques and collecting industry. Stop in for a free consultation <http://www.CrawfordDirect.com>. If you have a question about marketing your Web site, email him at jim@crawforddirect.com

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4) THIS & THAT

What a Collection!
This is a cool site where you can post pictures of your collection <http://www.whatacollection.com>. Annual membership fee of $20 allows you to describe your collection, list items you are "desperately seeking" and post up to 20 photos.

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Events in September
I have posted an Events Calendar for the month of September in the Forum. Please feel free to add to it! < http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=52&forum =3&0>

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Images Online - Use Search Engines to Peek at Pics
eBay is a great place to find photos of collectibles, but if you don't find the picture you are looking for on an auction site, and you don't have a book handy, where do you go? It makes sense to find a Web site about that area of collecting, but if even that approach fails, you can try several search engines that have image search capabilities.

AltaVista and Google both offer image searching. Try it for yourself, but be warned, the results may contain adult content. Also, images identified by search engines may be protected by copyrights; if you want to use any of the images you find, you must contact the site owner to obtain permission.

AltaVista
<http://www.altavista.com/sites/search/simage>
<http://www.altavista.com/sites/help/search/image_help>

Google: http://images.google.com
http://www.google.com/help/features.html#images
Google says its Image Search contains more than 250 million images indexed and available for viewing.

To find images, enter a term. For example, enter the term "Fenton Glass" and you'll find pictures of books about Fenton Glass and pictures of Fenton Glass on various Web sites.

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The "Invisible Web"
If you want to know everything about searching on the Web, get "The Invisible Web" by Chris Sherman and Gary Price <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/091096551x/auctionbytescom >. This book contains a brief history of searching on the Web, an explanation of how search engines work, how to find information that is "invisible" to search engines, and a run-down of sites by topic that will help you find the information you are seeking. Two cool sites I discovered in this book: The U.S. Library of Congress American Memory Project <http://memory.loc.gov> and Artcyclopedia <http://www.artcyclopedia.com >.

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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AUCTION FORECAST:

David's auction forecast calls for a mixed day for Sunday, September 9, 2001:
5-day auction: Fair
7-day auction: Good
10-day auction: Bad

Click here for an extended auction forecast (bookmark it!)
<http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/calendar/calendar.html>

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5) COLLECTOR'S CORNER
1970s Glassware: Collectible of the Future, or the Present?
by Toby Aulman

When someone mentions the phrase "collectible glass," what comes to mind? Unless you're a Fenton collector, your list most likely won't include items made as recently as the 1970s, but perhaps it should.

Those of us that were teenagers during the 1970s are now in our mid 30s to mid 40s. Census Bureau estimates show that about 16% of the U.S. population currently falls into that 35-44 age group, the largest of any 10-year age span. That would make sense, as most of us are children of post WWII baby boomers. So, you ask, what does this have to do with collectible glass? Well, it's these same second-generation boomers that are now settled in their careers and families and wish to recapture memories of their childhood.

I know, now you want to know what some of these 1970s patterns are. Probably the largest category is contemporary carnival glass. A number of companies that produced vintage carnival glass 50 to 60 years earlier, such as Fenton, Imperial, and Westmoreland, dusted off the old moulds and reissued many of those same patterns beginning in the late 1960s. Most other glass companies also and offered irridized lines, some of them reproductions of vintage carnival glass, but most were just new irridized versions of their existing lines. The reissues by vintage carnival makers are the most widely collected, often selling for close to vintage pieces of the same pattern. The reproduction and new irridized lines are more abundant, and therefore more hit-and-miss as to their collectibility. While prices on most pieces are under $10, the less common items or colors can sell for $50 to $100 or more. For example, Indiana Glass produced an irridized version of their Harvest Grape line in several colors. Most pieces sell for around $5, but the canisters in blue can bring 10 times that or more. <http://www.auctionbytes.com/images/harvestgrape.jpg>

This same pricing trend holds true for other 1970s patterns. Anchor Hocking's Early American Prescut (EAPC) < http://www.auctionbytes.com/images/eapc.jpg> and Wexford lines < http://www.auctionbytes.com/images/wexford.jpg> are two more prime examples. It can be difficult to give away some of the most common items, but if you want iced tea tumblers in either pattern, you'll likely have to pay $10 to $15 each for them. If it's an EAPC oil lamp you covet, you'd better have $300 to spare!

Serving pieces and accessories from many Corelle patterns, such as Spring Blossom (Crazy Daisy), Butterfly Gold, and others, can demand prices of $25 to $50. During the mid-70s, my mother was a Princess House consultant, and a number of the lines she sold are now quite sought after. <http://www.auctionbytes.com/images/PHfantasia.jpg> Viking's Epic line, particularly the animal figures, is becoming increasingly popular among collectors. <http://www.auctionbytes.com/images/epicduck.jpg>

The examples I've noted are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens more, and the list will continue to grow as the months and years pass. The best answer to the question I ask in the title is "both" - many 1970s patterns are collectible now, and will likely continue to increase in value as the passage of time sees a decrease in supply. As time goes by and prices rise on these patterns, others will become collectible. Now, if any of you have some influence with any trendsetters, can you speak to them about avocado glass? I can't stand the color myself, but I know where I can get tons of it cheap.
---
Toby Aulman works from home as a Web Developer <http://www.cybercortex.com> and collectibles dealer. A case of a hobby started as an excuse to get out of the house becoming a second vocation. His main area of interest is pressed glass from the Depression Era of the late 20's and 30's on into the 70's. He says, "The only way to consistently find bargains for resale is to know more than your competition." You can email Toby at abzoid@abzoid.com   (auction id: abzoid).

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6) NEWSFLASH HIGHLIGHTS

These are just some of the headlines from our daily Newsflash feature - if you aren't reading Newsflash, you are only getting part of the story!

OAUA Seats Newly-Elected Board of Directors
eBay Announces Grand Opening of eBay Stores
AuctionBlitz Launches New Web Site for Bidders
ChannelAdvisor Joins Ranks of eBay's "Preferred Vendor"
Olympic Scoreboard on the Block
Music Auction Site Debuts
Antiques Dealers Association Endorses GoAntiques Site
Power Sellers Allowed to Purchase eBay Banner Ads
BargainandHaggle.com Launches Referral Program
Flea Market Finds with the Kovels

< http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/newsflash/newsflash.html>

RECEIVE NEWSFLASH VIA EMAIL!
Send a blank email to: auctionflash-subscribe@topica.com

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http://www.bagsunlimited.com

ABFS
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Andale
http://www.andale.com/partners/partners_auctionbytes.jsp

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Please use the AuctionBytes Yellow Pages when you are shopping for supplies and services for online auctions and collectibles!
<http://www.online-auction-directory.com>
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AuctionBytes-Update ISSN 1528-6703
AUCTIONBYTES.COM CONTACT INFORMATION
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Letters, Comments, Suggestions: feedback@auctionbytes.com
Want to Write for AuctionBytes-Update? Go to http://www.auctionbytes.com and click on "write for us" to view author guidelines. If you are interested, send email to ina@auctionbytes.com.

Ina Steiner, Editor, Publisher and Co-founder: ina@auctionbytes.com
David Steiner, Webmaster, Technical Editor, President and Co-founder:
dsteiner@auctionbytes.com
Michele Alice, Contributing Editor
AuctionBytes.com
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