INTRODUCTION
When I first started on eBay, around seven years ago, there were only a few people selling beads. An occasional listing of an antique bead, and around 1,800 total listings for lampwork beads, and one would have done. Today the US lampwork bead catagory is hot--with nearly triple that amount listings! The antique and vintage bead market also has grown, althought not as quickly, but steadily still. This guide will tell you how to buy good beads on ebay for a price often below market, as well as how to sell your own beads.
A. BUYING BEADS ON EBAY
1. Seller Feedback: I usually check a seller's feedback. Most of the Self Representing Artists (SRA'S) have good feedback. So I bid on what I like. I've found incredible beads by some of the finest lampwork artists in the world here, some famous, some newly discovered. I look at a seller's overall percentage (I like 99 or 100%), but also how many happy customers they've had. For instance, if a seller has sold 1,000 lots of beads in the past six months, a few disgruntled customers is normal. However, if a person has only sold a few things and already five people are unhappy, I take it as a sign. Feedback is usually accurate.
2. Photos: Sometimes I've picked up incredible bargains, particularly in orphan lots of lampwork beads, where a good artist just took a bad photo. Conversely, a highly artistic photo with frills in it like leaves, flowers and sparkling corners added in Photoshop is not necessarily indicative of exemplary beads.
Also, sometimes a new artist or Self Representing Artist (indicated by the SRA in the auction title) might have very creative beads and just not quite gotten the template thing yet. A great graphically designed custom template helps drive prices up, granted. But if you're bargain hunting, sometimes a hot young artist won't have their own template designed yet, they'll use eBay's designer templates, which work just fine. Beads auctions with a single simple photo doesn't mean the seller has bad beads, to the contrary, an artist may be new to eBay but non necessarily the world of beadmaking (and maybe spending a lot of time making their beads!).
3. Famous Artists: I've found some amazing internationally known artists on eBay. Many of these artists are well known among lampworkers, either for their work as teachers, or their work galleries and art shows. Famous artists on eBay include Kimberly Affleck, Pati Walton, Michael Barley, Maria Grimes, Lily Owen, Eric Rader, Jan Harris, Jeff Welsh, and JC Herrell, to name a few. What does a set of great beads cost? In 2006, eBay seller Bluff was more than $2,000.00 for a set. They were larger sized, in unusual shapes, with great color combinations. You can pick up great sets by other well known artists like Kandice Seeber and up and coming lampwork bead artists like Margie Wells (who used to be a sculptor) for around $200 to $500. I got a wonderful set from one American aritst for a little over $800.00, which, given the quality of the beads, I was thrilled to have won! Usually, if beads are bidding for more than $100 for a small set, there's a reason. Look for tags like WC (short for Wet Canvas, a forum for artists of all media in America). Another tag that is popular in the lampwork bead making community is SRA, which includes wonderful glass artists from Europe, Australia, even Israel.
4. Antique and Vintage Beads: People who buy vintage beads often shop at estate sales and really know their stuff, it's a good idea to look in one of the groups and ask a few questions and look at a few auctions before you buy. Antique beads is a horse of a different color. It's a small field compared to lampwork, but also a fiercely competitive one. Everyone claims to be an authority, and everyone has a different story because we don't have much in the way of documention past a few hundred years to authenticate rare beads. Since the sellers are few, and the people who know anything about ancient beads even fewer, it's a good idea to have a thick skin when buying and in general, if you like it and can afford it, go for it!
5. Mass-Manufactured Beads: I shy away from the mass-manufactured beads. They are often made in China, with inferior quality glass and are most often not annealed. They are subject to breakage and are generally not as beautiful or well made as the individual one of a kind sets I buy from the SRAs. There is also
no particular person to stand behind the sale of the Chinese beads in most cases. Most often you can tell because these beads are listed in the lampwork>other category and they look alike or lately, have been close copies of American artists, particular one seller who has copied some florals. These beads look nothing like the innovative focals that I see the famous artists making.
B. SELLING BEADS ON EBAY
1. Powersellers: There are some HOT sellers out there. People who sell thousands of lots of beads. From javabead to beadaholique to a seller who used to call herself eliza500. Javabead wasn't selling that much a few years ago, but the husband and wife team put their nose to the grindstone, founded their own eBay group, devoted tons of time to helping others, and business boomed. Eliza500 has sold antique African beads and art objects quite sucessfully in a high end market where others failed by staying out of the competitive frey and avoiding bad mouthing of other sellers. Eliza and her wife are now platinum powersellers, they also sell expensive masks and tribal art objects from Africa which bring in big bucks. Beadaholique's success in part is due to their lightening fast shipment, wide array of beads and findings at low prices with reasonable shipping charges, and willingness to correct errors. Usually you can tell by eBay's powerseller denotation who's movin' and shakin' beads.
2. Get a Gimmick:
a. Beadaholique has their infamous Mr. Kitty Bead Bonanza auction full of reasonably priced beads for newbies to play with. You don't have to be a designer to afford half a pound of beads for nine bucks. Mr. Kitty is a furry white cat, a rescue who died of cancer three years ago. But he's still selling beads! Every week he narrates his auction in his cat voice from his white bed lookin' cool. For those of you raised in Southern California like me, he was eBay's equivalent of Cal Worthington and his dog "Spot."
b. I joined in the fun with my young pitbull pup, Damita. Running a home business can have it's hazards, such as beads everywhere. And beads and puppys don't mix. So I called my auction "Damita's Folly" and did a CSI crime scene type humerous ad for the beads Damita gets into in her spare time (she has a lot of it on her paws). The eBay slide show gave the auction a "doggie cam" format which is a candid camera type play by play action shot of Damita messing up the beads that you now get a whole lot of--at a discount price since they have doggie teeth marks in them. Here's the pup enjoying her newfound celeb status. Whenever I have some lampwork bead seconds, I toss them in the pile of beadies and off they go!
3. Answer Emails: From the yellow button and ask seller a question format, to questions about combined shipping after an item is won, I try to answer every single email, within 24 hours if possible. Sometimes answering questions about bead sizes, international shipping requests, special rush order requests, and buy it now requests can help sales. I treat my customers as I wish to be treated, and always give them the benefit of the doubt. I've made a lot of friends through eBay, sometimes I send extras and sometimes I get extras in return, and that part is a lot of fun.
4. Odd and Ends: Little things can add up to big sales: Padded packaging. Artistic presentation. A business card with your seller id. Leaving positive feedback for your customers. Participating in eBay groups, panels, events, etc. I contributed some helpful hints to the book "Tips and Tricks of the eBay Masters" last year. And of course there's Griff's Bible, which is a must read for anyone starting off at eBay, whether buying or selling. And if you are lucky you'll sell so many beads that you'll become a platinum powerseller and get your own account manager. Now that's success!
Orignal From: BUYING AND SELLING BEADS ON EBAY
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