Ebay or Etsy? As a seller, which one is better?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

We're starting to sort through Gram's house, LOTS of pottery, plates, deco stuff... here's a small sample


Avon Covered Candle Holder 1950's


I think this is bride's bowl, no sign of the basket yet tho. no marks

side view


I think it's pink depression glass, but I haven't found the pattern yet


Very cool iridescent candy dish/ashtray? no marks


ANY advice you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated

[democraticinsurgent]

1. It depends on your goals

If you are wanting to get cash quickly, then you should probably auction on eBay. It's the only real online auction solution out there. You might not get "your price" but if you want to move a bunch of stuff, you'll get paid fairly quickly. You can also do short-term "buy it now" listings on eBay but I wouldn't recommend starting there.

If you are ok with listing items and letting them sell whenever, then Etsy should be considered. Etsy costs less to list. The problem here is that it's a fixed price format, so you have to know what you want to sell an item for, and then you wait (months usually) for someone to buy it.

In either case, spend some time studying both Etsy and eBay. Read the user forums, do some searches and see what people are saying about the sites. Pay special attention to ended auctions that are for the same or similar pieces. Look at the actual sold prices and that will help you determine what to expect. Use this information to generate your fixed price listings on Etsy.

Also with eBay, the selling protocols totally favor buyers these days. In the event of a dispute between buyer and seller, the buyer almost always wins regardless of who should win.

Last thought is that you can always sell to an antique dealer if you just want to move stuff. Unless you want to mess around with selling online and all the hassles that go with it, this is the simplest thing to do. You'll get cash and a lot less headaches.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Thanks! we're not sure what our goals are at this point

So far, most pieces I've researched are $20-30 bucks, a few are really nice. I've got a Argonaut candy dish from Westmoreland in purple slag glass that should be worth a little more.

How much to dealers usually pay? 50% of value might be ok, any less and we'll try to sell them on our own.

[brer cat]

3. Have you considered an estate sale?

You could not expect full retail prices except for very special items, but probably a good bit more than ebay, and again a quick turn-around. I don't know how retail sales are at shops in your area, but here most dealers would pay much less than 50% for an estate because sales are slow and they have to take that into account.

[grasswire]

4. another thing for you to keep in mind is the work of shipping

Particularly shipping glass items.

Time is money, and it takes considerable time to carefully pack this kind of stuff. Plus proper packing materials that aren't cheap.

And fragile items open the seller up to complaints from less-than-ethical buyers.

[democraticinsurgent]

5. Lots of great points here

So much has to do with what you have the time, energy and stomach for. The more you do yourself, the better you get paid. if you don't have time to do much or don't want to work on it much, then you're better off dumping everything to a dealer and getting quick cash.

I agree that most dealers aren't going to be able to pay 50% or close to it for glass collectibles at this point in time.

An example: we just laid out over $600 for a beautiful jadeite collection, with every piece in nearly immaculate condition. The items have been featured on our Facebook page and are prominently displayed in store. Lots of oohs and aahs from our customers. Yet, we have not sold a single piece in 45 days. Likely we'll have to sell it online which will mean a 15% cut to eBay/PayPal if we do it ourselves, plus an additional 25% to our eBay trading assistant if we decide to have him sell it for us given time constraints. If we had paid 50% of retail, we'd be lucky to break even.

So who's the winner here? The lady that got our cash? Or us, the shop that's sitting on the inventory in the dead of winter in a slow economy?

Hmmm.....

[grasswire]

6. mmmm jadeite nt

[Raf65]

16. Agreed

It is really tough to sit around on inventory and then have to pay for the privilege to sell it online. That is the dilemma I have found my self in too - that's why I'm launching a new user driven antiques only auction site in Sep 2013 that is free to list, free photos, free storefront, no buyers premium and just 5% selling premium. Keep an eye out for it, its called The Antiques Auction Room. (www.antiquesauctionroom.com)

Happy hunting.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. I think I've found the answer.?. an online estate sale

We've decided there's no room in the house for an actual estate sale, and I do hate the thought of dealing with ebay. Other than the expense of materials, I don't mind shipping, I did it for many years.

I'm going to set up a website with pictures and info, advertise only in Portland so local buyers can come pick up what they like. That way I can add items as I dig them out and clean them up... today I found a Fenton vase ($15 in 1976 when purchased, no mark so it's earlier) and several pieces of Royal Haegar.

We've got lots of time, not needing the money asap, so I can play with the options or try a few different things.

[democraticinsurgent]

8. Probably as good as anything

Wish you the best of luck! To drive people to your website, I recommend a combination of Facebook and Craigslist.

[brer cat]

9. Sounds like a good plan.

Best of luck to you!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

10. Thanks! I'll post links here once I get things rolling

Seems to be a little bit of everything here, the more we look around.

[mopinko]

11. any chickens?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

12. yesss

what color would you like?

These are on top of the fridge. Please excuse the 10+ years of dust. I think there's a few more around the house.


2 feathered, the rest are painted. little ones probably came from Tuesday morning. The green ones have ragged pieces of felt glued to the bottom so I can't tell yet who made them.

[mopinko]

13. i like the green ones. sweet little pair.

the little glass one is cute too. i think all old ladies have a chicken or 2 somewhere.
those feathered ones aren't actually stuffed, are they? don't imagine the dust has helped the feathers much. kinda cute, tho.

i collected chickens, especially hens on a basket for a lot time, never imagining i would have actual chickens. i always liked the hens better. now i have a dozen real chickens, 2 of which are roosters. they are so much more spectacular than any of the chatchke versions. i know there are plain ones out there, but mine are of the gorgeous sort for regular food chickens.

anyway, i like the green ones. cute that they are both posing appropriately for their gender. usually they are just clones of each other.

look around some more, think about what you want, and drop me a pm.

[grasswire]

14. you might also consider a space in a retail antique mall.

If you are in Portland, there are plenty of alternatives with lots of foot traffic. In the Hollywood district, in Montavilla, Sellwood......everywhere.

Some here in our group use this option to sell their wares. I have done it in the past, with good success.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

15. Bottom pic is a Murano Venetian Glass dish "Tutti Frutti" by AVeM $50-$75

AND I FOUND A FREAKING VASE THAT MATCHES WORTH $400!