Three month's have passed since my last post and I am dreadfully sorry to all my fans. I am hoping I am back on track now and my illness is under control and I can bring you more exciting topics on Ebay, jewellery, pets and anything else cool.
Lets start with my day today. In order to get anything decent for re-sale you really must rise early. If the doors to the charity store open at 9am then get there at 9am! If you can't manage that (like me) get there at 9.30am. Always think about your competition. I view every person in the store a competitor even if they look like they are buying for personal use. Get in the front door before your competitors do and you have a much better chance of finding an item that will make you a dollar or two.
Hog the isles - yes you heard me right!. If you are searching a store row by row, prevent people from passing you to get to the items you have not viewed yet. Be discreet, subtle and unsuspecting of course! I'm going to be brutally honest and say that most people won't take the time to say 'excuse me' when they see you in their way and will go back the way they came. Perfect.
Before you enter the store think about what item you want the most and go to that section of the store first. For instance, I always say to myself I want cutlery, jewellery, shoes, bags, household items and clothing, all in that order. Immediately upon entering the store I quickly scan for large cutlery sets and make a mental note of them. Cutlery is not something people snap up quickly I have noticed so it is more than likely to still be there once you've viewed your second most wanted item. Cutlery is a big money spinner so as soon as you get your hands on a full or almost full set ask the shop assistant to put it aside for you. More about cutlery in another post. I then proceed to the jewellery counter and look for charm bracelets first. Many jewellery counters can be absolutely overwhelmed with jewellery and it can be mind boggling finding what you want. If you hover too long it's likely you'll miss out on goodies from your other categories (those ghastly competitors again!) so move as swiftly as you can here. It's always good to have a particular jewellery item in mind when you are faced with an abundance of styles. It helps cut down the scanning time.
Today's adventure lead me to Savers where I was lucky enough to score a charm bracelet. Charm bracelets always grab my attention and even moreso when they look vintage, sterling silver or a decent carat of gold. The sterling looking bracelet was priced at $49.95 so I asked for it to be put aside for me while I thought about it for the rest of my journey through the store. $49.95 is a lot to risk on jewellery that you know very little about. I saw no .925 sterling mark on the bracelet and no signature so what should I do? I really liked it, it had a Scottish theme and a Made in England hangtag and some of my best sellers had been purchased by taking a risk, so I bought it.
Upon bringing my little treasure home I decided i'd better do some research on it before listing it so I could tell prospective bidders about it. The tag said 'A Miracle Product' so I googled 'Miracle Scottish Charm Bracelet' and it didn't take me long to find a similar bracelet for sale on Ruby Lane, an online website made up of hundreds of antique dealers, for $77 USD. Ruby Lane is not much good to buy for re-sale purposes by the way. Antique dealers can be quite pricey as they know what their items are worth unlike some charities.
Apparently my bracelet was most likely circa 1950 - 1970. The charms consist of the celtic cross, a scotch thistle, bagpipes, a bagpipe player and a Scottish dancer. The charms are very detailed front and back which is typical of Miracle jewellery. Miracle jewellery is the product of A. Hill and Company (Birmingham) which commenced in 1946 and some of their pieces are not signed. It's always good to have a magnifying glass handy when shopping for antique/vintage jewellery.
Research your product. The aim of research is to help you make a detailed listing and show prospective bidders you are well versed about the product and the product is authentic. You may find a fellow Ebayer has the same or similar product as yours and has already researched the product for you. Do write it in your own words though as your listing could be cancelled by Ebay for plagarism.
Research your product. The aim of research is to help you make a detailed listing and show prospective bidders you are well versed about the product and the product is authentic. You may find a fellow Ebayer has the same or similar product as yours and has already researched the product for you. Do write it in your own words though as your listing could be cancelled by Ebay for plagarism.
Illusion Jewels has some great information on identifying jewellery signatures.
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