posted on March 9, 2003 10:27:06 PM new
Just in case you're interested, I've launched my auction for those three Elegant Glass pieces - #2621160058. Ignore if not interested! ~Adele
posted on March 10, 2003 08:39:04 AM new
Alwaysbroke: Thanks so much for the compliment! I try hard but these pictures were frustrating for me; I didn't like the brown wood background, but it was hard to figure out how to do them otherwise.
I don't consider a compliment butting in! I just didn't want to be accused of trying to sell my items in the "community" area of AW.
posted on March 10, 2003 04:37:33 PM new
Roadsmith, thanks for letting me know. I placed a bid using a bidding id, not my selling id.
Your photos of the glass are excellent. You might consider building up an area of expertise in old elegant glass, and learn to identify the maker and pattern. You can get quite a following of loyal customers as other quality glass dealers on eBay do. I think I mentioned to you in another thread that there are glass shows, like antique shows except all glass and typically all American glass, and I attend these shows as a buyer. However I find I can get better prices and nicer pieces from reputable glass dealers on eBay than I can at the glass shows, so I buy more for myself on eBay than I do at the shows. Though I won't give up going to the glass shows because it sure is a fun outing. Actually, if learning glass interests you, you might think about attending the glass shows as a way of learning to recognize the makers and patterns. You will see glass that you passed over at estate sales, marked and identified, and with real high prices.
I am not hotcupoftea on eBay.
{edited for typo}
[ edited by hotcupoftea on Mar 10, 2003 04:39 PM ]
posted on March 10, 2003 06:39:10 PM new
Hi, hotcup! Well, thanks for your bid! I really don't expect my "friends" on AW to support my selling habit, but I appreciate every single bid, of course.
I've been *astounded* at how many hits that auction has had! 96 in the first 24 hours--never happened to me before in that quantity. I want to thank you for helping me know what the stuff was - Elegant Glass is a new category to me.
I'm not sure I want to specialize or even learn a whole lot more about that--or maybe I'm just lazy. I'm selling those 3 pieces for my son-in-law, who had inherited them. However, I have to say that my visits to our two thrift shops in our little town Saturday were greatly prolonged because I was eyeing the glass stuff, something I've never done before.
Two questions: Would you have listed these pieces the way I did ? (Cambridge and Fostoria?) Is my starting bid too low or too high?
Well, three questions: Is Elegant Glass marked by etching? Or is there any one thing that jumps out and says it's Elegant Glass? I see so MUCH glassware at thrift shops and have always dismissed it.
Thanks again for all your help and the information you've been willing to shoot my way. ~Adele
posted on March 11, 2003 01:39:51 AM new
Roadsmith,
1. The starting bid is ok. If anyone else wants the glass the bidding will go higher. Of course you would have gotten more bids if you had been able to identify each piece. The three pieces together are ok, since they are all different. I don't think the sugar and creamer are a match, is that correct?
2. Elegant glass refers to the more expensive glass, made more expensive because of the labor involved. It wasn't machine made. Elegant glass was sold in the high end stores, the kind of stores that sold silver and china. Etching is a method of putting a pattern on elegant glass.
When a seller acquires knowledge, like how to differentiate elegant glass from the machine made glass, you can pick up pieces when you are out and about, recognize what it is and turn it over for a profit. I believe many glass dealers on eBay make a nice living merely by buying the glass that other sellers don't identify correctly, then list it themselves on eBay with a correct identification and better photos. As with china, the glass dealers will buy sets, then piece the set out over time and gain profits. For example, an expert glass dealer on eBay might purchase a set of 12 Cambridge Rosepoint sherbets for $90, then piece the stems back out, starting at $24.99, and getting ending prices of over $50. Their cost per auction is about $10, and their profit per auction can be $15 to over $50. Then when they find the real desirable stuff, like the nude stems, their profits go even higher. I prefer to bid on sets, because that means I am more likely to be bidding against dealers, not the end collectors. I still have a lot of glass I want to acquire for myself, but I am biding my time until I see the right auctions.
posted on March 11, 2003 02:30:46 PM new
Hi Roadsmith,
Discussing Elegant Glass only, the answer to your question is no. Etching is a method of creating a pattern on the glass. Glass can be decorated simply by coming out of the mold in a certain manner, such as the nude stems I referred to earlier. There is silver and gold overlay. The glass can be cut or sandblasted. And so on.
Glass is a difficult topic to learn, but manageable if you want to sell in a specific category like Elegant Glass. I admire glass dealers tremendously. I have over 400 books on glass in my personal reference library and will never approach the level of knowledge that many glass collectors and dealers possess. Indeed, a few years ago I attended the estate auction of a glass dealer and bid against the rare book dealers for the reference books on glass. I paid $3000 and got six huge boxes of very scarce books, and many of the books were about antique American and European art glass, another area of glass that is endlessly fascinating.
