Picking Fun With Flatware Know Your History!

One of the most fascinating things that I find about my career as a "picker" is the history that I pick up when I have to research different pieces that I find in the field. I am a history buff anyway and always was keen to soak up quirky facts and figures about different things, so this is right up my alley! I have learned many fun facts about flatware or silverware as most of us call it.

Who does not remember going to Grandma's house when they were young for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner and having the good silver brought out as well as the china? My grandmother had a wonderful set of Rogers Adoration 1847 International plated silverware that she got in the 1940's that was kept in a chest in the dining room except for special occasions.

For years, we thought as many people do that the silverware was "sterling" due to the fact that it was made by Rogers. Many people make this mistake today. However research will tell you that most of the flatware that was produced after the turn of the century was silver plated. If a piece does not state sterling or  is not marked .925 on the piece, chances are it is not sterling. The only exception to this rule is pieces that were produced in Great Britain that contain British sterling hallmarks.  To find out more about these, google sterling or sterling silver hallmarks. You can find which marks have been used and can identify pieces through these pages easily. Don't discount flatware pieces due to the fact that they are not sterling. They still have value! It definitely does not detract from the beauty or durability of these pieces and many are still being used in dining rooms and kitchens today.

Rogers is one of the most popular flatware companies that is coveted by collectors today. They made hundreds of different patterns over the years.  One thing that is common with all the pieces is that they are all heavy duty and they are all of great quality. I believe those are two great reasons that they have withstood the test of time and are still desired so highly today.

In order to be able to "pick" flatware, you have to know a bit about the history of the Rogers company or companies as it may be. William Rogers started as a silversmith in the mid 1800's. He produced awesome sterling pieces that are still around today. Later he was joined by some relatives and the name of the company has changed over the years. To muddy the waters even more, two other companies have actually bought very similar names Wm Rogers and Sons (purchased by International Silver in the late 1800's) and Wm A Rogers which was purchased by Oneida who produced silver plated flatware in the same time period that Wm Rogers flatware was being produced.

1847 Rogers IS flatware is made by the original Wm Rogers company.  Flatware made by Wm Rogers and Sons or Wm A Rogers are made by other companies as stated above. It is good to know which company makes the pieces that you collect or sell.  As stated above, you have to know your history.

The next fun step in picking flatware is to know how to find what pattern your flatware is. Some patterns sell well while others are more obscure and may sit for awhile and be harder to market. Finding patterns can be a chore as stated above Rogers made hundreds of patterns alone. This does not even account for patterns made by Oneida, International Silver, or any other company out there.

Stay tuned for my next post. I will tell you more about how to identify individual patterns in flatware. Want to see the vintage flatware I have for sale right now?  Check out my store!

Ebay Home Runs What Keeps Me Running!

We all need those special scores in order to keep the adrenaline pumping and keep the thrill of the hunt alive. It also makes it exciting to hear about what has been a "home run" for someone else. What we call a home run in the business, is something that we have found in the field and purchased then resold for a good price!

Needless to say, home runs don't come along everyday. It would be wonderful if they did!   However, if that  was the case then hunting new things would become routine after a while. This way "home runs" or "scores" are still what makes a treasure hunter get out of bed every morning and hunt!

So I am going to share a few of my home runs with you as I know how much fun these are!  I am going to try to do a home run posting at least once a week and would love to hear others home runs as well. I will put information on how to get your home runs published below.

One of my recent home runs is when I researched I found to be very highly sought after by collectors. Harley Davidson merchandise, especially vintage Harley Davidson merchandise is usually sought out by collectors. There are a lot of Harley Davidson collectors out there as well!  Harley items will bring in good money if you find it in good condition. This even includes the tee shirts! 

I found a vintage 1988 Harley Davidson pewter belt buckle in excellent condition at an auction a while back and placed it for sale on Ebay.   I have included a picture of it above. It sold very quickly for $100.00.   I was thrilled! I definitely call this one a home run!  If you want to see more treasures like this, come visit my store, Kim's Kreations & Rare Finds!

So tell me about your home runs! Send me your information with your closed listing and I will include them in my next home run blog post! I want to hear all about them. Lets share the wealth! 

Packing Shipping Fun Facts

Probably one of the least favorite parts of my business is shipping. I don't mind sending packages to people at all. It is just the mundane actual act of putting things in boxes and having to do all the packing work that I don't like. There is a lot more to shipping packages than most people think about. If you don't know the basics of shipping, you cannot run an online business.You have to know a lot about how the US Postal Service and UPS work if you use both those services. I tend to use the postal service exclusively so I try to keep up with their rules and regulations. 

Here are some things that will help start anyone on their way in basic shipping etiquette and knowledge.

USPS has  a great website USPS.com that will give you all the information that you need about shipping or tracking packages. The site will also tell you about shipping both domestic and internationally. You can track all your packages that are shipped on the site itself. You can order supplies from the site, schedule a pick up of packages, figure costs of shipments as well as do lots of other cool things there. I use the site a lot!

I will admit that I was very hesitant about shipping internationally when I first started selling merchandise on Ebay. I started selling to US buyers only.  I belong to a great message board called Ebug which stands for Ebay Underground. The group there is great to help out sellers learn how to do new things. My friend Jessica did a tutorial on the We Sell On Ebay Blog about how to sell internationally.   Once I found out how easy it was to do, I opened my selling channels up to international buyers.  In the meantime, I found how valuable the USPS site was for individual country restrictions as to what is allowed and not allowed to be shipped into that country.  I use the site often as there is no way to remember all the restrictions for every country around the globe!

UPS has their own site at ups.com that will allow you to track packages from the site. You do have to set up an account with UPS in order to ship with them. UPS tends to be more cost effective for larger and heavier shipments so I don't use them very often. 

Shipping can be a chore but it has to be done. In addition to knowledge there are a few must haves for a seller in order to ship packages. I am including what I consider these below:

1. Postal Scales-I suggest a digital set that will go up to at least 35 pounds.  These can be purchased easily and inexpensively.
2. Packing Tape- I use this continuously!
3. Bubble Wrap-For fragile Items
4. Boxes- The Post Office will provide free boxes for Priority Shipments and for Regional Priority but you will need boxes for non-priority and for merchandise that does not fit
5. Paper- For filler
6.-Shipping Labels- I use the half sheet self adhesive ones. These are not absolutely necessary but do save a lot of time!
7 Scissors
8 Sharpie
9 Printer- I use a wireless Canon that allows me to print from any laptop in my business.
10 Poly Bags- I use these for clothing and other items that are not fragile. They are much lighter than boxes and save a lot on shipping.

With these supplies and the know how you are in business to ship just about anything for your online business. The rest is patience and a lot of hard work!  Until next time!

The Thrill Of the Hunt The Doldrums of The Mundane A Day in the Life

 A Day in the Life of a Treasure Hunter!

Any treasure hunter will tell you that their palms get itchy when they start thinking about getting out and finding new treasures. It gets the adrenaline flowing when you start looking at new sales every week or you are planning your route to your favorite thrift stores or yard sale to see what new goodies have been stocked on the shelf that very morning! Or you might be a storage auction hunter planning your route for the day.

You rush to get ready, grab a cup of Joe and run out the door. After what is hopefully a very fruitful day you arrive back home hot, tired, hungry, and with a vehicle full of merchandise to fill your inventory shelves with!  After driving, walking, searching and digging through countless amounts of new goodies, you hopefully have found some great new things to stock your store. You grab all those bags and boxes and pack up your truck and start the long drive home. Once you get back home and lug those bags or boxes into the door, that lovely adrenaline starts to fall through the floor!

Now it is time for the real fun to begin!  It is time now for the inspection, cleaning and photographing process to take place. You grab a quick bite to eat and stare at the mountain of boxes and ask yourself where do I start first? Do I start scrubbing the ten years of dirt off those pottery pieces or do I start an inventory of the set of dishes and wash them first?

The thrill of the hunt wears off quickly and the mundane starts to set in. It is time to roll up your sleeves, grab some gloves and get to work! A picker or treasure hunter's job is never an easy one!  OK, you decide to start soaking the pottery because you know underneath all that grime there is a gorgeous piece! It will be worth the wait and the work!  Tell that to my hands later please!

Once clean up is complete, time to get those lovely photos done so they can be put up for sale. We all know that photos are the best part of an Ebay listing. 30 minutes later photos are complete. The dishes are washed and now time to get some listings completed. Wow now you can sit down now finally!   Oh no, you forgot to measure all the merchandise. Time to go back and do that!  Oh my, the life of a picker is so much fun!

Two hours later the listings are done. Time for a nap!!!!  Then time to start it all over again  and get ready to pack up some things ready to ship that have sold. It is also time to answer those 10 questions that have come in about the items that you have up for sale. Ahhh, the life of a treasure hunter! I would not have it any other way.

Paying My Dues-Research, Research, Research Guardian Cookware

I love doing research and learning about new things. In this business, there is no way any person can know everything there is to know about every item that they come across!  I belong to a wonderful group called Ebug which stands for Ebay Underground. We are a group of moms, dads, and singles who buy and sell on Ebay and other venues.

When one of us comes up with an item that we don't know the history about, we put the item up on the board to get information from others. It is a wonderful giving group who are very special! They are more than willing to share their time, knowledge, love, laughter, and a bit of everything else with anyone who needs it!

This week a good friend of mine, Jess from Ellie's Alcove on Ebay had an item that she needed help with. She had a wonderful set of glassware that was a hostess gift from the Guardian Cookware Party Era. I took the time to research this line as it was one that I was not familiar with.

If you don't know about Guardian Cookware, it was a waterless aluminum set of cookware that was produced from the 1930's to the 1950's in California. The cookware was sold at in home parties such as Tupperware, Home Interior, and Party Lite items are. The great thing was in those days, the hostess gifts were awesome sets of exquisite silver ombre and clear glasses with the matching silver rimmed coasters. These came in an awesome chrome holder.  Here is a picture of the set that Jessica has for sale in her Ebay store right now. She got one of the rare sets and I am sure you will agree it is timeless! I am sure it will have a new home in a retro or modern kitchen very soon!

 Here is a link to Jessica's Ebay store if you want to take a look!

Not only does research give me more knowledge, I get to look at beautiful things that I would not normally get to drool over!