If You Want to Be a Better Seller, Try Being a Buyer

Everyone has their own business model. Mine is to be a top notch seller and I define that as offering quality glass - not necessarily super expensive - photographed and described accurately, shipped carefully and quickly, and with cheerful service and a full guarantee.

It hasn't been easy to get better. What was super helpful for me was to buy glass on eBay, from both good sellers and not-so-good, and understand what that meant to me as a buyer. How can I make my customers' experience match that of the good sellers? How can I avoid causing the financial losses and annoyance that my less-pleasant buys have been?

If you want to sell on eBay, and sell successfully with profit and enjoyment, then buy on eBay. Learn what works and what does not work. Then adjust your business practices to provide the level of service commensurate with your effort, pricing and product.

Fostoria Large Star Cut - Lovely Stemware from the 1920s

Large star cuttings like this were very common in the early 1900s. Fostoria made their Cutting 81, Large Star, from about 1907 to the late 1920s, indicating the stars were well-liked. Many companies made this sort of cutting.

In fact we've seen rather crummy versions of this at the local thrift store with low grade glass and pressed stars or poorly cut stars. The particular wine stem I'm showing here is high quality crystal and the cutting is well done. I think it is Fostoria, Cutting number 81, based on the number of rays in the star and so on.

People who drank wine tended to have more than one type or one glass at a dinner or to serve sherry or wine before dinner. But compare the size of the wine stems to what we use today for wine. This one is 4 1/4 inches tall and holds just under 3 ounces when filled to the brim. That means that someone would have only about 2 ounces to drink at a time.

We have a pair of these stems and matching small table tumblers listed in our TIAS and eBay stores.

Catladykate's Elegant and Depression Glass at TIAS http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/

Catladykate at eBay http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Elegant-Depression-Glass

Heisey Waverly - Stylish Ruffled and Beaded Elegant Glass

Waverly is one of those patterns it is easy to overlook, but once you get a good eyeful you know to look out for it. It is stylish and graceful with the graduated beads on the rim and curvy lines and scrolled handles.

You may see this etched with Orchid or Rose and sold for big dollars but it is a very pretty pattern all by itself. This picture shows the wavy scalloped rim and superb glass clarity.

If you find Waverly you will need to recognize it by the beads and curvy handles. None of the pieces we've had have been marked so no tell-tale H in a diamond to give this one away! This next photo shows this same piece from the top so you can see the handles better.

These sorts of small, deep round divided dishes were marketed as relish trays originally. In today's world they would work great to hold two types of dip or two types of cheese or snacks. It's fun to get creative with vintage glass and use it in our personal styles and homes.

We have this listed on our TIAS store and are putting it on auction this week on eBay.

Just After the Depression Glass - Thousand Lines or Stars and Bars

I was a real glass snob when I was a kid. The local hardware store sold glass like this and I turned my nose up because it wasn't cut. Now I prefer etched to cut and value vintage glass like this for its history and style. This is Stars and Bars or Thousand Lines.

This is pressed glass and it's heavy. Anchor Hocking came out with this in 1941 and sold it until about 1960. It wasn't a full dinner set as there are no cups and saucers but you can find several useful serving pieces such as this large salad bowl. Some of the pieces have a bit more swirl look and you may even find this with frosted or flashed color trim. It was made after the depression and by that time colored glass was losing its fashion appeal.

You can find this less expensive than many new bowls and platters, a bowl like this will be $5 to $20 and it is solid and sturdy. What's not to like?

We are listing this bowl on eBay and our TIAS store linked below.

Catladykate at eBay http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Elegant-Depression-Glass

Catladykate's Glass at TIAS http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/

Morgantown Virginia Emblem & Swag Etched Stemware

If you've read our blog before maybe you saw the series we did on the romance of vintage stemware. Yes, stemware makes a romantic wedding gift as a way to add tradition to the new family and provide a link to the past. Champagne stems are particularly appropriate and could be used for the toast at the reception.

Here is a champagne by Morgantown, with the Virginia etching. We don't find much Morgantown glass in this area and we bought this on eBay. Virginia has a central emblem connected by swags interspersed with plumes and flowers. It is prettier in person than in the photos, although not a personal favorite.

We have the footed water tumblers and have just added these champagne stems to our TIAS and eBay store linked below.
Catladykate's Elegant and Depression Glass at TIAS http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/
Catladykate at eBay http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Elegant-Depression-Glass

Cambridge Amber Glass - Windows Border Cup & Saucer

This is one of my favorite etches and the color is superb. This is Cambridge etch number 704, which glass author Gene Florence nicknamed Windows Border. The border has little clear ovals that look a bit like windows. The main part of the design is the swirled swagged paisley like design that goes around the midriff of the cup.

The color is Cambridge's amber, which is a rich shade of gold with a touch of red It is not quite right in this photo; the background was gray and you can see it is slightly on the blue side.

This is a superb cup and saucer set. We have it listed on both our TIAS and eBay stores.

Find the Hidden Chips - Buying Depression Glass

Pretty cup, no? It is Adam by Jeannette, one of the mold etched depression glass patterns. Adam is a pattern that is hard to find in mint condition. Many of the pieces, plates, bowls and so on, have squared off rims that just beg to get inner rim roughness. I posted about my cereal bowl eBay purchases a while back that all had tiny nicks on the inner rim.

Here's a tip when buying glass. Don't just run your finger around the top of the rim. Go around the sides of the rim, both inside and outside. If there is a squared off portion or a ridge, check that out for nicks. Another place to check is the seam around the outside of the base and on the handle. Some patterns are just so prone to nicks, such as Adam, Queen Mary, Tea Room. All these patterns have sharp corners. Queen Mary has sharp vertical ribs that get nicked and Tea Room has stair stepped blocks.

So where's this mysterious nick? This particular cup has a tiny nick on the inside of the top rim and a gouge on the back of the handle. When I list this, I'll describe both nicks and give dimensions, plus show the pictures. Some nicks don't photograph and these were pretty challenging. It took several attempts to get the top rim nick to show up at all.

Pioneer - Heavy Glass from the 1950s - Embossed Fruit

This heavy glass plate is Pioneer by Federal Glass. It's a little later than most of our glass, dating to the 1940s, and it has the heavy, solid appeal that went well with the colonial and early American styles.

Pioneer has a molded in design of fruit in the center and you may find it plain, without the fruit, as well as with other center designs. We usually see it in clear but it got the usual treatments of the era, including flashing and a goofus-like gilding.

Other companies made similar patterns and we have some small bowls with fully ground bases and sand-blasted intaglio fruit bottoms that are nice.

We just listed this in our TIAS store and on eBay if you would like to take a look.

Bartlett Collins Golden Ivy Coraline - Like Retro Glass

Cool pitcher is from the tail end of the depression era, the early 1940s, by Bartlett Collins. The white ivy leaves are made of tiny little beads stuck to the glass, somewhat like Coraline. The little beads are raised above the glass and are three-dimensional, giving it a bit of sparkle.

Bartlett Collins made at least four patterns that had these white raised bead designs. This is Golden Ivy, with (of course) ivy leave. Golden Fruits had - you guessed it - pears and fruit in a band. Can you guess what Golden Grape looked like? The last design I don't know the real name as it isn't in my Decorated Tumbler book but I call it Golden Fuchsia. The white design is stylized flowers that are vaguely fuchsia-like.

I got these about 7 years ago and it may have been a coincidence, but we saw the designs at several auctions. Since then I've not come across this. Right now the ivy pitcher and fuchsia tumblers are listed on auction and are in our TIAS store.

Help! I Bought More Depression Glass!

This is Adam pink depression glass by Jeannette and the particular piece shown is the dinner plate. I have four of these, have had them for several years, yet I just bought three more.

I'm sitting here questioning whether this was the smart purchase it seemed just a little while ago, so I'm going to write down my thinking and maybe that will help me.

Depression glass has gotten hard to find. Our local flea market and antique stores, garage sales and estate sales all have super high prices on colored glass whether it's depression or dollar store imports. The only pieces we've gotten lately have been elegant glass and clear depression and that's only because few recognize it as depression when it is not colored.

My stores are called --- Elegant and Depression Glass for a reason: That is what I sell, depression glass and elegant glass. It's hard to stay in business when you can't buy what you want to sell. The last year I've bought glass on eBay for this reason, but only a few pieces of depression since I'm looking for bargains. Elegant glass seems to go for 25-35% of book value, while depression glass is 50-60% of book. Throw in shipping and it's gotten really hard to find quality depression glass at prices reasonable enough to allow a profit. The plates I bought were not cheap, but they were 40% of book value including shipping. There. Now I feel better!

Got the Georgian Lovebirds Green Depression Glass Listed!

Way back on St. Patrick's Day, about 3 weeks ago, my post was about our Georgian Lovebirds depression glass and how I needed to get busy and get it listed. Well, it's finally done. Today I got the dinner plates, smaller lunch and bread and butter plates listed, this nice serving bowl and saucers all listed on both eBay and TIAS.

That's a load off my to-do list!

Georgian is by Federal Glass and is notable for its charming design of triangular shapes joined with swags. Each triangle holds a basket of flowers or a pair of birds, thus the common name Lovebirds. This is mold-etched depression glass. Federal used metal molds that they etched the design into, then they could mass produce the pieces via pressing. Thus the design is raised on the piece, not etched into the glass as the fancier elegant glass has.
Take a look on our stores for these great pieces!

http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/
http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Elegant-Depression-Glass

More Amber Glass - Fostoria Amber Stem, Line 5093

We're on an amber glass roll this week and here is one more piece from Fostoria. This little cocktail dates to 1926 to the 1930s, putting it squarely in the time period when Fostoria made so much beautiful colored glass.

You may not be able to see it in the photo, but what made this stem easy to identify is the faceted handle. It looks round, but is actually narrow vertical bands. We have a green and crystal stem in the same design that has a Fostoria needle etch and the shape is so distinctive that when we saw this little guy we knew it right away. That does not happen all that often!

You can see the rich amber color in this cocktail stem. It is so warm and just makes you feel good to look at!

More Amber Glass - Fostoria Lace Edge Colonial Bowl

Isn't this pretty? It is from Fostoria, one of their older, small patterns, number 2183 Colonial pattern. The piece is called a cabaret bowl and it is even more stunning in person.

I find Fostoria's amber glass to be deep, rich shades of amber with a hint of red. No browns or wimpy greeny yellowish sick colors here! We have plates in the Pioneer pattern, a single stem and candle holders in amber besides this gorgeous bowl. They are all warm and delightful to look at.

We have this listed in both our TIAS store and our eBay store, both linked below.

http://www.tias.com/stores/catladykate/

http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Elegant-Depression-Glass

Amber Glass - Warm and Rich and Getting Popular!

When I first started selling glass in 1999 you could hardly give amber depression away. People wanted pink; they wanted blue; they like green. Amber sat there. My sales of amber glass started picking up noticeably in 2007 and this year have gone better than any other color.

I don't think it's just because I have a little more selection or different patterns as the choice seems to be across the board. In fact one customer told me she didn't want any pink Sharon because she could find it anywhere. She wanted amber or green. Until this past year I hardly ever came across pink Sharon - or most other pink patterns - at reasonable prices, but there are more auctions for pink or green and it's been available other places too.

Personally I've always liked the richer amber colors, like this Old English footed bowl by Indiana Glass. Both Fostoria and Cambridge have incredible amber colors, rich, deep, not a trace of brown or green. I'll show some amber glass later this week.