Metlox Poppytrail California Ivy Dinnerware - What a Difference 3 Years Make

In 2004 I bought a small set of Metlox Poppytrail California Ivy dinnerware that had no serving pieces and sold it all on eBay easily, fast and for a nice profit. About half of the pieces sold on auction and the rest in my store.

That first set had lunch plates and soup bowls, which turned out to be the most profitable items. Soup bowls are usually pricey and sell well but it's odd to have lunch plates be selling standouts. We were able to buy a second set in 2005 and of course were glad to do so, thinking it too would sell well.

Unfortunately that second set had no soup bowls or lunch plates. More, there were a lot of competing auctions on eBay. The serving pieces, like the vegetable bowl shown in the picture, were suddenly quite common. So far I have not even recouped my initial purchase price.

It's now late 2007; we still have most of the new set left and are trying once again to list it. Fall and winter have been my best times for china, so let's see how this goes. Several pieces are on auction and others will be in the store. Since eBay increased their store commissions store listings are less attractive financially but often buyers don't look for china every day and you need to have it listed when they wan to buy it. For me that means putting most pieces in the store and trickling something out on auction almost every week.

Wish me luck!

Leaf and Laurel Cuttings - Depression and Elegant Glass

One design that stays popular year after year is the simple leaf spray or band. Some of these are laurel cutting; usually these are bands of leaves such as the cordial pictured. This is Fostoria's Laurel cutting, which is classic and elegant. This sort of design has a formal feel to me.

A cute design that is much less formal is a stylized leaf band cut that is shown here on the Boopie wine glass. This simple band is from Anchor Hocking, from the 1950s or 60s and the pattern is Swedish Modern. By the way, Boopie glasses are not Candlewick. They were mass produced and are ordinary table glass, perfectly nice, quite cute and meant to be used. Candlewick is fine crystal.

Anchor Hocking made several pieces with the Swedish Modern cut, so if you like this you can choose among several pieces.

Lots of glass companies made leaf spray cuttings and it is often impossible to tell who made what. We have plates in clear, green and pink glass with almost the same simple leaf spray around the rim. They are all pretty!

You may find pieces sold as "etched" that were actually cut. Both of the pieces shown in our pictures were cut. Etched designs will feel different; if you find that the design feels like it is all the same depth, then it is probably etched. If the edges feel shallower than the center it is cut.

Regardless, these are pretty and remain classics! Come take a look at our TIAS store, Cat Lady Kate's Elegant and Depression Glass, and our eBay store, Vintage Elegant Depression Glass, to choose laurel leaf glass for you!

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

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

Glass and China – eBay Store vs. Auctions

You can get advice from lots of people, many who sell successfully on eBay and online. You need to decide what works for you, and that’s the hard job. I thought about this a lot and concluded I don’t know the answer. But here’s what I’m thinking today as I prepare my listings for next week.

It's rewarding when a customer says how glad they are to finish a set of dishes that they inherited. Until the internet if you broke something that was it, but now people can complete that cherished set and can actually use it. That is the plus side of selling glass and china!

We bought china at estate sales and sold quite a bit of it, but lately it has not done that well. People often know their pattern name and search for the pieces they need and will buy if the price and condition are right and the seller appears trustworthy. Most patterns appeal to a small number of buyers who may be in and out of the market; they don’t collect the dishes and they just want to augment their set.

I usually put my china in my eBay store. Most of the pieces are offered individually, so you can buy one soup bowl or one dinner plate, but I also try listing some in twos or fours, so you would buy two plate or four bowls. Offering in twos or fours helps keep the shipping cost more reasonable relative to the value of the china. No one likes paying $5 for a plate and $10 to ship, but china is heavy and bulky and has to be wrapped well and insured. Lately I have tried selling in place settings, say one each of the plates - dinner, lunch, bread and butter – cup and saucer. That has worked well so far. Checking my past years’ sales, though, most people bought one or more of a single item even when I had multiple pieces listed and combined shipping.

The cereal bowl is Harker China Godey Prints and we're starting a set of 6 tomorrow.

We'll see how it goes this winter.