Lynn’s eBay Ezine Volume III, Issue Number 21

Matthew’s grandfather was Ruby and he opened his bar and grill on the boardwalk in Coney Island in 1985, but had run other businesses on the boardwalk since 1959. Here is more information about Ruby Jacobs from a book I just purchased, Coney Island–Lost and Found, by Charles Denson. “Jacobs was generally known for his kindness. ‘Anyone who needed to borrow money went to Ruby’, Cindy, his daughter, recalled. ‘If the person paid it back, that was fine, and if not, Ruby would say, ‘it’s his problem, not mine.’ He knew what it was like to be poor because he had grown up that way.” Ruby sounds an awful lot like my grandmother–she was the same way.

Matthew introduced us to his Dad (also helping out that Sunday) and his uncle (working in the grill section). When I went to order Peter’s sandwich, I met Matthew’s sister who was also there working and she told me that Matthew’s girlfriend was also helping out behind the bar.

They showed me old pictures of Ruby and it soooo reminded me of my grandmother and her family business. Here is what is happening to Coney Island in a nutshell.

From “Summer’s End” by David Griffin, Preservation Online, August 26, 2005:

“Thor Equities, Inc., a New York-based development corporation known for luxurious shopping malls and urban projects, has bought a large parcel of land that extends from 12th Street to 15th Street along the boardwalk. The site includes many much-loved attractions, including the famously louche Ruby’s Bar. Thor has yet to release detailed plans for the site, although a hotel and spa, a multicultural center, an indoor water park, and a retractable-roofed arcade have all been mentioned as possibilities. Longtime leaseholders have been told to move by the end of the summer.”‘

It is strange that in the article they call Ruby’s a “louche bar” which means of questionable taste or morality. All I saw last Sunday on Coney Island was a family working hard (together) to save a business that had been around for decades.

Ruby passed away in 2000, just like my grandmother did. Ruby’s third generation is working hard to keep the Bar & Grill open and I hope that they succeed. It made such an impact on me because I wish that we wouldn’t have closed my grandmother’s antique store. Even though I have continued the business here in California and online–there is just something about the original physical location that should have been preserved.

Ruby’s grandson’s girlfriend has designed a Save Coney Island T-shirt and they are putting their hearts and souls into preserving what is left of their grandfather’s legacy. I am upset when modern development comes in and ruins something so classically American. I hope that the new developers can work with the business owners that have made Coney Island what it is and let them keep their tradition ongoing.

In fact, when I picked up Ruby’s Business card, it said “A Coney Island Tradition.” That is exactly what my grandmother’s motto had been “A Bellingham Tradition since 1950.” Let’s do what we can to help out! If anyone has any ideas or knows of a website dedicated to preservation, please let me know so that I can pass it along.

I did send an email to Seth Kaufman at the Coney Island History Project. Here is some of what he had to say:

There is a loose knit “save Coney Island” movement but they don’t have a web site or headquarters. Given that the developers already own the land in question, there’s very little that can be done to keep the parks from being shut down. The only question now is whether the city will alter the zoning of the core amusement area to allow housing or not.

It would be great if you encouraged your readers to focus on preserving the historical legacy of Coney Island. The Coney Island History Project is dedicated to recording the stories of Coney Islanders, young and old through a wide-ranging oral history project. We also run an exhibition space with artifacts and exhibits in a building built into and under the world famous Cyclone roller coaster. We’d love to hear your readers’ recollections, or to see any artifacts they have. If some of your readers have Coney-related artifacts that they would like to know more about, we would welcome their questions in our “Ask Mr. Coney Island” section.

Thanks for the information, Seth. Do any of you have Coney Island stories to share?

There are only 19 seats remaining and this Boot Camp will be heavily promoted at eBay Live next week. I encourage you to Sign up right now for my ONLY live boot camp of 2007! This Boot Camp is three days of hands-on intensive learning and fun. This will sell out because it is the only one I am doing this year and I am taking a very limited number of students.

Click here to learn more.

“I just wanted to extend a huge THANK YOU to you, Lee, and your mom for such an inspirational eBay Boot Camp. I have attended other seminars but never have I had such a hands-on experience where I left with a sense of accomplishment and the UTMOST confidence that I will succeed.” “Your method of teaching is so effective, the way you taught us to step by step EXACTLY what to do and then actually had us DO what you taught us – as you mentored us through the entire process!!! It was just amazing!! I learned so much!!! Your class is invaluable! “You delivered EVERYTHING you promised – actually you OVER delivered!!” –Cathi A., Florida

Click here for more information.

You are such a gifted and generous teacher. Your presence and business manner are a rare combination that brings so much fun to your “let’s keep on track” professionalism. I encourage anyone on the fence to sign up…before it is sold out! –Janet Zemel, San Fernando Valley, CA

To learn more about my Live Boot Camp, click here. See you soon!

‘Top 7 Tips for Selling Clothing on eBay‘

by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’

I just got an email from a friend in the publishing business. Here is what Emily wrote:

Do you have a section in your ezines or anywhere about selling clothes on eBay? I started getting some of my Mom’s clothes photographed, measured, described…and it took so much time I ended up donating some of them, because I figured the tax deduction would be about the same as any monies made. What are your thoughts on this?

Emily is exactly right. Clothing can be labor-intensive. So, to help her out and you all, I decided to share my top 7 tips.

Tip #1: Never measure unless you are asked to:

I am not kidding–most women know their sizes by brand and manufacture. And so do men. Of the 60 men’s shirts I have been listing in the past three weeks, only 7 have emailed to ask for measurements. So, for the 53 that didn’t ask, it saved me about 5 minutes each or 265 minutes–that works out to 4 hours and 25 minutes. Don’t measure.

Tip #2: Take photos of the item folded up:

The most time-consuming part of all of this is to put your item on a mannequin. So don’t do it! However, if you think and know that the item will sell better on a mannequin and it is an expensive piece, go ahead and take the time. I think that most clothes look better folded up anyway. (My mom has just let me know that if it is a dress–you should probably hang it up.)

Here is one of my New Bobby Jones Golf shirts that I folded.

It is selling this week. Click here to see how much.