Lynn’s eBay Ezine Volume III, Issue Number 36

 

Hi!

Our live eBay boot camp this past weekend was our best ever! Or so I have been told by my 17 students. I am in Florida today shooting the final scenes for our commercial. Exciting, but scary!

  • Lynn Recommends: eBay Shipping Made Easy DVD
  • Special Announcement: Online World Marketplace in SF
  • Feature Article: Shawnee Pottery
  • The Queen’s Update: Our 29th 100 Best Story from YOU

This ezine is published once a week.

September 20, 2007 Volume III, Issue 36

Dear eBayers,

I am exhausted after my only Live Boot camp of the year. It was an amazing experience and we all learned so much, made some amazing friends and have that extra motivational kick that we all need to keep going.

We started out Friday with a long classroom day of learning. At 5 pm we headed to my favorite thrift store for a private hour of shopping behind closed doors. What a treat! Then I took everyone to dinner at the Crab Pot in Old Town La Quinta. What a blast!

Saturday started early with garage saling from 7 am until noon. It was the best part of the weekend! One of my students even told me that she was afraid of the garage saling portion and thought that it would be super competitive. She told me that it turned out to be an amazing learning experience with everyone helping everyone else. Cool! eBayers are nice people!

As some of you may remember, I will be helping out at Skip McGrath’s Boot Camp in Anacortes, WA next week. The dates are September 28 and 29th. I will teach for about 2 hours, but the highlight will be that I take students out for 2-3 hours of garage saling. If you are interested in attending, I think there is still space. Click here to find out more.

Well, back to the live La Quinta Boot Camp. We spent the rest of Saturday actually listing the items my students had found. Elizabeth V.P. (a returning student from the LAX boot camp) was able to write up and photograph the 82 items she had bought that day! Congrats! It just shows you the power of this experience.

Sunday we wrapped up by working on our eBay stores and doing auction make-overs. It was quite the weekend.

In fact, one of the items that I listed in front of the class as a lesson was this Cookie Jar. It turned out to be a rare piece of Shawnee pottery. Please read my feature article for this week because it is all about Shawnee and I can’t wait to tell you why my Cookie jar is so rare. I wish I would have known all this before I left for Florida to film the infomercial. I had a hunch about that jar so as I am writing this it is in the overhead bin above me on the airplane and I should have wrapped it up better!

The Shawnee Cookie Jar.

Click here to see what it is up to.

And don’t forget to check out the Lynn Recommends section because my eBay Shipping Made Easy DVD is ready for sale. It can save you 100s of dollars in costly shipping mistakes. I am so excited to get this sent out to you! The pre-order special pricing ends Thursday the 20th at midnight when they will start shipping.

In our Special Announcement section, you can read about Online World Marketplace in San Francisco.

This week we have another great story about the things you all have sold on eBay. Read below to hear the story of a dumpster salvage turning into big bucks.

Here’s to Successful eBaying!

Lynn Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions,’ Creator of the best-selling eBay Boot Camp in a Box.

Check out this email that I received recently:

“Lynn, I have been having problems with eBay’s shipping calculator. I have been losing money by paying out of my own pocket for extra shipping charges. How can I avoid this?” – David

It seems like the majority of questions that I get asked are mostly about shipping. It can really make or break your business. A successful shipping department can make a big difference in your bottom line. Click here to preorder now. The price will increase by $10 on Thursday, September 20th at midnight, so order now!

We are announcing a new series of instructional DVDs: The Queen’s Academy. The first one is about what I consider one of the most important cornerstones of your eBay business–shipping. This shipping DVD turned out great! It was a lot of fun to shoot. I am really excited to share all this great information in a visual format. It is very difficult to teach how to ship without showing the steps. The DVD is about 50 minutes long and comes with a lot of backup information on my website. Click here for special introductory pricing.

You will receive the DVD with nearly an hour of practical, hands-on instruction and as an added bonus you will receive access to:

  • My International shipping rate cheat sheet
  • Supplemental information to download from a special website.

The shipping chart alone can save you hours every week. And we all know that time is money.

Don’t forget, if you are a member of the Queen’s Court, use the coupon you will find in the forums to receive your 15% discount to the already low preorder price.

I am confident that this DVD will help you save money on costly shipping mistakes!

Click here for a sample clip.

I get information on lots of conferences, but there’s a new one on the horizon I thought was worth mentioning. Our friends at The Chase Group are producing ONLINE MARKET WORLD, in San Francisco, October 4th & 5th, 2007. You may recognize The Chase Group as the company that ran eBay Live! in 2005 and 2006.

At this new conference, there’ll be lots of information worth gathering for online businesses trying to grow. eBay and the USPS are just two of the sponsors. Do me (and yourself) a favor, and visit the show website here to read more.

Come to Online Market World 2007 October 4-5 at Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. Join brand name retailers, mid-market and small sellers, service providers, online entrepreneurs, and all other businesses that are harnessing the web to help market and sell products. Listen and interact with over 150 subject matter experts as we define and debate the “best practices” for the future of e-commerce and online selling. Spend time in our World of Solutions exposition where every major eCommerce solution category is represented. Go to www.onlinemarketworld.com for more information.

Shawnee Pottery

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

It seems strange that I keep running into Shawnee Pottery pieces and that I have been doing so well with them! Especially considering that when I was about 12 years old I decided to collect Shawnee. My grandmother always sold antique and collectible reference books in her store and at antique shows. She said that whenever you acquire a new piece you should also acquire a book to go with it. She thought that reference books were invaluable and quite reasonably priced. She was right, again!

So, when I would accompany her to antique shows, I would usually help set up the white cardboard display cases that held those books (that we ordered from The Collector’s Book Company). At one antique show, the book on Shawnee Pottery caught my eye. I mentioned to my grandmother that it looked interesting and of course she gave it to me right there on the spot. I read with fascination about the history of the company and immediately began looking for pottery pieces that would be signed (incised) with only “USA.”

The reason for this is that many of the Shawnee Pottery pieces left the factory with just a paper label or sticker. As you can imagine, over the years, many of these labels were taken off or fell away. Other signatures to look for besides the just U.S.A. are Shawnee USA, Patented Smiley Co. Shawnee U.S.A., Patented Winnie Shawnee USA 61, Patented Mugsey USA, Patented Winnie USA, USA 6, and Patented Puss N Boots USA. The names Kenwood and Great Northern were also used on a few of the cookie jars.

Shawnee gets its name and distinctive mark from an arrowhead found on the grounds of the then-unnamed plant in Zanesville, OH in 1937. As many of you know, this area has produced many famous pottery plants including Roseville. The reason is that this part of Ohio is very rich in natural clay. The Shawnee Indians were known to have lived in this area and made pottery long before Europeans arrived.

The first president of Shawnee was A.E. Hull Jr., son of the founder of Hull pottery. George Rumrill came from Red Wing to Shawnee in 1938.  So, you can see that many well-known potters were an integral part of Shawnee’s success.

It was also the right time. In 1937 Americans were beginning to feel some hostility towards the Europeans and Japanese for all their imported goods. This was when the first “Buy American” campaigns were started and Shawnee was perfectly poised to offer dinnerware and pottery to the U.S. market.

Shawnee Pottery was originally mass-produced to be sold in dime stores like Woolworth, McCrory, Sears, and S.S. Kresge. Many of these stores supplied the designs to the Shawnee company and promised to purchase the items. If you can believe it many of the pieces were to be retailed at between 10 and 30 cents!

The best known Shawnee kitchenware is probably the Corn King and Corn Queen lines, which began as Proctor and Gamble premiums. Premiums were basically giveaways so that when you mailed in a certain number of labels you would receive a piece for free in the mail.

I still can’t believe how high this Corn Creamer and Sugar sold for this month!

Click here and here to see what they sold for!

Shawnee is also well-known for salt & pepper shakers, wall pockets, baking dishes, kitchenware, and their cookie jars. The most popular (and the ones that sell for the most) of the cookie jars are the Smiley pig, Winnie pig, Muggsy dog, Puss n’ Boots, and Dutch Jack and Jill. Mine must be the Dutch Jill. Shawnee called them both Cooky and Cookie Jars. My Dutch jar says Cooky in gold on the shoulder.

The Shawnee Cookie Jar.

Click here to see what it is up to.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. The gold-trimmed jars are the most sought after and you will never guess why–not in a million years. They are seconds! Gold and decals were applied to the seconds or jars with blemishes to hide the imperfections. These jars never made it to the five and dimes, but instead were sold in specialty shops at a higher price. And now they command much higher prices. According to one article, I read, “The sky’s the limit when it comes to the rarer gold-trimmed, decorated jars.”

My Cookie Jar not only has the gold trim but also an applied large decal of flowers. Wow! Yikes! Score! I have to admit that I did spend over my usual $5 for this piece and actually paid $18 for it. I am doing that a lot more lately—going up to $25 without fear. I do this because I will list it at $24.99 if I don’t think it will sell for a lot at auction to protect my investment. If it doesn’t sell at auction it will get moved into my eBay store for much more. Click here to learn more about making your eBay store work for you.

Shawnee is often mistaken for McCoy and McCoy is mistaken for Shawnee. Production methods can help you identify them correctly. The majority of Shawnee was glazed both inside and out except for a raised rim on the bottom of the piece–kind of like a foot that goes clear around–it will be unglazed. Some of the larger Shawnee pieces may be completely unglazed on the base showing the white clay body and mold lines.

Both McCoy and Shawnee produced matte/dull and shiny glazes. Some pieces were decorated with cold paint. This is paint that is applied after the glaze has been fired. This paint was not durable and could come off with washing. Any piece with cold paint should be handled with great care. Even if it is damaged do not try and repair it as the repair could lower the value.

Unfortunately, like many of the other American potteries, Shawnee couldn’t compete against cheaper pieces made overseas. They closed their doors in 1961. Many of the molds were sold so be careful to watch for reproductions. New Shawnee pottery was also started in the 1990s, but most are signed with a very different-looking mark. However, be careful, take my grandmother’s advice and invest in a good book on Shawnee!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEBSITE? Yes, you may – just as long as you include all links as they are and append this complete blurb with it: The Queen of Auctions and eBay Power Seller, Lynn Dralle, publishes ‘eBay Tips & Tricks’ a weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your eBay business, make more money, and have more time, get your FREE tips now at www.thequeenofauctions.com

I am happy to present our 29th story for The 100 Best Things You’ve Bought or Sold on eBay! Due to a technical problem last week, Jennifer’s story wasn’t available to read. We are running it again this week. Read below to hear the story of a dumpster salvage that pays off. Click below to read…

Click here to read the story…

Please patronize Jennifer’s auctions (precisionbluing) and store (Precision Bluing Plus) and make her business this year even better. Thanks!

A big thanks to everyone who has already submitted a story! We are looking for more great stories of your eBay adventures. We know there are many great tales out there, so please submit your story along the lines of the stories from the 100 Best Books and a great side story with photos will help. If we use your story, you will receive a $35 merchandise credit on my website and you will have your story featured–along with your user ID–in my ezine! It may also eventually end up in a published book!

By the way, when I mention my ezine readers’ user IDs with links to their auctions–it actually helps their sales! Amazing how that works. Click here for the guidelines for submitting your stories.

eBay Power Seller and third-generation antique dealer, Lynn Dralle, is the creator of Boot Camp in a Box, the home-study course where you can learn to implement the Dralle Method to maximize your eBay profits.

If you liked today’s issue, you’ll love this step-by-step course that is guaranteed to be the most complete and enjoyable guide to selling on eBay that MAKES YOU MONEY.

Read all about it here.

The Queen of Auctions also offers articles, teleseminars, how-to books, tracking guides, DVDs, eBay Boot Camp training, and other resources to help entrepreneurs make their eBay business a six-figure sales machine. Click here to learn more.

The Queen of Auctions/All Aboard Inc.

PO Box 14103

Palm Desert, CA 92255

760-340-6622

Lynn@TheQueenofAuctions.com


Happy eBaying!!

Lynn


Visit my eBay Store.

Visit my eBay auctions.

For more great eBay tips and stories, visit my website at:

http://www.thequeenofauctions.com

Lynn is an experienced eBay Power Seller, author, and teacher. If you want to know the eBay tips, tricks, and tools that Lynn uses for buying and selling at an online auction click here.