eBay Return Fraud: The old "empty box" trick

Dear Joanne Robinson of Newport News, VA,

Thanks for buying that Tiffany necklace from me on eBay. It was a good deal at $150 with free shipping. I knew something was up, though, when you decided to return it because it did not fit: your request just seemed off. Good thing I asked you to go through the eBay returns process 'cause I know you started off contacting me directly. It took you a while to get it shipped back to me. I kinda think you planned it to arrive the Friday after Thanksgiving, hoping I'd just refund your money without thinking about it. But when I did open your box on Tuesday, I was only a little surprised to find out the box was empty. Honestly, I thought you would do something more clever like swapping it with a fake one.

So, I spent a half hour on the phone with eBay. I guess situations like your little "empty box" trick as they called it used to go right to the Fraud Department. Now, they asked me to contact you first, hoping it was just a misunderstanding. Did you, perhaps, simply forget to put the necklace in the box before mailing? I know I've got a lot going on, I could see it might just be an honest mistake, right?

Anyway, I had to write you a nice and professional note through eBay. I wanted to say how stupid are you? What kind of half assed scam is this? Does it actually work sometimes?!?! But I was polite. So far, you haven't responded to my message. It would probably just be smarter of you to let it go at this point, instead of pushing it. I mean, mail fraud is not something you really want to get involved with, is it? But then again your choices this far have not been very clever...

Little Notes Hidden Inside Things

I bought this odd but very old hookah base. When I got home, I noticed there was a little piece of paper inside (along with some paperclips, dead bugs, etc.). The note was fragile and I had to laminate it with packing tape to keep it from crumbling. Which is not, incidentally, a recommended archival method! The little note says the "old Russian pipe" was from Cousin Mary, and the note-writer, who initialed the piece of paper, thought it would make a nice lamp. It would have been nice to have a date on the paper, but even without, the little scrap of paper is a treasure in its own right.

The Closest I'll Ever Get to Superman #1

I was recently digging through a collection of comics I bought. At the bottom, there was a curiously wrapped bundle. I thought to myself, C'mon, be Action Comics #1! It was Action Comics #61 instead, from June 1943. It is probably the oldest super-hero comic I will ever find.
This comic was in terrible condition, with old water stains and mold spots. The pages were brittle and flaky. It sold for $100 on eBay.
Action Comics #1, featuring the debut of Superman, was published in June 1938. It is estimated there are only 50-100 original copies in existence. I would love to find one in any condition!

Someday, this will be me.

A rare Chinese Song Dynasty bowl was bought at a yard sale for $3 in New York. It was estimated at $300,000 and sold for $2.2 million. Someday, this will be me.

The Secondary Market for Used Loveys

There's a market for everything! With two little kids, I know the significance of a lovey or security blanket. I'd tell everyone who's having kids to just BUY TWO so you have a back-up. The problem is, you don't know which soft blanket or toy will become the lovey until later. If you're unlucky, the "one" will no longer be in production, or some slight design change will make your child reject it.

People are paying up to $50 for even some lightly used loveys because they are so desperately needed.
My boy loves this soft rabbit by Angel Dear. Not the one with the open eyes. Not the one with the floppy ears. This specific one. The sleepy one with short ears. Fortunately, this is only a $20 replacement on eBay, not much above retail.

I've never look for old loveys at yard sales, but I'm always looking to one-up the competition, so perhaps it will be a gold mine!

BTW, if you have a Lovable Lounger "Pipa Pig" by Ganz, we desperately need one!! Seriously!!! Contact me!!!

The Aesthetic Movement & Some Victorian Wallpaper

I found an old crate of wallpaper rolls from an 1880s Victorian house at a local estate. Many were in the vivid reds and golds so associated with the era. But a lot were more subtle and still "timeless" in their design and colors. The style was from the Aesthetic Movement, a style less widely regarded than Art Nouveau or Art Deco, but in my opinion equally impressive. It was popular in the late 19th century and draws from a Japanese influence, combining geometric shapes with animals and plants from nature. I highly recommend reading about James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room if you are interested in this style.


Below you will find a fragment of my Aesthetic wallpaper, which I have digitized just for you. It is repeatable and looks awesome just about anywhere.

Researching Antique Photos - Rouen, France Mystery Church

I found these two antique photos in a circa 1920s album (top left). They were both marked "Rouen Cathedral." Now, it might have fooled Aunt Maude flipping through it 90 years ago, but looking closely these are clearly NOT the same church.

While researching to keyword Rouen Cathedral (the one on the left), I came across this image (center) from here which showed me the mystery church was within sight of the Rouen Cathedral. That's a big clue.

Using the satellite images at Google maps, I went looking for that large round courtyard in the vicinity of Rouen Cathedral. I found it after a few minutes. My mystery church is the Church of St. Ouen (top right). It is very satisfying to discover the solution to a historic puzzle like this.

The album also contained this image (left) of the Church of St. Vincent, which was destroyed in 1944 by German bombs in World War II. All that remains now is a stone arch in the town.

Collection of World War II 35mm Slides

I sell a lot of stuff that simply seems to "disappear" once it is packed and shipped at the post office. I almost never have the opportunity to see what its new owner does with it.

I recently sold a slide collection with a few originals from a WWII soldier, stationed in the Galapagos. The buyer asked me a few more questions about the lot, and I was able to dig up some more info on the soldier from other paperwork in the lot. With a name (and a broader knowledge of WWII than I have!), the buyer was able to piece together a nice blog posting about the soldier.

It's nice to see the slides within an historical context. Check out: portraitsofwar.wordpress.com

Breaking News: Tightwad Donates to Wikipedia!

Today, I was doing some research on this late 17th- to early 18th-century little pewter salt or nut dish. I knew the crest was German, but I was hoping to find some more useful keywords. A Google search brought me to this Wikipedia page: Coat_of_arms_of_Germany
Within moments, I had black eagle, Bundesadler, and Federal Eagle to use. Now, I'm usually pretty cheap, but I use Wikipedia so much that sometimes I think about all the reference books I don't have to buy. This Wikipedia page is so full of useful information and graphics, I did something I've never done before: I clicked the banner and actually donated to Wikipedia!
The historical articles on Wikipedia are great sources of information, usually free from all the politics and pranks of more topical pages. (Although, I do seem to recall reading that "cast iron is a great material for sex toys" a few years ago!) If you use Wikipedia as much as I do, think about sending a few bucks their way. Or just DONATE.

Sometimes, the Early Shark Gets the Fish

This is what my local fleamarket looked like at 6:30 this morning. Yes, I was the first buyer there, but it does not do much good when no sellers are ready. I sat in my car. I walked across the street to get hot chocolate. I looked for constellations, twiddled my thumbs, etc. Sigh. Let's go, people!

Anyway, another dealer recently called me a "shark." It was not intended as a compliment, but I am certainly taking it as a compliment. I've learned over the years that nice guys don't go home with the good stuff. I like to go home with the good stuff.

(UPDATE: I found out later a friend/competitor got $500 worth of gold from this fleamarket for $5. Sometimes, it's not about being first; it's just about being in the right place at the right time.)

Oh eBay. You make me laugh.

Oh eBay. When I see something like this, it makes me laugh. eBay makes this whole listing thing seem so glamorous and simple: "Hey, everybody! Look at this wad of cash I have from selling stuff on eBay!! Woohooo!" The "FREE" part is funny too, because they don't tell you about the 10% they'll get when you sell something. A wad of $20s in your back pocket?!? Ha! You'll never even see that cash, it's all ones and zeros in Paypal. If you want cash, go to Craigslist.

Tip O'Neill's Ashtray ... Maybe

A few years ago, I picked up this House of Representatives ashtray at a flea market. It was only sort of interesting. The person told me it was from the desk of Tip O'Neill, which makes it a lot more interesting. I actually found a photo of him at his desk with a similar ashtray on it. It sold for $46 bucks on eBay. A good story, but not much more than that without any provenance.

The Problem with Legos (and Lego Strategies)

First, an amusing anecdote: I was once at a yard sale where the seller had carefully sorted all the Legos by color into different tubs. Can't imagine how long that took. She was a little appalled when I bought them all and proceeded to dump them into one large box to load into my car. Anyway...

Buying Legos: For a decent mixed lot of Legos, I usually figure they are worth $5/lb. This assumes that Legos figures, known as minifigs, from the kits are also mixed into the box. The problem, which has been increasing over the last few years, is that kids are KEEPING the minifigs. This decreases the value of a random tub of Legos, and it's not something that's immediately obvious when you're buying it. Especially with character minifigs, like Star Wars, Spider-Man, Batman, Indiana Jones, etc., I can see it being too tempting to keep the minifigs and let the blocks go (when the kid has his eye on that next awesome piece of technology).

Minifigs have kind of hit the pop culture big time. I don't blame anyone for keeping them. It is pretty satisfying to display a minifig Boba Fett or Darth Vader on your shelf. Who needs the blocks? These character minifigs are usually worth $2-3 each. That's some serious demand for a little piece of plastic!

More Lego Strategies: A few years ago, I did really well with a bunch of Legos from a yard sale. I decided, as a test, to take that profit and buy $500 of off-the-shelf Star Wars Lego kits. Two years passed, the kits were all out of production, and I sold those kits for nearly double my money. Not too shabby. Then, since I am nuts, I took that $1000 and bought another batch off off-the-shelf Star Wars Lego kits. They are still in my basement, approaching 1-year old. I'll let you know what happens next year.

Who Is Your Favorite Civil War General?

I was speaking another antique dealer recently, and she mentioned off hand that her favorite Civil War General was William Tecumseh Sherman. I immediately thought, "Hey, that's weird! I have a favorite Civil War General, too!" It's Joshua Chamberlain. The Big J.C.
The question is, Is it mandatory for people who deal in old stuff to have a favorite Civil War General, the way some people would have a favorite pop star or Disney character? Who's yours?

Victorian Bouquet of Flowers

On July 29, 1891, The Boston Herald reported that Edna Bragg's body was found in the Cambridgeport flats. Elsewhere on that same day, a woman wrapped a meaningful bouquet in newspaper, and placed it carefully in her attic for safe keeping. Over 121 years later, it would be discovered by yours-truly, pondered for a moment, photographed, then dropped in the trash. Without a story to go with it, it's not much more than some dried flowers. I hope you can add your own wistful sentiments to the bouquet which will live on the internet for hopefully at least another 121 years.

Worst. Housecall. Ever.

A few years ago, an elderly lady tracked me down. She'd seen an article about me and used the telephone directory to get my number. Hardcore old-school. Her basement had flooded, and to deal with the basement problem, she'd moved everything into the backyard. Of course, the problem with that is that things exposed outside for months in the weather and rain tend to not hold up very well. The place was a disaster. Anything that was paper or wood was pretty much a damp moldy mess. Everything was free for taking, but somehow I still manage to spend $50 on a lot of slide rules. I think I threw away half of it when I got home and could look at it in the light. Note to self: Don't ever let my life start to look like this!

Bronze Lion Fail

I like walking up the driveway right when the sellers open the garage door. It means you're first in to the sale. (Being first in is not hard, what's hard is finding a sale where's there actually anything interesting!) But this time, there was this awesome giant bronze lion. It measured 16" across base, was signed E. Delabriere, and I could tell it was probably 100 years old. They just don't make stuff like this anymore. I paid my $10 and loaded it into the car with a big smile on my face. I sent pics to an auctioneer who estimated it at $1000-$1500. Not bad. So I boxed it up and mailed it to the auctioneer ... who took a look at it and decided it was not an original, and not something he wanted to sell. Sigh. So, I had to pay UPS Store about $50 to box it up and mail it back to myself. Sigh. Now with shipping it twice, I'm almost $100 into this bronze lion who is worth something less than $1000 (which is still pretty good). I'm going to hold on to Mr. Lion for a while, because he's still awesome and maybe I'll have a shelf upstairs (i.e. not a shelf in the basement) to put him on someday.

Yard Sale Strategies - Building Lots

There's a lot of junk out there in Yard Sale Land. Plenty of little items that are just useless to a dealer. But, what if we buy them one at a time, and save up a BIG lot? Since I know I'll be doing this for a long time, I like to buy little cheap items and toss them in a box until I have a lot worth selling. I do this with Kooshes, Legos*, Scrabble games, and slide rules. (I have also done this in the past with Star Wars lightsabers and Build-a-Bear clothing, but those specific markets have largely gone south.) A big lot of Kooshes will go for a few bucks per Koosh, which is not bad when they only cost a quarter or two each. One thousand tiles from 10 Scrabble games are worth about $100 on eBay. When it's a slow yard sale day, buying silly little things can build some great lots over time.

* See the article, The Problem with Legos!

The Oldest Thing I've Ever Found at a Yard Sale

Aside from a set of agate bookends or that geode (which would be millions of years old), the oldest thing I've bought at a yard sale (for just $5) was this 17th century German Bellarmine jug, circa 1650s. The stoneware jugs draw their name (and possibly likeness??) from Cardinal Bellarmine (1542-1621), a very unpopular figure at the time. They were used as serving jugs in taverns, carrying liquids between casks and mugs. It sold for $284 on eBay.
I think the next two oldest items would be a 1770s Sons of Liberty-printed newspaper called The Massachusetts Spy, and a circa 1810s jasperware urn commemorating the British Naval heroes Howe and Nelson. Cool stuff.

Neil Armstrong - Cashing in on Dead Celebrities (sorry!)

Neil Armstrong died. A quiet American hero.

This was NOT opportunistic price gouging, but I had literally been processing some photos to list on eBay when the news came through my BBC newsfeed. I had a pair of small bronze medallions, probably common pieces produced in the tens of thousands, featuring the likenesses of the Apollo 11 crew, manufactured shortly after the moon landing in 1969. One had sold on eBay shortly before for $15. With the news of his death, I knew mine would go for more, and I got a $50 Buy It Now within a few hours for the pair.

This happens a lot. Michael Jackson's death immediately turned Thriller LPs into $50 to $100 records (up from $5) for a few weeks. They sell for $5 again today. I know record dealers who had dozens of them in stock at the time of his death, and really cashed in with all his albums. Ditto for the World Trade Center tragedy, catapulting the prices of souvenir pieces into the hundreds before eBay prohibited their sale for a few months.

Sentiments aside, I think this is a good argument to leave out the emotions and approach your collecting or dealing rationally!