Re: An Ebay experiment

Hello Jonathan.
One thing to keep in mind about ebay is that it tends in the very large
majority towards a flee-markety attitude. On the other hand even if 99% of
the folks on their are bobbing for nickel apples that leftover 1% is still a
very large number. A few other things to keep in mind, though, to avoid
unpleasant experiences: identify the absolute lowest price that you are
willing to sell an image for and then add the 15% or so for the costs that
will be incurred by ebay's bite, postage and the like; identify all of your
terms of production to avoid having to answer too many questions about your
work. I of course do not know what works on ebay even though I've had
500-odd experiences with the little beast...what works today might not work
even later today. One never knows. Ebay might well provide a revenue flow
of some sort or not. It is certainly worth a try.
Good luck,
and best wishes,
John Ptak

----- Original Message -----
From: "Yves Gauvreau" <gauvreau-yves@sympatico.ca>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: An Ebay experiment

> Jonathan,
>
> It's a good idea in principle but in practice the fees will most probably
> eat all your profits. I don't recall his name or his website though I
> could
> check it out but from what I recall this guy (a relatively known
> photographer) experience was a waste of time and money. But all this may
> very well depend on the kind of work you do, I live in Montreal and we
> have
> a place where in the summer artists sell there work on the street, this
> summer I saw some b&w and colored b&w photographs (silver prints) on
> display
> and I took the time to speak to these guys how things where going and the
> reply I got was that most of what they sold there where photos of old
> building with nice looking doors. All of them had the same experience, if
> you have right kind of "doors" for the ebay market maybe it will be a very
> different story.
>
> Best of luck (maybe I shouldn't have said that...)
> Yves
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Bailey" <jon@jonathan-bailey.com>
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
> Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 11:55 AM
> Subject: An Ebay experiment
>
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> I assume we're all trying to figure out ways to more successfully market
>> ourselves. Sitting around with friends at Thanksgiving, it was suggested
> I
>> try listing some of my images on eBay, just to see what might happen.
>>
>> I thought it over and decided to list some of my smaller, older images on
>> which I also have an abundance of inventory. I decided to start the
> bidding
>> at a considerable discount - $75 (retail in a gallery on this size work
>> is
>> currently at $400). I won't list my newer (or larger) work. I'll
>> concentrate listing work which is not likely to be exhibited anytime
>> soon,
>> since interest is in my newer work - especially the Summer Ice series of
>> Newfoundland icebergs. And, I decided to not list in the "Photography"
>> category, using the "Collectables" listing instead (so much of the stuff
> in
>> the "photography" listing is gawd-awful....).
>>
>> I sent out a e-mailing to my mailing list, assuming this group would be
>> my
>> most likely audience. I really liked the idea of offering my mailing list
> a
>> holiday discount - and, everyone loves a deal!
>>
>> My friend, a museum curator, offered to write the description for me. We
>> thought having it in the third person might read better than in the first
>> person. And, for the moment, the first four images are listed through her
>> eBay ID, although we've since decided I would list them on my account in
> the
>> future (noone knows our names anyway - just our eBay ID's, so what
>> difference does it make?).
>>
>> My first group of four images are listed at the URL's below. I'm going to
>> list another group beginning tomorrow so as to end the auctions on a
> Sunday
>> evening (an advantage, I believe). I now have bids on all four auctions
>> (!) - and two of the bidders are unfamiliar to me! So, I also seem to be
>> expanding my audience and mailing list! I am very encouraged and will
>> run
>> weekly groups at least through the 25th - perhaps beyond.
>>
>> I believe we artists must take more control over our sales and promotion.
> I
>> think the gallery system is to a very large extent bankrupt (both
>> financially and morally) - both for the owners and (but for a very few)
>> artists. It doesn't look to me that many artists are gaining much cash
> flow
>> from them - either because they sell only occasionally, and/or have
> trouble
>> getting paid when they do.
>>
>> What are your experiences??
>>
>> If you're interested in my eBay experiment, have a look: (And, if you'd
> like
>> to be on my mailing list send me a note - off list!)
>>
>>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6231533790&rd=1&sspagenam
>> e=STRK%3AMEWA%3APIC&rd=1
>>
>>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6231536037&rd=1&sspagenam
>> e=STRK%3AMEWA%3APIC&rd=1
>>
>>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6231537665&rd=1&sspagenam
>> e=STRK%3AMEWA%3APIC&rd=1
>>
>>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6231539900&rd=1&sspagenam
>> e=STRK%3AMEWA%3APIC&rd=1
>>
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Jon
>> www.jonathan-bailey.com
>> Tenants Harbor, Maine
>>
>
Received on Sat Dec 3 12:08:44 2005