Syracuse China - Going, Going, Gone.

I know I'm a day late and a dollar short with this news, but when I decided today to post an article on Syracuse China, I discovered that it has now gone or is soon to go the way of almost all USA dinnerware manufacturers. I came across this article (10 Dec 2008)from the Central New York Newspaper - The Post-Standard, reporting the impending closure of the Syracuse China Company."Syracuse China Fading Into History"

For a detailed history of the company prior to this time I recommend this site - "The History of Syracuse China"

These two articles will give you more info than I possibly can. I think Syracuse is one of the last major potteries in the U.S.A. to mass produce dinner and restaurant ware. They will be sorely missed.

I have a small selection of Syracuse in my store should you want a piece of American history. "Buy Syracuse China at Quality Junk in Atomic Mall"

Now Hear This - Blog Info

Even though I started this blog years ago I am just now starting to learn about all of the special features. I was trying to figure out how to allow the casual (or even serious) reader to sort my articles by category. Then, purely by accident, I stumbled on this fantastic link called HELP (hello!!) There I learned about labels. Actually I already knew about them, I just never realized that they were available on blogger. I'm sure I will find more fantastic features here once I take the time to read about them.

For now I will be adding labels to all of my posts as appropriate. Just look at the bottom of each post and there will be a list of labels. Just click on the appropriate one, ie, pottery, dinnerware, etc, etc and like magic all related posts will appear. I will edit all existing posts with labels as time allows.

I'm probably the only one who doesn't already know this info, but I'm posting it anyway.
Thanks for listening...

Poetry 101 - Boxes in the Mind

About five years ago I went through a period of personal growth (I think), that was accompanied by an overwhelming compulsion to put pen to paper and write poems that just seemed to fit whatever I had running through my head that day. When I started this blog I included one whenever the mood struck me and I have decided to revive the practise. Here goes Poetry 101, penned to reflect the chaos of that day. Of course as time has passed I have no idea what it was. Thanks for listening...

Would it not be easier
If we had boxes in our minds.

One box for home and one for work
Another for surprise to find.

A box for play and one for sleep
Maybe one to shout and leap.

If only we could live
In one box at a time.

Alas we always in the others
Seem to want to climb.

The boxes in a row do sit
The lids however do not fit.

The boxes only work
If we keep them far apart.

But then our lives would not calm be
But hardened at the heart.

The Old Guy
16 Mar 2001

Limoges - Not A Pottery??

Buy Limoges at Quality Junk on Atomic Mall

Limoges is not a single factory, but an entire area of France abounding with fine porcelain potteries. Kaolin was discovered in France about 1768, close to Limoges, and gave rise to the Limoges porcelain industry. Underground deposits around Limoges also included metals which had been used to provide metallic oxides for coloring enamel and Faience since the Middle Ages. In 1771, Faience manufacturing was converted into porcelain manufacturing, and the first hard paste porcelain was made in the Limoges region.
This first factory established about 1774 became a subsidiary of the royal factory in Sevres in 1784. Following the French Revolution, this governmental influence once again gave way to private interests, and by the early 1800s Limoges was making the finest, purest white porcelain in the world. By the 1830s, there were at least 35 porcelain factories operating in the Limoges region.
The latter half of the century was the period of greatest growth and recognition for Limoges porcelain, repeatedly recognized for its quality and innovation in the universal expositions now being organized in various parts of the world. The finest artists migrated to Limoges to practice their art on the fine white porcelain now being produced to international acclaim. Limoges transitioned almost seamlessly from the Art Nouveau period into Art Deco in the 1920s, and many fine works continue to be produced to this day.

Please do not confuse porcelain from the Limoges area of France with American Limoges items that were manufactured in Ohio. The Limoges China Company was opened around 1901 in Sebring, Ohio by F.A. Sebring.In the 1930's legal pressure from the French forced the Sebrings to change the name to the American Limoges Company. Production ceased around 1955. There is no connection between this company and French Limoges. Search engines will almost always bring up items from both areas so read listings carefully.

This post is a work in progress, please bear with me & thanks for listening.

Sepia Prints Related to Vintage Gas & Oil Companies

Buy Sepia Prints at Quality Junk on Atomic Mall

This post has been inspired by a recent posting on a friends blog related to Gas & Oil advertising. The post is on Vintage Treasures by kittenstreasurechest Here's a link: http://kittenstreasurechest.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/gasoline-and-oil-company-advertising/ .

These are from a set of over 1000 historical sepia prints. Prints are 11" x 14" on heavy card stock. I was selling them at swap meets and malls in the 1990's. I see these on sale as being much older or even as originals, but they are not. I'm fairly certain that most of these are no longer in production today. I have less than 100 different left on my Atomic Mall Store, but most of the Gas & Oil related ones are gone. I am showing them here because I find them very interesting to the history buff. I will add to these as time permits.



Auto Repair Shops & Gas Stations.

Associated Gas Station with billboards.

Early Tow Truck Mutual Motors.

Perfection Gasoline Station.

Newell Motor Car Co - Haynes Automobile.

Butzer Brothers Garage

Desoto Plymouth Dealer

Castleton China - War Makes Strange Bedfellows

Buy Castleton China at Quality Junk on Atomic Mall


Castleton China was established in New Castle, Pennsylvania in the late 1930's. Rosenthal of Germany, correctly predicting that the impending war would impede their production and marketing, contracted with Shenango to use Rosenthal formulas and patterns and market them in the U.S. under the Castleton Name. In 1951 Shenango purchased all of the Rosenthal U.S. holdings and continued producing Castleton until the early 1970's. Production ceased because it was too expensive to make china of that quality here.

The Severn platter shown here was issued in 1958. This pattern was popular and so continued to be marketed until 1972, just prior to the company closing. Castleton is very popular with collectors and replacement prices reflect the demand caused by this popularity and the high original costs of this high quality ware.

For more details regarding this platter please see my listing on Atomic Mall: http://www.atomicmall.com/view.php?id=9092

Other companies also relocated parts of their operations to the U.S. from Europe in an attempt to minimize the effects of World War II. One that comes to mind is Haviland.

Thanks for listening

Well since this is a slow period for on line sales I decided to do the next best thing and go to my favorite Casino here in San Diego (Viejas). It was a beautiful drive on the bus going out to the desert and a relaxing five hours of pounding on the slots. I even won a few bucks. Not much but probably more than I'll make on line this week. Maybe I'll get back to work tomorrow. Then again maybe I'll go back to the desert. I don't know why but there is something relaxing about the casino. and I never really lose a lot. Oh yes! The food is outstanding and cheap, too.
Enough for today. Thanks for listening.

Slow, Slow, Slow

As usual, July is the peak of the slow sales period on line. It starts in June and usually runs on through the first part of September. In other words, summer in the good old USA and along with summer, Daylight Savings Time. People simply have better things to do than surf the web looking for bargains.

Rather than complain I try to use this time to tweak my listings so they are more interesting and more appealing to customers. It also means that for once, I have some time to update this blog on more than an annual basis. It's also a great time of the year for networking with other sellers and buyers.

What does all this mean? I have no idea. Just a few rambles and raves from the old guy. Thanks for listening.

Happy 4th of July To All

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I thought I would contribute to the 4th of July celebration by sharing this beautiful Abingdon George and Martha Washington Vase with everyone.

Description -- 10 1/2" tall x 6 3/4" opening x 4 1/8" base. George and Martha Washington transfer, gold filigree highlights and trim. pastel light blue/green drapes. Excellent used condition with light bottom wear. No chips, cracks or crazing. Bottom marked and inscribed #557. This shape was used from 1940 through 1948.

Historical Data -- Abingdon was founded in 1908 for the manufacture of bathroom fixtures. They began making art pottery in 1934 in order to counteract the effects of the Great Depression. All art pottery lines were discontinued in 1950. During this 16 year period over 1000 shapes in 150 (mostly high gloss) colors were issued.

Buy Abingdon Pottery at Quality Junk on Atomic Mall

Franciscan China in Japan

While many people (including myself) still group all Franciscan issued prior to the 1989 closing of the California plant and the takeover by Wedgwood (England) as California Pottery not all Franciscan issued during this period was made in California.

In the late 1950's, American dinnerware manufacturers were losing customers to the much cheaper merchandise being imported from the Orient. Franciscan planned to try and reverse this trend by manufacturing some ware in Japan and marketing it in the U.S.A. using the already well known and respected Franciscan name.

Two highly regarded Japanese companies were selected to carry out this program and implement the plan. Toyo Toki Kaisha, Ltd. was selected to manufacture an earthenware line and Nippon Toki Kaishi, Ltd to make a fine china line. The two lines were launched and sales in the U.S. began in 1959. The Whitestone Line (Earthenware) by Toyo Toki Kaisha, Ltd. (TTK)and the Cosmopolitan Line (Fine China) by Nippon Toki Kaishi (NTK).



My research indicates that Whitestone issued 18 patterns between 1959 and 1965. Cosmopolitan appears to have been less well received and only 10 patterns were issued between 1959 and 1961. Note the difference in the marks. While Whitestone was issued both before and after the 1962 Interpace merger and probably exists with both marks, Cosmopolitan was not produced after the merger and all the examples that I have seen only have the Gladding McBean Mark.

Another Fine China Line (the Porcelain Line) was issued in 1961 in 5 patterns, but I am uncertain which Japanese company was the manufacturer. I currently have no examples of this line to show you.

After the merger of Gladding McBean Company with Lock Joint Pipe Company in 1962 and the name change to Interpace in 1963, Franciscan's art department was involved in designing Independence Ironstone patterns, a Japanese manufactured Line that was marketed in the U.S. by Shenango/Castleton, also part of Interpace at the time. This line was discontinued in 1976, but some of the patterns were sold to Nikko (Japan) and continued to be sold for some time. Independence Ironstone was never marketed as Franciscan.

Winfield Blue Pacific Gravy Boat - Buy Collectibles at Atomic Mall

Buy Winfield China at Quality Junk on Atomic Mall

Description -- California Pottery. Overall dimensions 7 1/2" x 6", 4 1/4" high. Hand painted white bamboo on light blue body. Good used condition, no chips, cracks or crazing. There is an unglazed spot on the handle (see pic)(manufacturing defect). Current (07/09) replacement value is $55.95. This pattern was issued during the 1950's.

Historical Data -- Winfield Pottery was founded in 1929 in Pasadena, California and moved to Santa Monica in 1946. After 1946, Winfield sold some of their rights to the American Ceramics Company so they began to mark their pottery with the name "Gabriel". Gabriel pieces are harder to find and identify but some of their patterns are identical to Winfield's. Their lines have a strong Pacific Rim influence, often having rice bowls, sake cups, and a variety of small side dish shapes. The lines were either solid colored or more frequently decorated with hand painted motifs.

I just updated this beautiful piece of California pottery and I have a fair selection in this pattern in my Atomic Mall Store -- Quality Junk.

Cleaning House - Out With The Old

I have finally decided to revive this blog and I had to get rid of many of the original articles and revise others. Most of this housecleaning deleted references and links that go to information or venues that no longer apply to my business or personal life.

This effort took a long time and I may have overlooked a few items, so if you run into something that makes no sense please let me know.

Thanks for listening

Kutani Tea Set for Six

Buy Kutani at Quality Junk on Atomic Mall


Found this beautiful Kutani Tea Set recently. It is in excellent condition with no visible damage. It is now listed in my store: Kutani Tea Set for Six

Tashiro Shoten TSL5 Salad Plates

Buy Tashiro Shoten at Quality Junk on Atomic Mall





I just found these beautiful salad plates at my local swap meet and have finally listed them in my atomic mall store.

Description -- Japan 7 1/4" square plate with rounded corners that have a green lattice design. All white body with multi motif floral design. Excellent used condition with no damage. Current (06/09) replacement value $19.99. The red elephant mark is circa 1930's.

Historical Data -- I have very little information about Tashiro Shoten, Ltd. Apparently the pottery was in Nagoya Prefecture, but I have seen references that state that the company had a factory store in Yokohama to sell direct to the public.

Many Changes

I don't want to give up on this blog but it just seems I never have enough time anymore. Just a quick note to let everyone know I'm still alive and mostly well. I have almost completed moving all of my items from Blujay to Atomic Mall. Blujay became worthless to me when they stopped submitting daily updates to google. Atomic Mall has a great system where each seller provides their own updates, but the Mall keeps the files up-to-date so all we have to do is schedule the updates through google. I am frantically trying to update my listings and photos to make it easier for buyers to make decisions. Enough for now, I'll try and get back soon. Bill aka the old guy

Where have I been????

It's been so long since I have updated this blog that I almost forgot it was here. Actually I have been really busy trying to move my pottery items to my new store. (My Atomic Mall Store - "Quality Junk" - http://www.atomicmall.com/qualityjunk ) I am keeping my blujay store and will be expanding it with new merchandise in the future. I promise to keep a closer eye on this blog in the future. Thanks for listening, Bill aka the old guy

More Shots of My Boss

MY SUPERVISOR INSPECTING MY
BACKPACK AFTER
A BUYING TRIP!!!

a

My Supervisor

Just thought I'd put up a picture of my boss. Might explain a lot of things about me.!!!

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I will publish pictures of the rest of my staff as time allows.

Yes I will be posting more often here now that I have settled in to my blujay store.

A Rainy Day in San Diego

Today is a rare rainy day in San Diego and a welcome one for us as we have been way behind on rainfall this year and that can cause a lot of problems here later on.

Among other things I decided that the rain was a perfect opportunity for me to do my inventory. After about a half an hour I gave up the effort as impossible. Fortunately I keep a location code in all of my listings that tells me where the items are. The problem with this is that things do get moved around and this can cause a problem when someone bids on an item that isn't where it is supposed to be. It usually results in a time consuming and tedious search until the item is found. The bottom line is that taking the inventory is a bigger time hog than searching for the occasional lost item. Thus I give up for now.

This has been a slow week for my swap meet searches. Saturday I picked up 6 small oval platters that are Buffalo Restaurant ware. I'm not sure what they are for. They are a little small for under plates (7" x 4 3/4") so for now I'm just calling them side dishes. Sunday brought me a couple of limited edition collector plates. Normally I steer clear of these, but the price was right.

thanks for listening... Bill aka the old guy

Updated for content (06/09)

New Treasure Found

Well I better update here before I get too far behind again. First of all the latest glitch on Yahoo has been fixed and things are about as back to normal as it ever gets. Kudos to the techs at Yahoo. fixed on Tuesday morning. I call that pretty good response. I know they are undermanned for a major site like Yahoo Auctions.

I also want to let you know about a couple of new found treasures that I will be listing soon, probably on Blujay for now. I picked up an absolutely stunning Vernon Kilns May Flower 14" Platter last weekend. This pattern was issued between 1942 and 1953. It is a fantastic example from the heyday of California Pottery. A great piece to add to your home decor or collection.

Wednesday I came across an item that I think is a real piece of Southern California history. It is a perfect Flintridge Flowering Cactus 14" round platter that was Issued in 1957 as a special order for the Jewelry Research Group convention in Palm Desert, Ca. I have placed a picture of this at the top of this entry. Taped to the back is a note from the owner asking that the plate go to Joseph Jessop Jr. (a famed California Jewelry family). I am assuming that this was in the nature of an estate guideline. I will list this soon either on Yahoo or Blujay.

Enough for now.. thanks for listening.. the old guy

Swap Meet Wednesday

I guess I never mentioned this before, but one of my favorite haunts is a local swap meet that is open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. It is usually about the only exercise that I get each week and I try hard to make it every week. I used to sell there about 20 years ago and I know many of the sellers, so it is as much a social outing for me as it is a business activity.

I do find many treasures there and I hope it continues in business as long as I do. I don't just buy things there to resell I also buy pottery that I want to research and learn from. I am in a business where knowledge is money and I try to learn something every day.

Today I spent a few bucks. I won't tell you how many as that is a trade secret. I only made three purchases but they were all good buys. Some nice Furstenburg coasters, a wonderful Furnival Platter (I had never heard of them, but it turns out to be Staffordshire of some age), and a beautiful vintage Lefton 50th Wedding Anniversary pitcher in excellent condition.

thanks for listening, the old guy

Where Has The Time Gone!!!

Wow!! It has been over three weeks since I have updated this blog and I really can't figure out why. Probably the biggest reason is my continuing effort to change the shipping info in all of my listings. I am convinced that people do not want to pay exhorbant shipping and handling charges and I have been trying to eliminate all reference to them from my listing descriptions. Unfortunately with over two thousand listings to change manually it is taking a great deal of time away from more pleasurable activities like this blog. I think I am seeing a positive reaction because my sales are improving and so I am determined to complete the task. I'm going to try and put some interesting articles into this blog on a more frequent basis but please bear with me.

thanks for listening Bill aka the old guy
Updated for content (06/09)

New Finds

I have been exceptionally fortunate in my search for more "Quality Junk" inthe past couple of weeks. These are some of the better pieces that I have either listed or am about to list on my Auctions:

A nice selection of Royal Doulton "Thistledown", including the hard to find coffee pot.

Several great pieces of John Maddox & Sons vintage "Montana", including several large platters in great condition.

A variety of Metlox "Woodland Gold" , includes a half dozen serving pieces.

Some Franciscan "Sea Sculpture" & "Blue Sky"

Homer Laughlin "Rochelle"

Much more great vintage dinnerware

Please check my auctions daily for more new items.

thanks for listening... the old guy

A Few Helpful Hints For New Sellers

HELPFUL HINTS
This is a short list of general suggestions that are intended to help new sellers 0n Atomic Mall.

In general, we would like to point out that each seller is different and your approach to selling will depend on many factors. These include but are not limited to: Type of merchandise, Price range, Your personal reasons for selling (Are you trying to make a living here or are you just hoping to make a little extra cash from personal items that you don’t need any more). What works for one seller may very well be a complete waste of time for others. Please try what you are comfortable with first and if that doesn’t work move on to something else.

1. Probably the first thing to remember is that Atomic Mall is an entirely different venue than Ebay and other auctions (Not better or worse, just different) . Because it costs you nothing to list on Atomic Mall, you do not get all the promotional advertising and site support that some of the other sites offer. You have to work harder to promote your own auctions and to make them attractive to the buyers.

2. Because Atomic Mall does not have the traffic that ebay has you will not see huge numbers of page views for your listings. Your items will sell eventually to someone who wants them because your offer is more attractive than the next guy. Remember that you can list merchandise as long as it takes here, while on other sites the fees rapidly eat away any profit you might make unless you can sell them quickly. It isn’t how many page views you get that puts cash in your pocket. It’s how many sales that you make.

3. Many people are impulse buyers and do not want to wait for days or even weeks waiting for an auction to close and get the item that they want. Set your price at what you want to get for your merchandise and list it.

4. While a few sellers and buyers do not want to use on line payment services like Paypal, Amazon and Google to transfer money, the vast majority prefer them and a number of buyers will not even look at your items if you do not accept some form of on line payment. This again speeds up the process and they like that. Probably the most popular system is to offer all the options. On line, Money Orders, Cashier and Personal Checks. If you want, you can add caveats that checks must clear before shipping.

5. Another major issue is shipping charges. If you are offering items that sell for less than $10.00 you will soon find that in many cases the shipping cost will exceed the merchandise price. If you want to be competitive you must minimize these costs. Use lightweight packing materials and try to eliminate extra packing fees. Use on line shipping to avoid delivery confirmation charges. It is a major plus to be able to state in your auction that you only charge exact postage with no additional charges or fees.

6. Selling on line is pretty much the same as selling in a brick and mortar store and the same basic rules apply:

Your customers are your greatest asset, treat them right and they will keep coming back. Please remember that that many new buyers come to Atomic Mall every day, the way things work is different in each site. Just like you have to learn the differences, you are going to have to help them learn them.

Promote your own store any way you can. Many helpful suggestions pop up in various blogs and forums. Try things that you think might work for you.

If you have problems with a buyer, try not to waste time with them, try and end things politely. Be extremely careful when using negative feedback, the buyers reputation is just as important as yours. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose by getting into back and forth retaliatory feedback wars that every other potential buyer and seller will read. Reputation is more than 50% of the game here especially when you are new. Non-paying offers only cost you time. They could care less about reputation. You have to care about yours.

Try to keep everything in your listings on a positive note. If you have more space allotted to your rules and regulations than you use to accurately describe your merchandise, you are going to find that potential customers are turned off and will go elsewhere.

Once again what works for you will be unique to you. Keep trying different ideas until you find a style and modus operandi that works well for you. Be patient and take your time. Enjoy your selling experience it can be very rewarding or very frustrating. It's up to you.

thanks for listening..... the old guy
Updated for content (06/09)

New Merchandise Listings

Just a quick note to let you know what's happening in the world of "Quality Junk". I have come to realize that I have to list more than the 2000 items that were my original goal this year. Until more people realize that Atomic Mall exists and that there are a lot of good deals here, about the only way to make enough sales here to justify the enormous amount of hours I put into my auctions, is to list more items that may attract more buyers.

Although I still have a huge amount of merchandise on hand that is not listed, a lot of it is just to inexpensive to sell on the net, so I am going to try and move it in bulk at a garage sale or to the swap meet dealers I know. I have found a really good source of pottery at decent prices and I am buying whenever I can and listing these pieces in my store. Of course I still have a lot of good bears and paper collectibles and will continue to list them as time allows.

I have faith in Atomic Mall and I believe we have a great future ahead, not as a substitute for eBay but as an alternative venue to sell items that are just not economically feasible to sell on eBay. I could probably do well on eBay with many of my higher end collectibles, but I just don't have the time right now to work on more than one site.

thanks for listening... the old guy

Pricing Policies

I am often ask about my pricing policies and what criteria I use to determine prices. Since I have nothing to hide, I thought I would reveal these highly classified, top secret (LOL) details to you.

Since the bulk of my merchandise is stock that I have accumulated over the last twenty years and I am trying to reduce the pile to a manageable level, the one criteria that I pay very little attention to is my cost (what I paid for the merchandise).

I have been fairly successful in clearing out a lot of this merchandise since I started selling on line and last month I started actively seeking out merchandise that I can turn a real profit on. I am concentrating on pottery and china (mostly dinnerware) I will buy anything that I can put up at a good price for you that will make money for me.

My basic guideline for pricing is to do as much research as time allows. This includes looking at other sites on the Internet to find what similar items are selling for, looking in price guides, and drawing on the expertise of friends and associates. For the most part I will take the average value of the item as determined by this research and reduce it by 35%. This is the price I list the item for. This is pretty much a rule with me for items that I sell for $100.00 or less. Items that have a higher value are harder to find and easier to sell so I scale this percentage up as the value gets higher. In general I will try and sell items valued at over $100.00 at 75% of their average value.

I try to pass along good value to you. This usually will give me a profit margin that I can live with. This may seem high to you but please bear in mind that this is a time consuming business.

I am human like everyone subject to human error. If you ever think I have overpriced an item that you really want, just e mail me, I'll take a look at your offer and give you a polite yes or no reply.

If you are a comparison shopper as most of us are, please do not use auction starting prices as a comparison. Many sellers have a very low starting price with no intention of selling at that price. They usually have a much higher reserve and are only trying to keep their listing fees down and stir up interest. If it looks too good to be true then it probably is. Only look at"BUY IT NOW" and "SOLD" prices to compare with.

If you have any questions about my prices please don't hesitate to ask.

thanks for listening.... Bill aka the old guy

Updated for content (06/09).

Just a Few Rumbles and Rambles

It's been a long, hot and stressful day. I took the bus and trolley all the way downtown and back just to deliver a bicycle to a friend who had damaged hers in an accident and needed one to use until the broken one could be fixed. Of course I had to bring the broken one back to my house to repair as she is only allowed to have one where she is staying. I hadn't seen her in a while and it was good to spend an hour with her over breakfast.

Back to business. I am one of several volunteer moderators on the Yahoo auction sellers group. This group is focused on getting Yahoo to hear our complaints and hopefully take action on them. Half of the listings that sellers post to the group are dedicated to hashing and rehashing the negative experiences that they have had on Yahoo. I have had most of the bad experiences that they have had and I share their frustrations, but I am a believer in dealing with things and moving on. Unless I have something constructive to say or I have a new problem which I haven't seen before, I prefer not to waste my time on these negative issues. "If it ain't broke don't fix it and if you can't fix it move on".

One of the major problems that sellers have on all auction sites is folks that bid on auctions and than never pay or for that matter never even talk to you. These folks waste every one's time and cut into the cash flow by forcing the seller to keep merchandise sitting on the shelves where no one can buy it until he is certain that the sale is lost. The downside of these NPB's (non-paying bidders) is that there really isn't much that anyone can do about them. The upside is, as long as you don't send the merchandise until it's paid for, you don't lose anything but time. They are a pain in the rear but really shouldn't affect business unless you chose to continue to waste time bitching about them.

I really am rambling here, but I am on a crusade to get as many sellers as I can to deal with these folks quickly and then move on. Once they realize that people aren't paying any attention to them they will go away or move on to find an easier target to upset and aggravate.

I know this blog is read by more buyers than sellers, but if you know the amount of frustration that these NPB's cause you will realize why sometimes a seller may seem a little overly cautious in dealing with you even though you are as honest as they come.

Enough for now. thanks for listening..... Bill aka the old guy

Where have I been!!!

Well I have really neglected this blog for the last couple of weeks and I can't seem to come up with a reasonable good excuse so I'm not even going to try. I'm just going to apologize to everyone and try and move on.

As is usual for the summertime the auction business has been a little slow and this is giving me some time to catch up on a few areas that I hope will improve my service to you. As you can see I have reached my goal of 1000 auctions and now I am going to start culling out some of the not so quality junk. I figure if I haven't had any interest in an item in several months then it is time to move along and return it to the dumpster from whence I may have got it in the first place.

With all of the merchandise that I have, I have occasionally had problems locating a piece when it does sell. This tends to aggravate everyone so I have finally came up with a system (LOL) that allows me to eliminate most of this problem. If you have ever wondered what the cryptic numbers and letters are at the bottom of most of my listings, they represent listing dates and Merchandise locations here in my home which has now turned into a warehouse.

I have also been working on a sales database so that I won't go crazy at tax time next year. I was unaware last year that yahoo simply deletes old files after about six months and if you don't keep your own records you have one major headache trying to reconstruct your sales activity for the year.

I'm not going to swear an oath but I am definitely going to try and update this blog more often in the future. I am adding it to my signature link in hopes that more of you good folks will read it.

thanks for listening, the old guy