Ebay is continuing to disappoint me. I'm not into conspiracy theories but I do think something is "broken". I get really frustrated with other sellers who poo poo any bad talk about ebay and lump any complaints together with the people on the ebay forums who just rant and rave. There is a middle ground. There are people who see signs that there are issues. I'm one of them. I won't go into any particulars today. I'm saving that for another post. In the meantime my etsy store is doing well. This weekend I had zero sales on ebay with an 1100 item inventory. On etsy I had five sales with an inventory that is around 270. Although I'm glad I started my etsy store and grateful that I'm getting sales there to make up for the sales I'm not getting on ebay there are lots of people in the etsy forums saying things are really slow there too. I didn't have much of an etsy store last year so I can't compare. How about you? Did you have any/many ebay sales this past weekend? If you are on both etsy and ebay how do your sales compare? Do you think it's just the economy and random chance?
The main reason for today's post is totally selfish :) I listed a painting today on ebay. I don't know a lot about art and I had a hard time fitting it into a category/style or describing it. I bought this painting at a Friends of the Library sale. I don't know if it was something donated or if it originally hung in the library. I have another similar one that is of a fish. So tell me what you think! What style would you call this? I've looked at so many paintings on ebay and every time I look at a different style I change my mind about this painting. So help! I'll let you know how I described it in the comments. I don't want to influence your thoughts by posting mine here. So here it is. It is signed but I can't read the signature. It was done in 2003. I can't tell if it is acrylics or oil …or something else. I just thought it was cool. I'd love to hear what you think about the deer with the man face too.
I had 2 ebay sales all weekend. Very disappointed. Maybe the economy has improved to the point that people don't need to buy from us anymore? I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. Hope things improve. I see you have a blog. I'm looking forward to checking it out.
DeleteMissed your comments and outlook on life but everyone needs a break. I have cut back on blogging because I have been busy and anyway who wants to hear the ravings of an "old woman"...
ReplyDeleteOil painting are almost always on canvas, canvas board or mason board. The oil will leech out on paper. You may be able to tell if the painting is oil by the smell. Oil retains its linseed oil smell for quite a while while acrylic will have a chemical smell but not like linseed oil..if that helps. As to the style...ahhhh...unusual is a good word. Outsider art?
Ebay has been like a roller coaster for me. I lost TRS in May and it has been awful. Sales down and all over the place. Usually coming in bunches at certain times of the day. Why? Who knows. At this point I am grateful for every sale since we depend on the ebay income. This past week end I had no sales on Friday, 1 sale on Saturday at almost midnight and 10 on Sunday. Does not make any sense this close to Christmas. Hope your sales pick up on ebay and stay up on etsy. I had an etsy shop (primitive folk art)several years ago and am thinking about putting vintage things there next year. I'm basically waiting to see what happens in Feb on ebay with the new "rules".Good luck with the painting.
That's very helpful. It's done on paper and not pastels so I would guess it must be acrylic. Thanks for the help :)
DeleteI depend on my ebay and etsy income too. I hope things improve for both of us. I'm no longer focused on just increasing my inventory on ebay as I was last year. That did me no good. I have to focus on getting better items I guess. What I'm putting on ebay isn't selling anymore.
Just had another sale…..etsy again! I'm not complaining. I did have two sales on ebay today as well.
November was super slow, the past week has been better.
ReplyDeleteI would call it folk - although it probably isn't technically.
Folk was one of the styles that I considered when I looked through the art on ebay
DeleteI put the painting in the Outsider Art category and described it as primitive style.
ReplyDeleteI had three sales yesterday after no sales for four days, and then no sales again today. I'm interested to hear more of what you think.
ReplyDeleteI'll write more about it in my next post. I don't have any answers though, just concerns.
DeleteI'm with you, somethings up with eBay. Where is the 4th quarter magic? I sold 1 item Friday 1 on Saturday then 11 on Sunday. I'm up to almost 500 listings, my most ever. November was great, December has been awful. Glad I'm not the only one
ReplyDeleteBetween ebay and etsy I had a great week after Thanksgiving but then it tanked on ebay. And before Thanksgiving down as well.
DeleteEither folk art or outsider art as another had commented. Is it on canvas or board?
ReplyDeleteHi Tami. it is on paper. Thanks for the help!
DeleteDefinitely folk art. Also looks latin american to me. Overall ebay has been okay this year, but I was just thinking the same thing about the 4th quarter magic that hasn't really come this year. Glad to hear etsy is doing well for you. I haven't tried it yet. Are those items completely different than your ebay inventory?
ReplyDeleteMargaret most of my etsy store is cross posted from my ebay store. I sell a lot of vintage on my ebay store too mixed with newer things like clothing. I'm hoping someday etsy becomes the best place to sell vintage. I'm going to do some posts on my experiences there in the near future.
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