Guest Post: Collectible Vintage Playing Cards

My friend Sally has a wonderful eBay store (thousandsofcards) specializing in vintage playing cards.  Through Sally I have also come to really enjoy these cards, and have some charming vintage Dachshund playing cards in my personal collection.  Sally wrote a great blog article to share here about collectible vintage playing cards:

Collecting single -- opposed to decks -- playing cards is a popular hobby among senior citizens around the world and is becoming popular with younger people too. Many seniors collect cards because of the warm childhood memories cards reawaken in them. Others collect single playing cards because they are introduced to this wonderful hobby through friends of theirs and because they enjoy the fun of sharing and trading cards with one another.


I began collecting single playing cards when I was very young in the 1950s. They were called trading cards at that time because young girls would spend hours trading cards with each other and because these cards did not have any numbers of suits such as the King of Diamonds on the reverse side of them -- they were blank on the reverse side. This wonderful childhood hobby entertained me and my older sister for hours on end. When we became teenagers, however, our interest turned to boys and our cards were donated to charity. In the early 1990s, my brother Jim gave me a book on antiques for a holiday gift. That book revived my interest in single playing cards. I soon met a man who lived close by who was also a collector and he helped me revive my love of collecting cards by introducing me to other collectors and by giving me several boxes of single playing cards. Today my collection is much larger than the collection I had as a child and the number of traders I share my cards with has also grown exponentially.

I love this hobby and sharing my knowledge of cards with others. I sell my extra/duplicate cards online to collectors around the world. Some people collect only specific types of cards such as art deco style single playing cards or single playing cards that have a picture or drawing of a Dachshund or Scottie Dog on them. Other people collect only cards that advertise Liquor products or Tobacco products. Still others, like me, collect all kinds of cards. While I have my favorites -- cards with pictures or drawings of animals on them -- I also enjoy cards with people, paintings, scenes, railroads, ships, and vintage ads on them. I trade with several other collectors on a monthly basis and am amazed at the number of different single cards there are. Friends of mine search for cards for me regularly and my gifts on birthdays and holidays always include cards.

Please visit my eBay Store to see the types of cards that are available and of interest to collectors.  ThousandsOfCards on eBay
 
Thank you, Sally, for this great blog post!

eBay's Best Offer: A Great Way to Increase Sales

I taught preschool for years, and I really loved the children but sometimes joked that teaching preschool was a great way to learn patience.  The same could be set of Best Offer on eBay.  It is a great way to improve sales, although it may at times also teach a seller the value of patience!

I have used Best Offer for years and I am a real believer in it.  I think it is an even more useful sales tool in our "down" economy.  It works a bit like an auction in reverse.  You list your item at the price you really want to sell at and buyers will make an offer for what they think the item is worth.  You then decide whether to accept their offer or not.

Going in to Best Offer, you need to realize you will get some occasional silly offers -- i.e. an offer of $1 for an item that is worth $100.  I have learned over time to handle these by countering with a reasonable offer and a little note that says something like:  "Thanks for your offer!  I can usually discount __% with Best Offer" or "Thanks for your offer!  $___ is the lowest I can take for this item."

I have Best Offer on everything but ephemera (vintage Valentines, Christmas cards, postcards, etc.).  Since I already offer free shipping on my vintage paper items, I don't want to negotiate lower;  however, I periodically have Markdown Manager sales on all my ephemera.  (I am running one right now for $1 off each card.)

I have not inflated my prices before adding Best Offer, as I want to stay competitive in eBay's Best Match search.  I would recommend against inflating prices to add Best Offer for this reason. 

For the items with Best Offer, I always accept offers of 10% - 15% off.  If someone offers less, I may accept or may counteroffer with a polite note.  I am a huge believer in the counteroffer with a polite note, as I feel this generates regular sales for my store.

Occasionally buyers will repeatedly send ridiculously low offers, or send offers with a rude note like "$1 is all this is worth."   I just decline with no note, and block those buyers. 

I hope you find Best Offer beneficial too!  I make Best Offer sales most days, and think it is a great eBay tool.

Vintage Children's Books to Look For: Fold-Out Panorama Books

I personally love these fold-out panorama books, and they have always done well for me on eBay.  I have a couple of these books in my personal collection -- one is 1940's vintage and folds out 10 feet long.  They are so charming and make a great tableau for displaying collectibles at home or in an antiques booth.  I just listed two different panorama books that are particularly nice:  Hickory Dickory Dock 1963 Platt & Munk Foldout Panorama and Animal Panorama 1964 Fold-Out Book McLouglin Brothers.  Animal Panorama is especially cute, featuring a Beagle puppy on the cover and on page of the fold-out panorama.   Very sweet!

Vintage Children's Books to Look For: Unusual Pop-Up Books

I have always done well on eBay with unusual pop-up books.  This one is really unique and I hope it will do well.  It is a pop-up book of the Presidents, from George Washington to Lyndon Johnson.  (Not all presidents are pictured.)   I'm including a couple of photos for you -- the pop-up picture of John F. Kennedy at Cape Canaveral is particularly nice.  If you'd like to see this item on eBay, you can peek at: History of Our Presidents 1960s Vintage Pop-Up Book PB

Selling Coupons on eBay

Over the years, I've focused on my favorite niches on eBay -- vintage children's books and ephemera.  Occasionally, though, I find something that I want to list that isn't in one of these areas.  I usually list these items either once for a 7 day auction or once for a Fixed Price 30 day listing.  If the items don't sell, they then go in a donation box for my next trip to Salvation Army to donate items.

A couple of weeks ago I received these coupons in the mail.  They are for Purina horse feed.   One is for a free 50 pound bag.  Great!  -- except, I don't have a horse.  So, I tried listing them on eBay for a 7 day auction just to see what would happen.  I started the auction at 99¢.  To my surprise, they bid up to $10.01.  Neat!  I will certainly list other "free stuff" coupons that I find on eBay.  I'm not going out looking for them, but if I find them they will go online.

If you'd like to see the closed auction, you will find it here:  Auction for Purina Horse Feed.