It has been several weeks since the earlier posts that covered the steps to sell your glass. In case you missed the earlier ones, please see
Part 2. You will feel more confident if you have a general idea of the value for your glass. Most glass is not super valuable and glass with damage is sometimes not worth anything.
Part 3. Should you sell online or locally? Or should you simply donate your glass? You may realize slightly higher prices online and are more likely to find a buyer when your market is the entire online world. But selling online means shipping.
Today we’ll look at one of the most accessible online sites, eBay, to sell your glass. There are many other sites, ranging from specialty antique malls to eBay wannabes. eBay is not the easiest place to work in but it is easy to start and you will benefit from the large user base who use eBay to find their favorite antiques and collectibles.
To sell on eBay you need:
- A valid email account
- A valid credit card
- Digital camera
- Time and patience
- Shipping supplies if your glass sells.
You can sign up for eBay by visiting the site. They have a reasonably decent new seller help section here. First you create an account, then list your glass.
You can list via auction or fixed price. Normally eBay offers free auction listings to sellers who do not have stores on eBay. Take advantage of the free auctions when you can because eBay’s regular auction fees add up.
Take pictures of your glass. I like to use a matte black shaded to gray background and I have special lighting. If you don’t care to invest in those supplies then take your pieces outside on a cloudy day and put a curved sheet of dark poster board behind them. If you are photographing colored glass then experiment with white backgrounds.
Use a tripod if you have one and if you don’t then try to brace your hand on something. It’s a good idea to set your photo size to between 5 and 8 MB. Much less than 5 MB and your customers won’t be able to zoom in well and there isn’t much advantage to larger sizes.
Your goal is to get a reasonably decent picture that shows others what you have and its condition. This isn’t art photography and don’t try to dress up your picture by including flowers or other props.
If your glass has scratches then hold it up to light and get a picture of the wear. Same for any nicks or rough spots, always try to include closeups of any damage and of any large flaws.
You probably will need to edit your photos. Mine are always crooked and I have to use editing software to straighten them up and crop. Picasa and PhotoScape are two easy programs that are priced right – free.
OK, you have your account and your pictures. Now you need to write your description.
Always give your customers solid information. That includes
- What the piece is. If you don’t know, then say so.
- Dimensions
- Condition
- How many they are buying.
Do not try to fool people. One of my pet peeves is when a seller will use plurals in their title, show multiple pieces in the photos, then mention casually that the price is per each. Hmm. That’s a little misleading.
Do include benefits, such as how someone might use the piece, or how pretty it is.
Be sure to describe all damage and describe any flaws that are obvious. People expect bubbles or small straw marks, but if your piece has rough seams then mention those.
This post is already rather long. I will pick up next time with the important points around titles, prices and shipping.