Ebay Searching

Dan, you are right! I also do that and have won some great deals that way!!

... and

Ok, 'splain it to the dummy. I'm not sure I understand what you are typing in for a search. Do you mean spelling the words wrong, or what?

I collect paperweights. I sometimes search for glass instead or perfume bottles which will sometimes bring up a much more valuable item that is a paperweight. Not sure exactly what he search for. The idea is to not always search as the item shouldbe listed!

Spelling?... yes among other things. Some leave out key words like a brand name, size, or date. For some things what it is made of determines its value like wood, steel, silver, gold, marble, ect...

It depends a great deal on what type item you are looking for. >THIS< for example might bring in only a few hundred dollars if they had left the 'PCGS' out of the title.

Ok, so I collect powder puff music boxes. I usually search for music (or musical) powder box. Any suggestions?

I was also checking the other day for a sony mavica fd75 camera. I have one and I love it for ebay. I wanted my sister in law to get one. The only ones I found were wayyyyy overpriced. I couldn't believe it. You'd think sony would keep making something so popular. So finding one of those for a decent price might be impossible. I think mine new was only ?? $80/$90

Don't know much about them, but just off hand I also see several listed as 'Trinket' box, or 'Compact' box. Saw one that is described as a Music Pill box, and one as a 'Musical Powder Compact' (left out the word box).

Gosh I guess I never thought about looking for things that way!

I tried your searches but didn't find any of what I was thinking of. If you type in trinket box you get over 5,000 items!! This is what I mean, 3285597473, and items like this.

Mg, try doing that sort of thing right on Ebay search. Use different words and combos.

That's what I did. I've never used the AS search.

Type in your search for 'Musical Powder Box' found 18
On the left, click on Vanity, Perfume & Shaving
Now back to the search and enter music* 77 items found

To narrow search click on powder jars 25 found

Oh, the square one? but that's not the type I look for.

did an edit above... sorry about that.

MG, there was not 5000 trinket boxes..only almost 6000!! roflmao!!!

I should be selling the boxes not looking for more to sell anyway!! My mom had one when I was a kid and I was intrigued with it. Then one year she gave each of us one on our birthdays. Of course "favorite" sister got the one mom had. BUT, I got the last laugh, because when she moved to Missouri and sold it on her auction, I bought it!! LOL I hope mom "got it" that she's not so "special" after all.

Lol, MG!.. I kind of got into paperweights the same way. There are no two alike. I do only collect one artist, however...well family of. So, my searches are not so vast!

I have to go to bed. grandmaw is pooped out!

I was recently looking for sterling silver tableware, made by Lunt, in the Mount Vernon pattern. I got a whole set at the opening bid because it was listed as Mount Veron, without the middle N, and didn't show up on a "proper" search. Another set, correctly spelled, went for almost double that price.

Mg - I too am addicted to things I grew up with My parents used to have one of these and I now have about a dozen (a couple of kits, and the rest assembled). Then there was my MAJOR addiction (click here), which thankfully is a set of 48 so I got to stop when I bought them all ... although they come in 3 colors (and 2 different designs - solid and picket fence) ... one woman I used to bid against has complete sets of all three colors!

re: searches ... the state glasses are made by hazel atlas, but many people confuse thier logo with anchor hocking. I got quite a few of them by including anchor hocking in my searches:

(hazel atlas,anchor hocking) +state  

I also searched on 'gay fad', which is the company that painted them. Took me a couple of years to get the complete set, but that itch has finally been scratched

I wish I wanted something inexpensive!

I started by catching up on 30 years of jewelry-buying. (We were super-broke for years, and now we are OK - or we will be if I cool it with my ebay addiction, that is.) After pearls, sapphires, opals, diamonds, amethysts, onyx, garnets, tanzanites, tourmaline, etc., I had exhausted that urge.

Then, I went on to crystals, rocks, and minerals, replenishing and augmenting a childhood collection mostly lost over the years, until I had worn that out.

Likewise, sea shells, a collecting hobby my uncle had started me on. (shell*, seashell*, sea shell*)

Then Noritake in the pattern inherited from my husband's grandmother.

Then extra pieces of Blue Willow (my daily pattern).

Then more dishes to add to an inherited set - ruby-flashed king's crown thumbprint glassware.(Wow! Many ways to search for that!)

Then the silver pattern.

Along with that, a little bit of long-lost favorite music.

I've hunted up bargains, and paid a fraction of retail, so I'm happy overall. What I've gotten brings me pleasure, makes me smile with happy memories, serves us well for hospitality to friends and family, and leaves an inheritance for my children.

BUT, I am afraid to look up one more category, lest I go off on another buying binge! If I'm not careful, I'll start an "addicted to e-bay" collection. I need that T-shirt - Stop me before I bid again!

Littlebit - what noritake pattern? I have a service for 16 in the sweet leilani pattern! I decided it wasn't doing much good stuck in the buffet, so I broke it out and use it as my daily dinnerware (I have my grandmothers Shelley 'Sheraton' for special occasions). I found a china outlet that's usually MUCH cheaper than anything on eBay for noritake ... Caplan Duval. They even have those 'really hard to find' pieces like demitasse cups and coffee mugs! They're sometimes a little slow on shipping, but they pack extremely well and don't gouge on shipping.

I too have a pretty good collection of semi-precious stones I've bought on eBay. My favorites are mexican crystal fire opals and peridot. One of these days I'll have them mounted into something

BJ - That's funny! We have some similar tastes. Maybe I bid against you on the opals and all. I also have loose ones, waiting to be set, as well as some already in jewelry. Peridot is my birthstone - but not that many people appreciate it. Do you have any topaz? I can hardly find the old-fashioned golden color anymore - I think it's called imperial topaz. I don't have any ruby or emerald, yet, but I do like just about all stones. My next gemstone purchase will probably be iolite.

My Noritake is the Royal Ruby pattern. Pretty.
I agree about using our "nice" things all the time. If we don't, what's the use? If they break, they break. We can get more. Our heirs would only enshrine our favorite collections after we're gone, anyway - or sell them on ebay!

I use my Blue Willow every day, and my king's crown at least once a week and my Noritake at least once a month, and for all special occasions. I like to honor my friends and family by serving them with my best. And I'm a bit of a nut about tea, so I often have tea parties. I'm normally down to earth, and don't do foo-foo frilly, but when my friends and loved ones sit at a damask covered table, enjoying chicken salad, cucumber sandwiches, and lemon bars on fifty-year old china, with lovely music and lively conversation, then they and I are refreshed. I believe in making life beautiful, when I can.

My, how I do ramble.

Anyway, thanks much for the tip about that china outlet! I appreciate it!

I don't have any topaz - but I've got plenty of citrine I also found a very nice round garnet wire wrap pendant that I'm planning on having turned into a stick pin. As to emerald and ruby ... I can't seem to find good quality stones on eBay. My uncle was a jewler and I inherited his wife's emerald pendant. It's flawless and has such an intense green fire that almost everything else I see doesn't even compare.

I bought some bulk rough peridot that I need to tumble and have drilled ... it should make a really nice necklace. I just need to decide who to give it to for a birthday/christmas gift

I just looked on Caplan Duval for your pattern ... looks like they don't carry it - but give them a call (they have a toll free number) - they might have some stock, or at least point you to another source. Replacements.Com has a few pieces listed, although I usually find their prices a tad high. Just remember eBay isn't always the best bargain

Thanks for checking the store for me. Royal Ruby is harder to find because it is from the time before the pattern names or numbers were written on the back of the pieces like they are now. I had to sleuth around quite a bit to even find the name on a replacement web-site. It is almost identical to another pattern called Conway, also hard to find - the only difference is that Royal Ruby has a gold trim, while Conway has brown/brick trim. Both patterns mix together well.

I have found pieces on ebay with search parameters of Noritake (nippon toki kaisha, made in occupied Japan) and Noritake (Conway, Royal Ruby, unk*). Once in a while I just check Noritake, but there is so much. I'll call that store for those elusive missing pieces.

By the way, I love citrine! It seems so cheerful and friendly (for a rock, that is ). I have a lot of citrine, from tiny tumbled and polished bits to big clusters. I also like plain old sodalite - not really semi-precious, I guess, but it looks great with blue jeans! (Sodalite is a dark blue with white variegation, like lapis lazuli without the golden touch.) Fluorite can be real nice, too. Also kyanite, jasper, vanadanite, and plain old agate. I tend to get the more precious stones as jewelry, and the minerals for specimen pieces.

Men are wearing more jewelry nowadays. Maybe you can make rings, cuff links, button studs or something else with some of your favorites.

Maybe Mother Mary needs new earrings and beads!

My daughter was dating this guy and he always brought gifts when he "came calling". One time he brought me a velvet bag with loose peridot stones because it was my birthstone. I think they are still in my jewelry box.
BJ, I too inherited a beautiful necklace set with lovely green emeralds. I lost a couple of the stones and nothing seems as deep as they are.
Nothing irks me anymore than to have a table not properly set. I guess this is upbringing (is there such a word?)! It is a very monumental task to instill in the grandchildren, but I constantly try.

My, a few of us are awake much too late tonight! Must be 'moon fever' - or too much caffeine?

My daughter is only 17, but when the time arrives for her to be courted, I hope some gentleman brings me gifts, too. (I have six sons and only one daughter. Any fellow who pursues her will have an obstacle course to run to get past them! The nice part is that she is not too boy-crazy or overly impressed by guys' boasts, having lived with 6 brothers!)

Upbringing is a good word.

About table setting - when the kids were small, I outlined vinyl placemats with permanent marker to indicate where plates, flatware, glasses, etc. should be placed. I'm pretty sure you can buy them already marked that way, too. Not something to use for fancy dinners, but a cute item to help little ones learn (while they are still young enough to WANT to help!). I recently printed a guide to proper table setting off a web site somewhere so my kids could have a chart to follow when setting for more formal occasions.

By the way, since peridot is also your birthstone, what day is your birthday, if I'm not prying? Mine's August 21st.

LOL, mine is the 22nd! I have one son that was born on my birthday and a daughter that was born in the 25th!
Actually, this guy that brought the gifts needed all the help he could get. He fit into my "jerk" catagory! And, he is many moons gone!!

BTW, I am not up late! It is 7:30 AM here!

Time zones - I should have known! You are too wise to be doing what I am doing! Actually, I had to teach a meeting tonight(last night,I mean) and, while there, drank what I thought was decaf coffee. I was wrong! I'm not much of a coffee drinker anyway, so I'm really a mess now!

Too funny about our birthdays! I had a son the 20th, the day before my birthday. I had wished he would wait for my birthday, but later I was glad he didn't. We lived overseas in the Philippines at the time, and the roads were washed out due to rainy season. The CBs shored them up with sand bags, just long enough for me to ride in an ambulance the hour or so to the military hospital. About an hour after I took that ride, the roads washed out again, and were blocked by mudslides. We stayed in the hospital a week, stranded, and finally came home by cargo helicopter. My son looked so comical, a newborn wearing those big sound protection earmuffs, in that noisy old chopper. Good memories!

When my son was born, There was a hurricane approaching so I was in for a week long stint! But, back then you stayed three days anyway.

Mrs. M - It gets crazier and crazier!

My son in question is now 25, so I think it was 3 days then, too.

My mom said they used to keep you in the hospital for 10 days routinely. Now it's overnight, if that. My daughter-in-law has her babies at home, very successfully. My son delivered their second, on Father's Day, a few years ago. The Dallas Stars had just won the Stanley Cup, then he delived his baby while on the phone to the midwife. He felt like that was, on the whole, a great day!

quote:

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LOL, mine is the 22nd! I have one son that was born on my birthday and a daughter that was born in the 25th!

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Mrs.M - Mom??
Mine is the 25th of August!!!!!

My brother's is the 24th.....we have a Virgo club!!

Been interesting reading but I have to go to Amtrak in Sacramento and pick up my cousin from Mt. Shasta. The train is two and a half hrs late. Wish I knew that when I got up at 3am (ON A SATURDAY). The train has been in route 2 1/2+ hrs & has gone less than 66 miles. Have a feeling I will be sitting around the station a while. The Coast Starlight, BG probably knows it. It is really nice. Especially if you get a compartment.

Sorry I went a little off subject. Maybe this will bring it back. My BB is Feb 24.

My best friends BB was Aug 25. Now deceased. Brought back nice memories, bye.

Back to searches...

I use the 'or' option in searches which, when combined with wildcards (that's asterisks for those that don't know) can be pretty powerful...

For example, misspellings. A common one is gauge so I'd search for:
Porsch* (gauge*,guage*)
which looks for:
Porsche Gauge
Porsche Gauges
Porsch Guage
Porsch Guages
plus various other combinations.

After a while you get to know what the "can't spell" brigade are going to do and it can work to your advantage.

Ditto selling - I spend a lot of time designing my ads in HTML (using Dreamweaver) so there's loads of information for the buyer. I also tuck away miss-spelt keywords in the adverts for those that search using incorrectly spelt words! Recently sold a well-described item for £250 whereas the same item, briefly descibed in a couple of lines, was mine for £100.

So use bad spelling to your advantage as a buyer and good spelling and punctuation as a seller.

[don't get me going on apostrophes!]

R2