Antique Worth

Canada Post returns to work

2011-06-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Out of respect for the employees that were mandated back to work by legislation, I refrained from dancing in the Post office this morning when I dropped off my three weeks of parcels due to the Canadian Postal strike. Although, let's be honest, I felt like it.

As a small business dependent on this crown corporation, we saw a 50% minimum decrease in sales volume as a direct result of the postal strike, that is not taken into consideration the longer term effect. Lack of confidence and general distrust by the average American consumer to the media coverage of the strike.

Media makes the employees of Canada Post look greedy by portraying them as people that walk the rural streets delivering the mail for $25/hour. The proposed wage reduction will not affect those already hired only new employees coming in for a job that requires very little skill set. This is how the union employees are portrayed in the media in this dispute leaving most people feeling, especially small business negatively impacted, like they deserved to be mandated back to work.

But a closer view shows there is more to this issue than what the media has highlighted. Issues like what are Canada Post senior management paid? Are there increases frozen as well as new hire hourly rates decreased? or are they receiving increases on top of inflated salaries currently? What about the history of the union negotiating a fair wage for postal employees being at jeopardy by the slash to wages for new hires? Have you ever seen the movie "Norma Ray" ? Were the conditions similar at Canada Post before the union?

....and more importantly, what has caused a job that is being paid currently $25/hour to only be worth a wage of $17.50? The answer to this lies in our spending and our choices. In BC, we have agreed to allow companies like Extra Foods, Superstore to hire employees for less per hour in order that we could realize cheaper prices, forcing companies like Overwaitee, Save on Foods to eliminate their employees at higher wages and replace them with lower paid employees to remain competitive in the marketplace? we have traded less expensive online shopping bypassing distribution of retailers and going directly to manufactures in other countries all in search of the cheaper price or to support an ever increase in profits? This is just an example of a trend that spans all retail across the country. Knowingly or not we have created this situation.......and now we are seeing the effect.

....and it reaches farther than local spending or national spending, decades ago when manufactures starting looking offshore and at other countries where labour could be had for pennies and quality was second to value for the dollar and again we supported this trend by buying the cheaper made in China. We developed a taste for more left over and having sooner in life, buying on credit instead of saving and buying better quality...

...and the impact of that is a flood of used goods, crap, low quality , made to replace in 5 years, disposable goods that fill up the Value Villages and Salvation Army thrift stores and even the used car lots because of which we don't even have to be responsible for the disposal of our junk, we can just donate it and someone else will look after it....

....to which I say - Buy local, buy the best quality, pay cash, if you cannot afford it- save for it - If you cannot buy local, buy Canadian, try being responsible to find a place for all your used goods - you will consume much less - If only I understood this $100,000 ago - yup, I am part of this generation and guilty of all the above and wondering how I can reverse of make up for my part to my children and future generations that need the room on this planet...

New ebayers

2011-06-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

My pet peeve of late is new ebayers. Everybody has to be new a some point but what amazes me is how new ebayers can ignore and skip over details and rules when buying and leaving feedback.
Ebay is full of sellers that say "if you have less than 10 feedback, email before bidding" Why is this? because new ebayers have unrealistic expectations in terms of delivery and process. Canadian new ebayer don't like to pay taxes, fair enough, they only have to pay taxes to Canadian sellers that sell over $30,000 or more importantly report sales of more than $30,000 . Purchasing from out of country boasts cheaper shipping and tax free, unless it's stopped at the border.
Leaving feedback, ebay prompts buyers several times through the process to contact the seller if there is an issue. Negative feedback is the same as nuetral feedback. It impacts sellers exactly the same.
The best though is the 5 star rating, less than 5 stars affects sellers negatively. As a seller, I cannot get your item to you in the US in 3 days like a seller in the US can, it's not possible, I live in Canada.
Wow, imagine the added challenges if the Canadian Postal system were to go on strike? .... oh, that's right, it has.
Only in Canada...eh?

Working From Home

2011-06-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

There are advantages and disadvantages of selling from home.

The advantages, of course, are when you don’t have to fight traffic, no early morning rush, in the winter no driving in the snow, flexible schedule, you can work and do stuff at home, no fancy wardrobe….it all sounds great from the outside but there are many cons also that make working from home challenging when selling online.

The big one for most I think is the flow of inventory, if you have 500 items online you need to have a place at home to store those items and a system of finding them when they sell, in addition you have to take pictures, revise, access for questions. This is a major commitment of space in your home. I use a tote system. Larger volume consignor’s have their own totes to keep their stock separated. They are stack on shelves and are easily accessible. I use the see through type because I am a lazy labeller and it changes so fast. That way I only have to sort through the one tote to find an item. Shelves keep them separated so I don’t have to stack and unstuck all the time.

For shipping, I wrap and pack everything at a packing station. I have all my supplies for shipping and they are all off limits to my family, especially the scissors. I was forever looking for my scissors whenever I packed a parcel wasting very valuable time.

I keep tape, boxes, bags, fragile tags, markers, pens, boxes, shrink wrap, tubes, foam, peanuts, bubble envelopes, etc. I buy in bulk and use recycled wherever possible. I dumpster dive into recycling dumpsters for the right size boxes and always keep extra. You need a space for packing supplies and shipping, my husband created my packing space and it has streamlined my shipping and saved me a lot of time.

Which brings me to the next point about working from home. Respect for your business from your family. This is a big issue for people who work from home. It’s easy to be sidetracked by life and you can fill your day with numerous family responsibilities and needs, if you want to run a successful home business you have to dedicate time and focus to that business. Some things that may help are a dedicated office, office hours, a headset phone, and a gentle reminder to family and friends that you are “working’ during your chosen work time. I always tell myself – SELF – Would that get done if you had a real job outside the home? If the answer is no, I’m not doing it now either.

The other consideration is social interaction, its lonely working from home if you have family gone everyday. My other self employed friends and I have developed a text network of a sort and we all text each other and support each other. In addition there is Twitter and Facebook, but be careful, if you are a social person by nature, it’s easy to lose your day in the social network which might be good for you and promotion but doesn’t bulk up the bottom line. Commit at least four hours each day doing activities that directly bring revenue to your business.

Overall, working from home for me is better…the 15 minute snack and visit after school for me is worth the effort.

Antique Clocks

2011-06-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Antique Clocks never seem to lose their market, it fluctuates and it trends to different style and makers but it always retains a market share. However, the clock repairman is becoming a rarity. The finesse and detail and patience it takes to repair clocks is not compatible with the busy lifestyle of this generation. It can takes weeks of working with little pieces and small tools and lots of redo's to fix a clock. The works must be in balance to run properly and keep time. This tradition is handed down from generation to generation and with the quartz movement and the price of watches, it is a dying trade.

Over the centuries there have been many good clock makers, and many beautiful marriages of artists and clocks. My favorite are Bronze French mantle clocks. They are so whimsical and such a commanding exposition of overdone art and function. Some of them sell for $10,000 and I prefer nice things of value.

Wooden mantle clocks run from $50 to over $1000, generally, with some exceptions. The key with mantle clocks is the key. Look for the key, working is better than not working, although not working has it's market too.

I sold an Ansonia mantle Clock on ebay for about $250.

The Ansonia Clock Company was one of the major 19th century American clock manufacturers. It produced millions of clocks in the period between 1850 and 1929.

They were located in new York and are trendy currently among collectors.

About 3 months after that sale, I was at a garage sale of an estate, in a garage (sometimes they are not) and there on the top shelf was an old mantle clock, wooden, I asked to see it. They said it was trashed but brought it down for me to view. It was old wood with a broken door that had been duct taped together. It was dusty and dirty and obviously bad shape but I though maybe somebody could use it for parts so I asked their price, paid it and brought it home. It sat on my shelf for a few months untouched and then one day I brought it out undusted a little and had a look inside the poorly taped together back. It was also an Ansonia. I was mildly excited as it meant it was fairly old. I cleaned some more and there on the bottom, much to my surprise, taped was the key. It had two places to wind, one for the chimes and one for the clock, I wound both , nothing. Slightly disappointed I continued to clean it up. Cleaning revealed a beautiful face with Roman numerals, I moved it slightly to get under the hands which were very ornate and the pendulum slid out from under the works, excited I attached it to the works, I gave it a start, it ran for about 30 seconds and then quit.

For years I have sold clocks online and wondered at the customers that bought them and repaired them. Where did they get the patience to work for hours or days on the small components for a so little profit. In the 30 seconds that old clock ran, I think I understood. The excitement of seeing how something so complicated and so old could come to be in that era and the significance of tracking the time passing and to have it still work at least 150 years later. I get it.

Much respect to the clockmaker.

Canada Post strike affects small home businesses

2011-06-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

So…Canada post is on strike again, this happened when I was a kid that is where the term “postal” came from. …and who is really impacted?

Tweeters and face bookers say “Who cares” there are other options for big business FedEx, UPS, small gifts can wait. Invoices and bills online. Is it really that simple? No, it is not. There is an entire invisible economy that is dependent on the postal system.

Small business like me. Ebay sellers, mail order companies, millions of people working from home selling a huge volume of items at low prices that require affordable shipping options and what does that demographic look like?

They are middle aged with children, stretched budgets putting in long hours in home based businesses to make end meets in the post recession economy with high credit card debt, big mortgages, and children with braces. Their children play sports; they volunteer in their community because of their flexible work schedules and often look after the neighbours children while they go outside the home for careers. They are the invisible economy and they are the backbone to green. They accumulated; recycle more used goods back into household usage than all other businesses combined. They free up the space in landfill, selling their children’s used clothes, toys, furniture, books, in a society of have everything new because I don’t like the color anymore, these recyclers are impacting our children’s future planet in a big, positive way.

But will there be a subsidy for these small businesses for the loss of revenue because of the interruption in the postal services? Probably not, because, as I said, this segment of economy is invisible, retains very little political power, and frankly no one cares. Already besieged by complaints from Canadian customers that have to pay $12 to ship the same bubble envelope that they can ship anywhere in the US including Hawaii for $4, the higher Canadian dollar plus the world’s most complex tax structure HST, GST, BST?? If you sell in Canada to a Canadian only. If you sell outside the country no tax collected. In Canada, if I purchase a $10 item on ebay from an American seller, I enjoy $10 shipping, and no tax. If I purchase the same item from a Canadian seller I pay $15 shipping plus HST. Having expressed that I am in a country not at war, I have reasonably clean air and I enjoy free healthcare, right?

Grocery stores that formerly paid fair wages have rid themselves of the high paid staff and as with most retail across the country have replaced their workforce with part-time, casual, no benefits, lower wage staff. In response to the $5 T-shirt effect. Everytime you purchase a $5 T-shirt at a retailer this year remember your $5 has to cover the manufacture, distribution and materials of that shirt. How much do you think goes to the worker that made it? We all want it cheaper, we all want more left over for toys, or better food, or better colleges , or more, more, more.

So as a competitive business in a global marketplace without government cash Canada Post would have failed years ago based on their current structure. Is it necessary as a social program? Maybe

Not one to post complaints without solutions I say lets funnel the profits and uncollected taxes from grow-op incomes into the postal service as a stimulus package for small business. No Business licenses, no business insurance, no benefits for workers, higher wages because they pay cash, no taxes on income. No mailing required….or.....instead of jailing these leaders from growing commercially, let's give them management jobs at Canada Post...they seem to understand assets versus liabilities....

ebay market weak

2011-06-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

Over the past year and a half we have seen the ebay market in US increasingly weaken, the rising CAD dollar, the recession. Are we seeing rebounds on this? Not really. Will we see recovery? I believe some but the ebay of olden days I think is gone.
Truly collectible items, Moorecroft, Disney, will always retain their vale and some have increased despite the economy but there is a huge surplus of "Stuff" in the current marketplace.
What was valuable five years ago has become common.
We must be very selective as we list to sell online and do our research. We cannot rely on previous experience or book values. What may have brought a good price 6 months ago, may not be trending this week. Ebay, for example, is all about capturing one (or better yet two) buyers for your item in a 7 day period. There are 22 million people to capture but you are competing against 1000's of the same item maybe. Research items SOLD. Research key words used in titles and descriptions. It's easy to drive up your listing fees by listing items that do not sell the first time, don't go up to expected values, or don't sell at all. As sellers, we must be smarter. Be careful, the goal is not to have to get a real job.

Antique Show in West Kelowna

2011-06-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

There is a huge Antique Show here this weekend in the Okanagan, West Kelowna. A first of it's kind. Large group from the coast. Lots of dealers from all over Western Canada. Hosted at Royal Lepage Center in West Kelowna.
Booths, tables, lots and lots of vendors. Appraisal clinic with Peter Blundell, well respected appraiser with huge knowledge of Antiques and Collectibles. Cover charge at the door $8.

Antique Blog

2011-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

I love researching Antiques, I like pretty stuff. Victorian, Edwardian, furniture, jewellery. I can research tools and pop art but their not my favorites.
We sell on ebay.ca, ebay.com, on www.igittit.com, on go Antiques, Ruby Plaza, Ruby lane, and www.bonanza.com
Definitely Ruby lane, Ruby Plaza and Bonanza have it all over ebay in terms of service. Bonanza is tops for response time. Fee structure is better off ebay also but ebay has both the traffic and the security features of only a company that established and that large can supply.