Can you smell that?
by acdickson
That's eBay success in the air. More specifically the smell of Scottish mist and eBay success coming together in perfect harmony.
Susan and I finished up two shows at the Tramway arts space in Glasgow this past weekend. Fantastic. Our good friend and eBay lover Steve MacDougall came over to meet us. He was there to soak up the new Star Wars movie, the great cathedral, the Oban whiskey (home to Steve's clan!), and to film the performances. The Tramway space was great, it used to be where they kept the horse drawn carriages (later the rail cars) and was not too long ago the Railway museum. But these days it hosts two theaters, a exhibition gallery, sculpture garden, cafe, and projects rooms. We were in Tramway 4, a great space with ample room to work the room and dance up the live auctions. To top it all off, our hosts Steve Slater and crew were magnificant.
As usual, I listed an auction during each show. I've got a PowerSeller starter kit and a PowerSeller protege pack for sale. The former being some quality collectibles to sell (with my help), the later being essentially my longer lasting tutelage and e-friendship. Give 'em a look! The first one pop-offs in less than three days!
Right now we're in Belgium staying with our good friend Wouter. Brussels, Brugge, Antwerp. It's been a whirl, but a nice whirl. Like a leisurely ride on a merry-go-round.
Can hardly believe we'll be stateside in a few days.
Posted on May 23, 2005 | Comments (2)
Greetings from the Olden Country
by acdickson
You can let your breath out, Nottingham, England is officially AC country from now on.
The missus and I are nearing the end of a week-long stay in Robin Hood’s old stomping grounds. We did a pair of seminars in the atrium of the vast Capital One British Corporate Center (recently opened by none other than Prince Charles) and they rocked. Gotta hand it to the folks at Capital One and everyone who keeps the NottDance Festival humming—they treated us like a king and a queen.
Great crowds, slightly more reserved than the US audiences, but fun nonetheless. Did a brisk business in AC Dickson’s Guide to eBay PowerSelling ( one from Thursday night is already up for auction!) and we had some grand finales. The first night we listed a 24-hour auction for lunch with AC Dickson which went for about $35 after 21 bids, and as I write a pub crawl for tomorrow night is up for auction.
Felt good to be back up there on stage with our updated UK show (changed dollars to pounds and got familiar with eBay.co.uk). And I had a few new moves to break out for the pop-off dance. Good times.
Nottingham is a great city, half the size of Portland but just as if not more fashionable. England is the shopping capital of Europe and damn if you can’t find just about anything you want. It’s pricey (the pound has been taking the dollar to the cleaners lately) but there are few bargains, namely BEER. We had a nice stop to the oldest pub in England called the Olde Trip to Jerusalem which is built into the side of the mountain atop which sits Nottingham Castle, where Edward II’s murderer was captured.
At first we were a little disappointed by the (expensive) food, tempura is served soggy and a side of rice at a Chinese restaurant costs $5 a person, but we’ve since found a few spots that are excellent. In fact, one such bar-restaurant called Wax may be auctioned off by yours truly on behalf of the owner. Check back with me on that.
We’re off for five days in Glasgow where we’ll have two shows at the art space Tramway (this Thursday and Friday at 8:15 if you got friends in the area) then finish up in Belgium for another 5 days of fun and festivals.
I’ll finish up with a few fun facts about the UK.
Specs are glasses.
They drive on the other side of the road.
Lager is for tourists, real drinkers prefer Bitters.
They think Burning Man is really cool.
Estate sales are considered in bad taste, they prefer boot sales in big fields.
Your boot is the trunk of your car.
They open up the back of their car and sell things out of it.
Posted on May 16, 2005 | Comments (1)
ePS ISO PROTEGE or fellow ePS
by acdickson
The first question everyone always asks AC is "what do you sell?"
This is the the equivilent to asking "what is the meaning of life" in eBay country. A good answer will lead to a kingdom, a bad one to exile. While many people have stumbled upon a untapped source of easy money (ex-library copies of books on tape, anyone?) and hold their answer close to their heart, AC has never been so coy.
For years it was ephemera or antique paper. Postcards, matchbooks, photographs, documents, advertising, and pamphlets usually from the turn of the century. Occasionally I would get a wild hair in the dierriere and hit the better thrift stores in town (Red White and Blue in Gladstone for you Portlanders who got outbid on my thrift store in Portland, you'll see half the vintage store owners in town on a Wednesday when the new stuff goes out) and post what I found on my run supplimented by whatever hipsterish stuff I had lying aruond that I was through with... rock t-shirts, zines, Dungeon & Dragon manuals, early Lighting Bolt CD-R's and the like.
And that was about it. But after making a name for myself as an eBay semniar speaker my economic need to post auctions on a weekly basis has dwindled. And what's more, when I'm between speaking fees I tend to have more than enough prospective clients to keep me busy.
That's right, there's a steady stream of folk wishing for me to list their collectibles on eBay for a cut of the take. Truth be told, I've had to turn away more people than I can help. Partly it's a matter of geography, party of time.
That's why I'm looking for a protege or even better a fellow professional PowerSeller I can refer people too. Now, most of these requests come from Portlanders, so if you live there and are interested, amen. But if you live elsewhere, please get in touch as well. My reach spreads wide.
While consignment selling on eBay has it's own bumps in the road, I think it's the very best way to make money on eBay providing you aren't already sitting on thousands of dollars of antiques yourself. Half the eBay is game is finding good stuff to sell, so if you got it knocking on the door, that's half the battle. So, if you're game, get in touch and we can see where you're at with your selling and share some thoughts about consigning. I already got a potential job on the line for you.
All the rest of you, good luck winning that dream date with Carmen Electra.
Posted on May 1, 2005 | Comments (3)