Is eBay losing your money?
Featured item of the week
I raise this question based on our dealings this week with ebay through our Silver2treasure ebay silver shop
I realise ebay are reeling from the loss of over a 1000 jobs and significant fall in share price and are even now putting adverts alongside auctions to further disadvantage sellers but are they capable of cooking the books as well?
This week we have had a number of auctions and sales where the final value fee bears no resemblance to what we expected. We sold two similar items which ended at £55. One item had a final value fee of over £5.00 whilst the other had a final value fee of just over £3.00. Read more
Ebay Antique Silver Power seller strikes back!
Antique Silver lovers who visit this blog regularly will know from previous posts how frustrated I am with eBay particularly with their increase in sellers fees. We have an ebay antique silver shop which is the largest solid silver shop on ebay UK. As a powerseller my wife has been trading on ebay for over 5 years and this year has been the worst with over 2 price increases and changes in Policy so far!
To give you an idea we pay over £500 a month in ebay and paypal fees. The average cost of selling an item is nearing 15% of the final sale price. We buy a lot of our stock at auction, most auction houses charge around 17% commission plus vat. Therefore costing over 20% on top of the hammer price. Add to this 15% ebay fees and the cost of postage and packaging and you can see how little room there is to add a profit margin.
One solution is affiliate marketing. Read more
Antique Silver Auctions
Firstly congratulations to President elect OBAMA for his victory in the polls in America. Watching from here in the UK it is clear how significant this victory is. I noted one columnist in the New York Times is quoted as saying this marks the end of the American Civil War!
Back to Silver related issues now. I recently attended a quartely fine antiques sale in Exeter and bought a number of quality items which will be listed soon in our eBay shop. Read more
Antique Silver - Good news at last?
Well after many weeks now in the wilderness it seems Google has kindly re instated Silver2treasure.com into the search results! I am hoping this is a permanent decision and not just a computer error. I had been working on my new UK website for the last few weeks as I took the view that if google was not displaying this site for my keywords of “antique silver” then I would be better channelling my effort elsewhere.
One of the consequences of being dropped from the search results has been a fall in the number of people this site directs to our ebay antique silver shop. Read more
There could be life after ebay
Life after ebay?
Well its been about a week since I started my alternative website to that of our ebay shop. Its been slow steady going as I want to add only quality content to avoid falling foul of any of Googles webmaster guidelines.
I feel it necessary to have an alternative especially with all the bad news around ebay at the moment. With a 1000 job cuts and big falls in their share prices and their own revenue forecast showing gloom not to mention seller dissatisfaction it is always wise to have a fall back position. Read more
Silver Comport for sale
Silver Comport
Silver2treasure are pleased to offer for sale this very pretty and decorative Solid Silver Circular Comport/Dish. It has a 12 panelled pierced decoration to the sides with what I can best describe as an Art Deco pattern dividing them and it has a fluted wavy rim. It stands on a short pedestal base.
Assay Office: SHEFFIELD
Date: 1939
Silver compact for sale
This is a very pretty Solid Silver & Green Enamel Pendant Circular Compact. The lovely green enamel hinged lid has a very pretty central decoration and the back of the compact has an attractive engine turned wavy line decoration. It has a gilt interior containing the mirror and it still has the original mesh and powder puff. This compact can be worn on a chain to make a very pretty and impressive pendant as it has a a link to the top. Read more
Ebay is driving its sellers away
Ebay is driving sellers away
Well ebay is consistent this year, 2 price increases for sellers,changes in Policy for listing etc,new diktat regarding no postage costs for CD’s etc etc etc…………….
So we have decided to prepare for the inevitable move away from ebay to our own independent website.
Until recently Silver2treasure.comwas ranking reasonably highly in the Google search results, then came the de indexing of many hundreds of affiliate websites. Read more
Silver Instand for sale
Silver Inkstand
Silver2treasure offer for sale this lovely Solid Silver Heavy Elegant Inkstand with a Solid Silver Topped and Glass Inkwell. The stand is of a boat shape and it has two decorative scroll ends and it stands on 4 bun feet. It is made from a good guage of silver and therefore is of a good weight. The pretty oval decorative shaped glass inkwell has a solid silver hinged lid which has a lovely acorn shaped finial. This inkwell has a silver pedestal base which fits into a deep recess in the stand so it cannot be tipped or knocked over. Read more
Silver gilt enamel coffee spoons for sale
Silver Gilt & Enamel Spoons
Silver2treasure offer for sale this pretty Cased Set of 6 Solid Silver Gilt & Blue Enamel Bean Top Coffee Spoons. The silver gilt spoons have blue shell shaped enamel backs of the bowls, the front of the bowls being gilt. Each are topped off with a brown/black bean finial. This lovely set comes complete in its original box and also a little gift card from the sender to the receipinet which gives them a little bit of provenance.