Genuine Beach Combed Sea Glass for Sale!

Recently, I have been spending quite a bit of time sorting sea glass from this summer and fall. As well as some of the really "old" stuff I found before we moved to our current house in 2011. Fact is, my "day job" (as a writer and as a rare postage stamp dealer for collectors) has been keeping me very busy... and is one of the reasons I haven't been posting here as often as I'd like to. During these difficult economic times, it seems like you must work longer and smarter in order to make the same dollars as before.

But that's besides the point!

100 pieces of Cobalt blue sea glass-- a lot now on Etsy

I finally got several of my bins sorted, and have finished the process of creating and uploading dozens of new lots to both the Etsy and eBay sea glass stores.

It felt rewarding to get this done, at last!

At the same time, I felt a bit of sadness at how much less glass I had available, compared to just five years ago. Sea glass truly is a "vanishing resource," as I wrote in a recent article.

A few days ago, I had a chance to get out for a four-hour walk, taking advantage of one of the few low tide afternoons we have, at this time of the year. In winter, most low tides here in the Pacific Northwest occur in the middle of the night when it it pitch black outside. Even though we have had several good fall storms, the pickings were pretty slim. It really drove home the point that we (collectors and artists) keep picking up sea glass, the abrasive action of surf and sand wears away sea glass... and "new" glass really hasn't been going into the ocean in any quantity since stricter environmental laws (and the advent of plastic containers-- yuk!) were enacted in the 1970's and 1980's.

A recent lot in the eBay sea glass store

It also made me stop and wonder about the future for those who make a living from making sea glass jewelry. What do you DO? Do you try to hoard now, so as to have supplies for your art at a later time? Or do you "cave in" and switch to so-called "man made" sea glass? Or do you completely change direction and start making jewelry with other kinds of material-- semi-precious stones and rocks, for example?

There seem to be no easy answers.

As I walked on the beach, a couple of days ago, I realized that my "gatherings" no longer come anywhere near being able to meet the requests of those who have used my sea glass, over the last decade or so. I feel a strange "guilt" about that-- people write to me and ask "when will you next be listing x,y,z?" A while back, I used to be able to say "next week!" Now? All I can say is "I have NO idea."

Anyway, enough musings for today! This is also meant to serve as an announcement that there are new lots available in both the eBay and Etsy stores-- and hopefully you'll find something to your liking:

North Beach Treasures Etsy Shop

North Beach Treasures eBay Store

In the meantime, I'd like to wish everyone a beautiful Holiday Season!

March 2013 Sea Glass Auctions now open!

The March 2013 sea glass auctions are now open for bidding on eBay!

This month there is a particularly nice selection up for grabs. Why? Not only have the last couple of months been fairly kind to me on the beach, I managed to catch up with one of my old "someday I really need to get around to this" projects. I had a big bin of sea glass that had been sitting-- pretty much untouched-- since we moved, late in 2010. Because the house was a mess of packing boxes at that time, the "results" from my beach combing were just put in a bin "to deal with later." Well, this month "later" finally arrived-- only took me 2 1/2 years to get there!

This week, 114 auctions went "live" on eBay. Of course, some are already gone, thanks to the buy-it-now option, but there are still well over 100 lots left.

The items for sale run the range from better individual rarities in colors like red, orange, yellow, pink and teal to really nice high quality "lots" made with jewelers and artists in mind.

There are always a lot of requests for aquamarine and blue sea glass, so I put a lot of effort into putting a large selection of these popular colors together.

UNfortunately, next month's offerings will be far more modest, as we will be traveling for part of the month, and recent beach combing trips simply haven't yielded a lot of really desirable material. Alas, that's how it goes with beach combing: You never know what you're going to get.

The link below takes you directly to the auction listings:

March Sea Glass Auctions: Bid until Sunday 3/24 at 7:30pm Pacific/10:30pm Eastern

A small selection of items from the March 2013 auctions

January 2013 Sea Glass Auctions

The January 2013 Sea Glass Auction is now running and accessible to all on eBay.

Once a month, I like to offer some of my beach combings for sale at auction. Because I often-- especially during the spring and summer-- am on the beach up to 15+ days a month, I do tend to end up with more nice quality sea glass than I need for my own collection and projects. It seems only reasonable to me to help it find "new homes" with fellow sea glass enthusiasts, jewelers, artists and crafts people. During some periods of the year, these offerings are fairly modest; at others they are fairly impressive. Click on the link below to see the current selection!

January Auctions: Bid until Sunday January 27th, 7:00pm Pacific/10:00pm Eastern

115 new auction listings with sea glass and beach pottery went "live" on Sunday evening, January 20th. There's a broad mixture of "jewelry lots" as well as better individual pieces and rarities for collectors. This selection is actually the largest I have had on eBay since 2009, and the quality is very nice! In addition, there are another 50+ new lots coming to the store later this week, for immediate purchase.

A sampling of the sea glass available in the January auctions. Click on the image to see a larger version!

All auctions were listed more or less "together" so as to end at approximately the same time. I do this in order for the "save on shipping when buying multiple items" option actually makes sense. I find few things more annoying than eBay sellers who offer "discounted shipping," but never have more than 7 (often unrelated!) items for sale.

The "end times" start on Sunday, January 27th at 7:00pm Pacific/10:00pm Eastern time. Closing times for lots are spaced roughly one minute apart, to accommodate those who enjoy "live bidding" on sequential lots.

There is a "buy it now" option with all lots, but please keep in mind that this option does go away the moment someone places a bid.

As stated above, "combined shipping" is available. In spite of eBay's new rules for "trackable shipment," I still only charge $2.95 (in the US) for the first lot and $0.75 for each additional lot. That covers (barely!) the $2.07 for a first class parcel + $0.90 for delivery confirmation, which is now more or less a REQUIREMENT when you sell on eBay.

If you'd like to keep up with my monthly sea glass auctions, I recommend that you use one of the "subscribe" options, in the right hand column.

First Sea Glass Auction of 2013 set for January 20th

As some of you may know, I periodically run sea glass auctions on eBay.

What I like to do is assemble enough sea glass to make many individual "lots" and then put everything up for auction with the same start and finish date. I treat it a bit like a general public auction, where you have a list of things up for sale and everything is available for bids on the same day.

I started doing eBay auctions this way more than 15 years ago, as a trader in rare stamps for collectors. I mostly did so as a "reaction" to sellers who promised me "reduced shipping when you buy multiple lots"... but then would only have a handful of (generally UN-related) items up for sale at any one time.

Don't get me wrong, I do understand the logic behind "always having something for sale," but that's more of a benefit to the seller than to buyers. In general-- and I know this is true of me, as a buyer-- buyers benefit more from having lots to choose from at the same time... that way you can get "everything you need" taken care of in one sitting, rather than getting one or two items each from 17 different sellers.

Of course, everyone has their own philosophy.

Anyway, I have decided to start my first sea glass auction of 2013 on Sunday, January 20th, with an end date of Sunday, January 27th.

I am currently in the process of sorting, grading and assembling the glass to go up for auction... I'm expecting to end up with 100-120 lots, including better and rare individual pieces as well as many "lots" for jewelry and crafts projects. All will be well photographed and accurately graded and described. Expect some rare colors, as well as lots you seldom see "in quantity."

A further announcement will be posted next weekend, with more specific details about the glass up for auction.

Sea Glass Auction: Ending March 11th

After a rather long absence, I'm pleased to announce that I am having my first sea glass auction in almost a year!

As always, this is an "eBay event," with a nice range of high quality and rare individual pieces of seaglass, as well as "lots" assembled with artists and jewelers in mind.

My specialty is very high quality rounded and well frosted sea glass, suited for jewelry making, or in what I'd call "collectible quality." I always return the sharp, chipped and "junky" pieces to the ocean, so they can be collected by future generations of sea glass enthusiasts.

I just finished posting a total of 50 different lots-- I like to post sea glass for auction in large batches like this, as it gives potential bidders a chance to save on shipping costs, when they purchase multiple items at the same time. Once the "base" shipping charge has been paid, each additional lot only adds 75 cents to your shipping cost.

Every lot is listed with a low opening bid-- but if you're not into the "auction format," you can also purchase items you like with the immediate "buy it now" option. Just a reminder: buy-it-now only remains available until someone places a bid-- after that, it becomes "bidding only."

You're more than welcome to "mix and match," meaning that you can buy some lots up front and then bid on others-- and you don't have to pay for anything until after the bidding part ends... again, so you can save on postage. A lot of people like to do this, as you can make sure to get the "must haves" immediately and then place bids on the "maybes" and take your chances that nobody places a higher bid. Of course, some people just enjoy auctions!

Bidding/buying is now OPEN, and the sales run till Sunday, March 11th, 2012 with closing times in the late evening. Here's the direct link:

North Beach Treasures sea glass auctions

Hopefully, you will find something of interest! Pictured here are a few highlights from the current selection.