eBay and Sea Glass

After poking around a bit with searches, I have created an eBay account to try to sell sea glass on eBay.

When I looked, it appeared that there are lots of people who offer sea glass, and quite a few of the listed items actually end up selling. From what I can tell, their glass isn't necessarily any better or different from what I typically find.

The spectacular emerald heart was what got the whole thing started-- it's flawless and large, and people seem willing to pay good money for sea glass hearts in almost any condition.

If I could use this to add a couple of hundred dollars of "pocket money" a month, it would not only answer the question of what I am going to "do" with the glass I am finding here (which is significantly more than I have found on other beaches where I have beach combed), it would bring some much needed supplementary income to the stamp business... which is not really going as well as I might like.

Fortunately, the new camera has a decent macro setting, so I should be able to present decent photos in my auctions.

As I pondered this (yesterday), I decided I am going to take the same approach I have always taken with stamps-- and anything else I have sold on eBay: Have better and more attractive photos and better descriptions than anyone else in the market. It either forces others to "snap to" and up their game... or their stuff will simply just not look as appealing.

I am thinking I will use starting prices of $2.95 for better individual pieces, and $3.95 for "lots." Some people seem to start all their stuff at 99 cents-- I suppose, to take advantage of eBay's lowest listing fee-- and some seem to have a horribly inflated sense of what their glass is worth. I guess I'll be going along the "middle way," until I settle into a pattern. I just can't visualize selling anything for 99 cents. What's the point? It's not that I'm trying to be greedy... but after eBay and PayPal and packing materials? That 99 cents would be eaten up. As Brian Hunt used to say "It takes no talent to GIVE away good material, it takes talent to SELL it for a fair price." Of course, he was talking about stamps... but still...

Wishing myself luck here, with this new endeavor.

Changing Scenery

The beach I typically visit is forever changing. Perhaps it's because I live in a place that has large tidal variations, and because it faces the often wind-whipped Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Some people might say "So what? Don't all beaches change?"

Truth be known, they don't.

Our house in Denmark, when I was little, was about 1/4 mile from the beach. It was a beach on a fairly protected sound, close to the Baltic-- tides were minimal, and rarely did storms do much to alter the beach landscape.

As a teen, I lived on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, near the straits of Gibraltar. Although there were strong currents and occasional storms, those beaches changed very little-- and tides in the Mediterranean tend to be fairly limited, proximity of the Atlantic Ocean notwithstanding.

There's a significant difference in what treasures you might find on a beach where the most exciting thing a storm brings up is some seaweed, and a beach where the storms wash up logs the size of a small house.

Having lived near both kinds of beaches, I prefer the changes-- even when they have a negative impact on what I find, during my beach walks.

40th Anniversary?

It would be a pretty good guess that I could be having my 40th anniversary as a seaglass collector this year.

Of course, I am just guessing.

I do know that I first became fascinated by these small treasures from the sea when I was maybe six years old. My parents would go to the south of France a lot-- and while my dad was at work, I would go with my mom to the beach. At some point, I noticed that there were "small blue stones" on the beach, so I started collecting them. Of course, the "small blue stones" weren't stones at all, but tiny shards of sea glass.

I don't have any of those original bits of seaglass from my childhood-- they were long lost through a series of moves. However, I still have the fascination with things found on the beach, and these days I am fortunate to not only live just a half-mile from the beach, but also in a location where there is a fairly good supply of glass to be found.

These, then, are the ramblings of a beachcomber.