Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

First kidney stone at 63 yo 3 weeks ago - all night in the ER. 
2 (count 'em ~ 2!!) different nurses told me during the night I was the first person they'd ever had do the breathing correctly... 4 years of T'ai Chi kicks into auto-pilot!! 

Breathing, walking, rocking-while-walking & the IV drugs got me through.

Yes, definitely like labor.... and then having to 'strain' for 3 days... such indelicate things we must do... 
It means at least 1 additional trip to the little girls room during the night but more liquid's being guzzled!

But the alternative??!! I'll take this stuff as it comes....

Yep, Kim, that's just what I meant! LOL  The ballots are *only* in the magazines (by subscription or at news agents) and submitted through the mail; there's no voting online.

The only ballots available are in the printed magazines. Subscribe or don't vote.  :o(

It's been a 'trend' for a number of years. A number of years ago I was a featured artist in TB&F. It was a Spring issue and I was asked for about 18 bears in pretty pastel colors. I sent in 15 or so and realized that what I'd been seeing for a few years was the photo/editing style of Pammi Shirk. All of my bears had a 'vintage' (nor quite Sepia but heading in that direction) look, which did not suit the style of my work then.

If that 'mood-setting' lighting enhances the style then it complements; otherwise it just looks muddy. I've looked at every issue since then and they are decidedly in the darker, more muted tones. I've seen you gals' work and know how different they look in person!

But, as we submitted our own photos it's in the photo editing process. Even my production printer prints darker than shows on the computer monitor.....so I know the adjustments to make in photoshop. You think they'd have figured that out somewhere along the process.

Blood is boiling here... Judi, I noted your bear's limbs chopped off. And several other infractions. I get so PO'd here because TB&F is such a stickler for their rules, but they don't follow them! 

Plain colored backgrounds?  Many types 'overlooked'.

ONLY 4" width & 6" height format pics submitted? That counts out a lot of bears that look better in a horizontal format, especially in light of the fact that this year's nominees' pics have been cropped to all different sizes..... so a 6" wide x 4" high would have fit perfectly. What's with this???

I'm about to throw in the towel on participating. Too many of us follow the rules, and then these things show up....

Sorry to vent publicly Mindy, I know everyone dumps it in your lap, and a lot of things do change over the years to accommodate eveyone's wishes, but I think there has to be a basic respect for the rules as you set them up, especially by the judges & photo editors at TB&F.

LOL Jane - we do things here that are quite like NO where else in the world!!!!

This IS the Windy City, right? We move Fast! That's like a multiple exposure Mindy got.....

Enjoyed it immensely Mindy; brings back memories of the decide or so of exhibiting in my Hometown Show.

THANK YOU, QUY!!

I *knew* there had to be a reason! I just accepted the default settings when I joined last month. This site/list is so unlike any other - a Good Thing! - that I didn't monkey around with anything. (I've just figured out how to find all of my past posts...)

From the abumdance of 'words-instead-of-icons' in most other ppl's posts, they haven't known about clicking this option either!

And going into another thread, 'pick me up by Shantell', Heather's post has real icons, though not the ones seen here , and everyone else's reply has the words.

How's you do that??!!!!

OK, feeling a bit off-center today, so weird thoughts waft through...
This is the only board/list that I'm on that replaces the smilies for words that describe the mood. 

I usually lose the impact of the next sentence while my mind wanders off on it's own, to interpret and interject the words :clap:   :smile:      :frustrated:, etc... into a writer's thoughts.

Seeing the actual icon just lends itself to the overall mood of the writer rather than stopping at every word and actually reading it.

Are these purposely set up in reverse, to show the word rather than the 'mood'? Is it me or is it me???? 

    ....... or do I mean :o) 

I typed that faster - with my 1 typing finger - than it takes to figure out what each of those icons will reveal in words  instead of just pasting a pic of itself.

Creeping back under the rock in my dark, dark closet....

As I drag my aged bones back from T'ai Chi for Seniors.. what's the first image I see but you, Kim!!!

I picked up on the word 'copyright' and opened this thread, figuring you'd located a free, non-protected pattern! 

W O W....

You go, girl, and you'll never need the gentle but intense stretching in T'ai Chi....

Oh Shelli, I totally agree with you & others about the deadbeats - non-communicators/late payers/etc...

As a Seller, ransom-holding of Feedback from Buyers that pay immediately still goes on; it's a game of waiting-to-be-the-last-to-post, no matter what kind of transaction it turns out to be. eBay's point is that when the Buyer pays, they've met their moral & financial obligation. Yes, the Buyers can still leave negative Feedback after accepting the Seller's goods for whatever twisted reason; some ppl are just unbalanced. That's where the Post-Comment feature came in.

Remember the phrase "Damned by faint praise"? One becomes a Wordsmith in refining that. The best ones are those in which they don't even realize that they've been stung. I've never had a problem, except 1 cheap, inexpensive item that never arrived & I blew it off with no Feedback. 

Some times artists of all sorts are the worst about following through!  Rather than not leave Feedback, I carefully craft my terms - fool me once, shame on....etc...... 
A real wuss, very non-confrontational, passive-aggressive here!

I thought there was a spot on the Feedback that allowed one to Respond to Feedback that's been left. This would allow one to 'explain' and others would have a little better grasp of the situation. Perhaps that option's gone?

This is a bit of a divergence but it's been a bugaboo to me: I attended an all-day, free *eBay University* when they came through Chicago last year (they're listed in the Community Forums - I think!!) and one thing that was advised was that the person who accepts payment has the duty/obligation to leave Feedback as soon as the payment's made. The Buyer has fulfilled his obligation at that point.

Too many Sellers 'hold the Feedback ransom' (eBay's term) until after the Buyer posts Feedback. If the transaction goes through smoothly, what's with not posting immediately? I realize there are non- or late-payers, but I think it's only right to give them their immediate Feedback if they've paid in a timely fashion.

That'd be Bev White, whom I've been with at numerous shows. I thought that she was stand-off-ish before we actually spoke, but found her very interesting and she asked many in-depth questions about needle felting. She approached our conversations as if picking up a thread that we'd left the day before. Lots of us are like that; given the opportunity, we're just Folks!!!

Perhaps I should be buying all of those neglected Steiffs that I see; it may be the only way I'll make $$ in the bear business!

We've toured the Schulte factory in Duisburg. All mohair is woven at a 90 degree angle betwqeen 2 pieces of cotton backing; further processing can swirl the nap but the 'roots' are all @ 90 degrees.

It's best to go with the straight grain of the backing. Biasing of cross-grained is what leads to stretching, especially where the sections next to it are straight grained.

The rolling of the fabric onto bolts is what causes the nap to go off-grain.

Hanging up the yardage before cutting, steaming the nap and re-directly it with combs, hands, etc... and allowqing it to dry in place completely will put it all back into place. Keep it hung afterwards rather than folding and laying it flat will preserve the nap direction.

A frustration or pet peve is seeing bear parts, like faces (or limbs, that should match nap in a same or opposing fashion) with the nap all swinging to the right or left. It's just as easy to steam and re-direct nap after it's sewn & stuffed.

I guess I'm just old & jaded!

Talk about there being a down-turn in the bear business was going around when I began in 1990 - and has continuously been perpetrated ever since. I think most of us go into any new venture wearing rose colored glasses; it always looks fresh and exciting to newbies and after a few years, when reality sets in, it appears to be in 'a down-turn'.

Those that were saying this back in 1990 were surely remembering 'the good old days' of 1986 or 7  or 5... when everything was fresh and exciting.... and we'll be hearing it yet again in '10 & '25, speaking about the 'good old days' of '05......  LLLLOL

Ty to all that've chimed in on this topic. I'm sure I pointed it in a new direction from where Sheila intended. It's still a valid discussion, as we'd all be smothering in bears if we didn't have all of the outlets that we do!

Lisa, though we've not 'met/interacted' before this, I do hope you didn't feel that an explanation was necessary. Your long letter was a nice follow-up; I think most of us followed the saga during the ensuing year. I debated leaving my parting line in on that 2003 column, but decided that it didn't denigrate you or you customer. We were all SOOoo pleased for you, thinking that it nothing if not show us that our work is appreciated by those willing to 'put their money where their mouth is', as we say here!

Actually, I think that there is a parity between the number of bears presented at a big show like the ones by ABC & Bright Star and the number on eBay on any given day, comparing number of bears to the number of viewers in both venues.  There are well over a thousand bears at these shows. Compare the number of collectors viewing them on that in-person sales day compared to the tens of thousands viewing certain eBay categories of bears each day; I think the percentages come out pretty equal if not tipped a bit farther on the side of the online exposures.

This is me now, after 14 years exhibiting and it's still a pretty good trade-off. I've advertised, I've won major competitions (Lisa's pup won out over my Hedgehog Mama & Baby for a TOBY, and it WAS/IS better than mine was/is!!), been a featured artist in a number of international mags, exhibited at and taught from Asia to Europe, but am not part of an inner circle clique or different from any of us here. Just someone plugging along every day, enchanted by the process and eager to get on to the next idea!

Been there, done that (on a farly regular basis).  An article in your local paper looks good on your career resume but doesn't reach your target audience and being in a TB magazine reaches a % of your focus group, but they are still in the same boat as those seeking their 'fix' online - they cannot meet you nor touch your work.

Another part of my Private Listings choice for posting is to get my work into more hands; if one person continually purchases my work, which is Very flattering, no one else can appreciate the fact that my work truly is very firmly needle felted and not likely to fall apart in normal handling. I have too pieces I've bought (for comparison) and too many emails from ppl (students & other NFers) complaining about the quality of the NFed work they've purchased, and how long they spent continuing to needle it to make it stable.

Still cannot hold bears in mags and the limited number of show attendees and the number of true bear artists is unknown/hit-or-miss, as we cannot attend all of the shows we'd like to, nor are they always near our biggest supporters. Or in areas of the country that can support artist bear prices. As much window-shopping goes on at bear shows as on the internet.

Yes, if you've been away from the online marketplace for a short period, it is starting over. Which is why it makes more sense to re-list a bear a few months later rather trhan immediately, because the 'audience' does turn over frequently.

Yes, my tax accountant, every year! She (a HUGE collector) has yet to see an artist in any field make a profit in 3 out of 5 years. Most of us sink it right back into our business and hope that the deductions will not too far outweigh the net profits.

On a side note:
As to calling oneself an artist, I do this only recently and with great difficulty. Too many ppl use this adjective too freely, as soon as the last seam is closed on their first bear. I've always felt it was the perogative of others to use, but not one's self in describing our own work. It's only in the last year or two that I'm comfortable using it - sparingly -  because new fields that have opened to me have proven that I've found a niche - for now....

My rants are over. It's time to start some Creating!

One last point before I'm off to therapy (physical, not mental, though heaven knows I need that too!!):

It's a whole lot easier for all of these points to be accepted by those starting their bear career online (websites & auctions.) and building their pricing into the rising level of their ability.

It's definitely Humble Pie eating time for those of us that've built a reputation elsewhere, to have to begin at lower prices, just to re-establish themselves in a new market.

Continuing saga on eBay - I too haven't bid against friends, Laura, and it's quadrupled when I see one of my collectors holding the high bid!!!

Well, not necessarily, if you're thinking that the 'name recognition' comes from magazine exposure  and show attendance. I 'thought' I was pretty well-known on the show circuit, so it came as a great shock that I was a Nobody online. That's where the 2 separate collector bases come into play. The fulcrum swings toward more ppl having internet access than ability to attend shows within their travel distance/ability.

When I put my business plan into action last May/June, I looked very carefully at what I had on hand to sell. I ranged the items so that I'd begin selling my kit models, my past mohair & uv work and any item that came from my earliest needle felting days. I feel that they are not representative of my current skill levels, so was willing to lower their prices. 

I started with those that I thought were the least expensive and worked upward. Each was assigned a 'spot' on the calendar. I still have at least 18 - 24 more to list, without the addition of new work. Some pieces were held for the appropriate season or holiday and others were items seen at the same show 2 years in a row but not sold. 

Those earliest auctions, in my plan to become a regular presence, created a recognition of my name & work, though not my current style. That less-expensive collector base has evaporated, though I still see glimmers of it in the Bid List, when I have some of the less expensive items listed. To not totally disregard those collectors, I mix in the kit models and a few more seasonal items to keep them interested. It's a good mix to show with my current work, which is getting the retail price that I'd been selling for at shows.

All things are 'relative'; if I'd priced a bear @ $110 at a show and got $50 on eBay I'd add these to the equation:
*Does this piece represent my current skill level? (No.)
*Is $50 better than sitting here in a box, providing that I no longer want the bear (I collect sheep, not bears)?
*Did I just place a bear in a collector's hands that cannot afford my $450 bears? 
*To them, isn't this just as precious as a more expensive bear? (Is the $50 bear going to be worth any more or less to the family inheritors than a $500 bear, if they're not aficionados themselves? I cannot begin to tell you the # of white Steiffs I've seen in antique shops in the Retirement Belts in the States, AZ/FL/etc... To a non-collector, a bear is a bear is a bear...)
*Am I being paid to learn part of a new skill (online marketing), which I'd pay tuition for elsewhere? Yes.

Thereis[i[u no Secondary Market for artist bears. I've seen too-many-to-count artist bears by some of today's top artists in shops, online and every market available. (If you want to feel like small potatoes after garnering $500 on your last bear, see what someone else would pay that collector for it a year down the road) A bear is appreciated most by the person who first bought it and those that might be the inheritors aren't even a factor. 

There are some manufactured bears that have become highly collectible, but we artists have yet to have had enough impact on the bear world that our work will be highly valued and sought after when we're gone, either from the bear world or from this life. 

Three years ago I saw a Beverly Port bear, recognized as the Mother of the Artist Bear World, being offered for pennies on the dollar. I watched it for over 14 months, every time I visited the area, for all I know it's still in the shop.

LOL - you prove my point about not having access to bear shows of any type, not to mention just the top echelon ones! I'll bet less than 10% of us here are within a comfortable driving distance of a good show, to and return plus the hours at the show within one day.

Rant on... it makes us all think!

Thx to those that replied off- and on-list!
It was a very thought-provoking time for me, with much food-for-thought in the insights of others.

To explain my new Private Auction policy:
At the time those articles were written, I had not been an eBay regular, as I was traveling and exhibiting at 6 - 10 shows a year. I had never used a Private Auction, as either a Buyer or Seller.

I've gone to it in the past 4 months though, but only for my more expensive items - those starting at $100. I have at least 2 collectors with very deep pockets and I'd noticed that a pattern had developed, after becoming a regular and builing a small collector base there: when one placed a bid, the other stopped bidding. Which is good for them with a lower end price than I used to get, but bad for my bottom line.

So I'll say this again, while it would be nice to be altruistic and not care about selling, I do do this for the money. Crass? No. I'd rather get no bids and keep the sculpture than sell what took one solid week of work for my minimum bid of $100. Private auctions have been working and it solves this problem - for now - so I'll continue this option.

The other eBay option would be a Reserve price or a Buy It Now, but those seem to be too self-limiting for me at this point. You must constantly fine tune your businesss to meet your individual needs. And put the control in your court as much as possible, while still understanding that the customer sets the price!

Rock on (GENTLY), Shelli Girl!

The Moody Blues' 'On the Threshold of a Dream" is right up there with all-time favorite #1 Albums!

Letter from the States©
by TB3 of  RKR4CDS
Winter 2004

Christmas ‘03 is one week away and I’ve plunged back into using eBay, and into finishing my eBay report. It’s said that the first 2 or 3 weeks of December are a more difficult time to be selling; perhaps monies are being directed into the usual Holiday channels instead. And perhaps it has a pick-up period near the end as the cash that’s appeared in stockings and boxes and parcels seems like permission to indulge ourselves! Whatever the curious buying and selling habits that cycle through, I’m giving the opinions of my correspondents as Food For Thought. And the only consumed ‘food’ guaranteed not to be regretted in a few weeks!

It seems most sensible to break this down into sub-topics. If you’ll recall, I gave a very cynical view of eBay in the first half and invited members to challenge me, agree with me or tell me to… well, I’ll leave that to your choice. But apparently no one was brave enough to take me at my word (and believe me – I wield NO power in the bear world!!) or the column didn’t reach the opposition last time; everyone agreed with me. And they thought of things that I hadn’t and wrote them ever so much more eloquently. I have a total of 65 responses quoted; for brevity’s sake, I’ve combined many similar quotes into one.

No one’s name is used – to protect The Innocent: (those that wish to use eBay in the future and don’t want their own words to come back to haunt them!) So here’s our Collective Wisdom; some ideas to consider (or reject) and appropriate (or not). These words are all theirs as I spouted all of mine last time!

1 – BECOME A REGULAR
I think that the most important component in eBay success is to be posting regularly. You can’t put up just one or 2 teds over a few months and expect to develop a following. eBayers must see a history of continually (but not necessarily continuously!) posting new work, whether you post once a week or once a month. The eBayers that shop for their bears online develop particular patterns for watching the market as it suits their schedules and will take note of your time period for posting if you do it regularly. Don’t become discouraged after a few irregularly posted bears don’t sell. You must create an eBay Presence to be successful.

You really have to spend the time and pay your dues.  You can have the most awesome product out there, but if people don't know your name, you get lost in the crowd.  There are SO many people selling nice products on eBay, and unless there is a reason for yours to stand out, even an outstanding product can go for a very disappointingly low price.  Learning to use keywords in your description, title, and putting up the best pictures that you possibly can are keys to eBay sales.

Don't give up; just don't expect your early work to sell like the "big fish" right away!  Practice, practice, improve, improvise. Get the little critters in people's hands so they can see the qualify of the workmanship.

I thought mine were good enough to give it a try to sell on eBay in 1999. Big disappointment as my bears didn’t get one bid. But… I kept trying, starting the bidding at only $5, No  Reserve, no BIN (Buy It Now) prices listed. I hoped for attention for my bears, and I was just happy that someone wanted my bears, even if the price was less than their worth. I hoped, if they held my bears in their hands and saw the detail in the work they would come back and bid again.. I knew I had to earn it, and that’s how it went…SLOWLY…but better every year. I used a reserve price only once, and that bear did not sell, so I don’t use reserve prices anymore.
If a bear does not meet the price I think he is worth, I am still pleased and happy that the bear did find a home. Not everyone can afford to bid high, so I am happy they were able to win. And the high bids balance out the lower bids. Don’t look at each bear’s selling price as a judgment of your talent; average the prices out, as would a bear show exhibitor when tallying up the profit & loss of a fair. eBay is a place to get exposure – I sell in both markets and for the most part the buyers are 2 very different and separate groups.

I notice many new bear ‘artists’ on eBay go for high prices right at the start. They see what some of the top sellers are getting and judge their work to be of the same worth. Sure, it would be wonderful if all of the bears sold from the start for high prices, it does not work that way. I think it’s important to practice, and feel good about what you make, before you start selling.  Compare your work to the pictures online of the top sellers: are yours sculpted as extensively? Are yours hand shaded? Are all of the features (ears, eyes, limbs) balanced and well attached? Have you learned to set eyes into sculpted sockets? All of this separates a ‘practicing bearmaker’ from an experienced bear-maker. And the most important thing - I think someone said it before - HAVE FUN IN WHAT YOU DO!! Your bears will show it!!

2 – DO YOUR HOMEWORK
I can testify that eBay is not a fair gauge of anything.  eBay has an average of around eleven million auctions on at any time.  ELEVEN MILLION! Imagine trying to attract buyers in that crowd. I posted an item in both the Bear>Artist Offerings category as well as in Doll/Dollhouses>Miniatures; within 8 hours of posting, it was already pushed back to page 17 (out of 2028 pages of 30 auctions on each page) when listed as ‘Newly Posted’. If even I had trouble finding it 8 hours after it first appeared, how would a prospective customer ever single out my one miniature teddy bear.

If all else fails, if you sell your bears at just about ANY price; you are getting paid to learn how to do something.  How rare is that!! Take golf for example.  My husband pays a pro nearly $100 an hour for lessons, spends a ton of money on equipment, 30.00 - 60.00 bucks just to play a round on the course.  And at the end of it all, he's several hundred bucks in the hole, but he’s Happy!  Even if you are selling at $20 a bear, you are certainly paying for your materials and eBay listing fees, and probably have a couple of bucks left over.  You are getting PAID to LEARN a craft!  It’s an apprenticeship of sorts, whether it’s at shows, to the readers of bear mags or online. Compared to the cost of ‘higher’ educations – trade schools, college, etc – it’s a considerably smaller tuition.

3 – PRICING AND QUALITY OF WORK (Not surprisingly the most addressed category, as it’s always a problem for all of us!)
I saw a bear that was the first eBay listing by a new seller: the starting price was $49, with a BIN of $259. This seller had no track record on eBay – totally unknown to the online buyers – and I don’t care how much she gets at a show or to her others clients, eBayers want a track record of Feedback and appearing regularly to build confidence in you and your work before you’d ever get that price. The BIN probably scared off buyers, as I watched the seller’s next few auctions with the same pricing style – none of them got a single bid, though I could see some improvement in her skills over several months of work.

An opening bid of $175??  BIN can be that high, but for a relatively unknown seller – No Way!! Bidders can become wary of her auctions in the future if that becomes an established routine.

Starting bid - $125, BIN $135. That’s too close in pricing to make Buying It Now worthwhile to me.

Opening at $125 and a Reserve Price of $135? This seller hasn’t read the fine print in the Help section! The Reserve price is what you would not sell the bear for less than. Think of it as the wholesale price you’d use to sell it to a shop.

I really dislike seeing sellers putting their prices up high automatically, just because that’s what others are getting. There are 4 old time miniaturists in particular that I see doing this, even when they’re still making the same patterns that they’ve used for the past 6 – 10 years. AND…. there’s been no improvement in their skill level – the bears are identical but for different fabrics. AND…. their bears don’t sell on eBay. It must be a case of “Hope over History”.

I think price is a factor; you have to start lower than it’s worth if you’re new to eBay so people will buy and fall in love with your bears and want more. Then gradually raise your price. I am NOT speaking from personal experience as I’m a collector, it’s just observation.

My work started very slow, until I ‘proved’ myself with Positive Feedback and word of mouth, and now I can't keep the inventory full. My dollhouse quilts and mini afghans also had a slow start until I finally had a few successful sales at very low prices.  I made some simple, quick things and sold them for pennies on the dollar.  I'm now selling them quite well (Power Seller status).  My advice: Start low with the first ones, and you'll probably lose money, but they will sell. Word WILL get out, and you'll be on your way.

One cannot set or demand a price as one would at a show. The buyers on eBay determine your prices. If you can live with that principle and learn from it, you’ll become successful.

eBay isn't really a good indicator of your talent and creativity as one thing I've found that is the same on most bears that are sold on eBay; their feet touch. I've been watching all the bears for the last couple of months and I've found that the ones that don't sell are the ones whose feet don't touch. (Bobbie’s comment: “And when seated, that their ‘bottoms’ are touching the surface, not just the backs of their legs from having positioned the leg joints too low.”) Just an observation, but from now on, I'm going to make sure that when my bears are standing, their feet touch. (No more Cowboy effect!)

4 – PRESENTATIONS
SPELLING!! GRAMMAR!!! I probably represent every teacher and lexicographer online – Where did we go wrong????? The two/too/to and there/their/they’re mistakes are so common as to be almost lost causes, but using Exorcize instead of Exercise or millenary instead of millinery and “I’ve modestly shaded her face to highlight…” instead of “I’ve shaded her face to modestly highlight…”.   TURN ON SPELL CHECK!    PLEASE!!!!! And get a Thesaurus to spice up and eliminate repetitive words and phrases!

*Sorry these photos didn’t turn out very well. He is really a lovely color.
*She is really gorgeous and the pictures don’t do her justice.
*Pardon the poor pictures.
*She is a little upset with me because her photos do not show the nice purple color that she is. She has forgiven me and she is here in all her glory….
(Bobbie: having learned the hard way – one MUST invest time in learning to do macro photography to present our mini to best advantage. And yes, it will also mean some new equipment if you don’t already have lighting and a macro lens.  I bought an antique Marcasite brooch this week for $12 because the 2 photos were so blurry – unless one knew what it would really look like from past experience with collecting this type of jewelry. My gain; the Seller/Photographer’s loss.)

“His beard and hair may need to be fluffed up a bit after his journey to your house! Also, please note that the scanner made this 3-D sculpture look more flat than he is in real life.”
Please  PLEASE – don’t even waste money listing on eBay if you’re going to lay your bear on a flat bed scanner for photos!

Sounding desperate was not something that would make me want to buy it! No more “..looking so sad…, …feeing lonely…, …no bids yet…”

I dislike seeing the counters giving the visitor stats. If a bear’s had 173 visitors, is starting at a reasonable bid and not had a single bid makes me wonder what’s wrong with the bear or the seller’s history on eBay. I think the counters should be hidden and accessible to only the Seller.

Adding heart-tugging value to your exquisite creations with simple but effective props will make what we both know to be worthwhile even more appealing to potential buyers. Perhaps two photos, one with props & one on its own may also help.

5 – ITEM DESCRIPTIONS
MOST importantly, put your name right out there at the beginning of the description. I can’t begin to tell you the frustrating minutes I’ve spent reading & rereading some Auction’s text trying to find out who created something that caught my eye. If I can’t find even that basic info, I move on to the next item

Separation of Church and State – this may be nit-picking, but I do not like to see references to God, bible quotes, chapter and verse lines and similar inclusions in eBay auctions. It’s OK on a website (though I wish it were only on personal family sites rather than business ones but that’s their prerogative to write and mine to read) but not in an auction listing.

What is it with the cloying, teeth-rotting practice of using sugar-based derivatives of ‘Sweet’? One auction recently used “sweet, sweety, sweetie and sweetest’, TWICE for each word in just 2 paragraphs!

Oscar acceptance speeches – “THX to my mom/sis/second cousin-twice-removed’s husband’s Granny's next door neighbour for teaching me all I know about making bears and supporting me in my new venture" and then the already established bear maker "introduces" the new person on all the lists when advertising the auction. Nepotism/Reflected Glory?
It amazes me how these types of listings seem to attract buyers willing to pay such high prices, as the bears appear to be clones of the original as are the listing descriptions   themselves. I prefer to be factual and write the listing in a friendly but not over-the-top manner.

The sickly-sweet sales pitch of 'adopting' a bear rather than 'buying' it is daft. The other comments about the use of 'Just' and 'Upset/discouraged/tearful because no one is bidding..' etc., is all 'spin' in the attempt to sell stuff. I also find this annoying: no maker trying to sell a bear should try to sell it by giving it 'feelings' because the bottom line is the fact that it is a toy.   It has no feelings and it has been made with the express purpose of getting money for it.

One Seller removes the images from her auctions immediately after the close. “I don’t want anyone to copy my work.” Excuse me, Miss Paranoid – haven’t they just had 5 days to do that?

Put the right key words into title: mini, crochet/felt/mohair, etc.. As fickle as eBay is, I just try to keep in mind that if I was starting out 10 years ago, that I'd have no other choice but to travel by car or air to a doll or bear show, pay money for a table, a hotel room, food, etc.... and still not necessarily make a dime to cover any of the expense!  You've gotta admire those who have gone before us and "made it" the hard way!  We have it easy compared to that!

6 - BIDDING TACTIC & OPTIONS
Looking at the bid history and the Feedback of buyers and sellers yields a wealth of information: the average price range that a seller’s work gets, what a buyer is willing to spend, if there’ve been past problems, links to other auctions and other seller’s items for sale (Bobbie: That’s how I found the Marcasite brooch; I don’t browse the Jewelry categories!) and the names of sub-categories that I didn’t know even existed.

The Teddy world watched on tenterhooks in November as 2 auctions blew the top off the bid ceiling. Both went for over $17,000. I don’t know if the sellers got their money – I would have been VERY nervous as the Bidder had a Feedback of 2. Just 2 previous eBay wins. Perhaps they’d just won the Irish Sweepstakes!!! It appears that one person kept on entering higher and higher bids, when there was no competition. She obviously thought that she needed to, so how can that be?  How is eBay set up?  Surely you can tell if you have the highest bid so that you don't go bidding against yourself needlessly.

Some suggestions:
**Having ANY number of items more than 1 up at once – you’re your own competition. It costs no more to list 1 auction every 8 weeks than it does 8 auctions in 1 week.
**Put your reserve price as the least amount that it will take for you to part with them, similar to the 25% - 50% discount less than Retail that you’d give to a shop owner and then hope that that will generate some interest. 

**Be sure to take lots of good pictures so people can really see the condition your stuff is in and include pictures of all the accessories that you are including as well. 

**Watch the same eBay categories for a minimum of 1 – 2 months to get an idea of what level of bids/prices people are getting.  Put things into your eBay Watching and check out their final selling price when the auction is over. That should give you an idea of what to expect.

eBay was questioned as to the best way to sell w/o sounding like a lottery: eBay told me I could use the BIN (Buy It Now instant purchase Option), with “Free” Shipping. The shipping can actually be included in the price of your bear.
For example, if you want $100 for your bear, ask $125 or what you might think the shipping fee will be. You start your bid where you want to at $10 or $1, with a reserve of $100, but if they use the BIN button for $125.00 they will receive ‘Free’ shipping anywhere. If they do not use the BIN button and bid on it as a regular auction, then they must still pay for shipping but it will be listed as a Shipping Fee on the invoice. eBay explained in their email that all this had to be explained well in my description. Well, it still sounds like a come-on to me, a shell game; there’s No Free Lunch…

It always takes at least two people bidding against one another to drive your sale price up. That may seem really obvious, but once you have at least two people who are interested in owning your work, your sales will increase.  Maybe the single bidder you have would be willing to pay 100.00 for your bear, but they get it at your opening bid because you haven't built up a big enough collector base yet.

I’ve done Private ID auctions for a while. I don’t think there is difference between showing the bidders’ names or not as sales are about the same as before. But I prefer the private auctions, because people cannot see who is bidding against them. And I don’t receive nasty emails anymore from disgruntled bidders and other artists; there are a lot jealous artists out there, and if they see one of “their” bidders is bidding on someone else’s auction, they get jealous... and email me… poor people ..

This makes me laugh: there seems to be a new game of one-upmanship, called “Let’s see how low we can start and still show everyone else that we can get $200 - $350 for a bear”.

A seller started out with a $2.00 listing as she always does, but instead of keep bidding why do the bidders not wait, and bid at the last and try to get a lower price, rather than inciting a bidding war? It seems as though they are bidding against themselves at times. They must not know how, or they have money to burn.

7 – SECONDARY MARKETING
Some control in secondary market- I have a blocked Buyer list for several reasons:
*I'd rather not sell a bear than have it go to one that will resell at less than half its worth, which implies a lower value of my work in the minds of other future prospective buyers.
*I want them to be photographed & presented well - these second market pics are not.
*It's been known that changes are made to the bear, which then should no longer be called "XXX's work".
*Lastly, 'What's wrong with this picture?' There's got to be a problem with someone who continually buys high & resells low...

IN CONCLUSION -
To Bobbie: “Please don't write articles about the 'praise' that some people get after they have posted messages on the lists about their “bears not having received a bid” or “I would love to know what everyone thinks so please visit this sweet bear.  If you have time don't hesitate to email me as I'd love to hear what you think of him”  (do they REALLY want to hear what I have to say or just receive lauds?) because if you ask for opinions on those topics too,  I shall only want 'to go into a new one' in a similar Scrooge-ish manner!!!

And don’t forget to put your full name on every auction website. This seems like a no-brainer, but I’ve saved many auctions and websites that have no artist name anywhere…

So – this has apparently been a simmering, just-below-the-surface topic for lots of others too. And I’m sure all of us feel better for having sounded off! The air has been cleared to face a Bright New Year! May all of your Troubles be tiny ones and your Sales – Whopping Big Ones!!!  This may be YOUR $17,000 year! My Best & Warmest Wishes for 2004!

Hugs across the miles – Bobbie Ripperger

I'm back.

On the network news I've just heard that the Miss America competition is going online, with a series of 7 programs to introduce the contestants before the actual pageant, which has traditionally been a once-a-year event. I'm convinced that the internet is a major force for all businesses. I've never polled this, but I'd say that of all collecters of all-thing-teddy. probably 75% are not within easy access to bear shows and just as many do not know about how many teddy mags exist in the world.

Here's my first article/column on the eBay market:

Letter from the States© 
by TB3 of RKR4CDS

Summer 2003

Hello all,

The ideas that have been percolating in my brain for the past year have come together into a 2-part Letter; the subject is eBay and bears, in particular – Selling. I’ll state right here that these thoughts are solely mine (to absolve Vanessa & TBH from any responsibility!) and I’m approaching this from a collector/browser’s viewpoint. I’ve had over ___ transactions on eBay in the past year or so; all but 2 were purchases rather than sales. In having viewed thousands and thousands and thousands of auctions, it’s only the teddy bear ones that seem to suffer from 2 maladies – see if you can spot them; these have all been taken directly from unidentified auctions [some are by dear friends of mine that I wouldn’t think of embarrassing or remonstrating) in the past month, on various sales lists and have all been repeated more than twice.

The first situation:
“just listed 3 tiny _
just gotten a chance _
just added 3 new kits _
just wanted to take a moment _
just listed a tiny _
just re-listed _____
just to let you know _
just around an hour left _
just listed a darling _
just listed __ on eBay
just a quick note _
just gone crazy listing _
just listed a brand new design _
just finished _
just posted _
just a friendly reminder _
just wanted to let you know _ “

And the second instance:
“..all dressed up and no place to go
last chance
urgent appeal
oh woe is me (sniff, sniff..)
no one seems to love him
my bears are so sad.. no one seems to want them
no bids! Xxxxx is feeling a bit down
feeling very disappointed…”

Now take all of the pot shots at me that you will, but the curmudgeon in me has to ask 2 questions:
1 – What seems to be the most over-used word in sales’ pitches, and
2 – What would induce me to **buy a bear that is under such a dark, dark cloud?

I feel that sellers don’t realize, as they type in their auction’s text, that the same or very similar words are being used in most of the listings above and below theirs. My eyes tend to glaze over as I scroll through the listings of the countless things offered –- and I realized that I was looking for that ‘something different or special’ that set an auction apart and didn’t repeat banalities.

A bear is done an injustice when it’s presented as a ‘failure’, one that no one else wanted so I’m begged one more time to “take a peek…”. Even in the Help section of eBay, it’s recommended that if an item doesn’t sell or even receive a single bid, to allow perhaps a few weeks to a few months before re-listing. Surfing tends to come in waves (a pun!) and the most likely people viewing it this week are the same ones that passed over it last week. There is a small monetary allowance for re-listing quickly, but should be used only when there has been a mistake in the original listing. Giving a sale a bit of breathing room will allow it to be seen by a number of potential buyers that for whatever reasons, were not able to surf in January but will be back if March, April and July.

This points to a fundamental difference between what has been this method of selling teddy bears and the tried and proven method that’s stood for a dozen years: exhibitors at bear shows work up a variety of pieces and will display them during a year or so of shows. Most will retire a bear after it’s been seen in all of the markets they’ve contracted to attend if it hasn’t been sold in the year. It’s understood that there is an owner for every bear: perhaps it was meant for Florida and not Oregon. Or it will be featured in a magazine ad. Or a web site. Or it will go to eBay. Or it will be donated to a charity auction like Good Bears of The World. There is some gap time of a few weeks to a few months between fairs, when the exhibitors’ production kicks into high gear and then the traveling bit has its turn.

Ebayers don’t have the same time constraints and they don’t seem to work on more than 1 bear at a time: a ted is made, posted on eBay, stays until it sells while one more bear is being made, which then gets its turn. I’ve polled a number of bearmakers and collectors and was very surprised to learn that the collector bases are 2 entirely separate groups, with very little mixing of the purchasing styles and markets. Most eBayers don’t attend shows and most fair attendees like the camaraderie of meet ‘n greet and feel eBay is too impersonal. And the group that subscribes to the bear magazines is about equally divided between these 2 camps. While eBay is a great place for beginners to get their feet wet without having the huge financial obligations entailed as a show exhibitor, it’s still a smaller market than the combined number of bear shows around the world annually.

This is the opposite, manic face of the morose ad:
“..new sweet sweet mini cub on eBay
his face just screams   Pick me up!
Xxxxx is 3” of sweetness
Xxxxx on eBay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this little girl is the sweetest thing since honey…
you won’t be able to resist this sweet bear…”

Excuse me, my teeth ache….

OK. I’ll allow that there are more bubbly personalities in this world than my decidedly pragmatic one, but through this whole ‘diatribe’ (when you get a column you get to write like this every so often) there is such desperation shown, which is very off-putting to some buyers. It’s trite and I think it behooves all sellers to create novel, unique ways to market their goods, just as the bears are all novel and unique.

Probably my biggest pet peeve is the term ‘adopt’. For some reason I’ve always associated it with children and infrequently with pets from a shelter; a certain amount of money is paid (humans) for connecting the Wants and the Wanteds and for past boarding fees (pets)…. and the paperwork for both always involves fees. There is an exchange of goods for money involved when buying a bear and to hinge that to a word that involves a similar action between humans seems barbarous. We ‘buy’ bears, we don’t ‘adopt’ them. As a bear maker I want to be paid for my time, materials, overhead and talent therefore I’m paid my asking fee. My ‘price’ is proportionally higher for a collectible than it would be for a living being. It may seem a more gracious term than ‘buy’ but to me it denigrates the totally human emotions involved in adopting a living being that will become part of my family.

Whether yu agree or disagree, I invite you to share your comments with me
rkr4cds@comcast.net
or
511 Berkley
Elmhurst IL USA
60126.3728

..to be continued…
Hugs across the miles and Controversially Yours!
Bobbie Ripperger

Hi all,
I'm going to test the limits (number of characters allowed per post) in the next 2 (or more, if needed) Replies. I studied the eBay market for years before plunging in full-time 9 months ago. My 'conclusions' and those of others are the articles.

TY, Laura, both you & Sheila are old friends. Where you live Sheila, in the upper Midwest, there aren't many top quality shows anymore and if you travel, you're looking at about $1000 in travel/show fees before you even leave home.

What Laura is referring to is a column I've been writing for a deacde in the British Tedi Bach Hug's quarterly newsletter - Letter from the States. It was in 2 sections, which I'll cut 'n paste here.

I've got just as much opinion on all aspects of marketing; this one refers to only eBay sales.

And I still steadfastly maintain that the #1 principle one MUST accept before selling on eBay is that THE CUSTOMER SETS THE PRICE. If you can accept that, you will succeed. There are ways to modify/control that, e.g., with a Reserve or higher starting bid, but that's the bottom line!

Plus, you absolutely cannot become known unless you post regularly. It should be with a regularity that becomes a pattern; every 5th day, weekly, bi-weekly, but not much farther apart than 1x every 3 weeks. After becoming established you can ease back. I'm now at once every other week.

And don't forget to politely question every buyer:
What auction length do they prefer?
What ending day?
What ending time?
Would you like to be added to a private Advance Notice list?
Try to accomodate as many of these requests as possible.
And follow through with Thank You's and special prezzies for Collectors - I do this at least once a year, usually around Thanksgiving - when I'm most mindful of being Thankful that Collectors exist! (Though I'd still create even if I sold nothing.)

For health reasons I've had to stop travelling (after 14 years on the show circuit), from Sinfapore across the States & Canada and into Germany. The internet is now my sole outlet. I did as Laura said: I determined to post weekly for at least 6 months; while the shows & mags know my name, I was a big Zero online. That took AT LEAST 6 months to build up.  Carefully plan your choices of items; list the lower priced ones to sell first, accept that if only your first bid price is picked up - you've at least had a sale, a new collector and exposure!

OK, as soon as I serve dinner - I'll post. Hope there're not too many typos here. Family is growling at the Studio door....or maybe it's their empty stomachs....

Bobbie

....duh... SO sorry about re-posting info on the same materials!

If I'd taken the time to scan the previous page, I'd've seen that I'd already written most of it.

Bobbie

.... and if you don't believe how much difference there is in fibers, I'll point out that my 'Stalking' Polar Bear in the photo to the left is of Marr Haven fiber. It won a TOBY nomination and the Canadian ACE & TITA Awards. It's nearly impossible to get that much detail into a 2" long sculpture without using approrpriate fibers.

B