What an Old Sears Catalog Could Teach eBay Today
Digital Domain
The New York Times > Business > Your Money >
By RANDALL STROSS
Published: May 9, 2004

"In warning about the consequences of invading Iraq, Colin L. Powell offered what he called the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it. If, in a civilian context, someone coined an eBay rule, it might be this: 'Satisfaction most emphatically not guaranteed. All sales final.' "

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Disturbing Trends :

Internet sales driving Indian pottery looting
The Tucson Citizen
The Associated Press
"MESA - Looters are plucking more ancient Indian pottery from dwellings and graves across the Phoenix area and the state, encouraged by a growing market for the wares over the Internet.
'It opened up an opportunity for people who were selling - on this gray market at best - to people in Japan and anywhere else,' said Jerry Howard, curator of anthropology at the Mesa Southwest Museum. 'And because of that, we have seen a rise in the amount of vandalism and pot hunting."

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No big surprise:
Firms jump on the eBay wagon
USATODAY.com
"EBay has become an immovable e-force in world business and culture. The value of items sold on eBay grew 60% last year and hit $24 billion - making it larger than the gross domestic products of Bulgaria or Jamaica. With that kind of commerce, it's no surprise that eBay is spawning schools of new companies that want to plug into it."

and I think I mentioned this at the start of this blog:

"Data miners.
Perhaps more than any company, eBay knows what stuff is worth. It has data on what G.I. Joe action figures were going for in 1998 and what they were going for an hour ago.
Now, other enterprising companies are realizing just how valuable that information is and are figuring out how to profit from it."

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Stopping online auction of Tillman items is a hard sell
USATODAY.com
From staff and wire reports
"Pat Tillman memorabilia have become hot items on the online auction site eBay. Some are offended that sellers are trying to profit from the former NFL player who was killed April 22 in combat in Afghanistan."
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Sports Cards and Collectibles:
'Mr. Mint' knows where to find good shows
By RUSS COHEN
phillyBurbs.com

"If Alan Rosen is at a card show, then you are at a really good show.
Otherwise known as 'Mr. Mint,' Rosen has been a staple at shows since 1975."
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Auction zooms to top of charts
Kansas City Star | 05/04/2004 |
Online bids help make jukebox sale a record-setter
By DAVID HAYES
Columnist

"The Internet has changed lots of businesses, but perhaps none has changed as much as the auction biz.
...One bidder paid $79,750 for a 1915 Seeburg Orchestrion — a coin-operated music player; another paid $25,300 for a 1942 Rock-ola jukebox. Bidders broke other records paying $23,100 for a 1942 Wurlitzer jukebox, $24,200 for a 1940 Seeburg Concert Master jukebox, and $16,500 for a 1948 Rock-ola jukebox.
The world records were reported by Jukebox Collector magazine."

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Sold to the highest bidder
By Ryan Herrington
Golf World
" ...golf-related items for sale on eBay, Yahoo!, Amazon, the GolfClubExchange or any of the other auction venues reveals the following eye-catching, head-scratching, idea-hatching discoveries:
1980 Masters-logoed ball marker. Final bid: $104.50
Ping golf ball, half gold, half blue. Final bid: $305
Scotty Cameron 1997 platinum putter headcover. Final bid: $455
Ford 1932 replica California roadster electric golf cart. Final bid: $4,050"
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Top Ten Pottery/Glass Auctions
collectibles.about.com
May 02, 2004
Top Ten Pottery/Glass Auctions
"What's hot and what's not? In the pottery and glass categories highest price was $16,500 for a 1890 Majolica Jardiniere pedestal and urn. McCoy again was the top search term item. . . "
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Alternatives to eBay, They Do Exist
Sunday 05.02.04 [6:17 pm]
by Genia V. Stevens
"There's no denying that eBay is the heavy weight champion of online auctions. Started in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay has become a publicly traded Fortune 500 company with reported profits of $200 million by the end of the first quarter in 2004. But all is not well at eBay."
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Genio Secures $1.8 Million in Initial Orders for Its New Mighty Beanz Trading Card Game; Expected on U.S. Mass-Market Retailers Shelves Beginning April
"NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2004--Genio Group, Inc. (OTC BB: GNOI), a developer and marketer of innovative entertainment and leisure products, announced today that it has received approximately $1.8 million in initial purchase orders from domestic mass-market retailers for its new collectible trading card game based on the popular children's collectible toy, Mighty Beanz(TM).
Genio's CEO, Shai Bar-Lavi, stated, "Mighty Beanz are currently one of the 'hottest' and most popular children's collectibles in North America."
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Royal coronation cup is reminder of Russian monarchy's tragic story
By Khristi Zimmeth / Special to The Detroit News
05/01/04
"Many collectors find researching the history of an object - known in antiques circles as its provenance - one of the best parts of caring for pieces from the past.
..."Anything from Czarist Russia is very collectible,” he says. “Royal memorabilia is a hot market."
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An opportunity to purchase the Holy Grail of baseball bats
SportsBusinessNews.com
"The baseball bat used by New York Yankees Hall-of-Famer Joe DiMaggio when his record 56-game hitting streak ended in 1941 is returning to the city where it was made."
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