Last month we visited beautiful Palm Springs, Calif. in search of celebrity memorabilia. Before that, we traveled to Maui in search of Hawaiiana. Such great locales to go treasure hunting in! This month, though, we’re not going to another exotic location, but into cyberspace ... and I’m not even leaving the comfort of my own home!
That’s right – this month we’re going hunting for collectible treasures on the Internet. With the advent of so many Internet auction sites, notably Auction Universe and eBay, many collectors have become regular buyers of memorabilia online, including yours truly.
Here I am at
home, surfing the ’net for treasures.
There are many advantages to buying online. First and most obvious is that you can sit in your own living room with your laptop and bid to your heart’s content. Then, if everything goes right, you win your item, mail a check and receive your new collectible soon after. I’ve done this many times, and, for the most part, have been pleased with the experience.
The process is simple: Register, get confirmation and start bidding. When I got my confirmation back, I logged on to an Internet site and clicked through to the collectibles section. There I found an index that included autographs, movie costumes and props, art, rock ’n’ roll, TV and film memorabilia, photography, glassware, stamps, coins – you name it.
Since I’m a very eclectic collector, I navigated several of the categories. The first was autographs. The site was nicely arranged into entertainment, political, sports, TV, movie and other genres. There are general listings that include all autographs regardless of category, or you can click on autographs for a specific sub-group. I found many attractive items in all price ranges, from an 8x10 Bettie Page signed photo with a starting bid of $25 to a Walt Disney signature, which had a bid of $2,000.
Being an art fan and sometime-collector, I went to that section. Categories ranged from fine art to amateur art to prints to nudes. Since I’m into the glamour thing, I clicked on “nudes” to see what was offered. The merchandise ranged from amateur paintings to top-notch art done by legends like Varga, Neiman and contemporary genius Olivia. Some 300 different pieces were listed, almost all with good-quality illustrations. I found an Olivia piece I liked and decided to place my very first Internet bid. After viewing the piece and reading the description, I scrolled down to the bidding form and entered my maximum bid. I was notified by e-mail that I was the current high bidder.
Original 1930s French postcard
Then I moved on to the photography section, again entering “nude” as the section to view. The pieces ranged from cheesy amateur images to classic 1930s art deco French postcard nude art. I found a very nice French postcard and placed a maximum bid of $25. Again, I was high bidder, this time with 23 hours to go.
Next I went to the glass and pottery section and, still looking for glamour collectibles, entered the word “nude.” Several hundred items came up, ranging from Lladro figurines to art deco glassware to cups and glasses. Nude figurines had the most activity, with some bids going as high as $900 to $2,000. I tried my hand at several vintage figurines, entering respectable bids. I was quickly out-bid, and decided instead to follow up my other bids and find some new items. I found some really cute coffee mugs and placed bids on those, immediately being notified that I was high bidder.
An original 1946
Varga calendar with original
envelope
Goin back to the art section, I found some great original pin-up calendars featuring the art of famed illustrator Varga. The first was a 1943 calendar, including its original mailing envelope. Another – also with its original envelope – was from 1946. I was first to bid on each and entered bids of $25. I also found an Olivia signed and numbered print called “Starfish,” with a high bid of $375. I placed a maximum bid of $500 and left it at that, vowing not to return and succumb to auction fever!
A beautiful
signed and numbered lithograph by
Olivia
Next in the collectibles section I entered the general search for Marilyn Monroe. This is a nice feature because you can enter a specific name or category and receive a listing of all items on an auction site that matches your search request. Some 1,100 items came up, and I found some original LIFE magazines featuring Marilyn on the cover. I placed a bid on a group of three for $40.
Having placed my various bids, I sat back to see what would happen. When bidding, some items had a minimum bid spelled out. Although I bid that amount or greater, when I checked back, the items weren’t mine – or anyone else’s – because the reserve hadn’t been met. This puzzled me, since in any auction I’ve ever heard of, once the minimum bid is met, the item is up for sale.
LIFE
magazines with my idol on the
cover
Not so on eBay. The reserve and minimum bid can be two different numbers, which doesn’t seem right. The biggest frustration is that on an item with a reserve, you can enter a bid of $200 based on a minimum bid of $100, and still not get the item if no one else bids up to the reserve, which is kept secret! So, on several items, I placed maximum bids higher than the minimum. But since no one else placed a bid, my bid remained at, say, $50 on an item with a $200 reserve. As a result, I never had an opportunity to meet the secret reserve.
In other words, the eBay computer won’t take a bid up to the reserve – no matter what your bid is – when no other bids are tendered. This is a colossal waste of time, because no matter how badly you want an item or how much you’re willing to pay, you’ll get nowhere unless others bid against you. This is a major flaw.
As I spent hours and hours checking my bids (each auction ends at a different time and day, so you have to check regularly), I realized that while this is a great way to buy things, it certainly won’t replace traditional, non-internet auctions altogether. It requires a lot of time, especially if you’re bidding on many items. Then there’s the last minute, down-to-the-wire bidding where you can be at a disadvantage if someone has a faster modem or AOL disconnects you just as you’re placing that crucial bid with a minute to go before the auction closes.
When the auctions ended and I was the winning bidder, I received timely communication from the sellers, paid my bill, and received the items promptly. With some items, I was slightly disappointed, with others I was very happy. Overall, my online auction experience was very pleasant, and I’ll certainly participate regularly.
My purchases included the Olivia print, $475; the mugs, $20 each; the Varga calendars, about $50 each; the LIFE magazines, $30; the Bettie Page photo, $45; the French postcard, $24.99, and an early copy of Family Circle, which was Marilyn Monroe’s first magazine cover, $250.
Try it out. I’m sure you’ll find something of interest, and, like me, you’ll learn the advantages and disadvantages of online bidding.
Thanks for reading! I look forward to being with you again next month.
Courtesy of Pop Culture Collecting Magazine
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