Trading or Donating to Create Goodwill

Do you collect stuff? Have you ever noticed that in the process of collecting one type of item, you end up with a bunch of related stuff? I find that this happens often when I purchase lots off of eBay. I don't have any use for this extra stuff, and yet I cannot bring myself to throw it away.

Then I started thinking that this must happen to other collectors as well, so what if I could find people that are looking for things I've accidentally collection that may have stuff I want. When I was a kid I used to trade my duplicate baseball cards with my friends, why not trade some of these items! We've become so accustomed to buying the things we want that the practice of trading has all but faded away.

Now as I'm buying things, I will often ask the seller, "what do you collect?" and then check my inventory to see if I have any matching items. Then (since the stuff has no value to me) I just mail them the items and suggest a trade. That's right, I send them the stuff without striking a deal in advance. Before you dismiss me as crazy, ask yourself how much effort does it take to get the items you collect and then read on.

Here's an example. I collect funeral cards for Genealogy Today. In the process, I get a bunch of holy cards, some blank, some with prayers. Sometimes I'll buy a mixed lot of say 100 cards, of which 20 are funeral cards. Repeat this several times, and you get a large pile of non-funeral cards sitting in a pile.

Now, I can (and have tried to) sell these on eBay and get a few bucks back. Instead, in the process of asking sellers what they collect, I made a friend who collects holy cards and doesn't know what to do with the funeral cards he gets. Viola! An open-ended mutually beneficial relationship. I mail him any holy cards, he mails me funeral cards.

I do the same with unwanted military items to get WW2 war ration books. And am currently looking for someone who collects railroad items so that I can get more conductor business cards and seniority lists.

This has opened up a whole new acquisition channel which is yielding some fantastic results. So much so, that I'm even bidding on lots at the live auctions that I attend just for the purpose of sending to my trading partners.

Antique Book and Paper Shows

I'm often asked, "where do you find this stuff?", in regards to some of the information published on Genealogy Today. In addition to the network of book dealers, antique shop owners and estate sale managers that look for items that I collect, I attend regional ephemera and book shows.

These shows are really wild as you get to see vendors who collect all sorts of odd paper items (and even some non-paper items like coins, buttons, badges, etc). Sometimes the vendors travel (long distances) to attend, but most are local to the area. As a result, you're able to find items of local interest, as well as, some from other parts of the country.

Perhaps you're reading this and saying, "why bother, I can get anything I want on eBay". Yes, there is a lot of stuff on eBay, but eBay (while a fantastic site) does have its limitations. For example, you'll only find sellers who own a computer and have the time to post their items online. There are many (many) book and paper dealers out there with huge collections that never appear on eBay.

What's more, these dealers have so much knowledge of the items -- how to find them, what they're worth -- that you just can't get the same kind of interaction on eBay.

Meet Peter Masi. He owns "peter l. masi - books" and this year is celebrating 25 years of bookselling. Peter doesn't have a brink-n-morter store, or an Internet site. He does have an extensive collection of resources, and publishes his own catalogs regularly and mails them to his customers.

What I love about many dealers like Peter, is that they pay close attention to what you're interested in. Duh, that's how they can successfully sell more stuff. So, by attending these regional shows and meeting people like Peter, you can have a bunch of "content agents" out there looking for the items you wish to collect.

If you'd like to get on Peter's mailing list, send him a note: peter l. masi - books, po box B, montague, MA 01351.

Yes, I do purchase many items from eBay, but you should see how full my truck is after attending one of these shows. Just the postage and time savings alone makes it worthwhile.

Sold to the Highest Bidder!

This week I attended (and participated in) my first LIVE auction. Wow! What an unbelievable 3 1/2 hour rush!

It took place at the Old Feed Mill Auction Center in Boonton, NJ [map]. Jack Wootton and his family have run these for years, and you could see that there were quite a few “regulars” in the audience. They do both antique and paper auctions.

I arrived at 3:00pm for the preview, and had already reviewed the catalog of the 1,999 lots to be auctioned that night. During the preview you can check out any of the items that you are interested in.

Then at 5:30pm, everyone takes their seat and the fun begins. They explain the basics, but there were a few things that I didn’t know, but quickly learned. For example, when they call a lot, if noone bids on it, then it gets added to the next lot. Well, I was quite surprised to find out that after winning the first item I bid on (a box of art books), I had actually won 10 other boxes of books!

By the time we reached the final lot, I was exhausted. Aside from the excitement of bidding on items, you also have to keep carrying the stuff out to your car since there’s not a lot of room where you’re sitting. I can see now why some people brought a friend along.

So, while I expected to drive home with 6 or 7 items (mostly club and society rosters and some yearbooks), the truck was fully loaded with crates and boxes of old stuff.

eBay certainly offers a lot of content acquisition opportunities, but none of the excitement of being at a live auction. And while I do enjoy attending book shows, flea markets, estate sales and the occasional garage sale, live auctions now rank #1 for ephemera-seeking thrills.