Jan

22

As a small business owner all too often I was faced with this dilemma.

Business was slow and the only way I could think to liven it up was to advertise.

The local newspaper was too expensive to advertise in more than once, and besides, what was I going to advertise that would bring the locals to my store?

There is a solution. Leveraged Advertising.

Let your common sense decide for you.
WHICH WOULD GET THE MOST LOCAL PUBLIC INTEREST?

  1. You could advertise a SALE
    Or     You could advertise an AUCTION.
  2. You could advertise in the Local Newspapers
    Or     you could use your own mailing or email list of customers and pass out flyers in your store.


Turn your UNWANTED INVENTORY into a magnet to attract customers THEN SELL the Inventory for CASH.


HERE IS THE DEAL:

Pick 30 Unwanted items of VALUE from your store to be Auctioned on the net.

PUT UP SIGNS IN YOUR STORE ANNOUNCING THE DATE AND TIME for the AUCTION. Showcase the Merchandise.

PASS OUT AND SEND OUT FLYERS TO ATTRACT AS MUCH ATTENTION AS YOU CAN, ELIMINATING ANY PAID ADVERTISING. Include all information about the items up for auction.

THERE, YOU HAVE AN EVENT AUCTION.
Event Auctions are LIVE, in one session, by State, City and Your Company.

Here is what is in it for You
THE LOCAL ADVANTAGE
       NO SHIPPING

  1. Use the internet to sell to local residents and bring them into your store.
  2. Get the public’s attention by putting up AUCTION Signs. People LOVE AUCTIONS.
  3. Renew attention of old customers from your email or mail list. You may want to place a classified ad in the auction section of the Sunday paper.
  4. Bring people into your store to Preview the AUCTION and get info.
  5. Bring the Winners into your store to pick up their items.
  6. Opportunity to show and sell other items to all concerned, create activity.

You use unwanted merchandise to generate TRAFFIC FLOW and CASH Flow.
Use frequency to build a following.

This is Leveraged Advertising

Get away from Ebay. Create your Own Following and have your Own Auction.
Consider, what You could do with Your Very Own Auction on the Net.
This is a superior method for a Quitting Business Sale, Stock Liquidation, Grand Opening Sale or any type of Sale that would Benefit from an Internet AUCTION FROM YOUR STORE but THE BIDDING IS ON THE NET.

Event Auctions can have up to 1500 items.

Visit Blackwells Live Auction Here

 

Mar

1

(I-Newswire) - San Francisco, California - February 23, 2008 - In the last or so decade, there has been a huge influx of porcelain items, especially figurines and other decorative porcelain objects, that are marked with what appear to be older European or American marks. Most of these items are of high quality, but are not antique. The vast majority of these come from China, or Asia in general, and usually do not have a country of origin mark.

“We get hundreds of these marks as inquiries from our members” says Lisa Marion of www.Marks4Antiques.com. “Usually, our researchers can tell right away that these lovely porcelain items are made in China; however, many of the marks are so similar to authentic antique marks that require a more detailed look”. Marks4Antiques.com continually updates its databases and includes all newer porcelain marks as soon as they are encountered. This way, members of the site can quickly determine the authenticity of their antiques and avoid costly mistakes.

For example, items made for export to the US after 1891, must also declare the country of origin. This requirement was enacted into law based on several Tariff Acts in the 1890s. Older items usually include the country of origin as part of their overall trademark or have the words “Germany” or “England”, “France” etc near the actual porcelain mark. However, many recent Asian imports get away with this legal requirement by using a sticker or label, which is often removed or lost after the item’s entry to the US.

Luckily, there are some other ways to recognize most of these forged or imitation porcelain marks. Here are some tips that are easy to follow:

1 ) Examine the mark around the edges using a Magnifying Lens: If the mark appears too perfect and perhaps applied using some industrial machine, then the mark is probably recent. In these cases, the mark is usually stamped or at times slightly raised or impressed. Most items made prior to 1950 had their marks applied by hand, so these stamps would wear out or the firmness with which they were applied varied from worker to worker or over time. Older porcelain marks are not as clear or sharp at the edges.

16 Heath Place
Garden City, New York
11530 US
( 516 ) 578-1386

Feb

27

Blackwells now has a journal on AOL, so feel free to visit us there and chat.
We would love to hear from you! The journal is: http://journals.aol.com/howtostopebay/how-to-stop-ebay/

Don’t forget you can sell all your items, jewelry, collectibles, stamps, coins, antiques, clothing, furniture – it doesn’t matter what it is – all items are only $2.99 each to sell on Blackwells Live Auction.com.

See you at the auction!!

Feb

24

If you want change, if you want to sell your items online, then it may be time for a
change – it is time for you to try a LIVE Online Auction.
  Do you want to sell now with a live online auction or sometime later? The answer: NOW!
  The following is a compare/contrast example from Blackwells Live Auction.com on the benefits of a live auction over a static auction.
 
Live Auctions: How to aggressively go after a buyer:
 
1. Items are showcased in a preview for up to 14 days.
 
2. Your Item is presented at a Live Auction for Sale.
 
3.  Your item is sold or not sold and you will know immediately. Your item will have a great chance of selling as it will be presented to the Internet in a Live Auction Setting, where competitive bidding prevails. Live Auctions are the best.
 
4. Not all items sell right away. Some of the reasons: price too high, quality is an  issue, not the right buyers at the auction. This can happen at any auction.
 
5. Tip: You can rotate your inventory on our site until you find the right buyers to bid for your item.
 
 Being aggressive means you search for a buyer.
 
Static Online Auctions: Passively waiting until a buyer shows up
 
1.  Show your item on a static page.
 
2.  Put a buy price on it or let it gather bids.
 
3.  Hope someone that wants it, finds it.
 
4.  Hope you do not have to negotiate.
 
5.  Hope you make a sale.
 
This type of selling is stagnant and lacks the charm, suspense and excitement of a Real Live Auction.
 
 Being passive means you wait for a buyer to come along.
  The benefit of a live, online auction: They are good for the seller as well as the buyer. The buyer finds what they want at a fair auction price. Visit an online auction site today: www.blackwellsliveauction.com

Feb

17

(I-Newswire) - This is expected to be our most exciting and ambitious project ever!  Louisville: Festival of the Arts will turn The Summit, an upscale shopping district, into an outdoor gallery extravaganza.  Artists are being recruited for this highly sought-after art event.

Nearly 200 artists, will be selected from a distinguished panel, for this juried show.  All artists are given a fair chance to take part in this amazing event, so now is the time to submit your best works of art to be chosen!

Unlike a typical gallery setting, all of the artists must be on-hand to show off their paintings, sculptures, jewelry, pottery and more. This show is done through a juried process in order to ensure that each show is better than the last.

Unlike a typical gallery setting, Louisville: Festival of the Arts, will offer folks the opportunity to meet the artists in person and even commission a piece. All of the work on display will be available for purchase with prices ranging from $15 to $20,000.  There will certainly be something for all tastes and budgets.

To obtain an APPLICATION: visit www.artfestival.com OR contact Howard Alan Events at 954-472-3755.
 

Feb

14

Happy Valentine’s Day. Hope everyone takes the time out to eat some chocolate and tell someone you love them!

Feb

14

I’m not sure why it is so nice to collect things like stamps, toys, watches and antiques, but it just is. I know I am not alone in this because it is a big business.

Not too long ago my daughter wanted to buy some vintage clothes so we headed off to some second-hand stores and it turned out to be a great experience. While she was looking at clothes, I was looking at “stuff!”

 I found some amazing watches ( I am a watch collector) and some great antique chairs. On this trip I didn’t buy anything, it was merely a window-shopping trip, but my daughter did find some vintage coats she liked.

One of the coats was a brown and black fur coat. While we assume the coat was fake due to the price tag, she is thrilled just the same and I am happy to know no one will be picketing our house over killing little loveable animals. I live on a farm by the way, so they would probably quickly realize we would never buy real fur.

On our shopping trip we also found a blue cape that was worn by some famous lady who ran some famous benefit ball in the 1950s. We weren’t familiar with the lady or the ball, but the $375 price tag stopped us regardless.

The best thing about our day of looking at “stuff” was that when we go back again, or go online, we will find all new stuff next time. I would love to find a really old watch worn by someone famous while conducting a famous benefit…but if I don’t find it, I can always buy a cape.

Feb

11

Daryle Lambert, founder of the 31 Club – Building Personal Wealth Step by Step with Fine Art, Antiques & Collectibles, is author of the book “31 Steps To Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles.”
He posted a blog on his website about Blackwells Live Auction. It is posted here, or can be read on his website www.31corp.com

Wouldn’t it be a breath of fresh air to return to the days of olde, when you were present at a live auction, bidding on an item by holding up your paddle, and the selling fees were reasonable?

If Mr. Donald Karr has his way, this just might be possible, but with a modern twist.

Yesterday, I was privileged to speak with Donald Karr, founder of Blackwells Live Auction, for about 2 hours, and they were two of the most rewarding hours I have spent in many years. At 73 years of age, Karr is as young and optimistic as they get, and he wants to make it possible for individuals to still make money for themselves, as they sell their treasures, without giving a large chunk of what they make to the ones that least deserve that large chunk –the auction houses.

Yes, auction houses do provide a wonderful service for people who want to depose of their treasures and belongings, but over the last twenty-five years, the auction houses have truly gotten greedy. When I started in this business, as I have shared with you before, the auction fees were 5%. That was only to the seller, and there were no fees to the buyer. What a far a cry 5% is from where we are today with some auction houses, particularly those whose fees reach 50% when you include the commissions of both the buyer and the seller.

Mr Karr wants to return us to the Days of Olde in a sense, and has introduced a new concept in online auctions, Blackwell Live Auction. A resident of north Palm Beach, Florida, Donald Karr has been a long time Antique and Jewelry dealer well aware of the auction business and the changes that have occurred in the industry. So why am I so excited about this, and why is this auction different than any others? For starters, you will be a live participant at each auction you are a buyer in. Your name will be raised on a bidding paddle as you bid, and if you are the fortunate winner, you will know it immediately.

But it gets even better than that, and you’ll know why each one of us might be praying for Mr. Karr’s success. The news that landed me on my behind after the chair fell out from under me was this: THE TOTAL FEES FOR ANY ONE TRANSACTION WILL BE A MERE $2.99! Yes, I did say $2.99. You might want to pick yourself up off the floor and check out this website for yourself, because in addition to this great news, Blackwells Live Auction will be auctioning off $100 bills every day with no reserve in order to get people acquainted with the auction. Brilliant!

Let’s see what this new concept in online auctions really means to you and me as sellers. Selling a $5,000 item at the regular auction, the seller will bid 20% less than he was willing to bid on your item because of the 20% buyers fee. On the $4,000 that he did bid, you will pay $1,000 in commission. That means that your item, that should have sold for $5000, now is selling for $4000 of which you will only receive $3,000. Not so good you say? Now le’ts do the same thing if you sold it with Mr. Karr at Blackwells. Your bidder bids $5,000 because there is no buyers premium, and you only pay $2.99 for the commission. You net $4,997.01. My math might not be very good, but $3,000 verses $4,997.01 means that you’ve just made an additional $1997.01 — 66% more than if you had sold it at the regular auction. Now that is something to get excited about.

I have some hesitations about the technical parts of this venture, but Mr. Karr has assured me that every question I asked had been covered. I pray he will have enough server space, because I can already hear the thunder of the approaching stampede just around the bend.

I am always looking out for you and the 31 Club and will continue to bring you newsworthy economic and industry news as I see it.
For more information on the 31 Club, visit their website at www.31corp.com.

Feb

8

Blackwells Live Auction.Com received this post:
A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL site folks. As a computer graphics specialist (but NOT a programmer), I can say that in my 32 hour long search for a non-Feebay site, YOURS is the most beautiful by far. Well done, guys & gals, and I hope your boss gives ya a pat on the back (and maybe a bonus in the paycheck) for a job well done! () () () clapping () () ()

Feb

6

“The Internet isn’t just for the 20-Something anymore”

Palm Beach, FL – It may seem like a crazy idea, but at 73 years old Donald Karr is taking on Internet giants like Ebay by starting a live auction site where users pick up paddles, listen to auctioneers cry out and find out immediately if they have won. To prove it isn’t a crazy idea, Karr will be auctioning off $100 bills everyday so users can get acquainted with the how-to’s of his live auction.

Contrasting the young entrepreneurs who have found success on the Internet, like the developers of Facebook and MySpace, Karr is proving that the Internet is for everyone. Karr, a retired antique and jewelry dealer, recently launched his 24-hour a day, old-fashioned, live Internet auction called Blackwells Live Auction.com (www.blackwellsliveauction.com)

Karr, of North Palm Beach, Florida, came up with the idea while attempting to sell his remaining antique inventory. He felt the Internet auctions were stagnant and lacked the charm of live auctions he had attended throughout the years. So he developed Blackwells Live Auction, a fun, suspenseful and exciting alternative to the normal Internet auctions.

Modern day auction fans may not be familiar with this old fashioned concept of live biding, so Karr will be auctioning off $100 bills with no reserve in an effort to acquaint users with all of the unique features of his auction. Two of the $100 bill auctions will take place at 4 pm and 10 pm, Eastern Standard Time, each day. Between eight and ten more $100 bills will be auctioned off each day throughout several days.

Blackwells Live Auction hopes to capture a share of Internet auction users by offering customers the chance to lift up their paddles and bid during a live auction, all without leaving the comfort of their home computer. Unlike Ebay, users can watch and participate in the live bidding from start to finish and know immediately if they have won an item. Users can sell their items for a flat fee of $2.99 per item and the site is easy to use and navigate.
Karr’s innovative site is www.blackwellsliveauction.com
 
Contact Donald Karr of Blackwells Live Auction for more information. 561-842-7467 or email at Don@BlackwellsLiveAuction.com


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