selling really good pots

Funny how many times I see the market value rise on a type of studio pot that I own and love, I always go through the same routine of writing an ebay description, working out a price that shows me a very healthy profit then out comes the magnifying glass to check for any minor damage.
Without exception this is when my money head disappears to be replaced by the pot head and I delete my unfinished listing

Nothing is forever. Not even Love .

Have never got room to keep everything, so basically its a winnowing and changing of tastes. Those potters I have a few of, and probably would not buy any more. So Marianne De Trey, Roger Cockram, Svend Bayer I have divested myself of in the past year.
Tho I have collected some more. Mainly using the money to upcycle in quality.

A lot of over priced ‘good pots’ on eBay.

You really are a fickle pickle Naomi, for some people love does last forever
(I saw it on The Waltons)

If there’s any damage then just box them up together and drop them off at a Studio Pottery sale at an auction house; preferably one that only takes one photo, has little or no description, and adds ‘ask for a condition report’ on the online listing in the hopes that no-one will bother and they don’t have to mention the damage

Its the ' sell £1 or £3' special offers that Ebay are sending out that are attracting all the stupid pricing. Plus Free listings. Many people are taking an overpriced unrealistic punt in the hope that there are enough idiots out there to pay the overinflated prices. Which of course they won't.
There is a danger of entering rubbish into local sales. There is normally a 'lottage' or 'handling' charge of £10 or so. Plus seller's commission on the hammer price. Bought a lot the other day at £10. Nice David Walters large vase, couple of nice bits of glassware, and assorted odds and ends. The seller would have actually lost money.

Dan m'dear.
' Naomi, for some people love does last forever
(I saw it on The Waltons)'

So, is this an excuse for your hoarding?
And of course in reality. Nothing lasts forever. Apart from shards of pottery!
What was The Waltons?

I love ebay being full of stuff that is massively overpriced as when I am selling similar at an antique fair it makes my prices look like bargains and I can genuinely point out that they'll pay far more on ebay.
I do wonder about the mentality of some sellers who have pieces on for month after month which will never sell.

but then completed listings sometimes shows that optimism pays

Yes PP, if you check the sold listings on some of the crazy EB sellers listings then they are often ticking over items even at silly prices and there are a few tricks to find out what offer they sold for.

As a matter of interest, given that there are inherent risks in selling on Ebay. What would be top money value item you would risk on there?
Myself about £200.

I have sold big ticket items through ebay but always met up with the buyer and took cash + an email address

I’ve sold camera equipment for over £500 on eBay. I’d be more than happy to sell studio pottery for the same amount if I had anything worth that much! Biggest ticket item I’ll be listing at some point is a Bitossi piece which will probably go abroad. I’m hoping to get £400-£500 for it.

Horses for courses really I suppose. Some top potters do very well on Ebay, Alan Wallwork for example. Others struggle.

Ebay is very fickle - forget selling anything with damage or restoration. Rare perfect pieces from major names do well but if is obscure or not likely to be searched for then you can bag a bargain or lose a fortune.

I spend a lot of money on eBay and in auction houses on ceramics. I love crappy photos, groups of mixed pottery and people with little knowledge about what they are selling. At fairs I often end selling items to those who are happy to list at inflated prices on eBay only to get low prices two years later.

I don’t understand sellers who regularly list at massively over inflated prices on eBay. There are nice enough pots on that that I’ve seen going round and round for years at three or four times the pots’ worth. Do they just put their collections up there that they really want to keep?

maybe it's just to keep their other halves happy?

There is one seller of studio pottery in particular, whose name starts with an x, I think we all know him. Has studio for sale at massively inflated prices. Three or four times there normal selling prices. Have always wondered why. He trades on an upmarket quality spiel, so I wonder if it is all part of the selling strategy? Being there is always a Mug out there somewhere.

I’m seeing ‘sponsored’ teabowls by Micki Schloessingk, etc, at well over £200 in my saved Teabowl search. Crazy prices, and it must cost the seller something to list it as Sponsored content

See one of them has sold at 'Best Offer' price.Original price being £230. The average price for a Micki teabowl on Ebay? £30 or so? Presumably he got a lot more than that.
Perhaps there is a distinct Method in the seeming Madness.

I can relate to that Dan. I keep listing a Roger Frith piece, only to change my mind again & again, I think it must drive certain interested parties nuts.
The funny thing is, I have a replacement (my frog pot) for the Frith piece and thought I would just swop them over and let the Frith go, but all I have done is stick them together and put one of the other pieces into the kitchen until I decide where that goes.


The problem I find is that there are just so many lovely pieces out there and it is impossible to display everything at the same time, so I just keep switching things around and will grudgingly box something away for a while if I have to.

The other side of the coin for me is that if I want to keep buying I must sell something, so what pieces do I love the least, that is a tough one..

I listed a load of jugs, recently, that had been sat outside for the past year taking up space. Sold half of them. There are a couple I’ll probably leave on there at a fixed price/no offers because I’d be sorry to see them go.

Yes I agree Naomi, fixed price is a good thing. The auction format scares the hell out of me, it is such a lottery and chances are you aren't going to get a fair price for what your selling.

I would rather keep struggling for space & storage than give things away.

If you have a Really, Really good Pot then you should not be selling it on Ebay. The type of wealthy people who can afford substantial amounts of money for a Real Quality piece, do not shop on Ebay. It would be best in a specialist auction, at as high an end auctioneer as you can get. Generally, the snootier the auctioneer, the better the chance of making a lot of money.
If you don't really want to sell it, why are you bothering listing it on Ebay? It takes a fair amount of time and research. Examine your own motives. In the end, there is not infinite room for a collector. You CANNOT keep everything.

Be realistic on price. The majority of stuff on Ebay just does not sell, that is a fact. You are not going to get the price you paid in a shop. Retail mark ups and VAT take up a huge proportion of what pay. On many items you will be lucky to get a third of what you paid.
I presume that is David Frith you are talking about there Abstract? Now he has been potting at a very high quality for over 50 years. Mainly wheel based work. He has produced a very large number of pieces at high quality. Most studio pottery collectors will probably have a piece or two of his work in their collection. Hence his work does not sell for huge sums. It should, but it doesn't. Do research, then be realistic in what you expect for it.
I use the auction format sometimes. For instance I had a Red Lustre piece by Aldermaston potter Andrew Hazelden. Had had it for some time, and sold it s a standard winnowing of my collection A deer, nicely done. But his work does not generally sell too well. The only Aldermaston potter that consistenly. does is Alan Caiger Smith. So started it at £50, that is maybe all I would get But I was careful to make a lot of excellent photos in exactly the sort of reflectiv lighting conditions that l lustre needs. The photos sod it. I went at auction for £175. A price I genuinely did not expect.

To be fair I don't think my Frith would be classed as a really good pot, it is not a big money piece by any stretch, but for me it is a lovely thing.

I get what you say & agree with some of it, but for me at least, some pots I love more than others, I can live without them, but I am attached to them, but to a lesser degree than my really favourite pieces, which would never get sold. So even the ones that I am happy to sell get hung onto for longer than I should, so everything backs up. Some can go into boxes as I know they will come out again at some point. Some will be given to family members as I know I will get to see them again on a regular basis. Some will get sold and I can then get more.

Why would I not do this, it is a delightful feeling, finding something new & beautiful, to me at least. Yes, the pots back up & there is always more than I can manage, but it is wonderful.
To be able to change a whole room in no time at all, simply by going back to pieces I have stored, that refreshes everything, if that is what I/we feel like doing.