# The wrong way to sell your hand crafted furniture



## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I was watching this fellow's ebay auction. Fortunately for him it
ended with no bids.

He's made some nice Windsor chairs and he started the auction at
$100 and no body bid. He'd put a "Buy It Now" price of $650 on
and no reserve.

I could have bought a fine Windsor for $100 - shipping would
have been $150 extra. I didn't want the chair and the seller is
lucky it didn't sell.

Just the wrong marketplace for handmade fine furniture.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

oh wow


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

Gross. No one bought that chair for $200? That guy needs a talking to.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

He might be new to E bay. Your right he's lucky no one bid. Many folks on ebay want the absolute cheapest price they can get and probably compared chair prices with something from Wal mart.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

He had a set of 3 Veritas shoulder planes as one lot. I found him through
that and checked out his other auctions. The planes sold, the two 
chairs he had up there did not.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Did you get the planes Loren?


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

No. I didn't want them a lot but I would have bid I thought
they were a bargain. As it is the auction closed a $420 for the
set of 3 with the reserve unmet. The seller can still sell them
to the high bidder of course.

Auction # 320815640844


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Thanks for the info . I'm not in the market I have about 50 planes already but I still wish I could afford some high end planes


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## North40 (Oct 17, 2007)

We've found that stuff you might sell at a yardsale will go pretty good on ebay. Unfortunately the ebay fees and the PayPal fees take a significant chunk out of your sale. PayPal is owned by ebay and ebay has made it nearly mandatory to pay via PayPal, so the seller is basically forced to pay PayPal fees.


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## Dcase (Jul 7, 2010)

Whats sad is that it didn't sell. It tells me that people aren't even willing to pay 100 dollars for a fine crafted piece of furniture.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

Wrong venue, that's all. Such a chair could sell for $500-$1000 in
an appropriate gallery or craft fair.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Here's a thought…what if he bought those chairs at a salvage place for almost nothing, maybe $90 each, and put them up on eBay? They might be hand made, in Indonesia… His $100 minimum now looks pretty safe, and if just a couple people hit on his $650 each, he has done very well. I would not be too quick to think he was that off base. Even if his other stuff was legit, anyone with those kinds of planes for sale and many other auctions would most likely know and understand the worth of those chairs. I kind of doubt he missed the minimum.
Just a thought…and why I don't buy things off eBay.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

He's not an experienced seller. He has a website promoting his
chairs. Imported Windsors usually have thicker proportions and
miss the aesthetic of the traditional-made ones. Low-end
manufactured windsors are made from sawn stock so the parts
have to be thicker. Windsors made traditionally have their fine
proportions due to the stock being riven and turned.

He's good. Here's his site: http://tkellyfurniture.com


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Okay, I'll defer to the master! I must say I've refinished multiple Windsors in my time when I had my refinishing shop, but never had occasion to build one. Some were finely made, some clunky as you say. I still won't buy off eBay, though.


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