DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

I am a baby in the arena of flow blue collecting and just like a baby, I have learned more in two years than I will during the next ten.  After many heartbreaking experiences and sometimes very painful financial "boo boos", the words of my grandfather were the best teaching words I ever heard. " DO YOUR HOMEWORK"

Falling in love with flow blue is a joy and can always be a joy if we learn that buying online is buying "sight unseen" and that "a picture is not always worth a thousand words".  Digital photography can be wonderful and disastrous (especially for a buyer).  If we as buyers (and sellers) learn what is really being said about the piece, what the picture itself is saying, and learn from those who have gone before us.

Reading what is really being said is first and foremost in buying flow blue.  The following are some often used descriptions and their possible meanings.

1. Perfect piece with a tight hairline just two in. long and it may not be a hairline because I can't get my fingernail in it. (MEANING)  IT HAS A CRACK

2. No damage with just a few fleabites to edge and back, may be manufacturing flaws. (MEANING) IT PROBABLY HAS CHIPS (ask for more pictures)

3. I am not an expert but I see no cracks or damage.  All sells are final. (MEANING) Even if there is cracks or damage, I didn't see it and I don't give refunds or take returns anyway.

4. Mint condition with just a few tiny chips to the back that are not seen from the front and they don't detract from the plate's beauty or value. (MEANING) It is not mint condition, the chips do detract from beauty and value no matter where they are located. (This also depends on scarcity and age of piece)

5. The best piece of flow blue that I have ever come across, absolutely perfect. (MEANING) EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE SAYING. Your job is to ask how much flow blue have they experienced. Ask if it has utensil marks, crazing, discoloration, chips, spurs, etc.

6. Excellent condition with no chips, breaks or repairs. Normal crazing for age of plate. (MEANING) IT HAS CRAZING.  Your job is to find out how much (picture doesn't show), and if they know that crazing does not mean DISCOLORATION.

7. Excellent piece of flow blue for any collection with just a few areas of normal discoloration and one itty bitty tiny age line at the bottom on the back. (MEANING) IT HAS DISCOLORATION AND A CRACK AND IS NOT EXCELLENT. Ask for pictures of discoloration, if they have tried to remove, percentage of discoloration (in ration to plate), and know that it has a crack.

Sometimes you may have to educate the seller.  This can be done with kindness and goodwill.  If you are a seller, some things to consider for better sells is self education. For instance, crazing is not discoloration, slight utensil marks are just that, slight (not deep scratches covering well of piece), spur marks and fleabites are not the same thing, a chip is not a "ding", its a chip, a BEGINNING hairline is a crack that will continue unless professionally stopped, and painting over chips, gold loss, marks, etc. is unethical and maddening for a buyer.  These are just a few of the things that will help us all.

In the end, the answer is "DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND ASK, ASK, ASK".

Maryelms1