i started selling items on the BAY about a year or so ago after i bought an entire estate of glass in search of just one glass bottle. now, i realize that most people think seems crazy, but to me, that purchase has been one of the greatest things inwhich i have ever spent my hard earned money.

when i started selling, the first thing i did was pull some items that i thought were really cool and were duplicates of the ones that i was going to keep. having never been at a loss for words, i had a great time providing information on each of these very special bottles, jars, and other various pieces of glass. i did a great deal of online searching as well as searching the BAY itself.

next, not only did i sit down and type a physical description of each item including the actual dimensions and any scratches or dings, but also i took the time to find out when each item was made, where it was made, who made it, and how it was made/manufactured. i found the "life" of each of my items and expressed that to my audience here in eBay land.

and a great deal of this information i found on the BAY. one would be surprised on just how many hard working people like me will go out of their way doing the necessary research to sell an item on eBay. i love digging up the history of each of my items. i am not a power seller, nor do i plan on being one...i sell on here because i love finding out what it is i have, and in turn, sharing my gained knowledge with the rest of the world.

i can recall just about every item i have sold on here, and i can also tell you off the top of my head who all and where all i have sold my items. one of my favorite ashtrays i have had for years and have loved forever, i sold to this great lady in NEW ZEALAND...how cool is that??? little old me right here in the middle of nowhere rural south georgia sending MY most cherished ashtray to new zealand??? pretty cool in my mind.

another item i sold on here was one of the earliest McCormick flavoring bottles ever made. i wrote a poem about it just out of the blue one evening, and a fellow eBayer emailed me and told me i should enter my poem in some contest which i did. i placed 4th in the nationwide competition...funny thing about that was i titled the poem "ebay item #XXXXXXXXXXXX." the judges loved it.

i sold a previously unlisted RAREST of the RARE White House Brand Vinegar Tusk bottle on here. and not only that, but i actually spoke via telephone with the author of the WHV price and history guides. my info., according to him, was dead on the money. AGAIN, HOW EXCITING!!! and i sold it to a great lady in the carolinas where folks just love me.

the best advice i could give to anyone looking to sell anything on the BAY is this:

DO YOUR HOMEWORK...MAKE SURE TO WRITE A CLEAR BOLD DESCRIPTIVE TITLE...SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY TO USE SUBTITLES WHENEVER POSSIBLE...TAKE CLEAR PICTURES, AND MAKE SURE TO SUPERSIZE THOSE SHOTS TO MAKE SURE YOUR BIDDERS CAN SEE WHAT THEY ARE BIDDING ON...CHECK YOUR SPELLING ESPECIALLY IN THE TITLE...AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, DON'T BE AFRAID TO TYPE AS MUCH OF A DESCRIPTION AS YOU WANT...A PICTURE MAY BE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, BUT A PERSON CANNOT SEARCH ANYWHERE ONLINE WITHOUT THE USE OF WORDS.

i have made numerous "friends" from all across the world thanks to eBay. i have learned a great deal of history. i have learned a lot about glass. i have had several people email me for help in identifying what they have, and i have directed them on how to find out when i could not answer them straight out. i still haven't located my bottle, but i am so looking for it. i still have about 5000 pieces to sell on here, and i am planning on spending however long it takes to do it...one piece at a time to one very special winning bidder at a time.

thank y'all for taking the time to read, and keep checking my upcoming auctions...you will like what you see, i guarantee. i have a 55 gallon drum of arrowheads i haven't even begun to go through. i have several more 55 gallon drums of old insulators to sort. i have boxes everywhere of old fruit jars in all different sizes and ages and colors. i have old soda (COKE, PEPSI, etc.) bottles and HUTCHINSON bottles all over creation. i got WHV and SPEAS jars galore. i have thousands of antique german swirl, LUTZ, and other manufacturers marbles to deal with. i have so much stuff to sort and write about, it may take the rest of my life to finish what i have started...it may take a part of the next life, too, for that matter. LOL.

if you somehow get to this blog, and you have questions about something, email me...i might be able to help. i might not, but one never knows until they ask. i don't claim to be an expert in anything, but i am "a learnin" as we say around these parts. you got questions? i got answers.

and special thanks to eBay...THE BAY...for providing me a place to vent and to share, to get on a soapbox every now and then, and to meet folks just like me...as weird as we may be...we "collectors"of the world. (-:

thanks for reading. HAPPY BIDDING.

julie (-:

p.s. if any of y'all have seen an old ROUND BOTTOM, MACHINE MADE, SQUARE-SIDED COCA COLA SODA BOTTLE WITH JACKSONVILLE, GA ON IT, i would be glad to take it off your hands if the price is right. before it closed, the local coca-cola bottling plant right here in little bitty jacksonville, ga back in the 1920s and 1930s belonged to my great grandfather. he and my great grandmother along with a few of my other relatives all bottled and distributed these soda bottles back then, and i would really like to have one of these old bottles just so i can give it my "uncle" JD. he remembers drinking out of them as a child, and i want to put one more in his hands before he goes to see my father who is up there building ponds, clearing land for more angel houses, planting pine trees, and feeding hogs for God. y'all see one, let me know.