Another Venture

Just wanted to share with you another site I'm trying that I really like so far. It's called eHow. I've added the widget to the side of my blog. Basically, you write short how-to articles and you can earn money from people clicking on the ads that appear around your article.
I've read about other people making $200-$300 a month just from articles they've written. You can write the articles and then sit back while they make a modest amount of money. Spending some time promoting the articles also helps.
So far I've made less than $10..but it's working!! And the more articles you write, the more you have the potential of making. Obviously.
I need to add some pictures to my articles..but you can take a look at them and the site here.

Collecting Bakelite

As you can see from some of my recent posts, collecting buttons has become somewhat of an interest. Okay, that's putting it too mildly. I'll bump that up to an obsession.
When I come across a button stash and make it my own, my first thought is, are there any Bakelite buttons in here? Bakelite is an early plastic and highly collectible in its many forms.
Bakelite was used widely for game pieces, billiard balls, phones, jewelry, buttons and more. The later development of other plastics makes it sometimes hard to tell at first glance if an object is made from Bakelite or not.
However there is a fairly simple test and I wrote about it here:

How to Tell if Your Vintage Buttons are Genuine Bakelite

This test should work on any Bakelite item, not just buttons!

My First Swagbucks Reward!

I really thought I had written about Swagbucks before, but I guess not. You may have seen the Swagbucks search engine on the side bar of this blog and wondered what Swagbucks is all about.
Basically, if you search the web through their search engine, you can earn Swagbucks. Earn enough, and you can redeem them for prizes.
I'd heard from enough people who'd actually received their prizes, that I was willing to give it a try.
The results of the Swagbucks search engine are good, because they are by Google and Ask. The more searching you do, the more bucks you earn, sometimes 2SB or 3SB at a time!
And there's other ways to earn, recycling your cell phones or old video games, which I still want to try.
Today I made it to my goal(130 Swagbucks)so I could redeem my first prize, a $10 Starbucks card!! Pretty sweet, for just doing what I'm normally doing, searching the web. I'll let you know when I get it, to see how long it takes.
There are lots of other prizes and different gift cards. You can even get $5 into your Paypal account for 70SB.
Anyway, it's worth a shot. I've installed the toolbars on both my computers and have trained my husband to use it as well!!

Selling Buttons on Ebay

Well, as my button supply overfloweth, I thought I would also try to sell a few of my more collectible button finds on Ebay. And I learned a few things.
First, there are many button sellers on Ebay. Second, many/most of them are successful. This could definitely be a great niche.
However, my cool buttons didn't sell that well. I had a great blue celluloid button in the shape of a mum (see above) ...An identical one went for $12. Mine sold for $3. With one bid.
Another great buffed celluloid button. Didn't sell at all.

Here's what I think. I think button buyers on ebay are button collectors. You need to earn their trust. I'm selling all sorts of odds n ends on ebay. Knife blocks, kids books, silverware..etc..etc..Who am I? The button buyers will go back to the professional button stores/sellers who have shown they know what they're doing.
Well, I'm learning. And I've got lots of odds n ends I need to clear out and sell on Ebay. So I'm filing away the button niche idea. Maybe for the future. For now, I'll hang on to the Satsuma vintage buttons that I think are valuable...and sell my buttons slowly but surely on Etsy.

The Organizing Continues!

I managed to scrounge another organizer from my carpenter husband's workshop. This one I labeled by material. So now my vintage buttons are separated by color and what they are made of.
I've got MOP, leather, wood, glass and more!

Getting Organized

Ok, well my button collection is really taking over. My husband is threatening...well, things if I don't sell some. No, actually he's very nice. But the hints do get dropped. "You bought....more buttons?"
But I need to get organized so I know how to destash and how to share my extras with others!
So I found this handy-dandy organizer at the thrift store. And I used my handy-dandy little vintage label maker (also a thrift store find) to make my labels. Sorted a fraction of my buttons by color.
When a little bin fills up, or gets close, I can throw together a listing. Sounds like a plan.
I figure I only need about 14 more organizers like this. Well, it's a start.

Auctiva Changes Its Mind

The Only Free Auction Tools for eBay Sellers

So, I still do occasionally sell on Ebay. I do consignments for friends and sometimes there are items I need to move quickly. Not completely thrilled with the rise in fees and such, but what can you do?
I had been using Auctiva to list my items. Free photos, nice templates, a scrolling gallery and a way to track my consignors. Or is that consignees? I never remember.
Well they recently lost some affiliate income they were receiving from Ebay, so could no longer offer their services for free. They introduced a very complex fee structure that got everyone up in arms. (they better change their logo above!!)
I went ahead and switched to Seller Sourcebook. They were offering a 10% discount to "Auctiva Refugees". They had a flat fee per month. Sounded great. It was okay, I'm sure I just needed to get used to it. It was pretty slow..but I was starting all over.
Then I read today that Auctiva changed its mind!! They decided to go with a flat rate system!! YAY!
You can read what Jeff Schlicht, CEO of the Auctiva Corporation wrote here.
I switched back over, hoping to give them another chance...and hoping fees won't go up in a year or sooner! I like my fast listing.
You can sign up for faster and cheaper ebay listing here