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Marblealan's Page
Offering the best in antique hand made, vintage machine made, and contemporary art glass marbles!
I am always looking for marbles to sell on eBay. In addition to buying marbles I will accept consignments. Here's How it works:
1) You ship me the marbles you want sold
I grade and identify the marbles myself, but I welcome you to give your input so that we're in agreement to the best possible extent.
2) I split the marbles into lots for sale
I typically sell marbles both individually or in small groups, based on their value, rarity, condition, and other factors. I also welcome your comments on this and will do my best to comply.
3) I professionally photograph the marbles
I use a Sony Cybershot DSC-F707 Digital Camera, which allows extremely high resolution and absolutely beautiful images. This is the one of the best digital cameras currently available.
4) I post the auction lots on eBay
I use eBay's Seller's Assistant Software to give the auction a very professional appearance. Please also note that I pay all basic listing fees, including the additional cost of placing images in eBay's Gallery.
5) I email you the lot number for each auction
I do this so you can have the pleasure of tracking your auction, which runs for one week (seven days).
6) Once the auction has ended I email you with the results
Please note that I also pay all auction fees. This amount comes from my commission.
7) I ship the marble(s) to the winning bidder(s)
I pay for all shipping costs! And I package the marbles professionally, and ship them within two days of receipt of payment from the buyer.
8) I send you your check
As of March 1, 2005, my commission is 20% of the final sale price(s); however, I do have a minimum fee of $5.00 per lot sold. This means that any given lot would have to sell for around $25 or more in order for you not to be paying more than the standard 20% commission. I allow one week for the winning bidder to send the marble(s) back if there is any dissatisfaction, so there will be a one week delay in sending the check. However, I very rarely have an item returned and consignors usually get their payment inside of one month of my receipt of the marbles.
Please Note the Following:
1) I typically set auctions with a low starting bid. This generates more bidding, and I have found it unnecessary to set high opening bids or reserves, since the marble will fetch what people think it is worth anyhow. If you want an opening bid of more than $9.99, or want a reserve price set, I will subtract the fee for that from your share of the sales. These fees are not high. However, to protect myself from consignors who have unrealistic goals for the sale of their marbles, if the reserve or minimum bid set by the consignor is not met, I will charge a $4 fee (there is a lot of work involved in listing these auctions and I do need compensation). For eBay, I will also "bold" the auction listing if you wish. You pay the $2.00 charge for this. Bold listings are more eye-catching than others and sometimes yield higher bids. Note that I will only do this upon request and will only do it for marbles I believe will sell for over $100, since bolding lesser auctions only distracts from those auctions which deserve highlighting.
2) Once in a while I will receive a marble I would personally like to own. In such an event, I will usually set a reserve on the marble at no cost, of course, to the consignor. This works as my maximum bid, and in the event that the reserve is not met, I buy the marble at the same price as the finishing high bid. This is a win-win situation for the consignor, since it creates the potential for bidding to go much higher than expected, and allows me compete for a marble I like, rather than using a shill bid account, which I do not and will not do.
3) Please note that I do not allow consignors to bid on their own auctions. If I find that this is happening, I will cancel those bids and ask the consignor not to repeat this. If the consignor ignores this request, I will end all auctions prematurely, return the marbles at the consignor's expense, charge the consignor all other applicable fees involved in the listing of these marbles, and not conduct business with that person again. I do not tolerate this sort of dishonesty; if you are worried that a marble will not bring you the price you absolutely need, please ask me to set a reserve.
4) There is no guarantee that your marble will sell. However, nearly every auction I post will get at least one bid. If it does not sell the first time around, I will relist it at no charge to you, but perhaps with a slightly lower opening bid to generate interest. I also cannot guarantee that the item will fetch as high a price as you wish. However, most often you will be happily surprised at how much you make, and if you're unwilling to let a marble go below a certain cost, then remember that you have the option to have me set a reserve price.
5) Please be careful what you send me. Sometimes, new or inexperienced collectors will have marbles they believe are old and valuable, but which turn out to be reproductions, modern marbles, or simply too damaged to be of interest. I will do my best to sell all marbles sent to me. But if they are just not worth selling for any reason, then I will ask you to pay shipping costs to return them.
6) I welcome you to try this service. If unsure of how it will work out for you, please feel free to send a small amount of marbles with which to begin. I think you'll be very happy with the results, however, and will want to send more. My policy is strict honesty, and you can be assured that my integrity to both you, my customers, and myself are of the highest degree! Most of all, I appreciate your trust and your patronage.
HOW I GRADE MARBLES
I utilize a strict grading system in which all marbles are inspected under 20-power magnification using a jeweler's loupe and strong lighting. To me, Mint means Mint, and if you ever receive a marble from me graded as such, and you find even the tiniest flake, it was an oversight on my part. My grading system is bivariate; that is, I use both numerical grades as well as a descriptive denotation. This system is described below:
10.0 (Pristine): This describes a perfect marble, with a "wet," clean surface even under magnification. All contemporary marbles should have this grade, though very few antique or vintage marbles will ever be graded as such.
9.7-9.9 (Mint +): There is no damage present, even under magnification, though the marble is not quite a perfect "10."
9.3-9.6 (Mint): To the unaided eye, this describes a marble with no damage, though under magnification there may be one or two pinpricks, a hint of wear, or an abrasion or rub spot. Marbles in this range may have a small "as-made" such as a pinprick-sized blow-out pit or a touch spot.
9.0-9.2 (Mint -): Mint (-) marbles will have no missing glass, with the exception perhaps of some microscopic pinpricks. There may be minor wear, a sparkle or two, or a tiny subsurface reflection or moon.
8.7-8.9 (Near Mint +): These marbles are almost in the Mint range, but may have a tiny flake or moon, or two, as well as a few sparkles, subsurface reflections/moons, minor "as-mades," and/or minor wear. Near Mint (+) marbles will have at least one angle from which they view Mint.
8.3-8.6 (Near Mint): This range describes marbles that have the same sort of description seen on Near Mint (+) marbles, only to a higher degree. One side should still be viewed Mint.
8.0-8.2 (Near Mint -): These marbles will have the same sort of damage seen on specimens in the upper Near Mint ranges but only more so. No side will be viewable as Mint, but the damage will not be deep or cover more than one quarter of the marble's surface, with the exception of overall wear.
7.7-7.9 (Good +): The difference between marbles in this range and those that are Near Mint (-) is highly subjective, though such marbles will have over one quarter of the surface covered with damage, but not more than 50%. A Good (+) marble should be able to be reconditioned (polished) without too much glass required to be removed.
7.3-7.6 (Good): Good marbles will have substantial damage, some of it deep enough so that polishing may not remove it all. Roughly half of the surface will have damage, and wear is generally heavy.
7.0-7.2 (Good -): More than 50% of the surface has damage, including substantial chips, and you would probably not want to collect such a marble unless it were extremely rare or if you planned on having it reconditioned. Polishing will probably not remove all the damage without substantially reducing the size of the marble.
6.7-6.9 (Poor +): Poor (+) marbles are so beat up that there has to be a really good reason it would still be desirable. You would be taking a risk to try to have such a marble polished.
6.3-6.6 (Poor): Marbles in Poor condition have so much damage you can barely tell what type it is. These are beyond repair.
6.0-6.2 (Poor -): A marble in this condition is so beat up that there would be no reason to want to own it, unless it happens to be a unique example.
5.9 and under (Non-Collectible): Throw it away!
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