The Accidental Postcard Dealer

Managing Listings Over Multiple Channels - An Intro.

2006-11-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

My apologies to anyone reading this looking for tips or information about postcards. I've been wracking my brain for things to write with little success. The website is taking a lot of time and not selling much but with the eBay fee increases I can't afford to keep as much in my eBay store anymore.

I'm using Zen Cart for my website and I really like it. The setup the second time was relatively painless. However the trouble seems to be managing many individual products across eBay and the Zen Cart.

There are services that will manage inventory across different channels although most of them seem to only support oscommerce and not Zen Cart. Some of them also seem to me to be cost prohibitive when working with low dollar items or they seem to involve a total management system.

The one thing I've found about postcard dealing is that it differs from many other types of product in that it pays to have a large inventory available to buyers. Of course this is true to some degree with every business but its more so in a field like postcards or books where people may be collecting or looking for one, sometimes obscure or highly specific, item. Some dealers have upwards of 50,000 cards. With this kind of inventory automation and simplification of everyday tasks is important.

To manage inventory across multiple channels a seller needs the ability to either:

A) have two separate inventories, which would be manageable if one had multiples of products or sells products which are interchangeable. IE. if you sold ipods and had 50 of them you could put half on the website and half in the eBay store.

B)have a way of identifying and changing aspects (revise/delete/add) of a listing easily across the multiple channels.

The way I've chosen to manage my inventory is through B. To help with this process I've been using the eBay auction numbers as model numbers in zen cart. I purchased a program called 3 Clicks from Prime 2s which imports data from eBay into an excel spread sheet. The program costs 26.99 but is worth every penny. Prime 2s also has excellent support for the program.

I believe the program is developed to simplify bookkeeping for eBay sellers (it comes packaged with a spreadsheet which with three clicks will import all sold item data from your my eBay). While it works fabulously for this purpose it also solves the problem of data import from eBay. This program is necessary because of the limitations of the other forms of data import from eBay.

There are four ways in which I know of to get data from eBay but they each have there disadvantages:

a) By hand - suitable for small volume sellers but a mind boggling task for anyone with thousands of listings

b) Turbo Lister - can be buggy when importing large amounts of data but will export it as a .csv file which can then by opened in excel. - the major flaw with TL, aside from its tendency to be unstable and stop importing after the first few thousand listings, is that it doesn't export auction numbers. Why? Who knows. You can view the auction numbers in TL but it will not export them as part of its .csv file.

c) File exchange - You need to subscribe to file exchange and it has a bit of a learning curve but its generally quite fast and easy to use for downloading data from eBay -however file exchange will not let you download certain fields such as description, picture URL. *

d) Use Three Clicks - its only downside is it costs money to buy the program (although it does have a free trial period) and the cost is really quite reasonable compared to the amount of time it saves - the program allows you to download any information you need from eBay (including both auction number and description but in the same spreadsheet!) and to choose from active, sold, unsold listings.

Now that you have the data you have to utilize it. With some finessing the data you download to eBay can be uploaded to Zen Cart as a tab delineated file using the free easy populate module. This is where auction numbers vs. model numbers become important. The auction number/model number is the key in your inventory data base. What does this mean? It means that the number is the individual identifier for each product. Products can have the same title/description or price but each one must have a unique identifying number which allows it to be easily found on either site.

By using the eBay assigned auction number (for listings which are on eBay) you can much more easily manage your inventory. By assigning the eBay auction number as the model number for any item you may have in both places you can easily end anything sold with one file upload.

For instance if I wake up one morning and find I've sold 20 postcards on eBay i can download a list of new sold items in excel using three clicks (just the auction numbers) into a spread sheet using the proper Easy Populate format, upload it through easy populate in my zen cart admin and the corresponding website listings are ended. I can do the same thing with anything sold on my website using the file exchange service provided by eBay.

This saves my oodles of time finding and manually ending the listings on either site.

*Between TL and File exchange you can get all the info you would need but this involves manipulating the date in excel to match the auction numbers from file exchange with the descriptions etc that you export from TL. A very helpful tutorial about this written by another eBay seller can be found here: http://www.boomspeed.com/sgdeals/TLFER.htm but the process is somewhat involved the first time and involves getting data from two different places on eBay which may be problematic.

Postcard Collecting Terms

2006-10-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of some of the terms and abbreviations you may come across while collecting postcards. This list is by no way complete or even extensive but hopefully it will get you started with the more common abbreviations:

Terms which refer to age:

WB - White border, postcards produced in the US circa 1920-30. Not all postcards with a white border are white border era postcards however.
DB - Divided back, postcards published in the US circa 1907-1920. Before 1907 no message was allowed on the back hence these are called divided back.
UD or UDB - Undivided Back postcards published in the US circa 1901-1907, no message was allowed on the back hence no dividing line.
LN - Linen era postcard circa 1935-50.
CH - Chrome or photochrome postcard circa 1950 - present.

Terms which refer to grading *:

MT - Mint, absolutely perfect in every way.
NM - Near mint, almost perfect considered to some dealers to be as good as you can get.
EX - Excellent,
VG - Very good, may have some flaws but nothing major.
FR - Fair, has obvious flaws
PR - Poor, has many obvious flaws.

* There isn't a set standard for grading between postcard dealers as there is with records or comic books but a good dealer should provide information on any flaws and some indication of what their grading is based on.

Terms which refer to condition or specifics(these again may vary by dealer and if you find yourself confused when looking to buy be sure to ask what the specific term means):

AM - Album marks - usually some slight marks on the corners of cards from the album.
WOB - Writing on back.
WOF - Writing on front.
RPO - Railway post office postmark (some such marks are very collectible)
FLG CNL - Flag cancel - a specific US postmark which looks like a flag
CNL - Cancel referring to part of the postmark
BW - Black and white
RPPC - Real Photo Postcard (an actual photo made into a postcard)
RP - Real Photo see above.
CW - Corner wear
EW - Edge wear.
PC - Postcard
AS or A/S - Artist signed.
Folder - Generally a booklet in which views fold out like an accordion and are printed on both sides.

Hopefully this is somewhat helpful for more common abbreviations and terms. For a very complete reference including some more esoteric abbrev. try here.

Website grand opening

2006-10-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well the website is finally finished you can find it at www.plethoraofpostcards.com. Now i'll have more time for blogging (and listing cards!). Actually its not finished i still have a list of things i'd like to do with it but its open to the public and seems to work, fingers crossed.

The site is based on zen cart which is a open source shopping card program based on OScommerce. It was a bit of a challenge but a good one.

If you want to check it out for the next month this coupon code ( 5fb8eac196 ) will give 10% on any order at checkout.

So you want to find a postcard huh? - Tips & Tricks for searching for that special card.

2006-09-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Internet has a wealth of information and products on it. The trick is finding that special card that your looking for.

Step one - Decide where to search:

There are many great places to buy postcards online (we'll talk about offline later). They range from dealers websites to eccommerce giants like eBay.

EBay is arguably one of the better places to start as it has the larges selection at the time of writing there are over 150,000 items in the Postcard and Paper section on eBay.com which are being auctioned off and over 1 million more in eBay Stores which can be bought right now. EBay maintains a number of different sites as well so you need to choose the one appropriate to your country. For example eBay.com shows results from all over the world while ebay.co.uk, or eBay.ca have preferences set up for buyers from the United Kingdom and Canada respectively. There are many advantages in searching on the right site including prices shown in your local currency, only seeing results from sellers who ship to your country, different categories (ebay.co.uk breaks down UK town/city views better than eBay.com for example).

Playle's Online Auctions is specific to postcards and postal memorabilia and while it doesn't have the selection of eBay it does attract mostly serious dealers and can be a great place to find that rare treasure.

Google Base/Froogle: Both Google base and Froogle are run by the popular search engine of the same name. Google Base is like a large online classified add on which sellers from many different websites can upload there listings while Froogle works as more of an online shopping comparison site. Both are free to list on and attract a large selection of different sellers. Their advantages are that it makes it easier for you to find something rather than searching individual websites.

Websites: Many dealers have websites on which they display there product. Google vintage postcards or Arkansas postcards and tons of results should pop up. If you find one you like be sure to bookmark it as many dealers add new stock on a regular basis. You can visit my website at: www.PlethoraofPostcards.com

Word of mouth/Postcards shows + Clubs: Many towns have postcard clubs which will have an annual show they can be lots of fun and you can get some great deals and meet other nice people interested in your hobby. Word of mouth also works well over the internet. When I'm selling cards people often tell me what they're looking for and I let them know when I find it.

Step 2: Know How to Search

1. Use Categories Effectively

While this doesn't help while doing a search on google most websites have their products sorted into categories. The best thing to do is find the postcard category and then search within that.

2. Decide what keywords to use.

- IE. if you're looking for a divided back postcard of Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada you could type "Stanley Park Vancouver British Columbia Canada" into the search box but this probably wouldn't do you much good as the search would only return those items which had all those words in the title/description. If you are searching a dealers website or eBay and you're already in the postcard category you can leave out postcard.

The best way to search for a postcard of Stanley Park would be to put in the words Stanley Park and then narrow down your search by category if you find you get to many unrelated results. Extra words can help narrow you search but its best to start with a broad search or you may miss relevant results.

Ie. If you type in Stanley Park and get a bunch of cards from somewhere that isn't Vancouver try to narrow the category down to Canada or even British Columbia. By the time you do this you should have a small enough bunch of cards that you can only look at the ones you may be interested in.

In general the less keywords you use the better. On my site a lot of people use terms such as "Vintage Postcard Chicago" when searching Chicago in the Illinois category would yield better results. Sometimes even if a postcard is vintage there isn't enough space to list that in the title.

If there is a certain word you want excluded you can use minus before the word which you want to exclude from you search. Ie. you want postcards of Paris, Texas you could put -France to exclude postcards from Paris France.

If you want to learn more about specific search strategies try the Google help page which has some great advice on how to do a search.

Step 3: Use Advance Search Options:

While this may differ by website many searches allow you to use advanced options. Its a good idea to check these out to see if any of these will make your search easier or more efficient. Google also has a help page explaining the advance search for their site.

Dating Postcards - Part 2

2006-08-17T09:58:00.001-07:00

Real Photo Postcards: Real photo postcards span the different styles of postcards so cannot be dated that way. But there are resources on the web which will help determine the time period in which the card was made. They can be dated either by the stamp box (where the stamp would go) or by the back stamp.

Postmarks: - will tell you the latest date the card could have been printed. Although its good to be careful of cards which may have been posted sometime after there production.

Style/Clothing/Inscription: - Reading the back of the cards, while eliciting a certain thrill, can also yield clues about the age of the card. Clothing pictured on the front can also help narrow down the era in which a card was printed as can images on the front of the card which may pinpoint the date it was made.

Publisher: Certain publishers have numbered there card and a bit of googling will tell you how to decipher these numbers. A good example of this is cards by Curt Teich (for a complete guide click here) who numbered all there cards. Certain publishers also only published at certain times or used certain style of backs. A useful reference for dating postcards this way is on Playle's (a postcard auction site) which has pictures and dates of when certain backs were used.

Postage Rates: The ever rising cost of mailing can be your guide to dating that postcard of yours. Try here for historic rates in the US.

Part 1 - How old is my card? - A quick guide to postcard dating.

2006-08-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick guide to dating cards, please note however that some of these techniques work best with cards from/of the United States.

Techniques for dating cards:

Type or Style: One of the easiest ways to date unmailed cards is by style. Certain defining characteristics define postcards made between certain years and this can be used to narrow a card down to a particular time period.

Private Mailing Cards (1898-1901) - usually marked Private Mail Card or Private Mailing card on the back.

Undivided Back (circa 1901-1907) - These cards, many of which were printed in Germany, have an undivided back and it was only permissible to write the address, no note or message, on the backside. Many times however it was common to write a message on the front.

Buffalo, New York - City Hall circa 1906 - Buy it now!

Divided Back Postcards (circa 1908-1915): - Postal regulations at this time allowed the back of cards to be divided allowing one half to be used as a message and the other for an address. This was the most prolific time in the United States for postcard collecting. These cards are can be mistaken for more modern chromes so be aware that many will have a less shiny surface and a different paper texture than modern cards. Also look out for cards by the Detroit Publishing Company as many of there cards - ie. Phostint cards have a white border but were published during the divided back era.

Savoy Apartments - Rochester NY Circa 1915 - Buy it now!

White Border Era (Circa 1914 - 1930): - World war one had an adverse affect on the German Publishing industry so printing moved to the United States. To save money a white border was added to the edge of these cards. Many of these cards also had a description on the back above where the message would be.

Washington Square, Haverhill Massachusetts - Buy it now!

Linen Postcards (circa 1930-1945): Linen era postcards are made with high rag content paper. They are probably the easiest, along with undivided back cards, to identify. While the linen era ends in 1945 many linen cards are found postmarked well into the 50s and occasionally new ones can still be found on sale today. Most linens are brightly coloured and the scenes they show are sanitized and airbrushed.

Here is an example of a popular linen era subject the big or large letter card so called because it has large letters with smaller views of the place inside them:

Large Letter Texas Linen - Buy it Now!

Chrome: (circa 1939-present): In 1939 photochrome was invented and is still used today. It is a cheap way of printing photo quality cards with bright colors. Chromes started off as the standard vintage size, 3.5 by 5.5, and in the last few decades have become 5 by 7 or what is referred to as continental size which is 4 by 6.

Johnson's Hummocks Seafood Restaurant - Providence Rhode Island - Buy it now!

Part 2 - including Real Photo dating comming soon!

An Introduction

2006-08-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

My name is Megan and I'm a postcard dealer. While it isn't something that I never thought I would do its something I enjoy very much. I get to 'meet' some really nice people and here about their interests and collections and I've learned allot about different cities and towns. You can visit my store at www.PlethoraofPostcards.com. At the moment I have approx. 3400 cards for sale and many more which have not been listed.

Postcard collection is a hobby to fit many different budgets and life styles. The price can range from twenty five cents to thousands of dollars for a particularly rare card. Antique or vintage postcards make great art and are also small and easy to store.

People collect cards for as many different reasons as there are cards. You can collect cards of the place you live, the place you were born, a hobby or sport you like. I've sold to people collecting postcards of there home town who are trying to collect every postcard published of that place and to people who are simply buying one card of the church they were married in or the hospital where they were born. People also collect cards of a mind boggling number of topics and themes from Santa Clause and Halloween to postcards or lobsters or money.

I myself collect postcards that were illustrated by my great-great-great grandfather John Hassal who was a British children's illustrator. Here are a few examples of some of the cards in my collection:

Thanks for reading!