So far no good

So, in case you are wondering why you haven't heard from me for so long it's because there is no good news.

Things I have done wrong (aka excuses?), lets see . . . let real life get in the way and lost my focus, wanted EVERYTHING, broke every rule I just invented and then some, spent all my money so it wasn't available when a good buy it now deal came along, got distracted.  And in the end I bought a lot of badly damaged items just so I would have something to lay my hands on.

Broken dollies

On the plus side now I have some doll heads to practice on.  I am starting with the little AM 370 shoulder head on the right. (Yes, I even broke THAT rule).  

Next move?  Now I am going to work on my skills using the Marty Westfall book as a good way to start.  I also recently joined some terrific doll groups on Facebook and have been studying and enjoying some delicious eye candy that should inspire me in my quest.  I am also going to work on selling some of the stuff I have hoarded in recent months in misguided retail therapy binges.  

Good luck everyone!  And cross your fingers for me that I don't make the same mistakes too many times in a row at least.

What Not to Buy

The goal of this experiment is to end the year with a beautiful new doll, so what about the ones in between?  Mistakes will be made, chaos will ensue!  I mean, let's try to help each other keep that down to a minimum.

Here are a few of my tips on what we should avoid buying with our first fifty bucks, and why.  Strictly my own opinion so if you know better please help us out with a comment.

What not to buy:

1) Armand Marseille 370 and 390.  Maybe I am imaging things but these two head molds seem to be the most common bisque head antique dolls for sale, period.  In different sizes, and some certainly more beautiful then others, I see these dolls everywhere.  Turn over an antique doll and she is probably one of these, because of that the market is way over saturated at present.  These dolls are marked AM 370 and AM 390 and have what are known as dolly faces with pretty wide eyes and open mouths with teeth.  By all means buy one for yourself, as there is nothing wrong with that, but if you decide to spend your initially seed money on one you had better be prepared to fix her up in an extremely eye catching way to make any profit.

2) Other common dolls.  Anything you see over and over, going for a little bit of nothing.  You can check the advanced search feature on eBay to see what they have sold for, if anything, in the recent past.  Some very nice dolls have this problem, such as most "collectible" dolls, like modern Barbies, and Madame Alexander.

3) Rejects from the island of misfit toys.  I don't mean to say anything is entirely unfixable, in fact, most disasters can be lovingly restored in the right hands with the right tools, equipment, and know how (and perhaps a few replacement parts).  That being said, do you HAVE the right tools, equipment, know how, and replacement parts?  Is she a doll rare and lovely enough to afford the time and money she will take to bring back to life?  Probably the answer is no.  So please avoid badly broken heads (especially breaks through the face area), missing limbs, composition babies that are badly cracked and peeling, floating heads, etc.  For the time being.

Don't get me wrong, we will be doing a lot of arts, crafts, sewing, and repairing this year!  However, if you are like me a lot of this is new to you and you will have to work your way up to heavier restoration.  Figure out what skills you already have.  For me it is painting, having a good eye (if that can be called a skill), a little sewing, and a little photography.  And figure out what skills you should work on first.  I think we should all work on sewing (if this is not very interesting to you you can take shortcuts by learning to cut down vintage children / baby clothes), and photography with our first couple of projects especially.

4) Something you don't like.  If you don't like it yourself, how will you put your love and energy into fixing it up for someone else's collection?  No, it should be a doll you feel like coddling and working on for a few days or a few weeks, before passing her on to her new home.  So nothing you yourself don't like, but nothing you love so much that you can't let it go!  I have a feeling this will be a challenge at some point or another.  I tend to get attached.

So with that being said, start hunting eBay and whatever local venues you have access to.  Look around at what's out there for a bit before you chose.

Next time we'll talk about what TO buy,  Good luck!

25/50 - Halfway There

I've been working a lot of hours this week so, I only managed to get halfway to my starter goal by now.  I'm getting impatient already!  But this is a long term project!

Anyway, it might help to have a clear goal in front of us.  I have been doing a lot of research, looking at a lot of pretty things (like I don't usually look at ALL the dolls, ha).

I'm thinking for my end of the experiment goal, maybe a French Bebe?  Like this gorgeous Jumeau?
(Of course, this one went for about 1,600!  But she is awfully nice)

26 " unmarked Jumeau.  This picture was taken from eBay.
If  it's your doll and you don't want me to use it just contact me for removal.

Or, maybe an early closed mouth German doll?  Some German dolls were made for the French market and even have those charming almost meet in the middle eyebrows.

Meet you back here when we are ready to move on to the next step!

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch . . . Antique Doll Research Guide

Today we are doing surveys and waiting for our eBay auctions to end (bad me I haven't actually gotten around to listing mine yet, must get to that later).

In the mean time we will do some research and look at some pretty things!  Knowledge is power, and the more dolls you look at and can identify the more all the hidden treasure will belong to you.

Here are some resources I know you will like.

Antiques Roadshow doll archives - Check it out!  Lots of videos of antique dolls.  I know what I'm doing the rest of the day!  Take the given values with a grain of salt, obviously, but the dolls are still fun to see.

Pinterest - I'm still not sure I entirely "get" Pinterest but, I know you can see a lot of eye candy on there and I have also found sewing patterns for dolls and scans from rare books.

Another great thing to do is to go under the advanced search feature on eBay and look at the sold listings, you can see some pretty dolls that have come and gone on eBay and as an added bonus it gives you an idea of what prices people are willing to pay for them.  I will talk more about this later.

I will probably update this later when I think of some more resources, in the mean time, lets keep gathering up our starter money.

Seed Money - Part Two

Today I'd like to talk just a little about selling on eBay, after all, it's critical to the whole experiment no matter how you look at it!  Many of you probably have already been buying and selling on eBay for years, since you are obviously internet savvy or you wouldn't have made your way here in the first place.  Bare with me, though, as we speak to those who aren't used to it yet.

So, we are still in the stage where we are trying to gather our $50+ seed money to get started with.  (I am up to 100 points on my Opinion Outpost account right now so, that's 10/50!)  One good way to gather some money is to sell some of your stuff on eBay.

What do I sell? / Where do I find things to sell? -

You can sell parts of old collections, things you picked up for a good deal at yardsales or thrift stores, barely worn clothes that never really suited you (especially if you are NOT a smoker, as people who aren't smokers don't like the smell that sticks to clothes in particular), shoes is a good one.  Just make sure what you are selling is worth bothering with.  In my early eBaying days I actually lost money on a few things, after paying to have them shipped.

How do I sell my stuff on eBay? -

Well, there are a lot of good tutorials on this and it's actually pretty easy to do so I won't bore you with the details.  However, a few tips on getting the most money for your items!

1) List everything appropriately - Think about how you would look something up yourself if you wanted to buy it.  Brand name, theme, size, color.  As much detail as you can fit into the title.  Be accurate!  Nothing kills your auction faster then having no idea what it is you are selling, the right people will never find it!

2) Take great pictures - When I have been searching for dolls I have seen so many blurry pictures.  I can't help thinking that the seller must not realize, maybe his or her eyesight is not so good.  If this might be you please get a second opinion or even ask a family member to take the pictures for you.  Natural lighting can help a lot too, take your items outside on a nice day and get those pictures.  Take your pictures from each side so that the bidders can see the full condition of the item.

3) Tell everything - In addition to accurately identifying your item (whenever possible), it's important to check them over carefully for any condition issues.  Even if it seems insignificant to you, it might not be to the buyer of your item.  Let them know every crease, crack, and ding in your description.

Well, that should about cover it for today.  If you have any questions feel free to ask away.

Day One - Seed money

Happy Easter!

An Easter Wedding with Teabunnies

Today we're going to talk about the $50 needed to start our experiment in doll collecting.  If you would like to start with more, that's fine too!

I'm poor right now (cough *always* cough).  Being a minimum wage customer service worker with pets, family obligations, and bills, doesn't leave you with a lot of hobby money.  I'm sure most of you can relate!  So I'm going to share with you some of the methods I have been using for years now to scrape together a little pocket money.  All of these are legitimate companies that are proven payers and I have been paid by each of them many times.

Doing surveys is an excellent way to make a few bucks, that is if you have plenty of time on your hands.  Here are some of my favorites.

Some of these are referral links so if you sign up through me it will also help me out.

Opinion Outpost - This site has a lot of surveys most ranging in worth from .50 (5 points), to $2.50 (25 points).  You have to save up 100 points for payment into your Paypal account (remember yesterday when I told you you would need one of these?), but it does not take long at all and the payment is right away when you request it.

Pinecone Research - This site is different from most because each survey is worth a flat $3.00 (300 points), and you can request payment anytime!  They used to send me checks and I think that may still be an option but I have long since changed mine over to Paypal.  I believe they usually pay within 1-2 days.  The only problem with this one is that they are not always open to new people but be sure to sign up when that door is open!  They will send you multiple $3.00 surveys every month.
If you follow this website:  http://hunt4freebies.com/ they will let you know when Pinecone is once again accepting new members.  I will also try to give you a heads up right here on this blog when I hear about it.

Don't her parents look astonished?

The following are what are known as "Paid To" sites, that means in addition to surveys they also have videos, searches, and other opportunities to earn.

Swagbucks - Swagbucks is one of my all time favorites.  You can watch videos and even complete a little poll, to earn points.  I like to use these points to get Amazon giftcards, which I use to buy excellent books like these two I purchased recently.  But, you can also use your points for Paypal cash.

We are gong to use the heck out of Marty Westfall's book this year!

QuickRewards  - This is another one I like a lot, it's similar to Swagbucks but not quite as fun and not quite as pretty (sorry guys, you know it's true).  On the plus side you can cash out at any time and they are friendly and reliable if you need any help with anything!  This is also a good site for surveys if you do all they have at Opinion Outpost that day.

There are others that have their positive points but if you stick with these four you can't go wrong.

The Grand Experiment

What is the experiment?

The experiment is a way to buy our dream dolly one year from today's date.  The doll we never thought we would own, the one that got away, or the one that we missed from being born too late.

Starting with just $50 (stay tuned and I will even show you how to get the $50!), we will buy and sell our way to the top.  Remember that guy who traded a paperclip into a house?  Well, not like that exactly, nothing is that easy!  But, it is a similar concept only more realistic.

As we go along we will learn a lot about antique dolls, sewing, crafting, and restoration.  The journey is half of the fun!

So, who wants to play along with me and make this your best doll collecting year ever?  All you need is a computer with internet connection, an email address, and accounts with eBay and Paypal.  Of course a keen eye and creativity doesn't hurt.