If a picture is worth a thousand words a video must be worth a million. That is the very simple statement that made it very clear that I need to utilize video. Why you ask?.. because I am good at it that’s why! You see at my main job (which is still a secret) it sometimes calls for video so I have the skills to shoot, edit, and get it to the world. I have no problem hopping on cam and talking.
Besides having the Youtube channel (it has one whole video at the time of this writing) this gives me the ability to have video on my site and more importantly I can now embed video into an Ebay product listing. I just can’t believe how many people DO NOT USE VIDEO in their listings. I was talking to my buddy the other day and I was like ” I wonder if you can put video into an Ebay listing”. He says “I don’t think you can because I haven’t seen it”. Well…you can and I will. I am not going to shoot a video on every product but the ones that are maybe a little special I certainly will.
So without further ado (or adieu depending on where you fall in that argument) here is the first product video
It’s been a minute since I wrote a blog post and frankly it’s because I have been a busy boy. Besides the normal searching for unique items I have been redesigning the website(as you could probably see). I liked the first one but I wanted a new design that had a little more flair. I also needed to have a place where I could sell individual items. I didn’t want a full blown eCommerce store because I list in 2 Eco-systems- Ebay and Etsy. So with the new website I have three: The store, Ebay, and Etsy. With a listing system vs. a full eCommerce store I can put a listing that points to whatever format I like….it all works out (hopefully).
The new website is clean and mean… nice layout, some cool visuals, and a good representation of our products. We also have a great search tool to find the items you love by simple characteristics like Types, Price range, and categories. We hope you enjoy it.
As far as new items I have found some way cool stuff. Here are some of my favorites:
This vintage (or perhaps antique) blue cut glass perfume bottle is like wooooaaaah. I took 40 pictures of this thing and I had a hard time picking what to use in the listing. It is in phenomenal shape.
Here is another perfume bottle that is almost as intricate as the first. Look at that cut glass…just amazing craftsmanship.
Lets change gears… Look at this find. Beatles trading cards. There are a bunch of Beatlemania fans out there that collect these. This is a lot of 250 that include series 1,2,3, color cards, and the diary cards. What a lot!
I have also entered the Artwork arena. I have a lot of opportunity to buy artwork and I was just always worried about shipping it properly. Since i have now become a SHIPPING NINJA I feel like this is a good thing to offer our customers and something that could be really good for the business.
Here is a late 19th Century etching by Camille Fonce
Here is another one in color by G. Dinchat. It’s a numbered piece #135 out of 500 made.
Lastly is this wonderful specimen… An Italian marble Koch & Lowey clock. It is really an awesome piece.
You know…I do not keep these items for myself often (except some vintage golf clubs and balls hanging on my wall) but some of these new items are hard to let go of However, I do want you to have them so buy and bid with confidence! We take care of our customers and go out of our way to find some cool stuff. We are a new business but we have years and years of experience. We would like to share that experience with you.
I wanted to share a really cool story about an Etsy sale we just did. As you may know we really sell mostly on EBay…however we really want to grow our Etsy store because we see this as a long-term win for us. Instead of an auction or moving to a full blown EBay store, this gives us an outlet to move some very affordable vintage items. When I go to an estate sale or an auction I almost think of the Etsy store as a separate entity. I look specifically for interesting or cool things that we can list there. Our Etsy store is made up of mostly $5 to $20 items on purpose. We want to grow our brand and have very affordable items there. We just introduced a higher priced category there and listed our first product (which is this stunning Steuben candy dish by the way). We call this the “Kilderkin Klub” and this is where we will list more luxury items but still at a reasonable value. if you sign up for our newsletter we will actually let you know 48 hours prior to something hitting the store so its worth it peeps!
So we haven’t sold a ton of stuff yet on Etsy because it’s so new but I had an amazing win today for our brand. We had a really nice watch up on Etsy that looked like this….
It was a really nice vintage ladies watch with a special Speidel strap…really nice piece that worked perfectly. I received a message from a customer asking if we would take a Money Order. I immediately responded and said absolutely! I went in added that as a payment option and she made the purchase after professing her love for the way this watch looked (I couldn’t agree more) . When I sent this watch to her I wanted to do something special. I included a cool little gold with green gemstone brooch (never got around to listing it) in with the order with a small note that said “I added a gift just for being awesome”. I knew that adding that little touch would mean a lot for someone who wasn’t expecting it from buying a $15 item (good deal right?). Heck, I might add a gift to every Etsy package…why not?
I got a glowing message from her and I just wanted to share. I am guessing she won’t mind since I am not sharing names:
I received my beautiful watch yesterday along with the beautiful pin. That was very nice of you to do that. I am wearing the watch now and it keeps perfect time and looks brand new. So very happy with it! I love the green colored stones in the pin. I have many nice blouses it will look great on. You have made this transaction very easy and you have been so nice to do business with. I hope to shop with you again in the future. Thank you again for your kindness.”
You know what…it’she little things like this that make this all worth it. Love our customers!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our first item over $20 in our special "Kilderkin" category. These are special items that are reserved jfor our special guests. Those who subscribe to our newsletter on our website will see these items 48 hours prior to listing so go sign up!
This is a 4" original Steuben dish in STELLAR condition. This is a very special piece and quite rare. What makes this even more rare is the fact that it comes with the original felt pouch/bag AND the original Steuben box. Most use these as a candy dish or just a collectible item. Some use it as an ashtray (I think it's too beautiful for that}. It was difficult to pick only 5 pictures for this one, I took over 20. I put the light right up to it and it looks really great. This is signed on the bottom in script hand etching "Steuben". The bottom of this dish looks like a fish eye lens, really cool!
ABOUT STEUBEN: Steuben Glass Works was an American art glass manufacturer, founded in the summer of 1903 by Frederick Carder and Thomas G. Hawkes in Corning, New York, which is in Steuben County, from which the company name was derived. Hawkes was the owner of the largest cut glass firm then operating in Corning. Carder was an Englishman (born 18 September 1863) who had many years' experience designing glass for Stevens and Williams in England. Hawkes purchased the glass blanks for his cutting shop from many sources and eventually wanted to start a factory to make the blanks himself. Hawkes convinced Carder to come to Corning and manage such a factory. Carder, who had been passed over for promotion at Stevens and Williams, consented to do so.
In 1918, Steuben was acquired by Corning Glass Works and became the Steuben Division
WHAT'S INCLUDED:
1 x 4" candy dish
CONDITION:
Excellent Condition
*SHIPPING USPS Priority Mail- packed with care- $ 8.00
Shipping estimate for this listing is for the continental U.S. only and
are based on size, weight, and fragility. We are not in the business of making money on shipping and handling of a product just covering the costs to package this and get it to you in a quick manner. The most important part to us is getting this item to you in the same condition you see in the photos.
DATING THE ITEM: No I am not looking for a date (sorry) and I have not taken this item out on a date (WEIRD) However, I do try to accurately date items I list. We take a good amount of time to research items but we may not always get it right. I use my buying experience and good ole' Google to help me out. Please utilize the great photos I take and judge for yourself. If you are an expert on something you see here please reach out and correct me if you find something is off.
OUR NAME: UMMMMM....WHATS A FIRKIN? A firkin is a small cask (usually wooden) used for butter,
meat, and fish. These were used for preserving meat and fish back in the day. We mostly
just think it's a funny word and we are from Philadelphia. This word does a good job of replacing words that are considered much worse. This way we keep it rated PG...your welcome.
FOLLOW US/ SOCIAL: We do some cool stuff with Social Media. When we are at the auctions or just out looking for cool stuff we love to use instagram (myfirkinantiques). You can basically see the items we are going to list BEFORE they are ever for sale....pretty cool huh? We also have a twitter @myfirkintweets and Facebook page (facebook/firkinantiques). We also put some funny posts and serious posts on top of just items. As we build our business we love to share our learnings with you! FOLLOW US
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I posted this on our firkin Instagram and got a few likes! This is a vintage Octus women’s watch with a wonderful bracelet. The bracelet is a Speidel Spirit of Paris bracelet and it looks great. It has a rope inside and expands really easily to fit lots o’ wrists. The watch itself has a couple of hearts on it so why not buy this for someone you love huh?
You like #games and #contests? Cool I have one it’s called #firkincontest. I know I know…#brilliant . in this photo is a #weirdthingy and if you can tell me what it is…we may just send you something #firkincool. Just reply below and write hash tag #firkincontest. Give it a try. #firkinantiques #winacontest #gameon from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1LLloRU
These may be the coolest #playingcards I have ever seen . These seem to be from the #czechrepublic and they are #socool . #firkin #firkinantiques from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1LHITwu
Your rockin a bunch of #trinkets you say? No sweat…we just made a big purchase on a #trinketbox lot. We are placing about 20 to 30 on our #firkin Etsy store this week. Some good names like #Lenox #fenton #irice #villeroyandboch #elesva just to name a few. Remember our Etsy store is between 5 and 20 #firkinbucks so it’s super affordable. #firkinantiques from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1S2KJvX
What a firkin night we had this week at the auction….You can see a couple of randoms from our firkin Instagram. If you are not following us you should. You know why? Well….I am not sure why but it would really be cool because we are so cool. We got a few really cool things to list and we think you will want to firkin buy some of them.
First, Here are some new items that just listed on our Ebay account . We have had these but I had to travel to the west coast for some biznisss…
A couple of models that I purchased . One is a brand new AH-64 Army Helicopter , completely sealed. The second one is much more interesting and is the real reason I purchased this lot. I knew the second one was valuable…like $150 valuable. The Tamiya Hunting Tiger + is a cool model and its motorized. Is ours going to sell for $150? no firkin way. It’s missing some bits and I am not sure what. I do know it’s missing the treads and that sucks. The good news is since these are so hard to find maybe this will complete someone else’s set? It also looks like it has the full motor assembly which is way cool. You can find the helicopter here and the wicked tank here.
This game looks so cool. These are late 19th century and it looks like newer games called Allegro were based on this one. I had a hard time finding out values so you may get a great deal. Check out the auction here before you miss out
Jade Buddhas people! You don’t even need to like this fat little jolly dude to firkin love these cuff links. You know what...don’t buy them here, I will wear these bad boys myself.
This guy does not get excited about plates because well…. they are like things you eat off of. These plates though? Super awesome. These are superb examples of fine work by the great artists at Lenox. There are 4 of them and you need them in your life. Go get these and maybe display therm or perhaps eat off of them…whatever floats your boat.
On to just a sample of some of the new stuff we picked up.
You collect thimbles? I can’t believe how many people do. These are some vintage / antique thimbles and a couple of these look pretty sweet. At least one is Sterling Silver.
Here are some cool patches. I didn’t even pick these up specifically…they were just hiding with another lot I purchased. Glad I found them. I know a couple of these are WWII First Army patches.
I thought this was some sort of ancient torture device. Actually I could come up with so many jokes about this thing (we did at the auction) but I won’t post it here. This is actually an egg topper. If you like soft boiled eggs (They are high in protein and firkin delicious) than you need this in your life. Almost every one of these (Rochester Stamping Co.) is missing the little red gemstone for the eyes. Ours is not missing!
Gillette is a pretty well known name in the shaving industry but if you want to shave in firkin style, you need a gold razor…hells ya!
Finally we are going to ADD A TON OF THINGS to our Firkin Etsy Store. We picked up a ton of Porcelain trinket boxes. Some of these are amazing… We have a couple of good names here like Lenox and Fenton to name a couple. Watch our firkin Etsy store for these to be listed throughout the week.
Remember, we search for items all over so if there is something you have been looking for reach out to us and we will look for the item. We are able to preview some of the items so we can even bid for you.
Tonight we have a couple cool things going up for auction and some on Sunday. A couple are back from the dead after non-pays….grrrrr. Second chances for everyone!
First, this bad boy is going up tonight. I needed to figure out how to ship this thing and settled on going to a shipping company. The shipping is higher than I like but I a, starting it at a really reasonable price.
Boehm American Redstarts #447– Starting at only $68.88- valued above $200. STARTS TONIGHT for 10 days
In my best Eminem voice–> “Guess who’s back, back again”… This awesome 1970 Charles Revson Gold electroplate “Love” bracelet. This was the same designer(Aldo Cipullo) that did the solid gold version for Cartier. starting at $48.88. These sell for over $200! and are sought after by collectors. STARTS TONIGHT FOR 10 DAYS
You collect vintage wooden puzzles? I have 2 to start us off….
One is labeled “When winter comes” the artist is WH Thompson and the other is “Eastern Pride”. They are super cool. The Eastern pride puzzle is missing a piece but hey a camel doesn’t need all 4 legs. I have 12 more of these puppies ready to list as soon as I put them together. STARTS SUNDAY
Check this cool find…a Playboy ice bucket…what??? Yup! This bad boy is from the mid-century and is made in the USA by Thermo-Serve. Hey, you need somewhere to put your ice and you know it. STARTS SUNDAY
and lastly here is a cool wooden figurine straight from Italy (marked with number). It looks to be made by Alberto Lena. I can’t find this anywhere on the interwebs so this may be super rare people! STARTS SUNDAY
So you know what you should do? BID! Maybe you snag one of these treasures for a super reasonable price.
Are you looking for something particular? Just send us a firkin message and get on our list! We are hitting the auctions tomorrow so there are some cool things a comin!
Sometimes we get cool bins of things from estate sales. Some of them look like nothing much to me and sometimes you find something amazing…It’s very hit or miss. We recently acquired a nice box of costume jewelry. I didn’t think much of this stuff when I first got my hands on it frankly but then I started to do some research. There is a HUGE market for this stuff and actually some of the pieces are quite beautiful! We even have a couple of Seterling Silver pieces that you will love. At the end of the article I am going to tell you how to get your hands on it AND save 10%….who doesn’t like coupons?
So why would people want these pieces? Maybe they wanna be a balla and a shot calla but don’t have the necessary coinage ? Maybe they like shiny stuff (again, Americans really like shiny stuff I am finding). Maybe they just like collecting or this may remind someone of the good ole’ days. Either way there is a ton of history in these pieces. I took the ones that I thought were nice or really old and instead of going auction crazy, I listed them in our new Etsy store. Our new Etsy store is great because we only have 3 price points…
5 firkin dollars, 10 firkin dollars, or 20 firkin dollars. No no there is not such a thing as an actual “firkin dollar” , we really mean US dollars people…cmon! These 3 price points are very easy for people to digest and they are all affordable. We keep the shipping very reasonable and if we have a paper product shipping is FREE. Listen, I could list a bunch of this stuff on Ebay and maybe catch $50 or $60 for a couple of these pieces but I didnt. Why you ask? Oh, I am going to tell ya…
I want to build up our Etsy store and get some more sales.
I want to build up our reputation for carrying fine vintage and antique goods…we don’t sell crap. We want to prove that and show some good ratings on the store.
We are not greedy.
So there you have it, here are some of the pieces that I think are way cool…click each one to check it out on the Etsy store.
Sterling Silver Onyx Art Deco ring
Antique AA Green Co. Pocket Watch Fob Chain
Vintage Purple center stone necklace
Red Floral and gold tone necklace and earring set
Sara Cov Bracelet with tassle
Sterling Silver and blue stone (possibly sapphire) Size 5 ring
Vintage Green gem Edwardian brooch
Sparkling gemstone (bling bling) with blue center stone bracelet
Oh ya you want that 10% off coupon? Use Code SAVEFIRKINMONEY in our Etsy store on any items! I know, I know…we’re awesome. Let’s not make a big deal about it.
However, I do want you to have them so buy and bid with confidence! We take care of our customers and go out of our way to find some cool stuff. We are a new business but we have years and years of experience. We would like to share that experience with you.
