Some news...

The bad news first. OK, here's the deal. eBay are fast becoming rubbish. I don't say that lightly as I've sold around £50,000 worth of items over the past few years and I'm grateful for it. I seem to have built a reputation for good, honest service with a fast turnaround and much of my feedback has been very personal as opposed to "great" or "OK". I get a lot of repeat custom so I must be doing something  right.  But through no particular fault of my own the visitor numbers to Curio Gifts dropped overnight a few weeks back by 90% to barely a trickle. Where once I was getting 450-600 unique visitors a day, in some cases it's down to 30. It has rallied slightly but it's still not a living. eBay have no idea why - all they can come up with was "well, your shopfront looks a bit tired". It may well do and yes, I freely admit that it's pretty rubbish but the punters didn't decide that in 24 hours. Very few actually landed on it anyway so the theory is a sinker. I pay eBay a vast amount to get my listings visible and to be honest, I feel I'm being ripped off. Things really don't change that drastically overnight (I wish I could screenshot the graph but this week they've even dumped their stats company, so it's disappeared). Total costs per month for listing and charges from eBay and Paypal are around £450-500 and it is no longer sustainable.

I have therefore taken the decision to migrate a lot of the vintage fixed price items over to Etsy, which is far better value for money if not quite so versatile. Etsy's policy is craft and arts based with an emphasis on self-made. There is though a flourishing vintage and antique market where second hand items over 20 years old can be sold and that fits in well with my stock and my market. I'm working on a new shopfront and have already got a few listings up. It's a pretty labourious task but I'll get there in good time. The shop there is called Pots and Crocks, or rather 'potsandcrocks'and you can see it here.

I will still be putting items into auction on eBay and the shop will still run - indeed, 99% of the stock will pass through eBay at one point, so don't run away yet. Certain items I can't sell on Etsy, such as newer pottery and clothing but please pay a visit to the new venue to get me visible!

Vintage Scallop Shell Soap Dish - Cauldon

Quite a large white scallop shell soap dish by Cauldon. It is stamped in green on the base with the crown device and "Cauldon England". The Cauldon history is complicated, not least the backstamps"Royal" was used after 1930 so there's a possiblity this could be 1920-30. It's in very good condition although there is a fine crack for about 1cm on one corner of the handle which would need to be watched.

12.5cm x 15.5cm 

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Vintage "The Master" Chrome Tin Opener & Sardine Server - Boxed

English made chrome plated combined sardine tin key and server,"The Master" by L & L Products. I think the base metal may be brass as the gold colour is exposed at one spot on the underside. The slotted key slides into the server for storage. It doesn't look worn so may be unused, and is still in its original box although the box has seen better days with the flaps at one end missing.

Measurements are approximate: Box: 18.5cm x 5cm x 1.5cm
Tool: 17.5cm long

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Vintage Old Trentham Sprays Fruit Bowl - D4262 - Royal Doulton

Large fruit or serving bowl in the Old Trentham Sprays pattern by Royal Douton, pattern no D4262. This pattern dates from the 1920s and there is what appears to be an impressed date stamp on the underside of "6  23" which would bear this out. The colours are still quite bright but it is showing signs of wear as one would expect of an 80+ year old piece. No cracks or chips though, only firing marks.
  23cm diameter x 7.5cm

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Studio Pottery Stoneware Candle Holder

Traditional style candleholder in stoneware with a brown and blue glaze. No mark but in excellent condition despite having been used

13cm x 4.5cm

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