New Auction Links Directory

I've created a new web site to organize and put in-context all the various companies and tools related to the online auction industry.  It also includes online classifieds, eBay and selling tools, blogs, newsletters, you name it.  A real smorgasbord. Check it out at www.juliasauctionlinks.com.

"Right Now" and the Pussycat Dolls: How original writers get forgotten

I was just listening to an infectious tune sung by The Pussycat Dolls (from their PCD album) that rang a bell with me: it's the song "Right Now," and I had heard it before, back in the 80s when I was in college...that time it was sung by a cool British band called "The Creatures."

It made me wonder who really had written the song, because it has this '40s kind of swing feel to it...you can just picture a couple jitterbugging to it.  After a little digging..actually too much digging, I think...I finally determined it was originally written by Mel Torme. Torme was called "easily the greatest of all scat singers this side of Ella Fitzgerald" ("Mel Torme's Finest Hour") and lived 1925-1999.

I downloaded both versions of "Right Now" from iTunes (you couldn't find the 1983 version from "The Creatures" on there, which leads me to what's wrong with online music services, but that's another topic for another day) and it's really fun to play them back to back. In fact playing different versions of songs back-to-back is kind of a sub-hobby for me; you should try it sometime.

Anyway, the point of all this is to say that, it seems to me it's a shame the original creators of things sometimes get forgotten. This seems to happen to songwriters in particular the most.  I wonder if any of the new fans of the song "Right Now," brought in by the PC Dolls (who I must admit have a very catchy version of the song) will know that this song was written back in the middle of the 20th century, or will ever hear of Mel Torme.

Amazon's new aStores

Amazon.com has a new feature called aStores.  It's in beta now, so I went ahead and created a store using my associates account.

I have to say, they've made it very easy to create...just a few clicks, and enter the isbn number or numbers of the books you want to sell, and whoop -- there it is.

I have not been able to successfully embed the thing into the sidebar of this blog yet..it may not be doable.  Here is the link to the store:

Julia's new Amazon aStore

Let's see if I can embed it here within this post:

Whoops!  I guess not..I tried it and half of the store or so got cut off...well, we'll just have to tinker with it.

Anyway, I think this is going to be a good thing for amazon, as it will encourage people to sell books within the amazon e-commerce system directly from their own web sites.

I'll keep an eye on my aStore, and see how its sales compare to other venues, as time goes on.

(Hey! Typepad! Is there a way to embed one's aStore into one's blog as a TypeList)

How Do People Find Genuine Hermes Bags to Sell?

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about eBay, and she said a friend of hers does very well selling Hermes bags and other designer items on the site. (Yes, I can imagine she does!).

I asked her where her friend finds these things, because I know there are many fakes out there and these upscale brands don't generally offer their stuff willy-nilly for people to resell.

She says her friend lives in New York City and finds such items at designer sample sales, and in some cases, she has relationships with individual stores.  For example, she knows one owner of a very high-end jewelry store whose name we all have heard of, and he offers her some pieces to sell. Whether these are pieces that hadn't sold by the end of the season, returns, or if they had some other reason the store needed to get rid of them quickly, I don't know, but I would guess that was the case.

Oprah's Vuitton Bag

I'd like to experiment with selling more luxury items, because they seem to sell so well, but I know you have to find the right item, too.  I have to say I am not normally attracted to Vuitton so much because I feel the logos are too in-your-face (and then there's the high price issue), but I know the genuine items are extremely well-made and beautiful.  But the most beautiful Vuitton bag I've seen is the one Oprah was sporting on her show when Marc Jacobs was a guest.

(Another thing I learned from that show was that Marc Jacobs designs for Vuitton as well as for his own label). 

According to a comment posted on Purseblog.com, it's called the "Ostrich Oskar Dora Waltz Monogram" and "a lot of LV stores
don�t carry them. It�s one of a kind. Only a few are made and
distributed among V.I.P.S." Bummer!

This link has a pic of the bag:

Purseblog's Post about the Vuitton Ostrich Oskar Dora Waltz Bag

Weschler's auctions piece in the Post

This is my first post to my new typepad blog! ("Alert the media," as my sister would say).

A saw a good piece about Wechsler's Auctioneers (an offline, "real-world" auction house in Washington, D.C.) recently (Monday, July 31, 2006) in the Washington Post.

People come in and bid on the many lots that cycle through during a day for many reasons.  Some are mysterious characters who seem to be hoarders. Others just want to get the good deal, like a guy who got a painting worth $400 for $20.

One man sums up how I feel about buying things at yard and estate sales: "For me, it's about the history of things. You're constanty learning. It's a great second career."

So what about my scores over the weekend?  Well, usually I buy with an eye to resell stuff, but I'm gonna keep some of this weekend's haul. For example, I got a lovely original oil painting of autumn foliage for $17.  I also got a Dooney & Bourke purse and a great Kenneth Cole tote bag for $4. What good stuff did you find over the weekend? Post a comment here.