Antique accord

Area antique dealers and mall managers have made peace with eBay, using it to help move merchandise while still favoring the time-tested personal method.

By KRIS HUNDLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 16, 2000

It's the thrill of finding an occasional treasure, the satisfaction of getting a seemingly good deal, the energy of a never-ending swap meet. That describes the appeal of a trip to the antique malls that have long operated in the Tampa Bay area.

But it also describes the cyberspace bargain-hunting on eBay, the booming online auction service. Although eBay has provided some formidable new competition for brick-and-mortar antique malls and auction halls, it also has given them new markets for their wares and a new generation of antique-buyers.

"My old familiar faces are home, looking at a computer," said Curtis Claypool, owner of Cobweb Auction in St. Petersburg. "But we get a lot of first-timers who used to think an auction was a closed thing and are now more comfortable with it."

While a handful of antique malls have closed in the Tampa Bay area in the past few months, local dealers say higher rents and alternative uses, not eBay, are to blame.

Eileen Bevan, formerly manager of the Floriland Antique Center in Tampa, said eBay had nothing to do with her mall's April 30 closing.

"We lost our lease because the owner is turning it into an office complex," she said. "I have dealers waiting in line for my new location."

Area antique dealers and the managers of the antique malls that rent them space say they've learned to live with eBay, using it to move merchandise in slow seasons, attract customers and expand sales. And though some dealers have decided to forsake rented space for cyberspace, most want to peddle their goods to both audiences.

"I find it's the best of both worlds to do both," said Judy Ferguson, a dealer in dolls and teddy bears. She said her income is about evenly divided among eBay, special shows and her long-time booth at St. Petersburg's Park Street Antique Center. "When I go to shows, it gives me the opportunity to buy as well. And the bad part of e-mail is you have no personal contact with anybody. You don't have the camaraderie of visiting."

Ferguson has been using eBay as a sales outlet for three years, and she said it has boosted her income by about a third. But like many dealers, she said it's tough to figure out what will sell on the site, especially as more buyers and sellers get into the game.

Her best-selling items tend to be low-priced, such as 50 paper dolls she recently sold for $3 to $20 each. Also eBay-bound: items bought from other dealers, for which she usually pays more than for goods she buys on house calls. One thing she doesn't do is buy collectibles on eBay.

"I don't have time to shop it, I'm doing so many things," she said. "Anyway, prices go too high on eBay to resell."

While Ferguson has the computer, camera and time needed to display her own wares on eBay, she could opt to let her landlord do it. Like several other local antique malls, Park Street Antique Center offers to put items on eBay for both its dealers and the public.

Karen Good, daughter-in-law of owner Joanne Good, said there has been no shortage of listings. For the store's dealers, the service is $8 per item plus 10 percent of sales; for outsiders, the fee is $10 per item and 20 percent of the sale price. Rent in the store, by comparison, is $1.75 per square foot and 10 percent of sales.

Karen Good has 20 to 60 items listed on the auction site every week. Her biggest sale so far: a Steuben vase for $3,750.

"The more rare and unusual type items sell best, though eBay can be unpredictable," she said. "You can get no bids on an item, then relist it the next week and it sells. It just depends on who's bidding at that time."

At Patty and Friends Antique Mall across town, the eBay service has attracted more than antiques. Blake Kennedy, owner of the shop on Dr. M.L. King (Ninth) Street N, said he's sold cars, cell phones and equipment from an antique dental office on the site. While he thinks he may have lost some tenants who've opted to sell entirely on eBay, Kennedy said his revenues have stayed pretty constant.

"We sell more furniture," he said. "And we sell to a lot of dealers."

Though antique dealers may have mixed feelings about eBay, they're certain about one thing: With more people taking high-quality merchandise straight to the Web, it's harder than ever to find under-priced, unappreciated gems.

Auctioneer Claypool, who doesn't mess around with computers, said he has a tough time coming up with stuff for his Tuesday night sales.

"Hell, the other night I sold a shoe box full of asphalt melons from when they fixed the road out here," he said with a laugh. "You have to learn to have fun with it. And you can't do that on the Internet."

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