Let's Roll With the Only Antique, Collectible and Fine Art Wealth Building Club

We're busy as bees these days at the 31 Club, the industry's only Antiques, Collectible and Fine Art Wealth Building Club and Learning Site. You will begin to see the new face of our website starting to take shape very soon. Our Daily Blog, which has become the signature of our company, will now be available right on our homepage. So, come grow with us.

Over the coming days, every page of our site will be undergoing a face lift. We hope the new feel will be fresh, and easy to navigate. Our webmaster, Chris, is doing a great job, and he never seems to get ruffled no matter what we throw at him.

One of the things that is under discussion is a way it would be possible for members be able to communicate with one another, as well as buy and sell items to other members. Strictly an opt in feature, this will help members to network with one another, and in doing so, increase their contact base. If you have any suggestions or special knowledge on this, give us a call. We're all ears.

The next major project that Cindy has conjured up is to have more video on the sight. We might have to get a better looking stand in for that one! But seriously, if there is something special you want to see on video, please e-mail me your ideas.

We hope to soon announce the date of our free seminar here in the Chicago area. Cindy keeps assuring me that we will have enough energy for all this, but please keep us in your prayers.

With the help of Michael Hudson of Antiques-Collectibles-Auction-News.com, we are beginning a massive program to expose ourselves to many more people on the Internet. Michael's news site has set the Internet newswires on their heels, getting thousands of new hits each week after having just started in August. Be sure to take a look at his site. You will find that Cindy and I are contributing writers on it.

Great new stories to keep you abreast of the industry and its events are also available from Philip at News-antique.com. Philip sent out the first press release we ever wrote to media outlets all over. And we continue to release stories on his site. What a great help he is. Phil also runs BigNews.biz, a business news site with free press release distribution services. See if your business might benefit from this source.

Both Phil and Michael have been willing to offer their time and their help to us, and we consider them a member of our team. They are a living examples of what it means to help those in need. And believe me, when we started out, we were really in need of help. Still are. Thanks guys! That's what the 31 Club is all about. Helping one another.

Everyday I am getting more excited about what we are building together. Call your friends, tell your neighbors, and come on in. We're going to have fun together while we learn to build our wealth with antiques, collectibles and fine art, step-by-step.

Discover how the 31 Club, together with our book, can be the tool that helps you build more personal wealth dealing in the rare and valuable upper end markets, rather than the conventional methods of stock, bonds, and real estate investing. You won't find these kind of results with your bank or your stock broker! Find out more about joining our growing community of antique and art wealth builders here.

Read more about The Million Dollar Challenge 31 Club members are participating in.

If you haven't yet had a chance to see what we've got listed in the 31 Gallery & Marketplace, click on over and take a look. You might even find a real bargain. We've got many high quality items priced reasonably. If you have a high quality piece you'd like us to find a buyer for, why not consign your item to us. No high fees when you sell with us. Contact us here.

If you wish to leave comments use the ANONYMOUS button and then you don't have to sign in to leave your message. Chime in and participate with us.

COMMUMITY IS WHERE IT’S AT - Can 31 Club Antiques & Collectibles Wealth Building Help? Let us know.

Your antiques & collectibles wealth building community is in action. I just received an E-mail from our members, Ann and her son, Andrew, asking if any of our members had a Microsoft Frontpage 2003 that they might donate to the program that has been set up for research to find the cure for the ailment Andrew suffers from.

You might remember my earlier blog about Andrew and the zest for life that he maintains. I will never forget the statement Andrew made to me when he and his mother came to visit me. He said, "I live in the moment." If this community can help, it would be so greatly appreciated.

This program is called FD NOW, an abbreviation for Familial Dysautonomia. What Andrew suffers from is a fatal neurological disease. To find out more about this you can call 1-847-913-0455.

We, the members of the 31 Club, are out front when it comes to researching and sharing our lives, our stories, and our information & knowledge with others. This is why I can say that, and this is just one recent discover we've made that won't be found in any book.

The couple we acquired three Charles Lotton Miniatures from shared this great story with us recently:

In 1972, when Charles Lotton was just getting started as a glass artist, he visited Lilian Nassau, a noted Tiffany dealer in New York who had an interest in his work. During that trip to New York, he happened to meet another couple, Howard & Paula Ellman, who right on the spot, purchased the very first Magnum Paper Weight Charles Lotton created. This wonderful, extremely large piece still adorns their home and as friends come by, they usually ask the Ellman's, "Where did you get that Tiffany?" The Ellmans also purchased several other pieces from Charles, three being the minatures.

Here's where the story gets most interesting. Upon looking at the paperweight, Mr. Ellman noticed that it wasn't signed. He told Charles that, one day, his work was going to be very famous, and he should sign and date each piece. Charles thought that this suggestion was a good one, so ever since, he has signed and dated each piece. I called Charles to ask him about this, and he confirmed this story.

Cindy is doing a wonderful job getting our message out and I think that you will be hearing more about Lotton Glass in the days ahead.

The Old Turkey is gobbling, and the apples are ripening, so that must mean we are approaching Thanksgiving. This Holiday doesn’t get as much attention as others, but there are still great pieces that advertised this Holiday, and they can bring you a pretty penny. Pre-1950 Pilgrim tin signs and cardboard stand ups could substantially fatten your wallet. Get the pun? Also, any original clothing would command a fairly healthy price.

Don’t forget Christmas is just around the corner, and you could be stocking up on items to sell for this Holiday. We encourage all our readers and members to consider our book/membership 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles, as gifts for your friends and family members. It's not just a book, it's a living, breathing link into a community of like-minded people, willing to share their lives and resources year in and year out.

Over the next two months, this country will come together to celebrate the holidays. My hope is that all will give thanks to God for all that he has provided and continues to provide for us each and every day.

If you haven't yet had a chance to see what we've got listed in the 31 Gallery & Marketplace, click on over and take a look. You might even find a real bargain. We've got an Erte Bronze, Lotton Glass, and many many more high quality items priced reasonably with no buyer's premiums. If you have a high quality piece you'd like us to find a buyer for, why not consign your piece to us. No high fees selling with us.

Be sure to visit our web site for more information about how you can join the 31 Club Wealth Building and start your own race to your millions! Read more about it here!"The Guy in the Red Tie" --- Daryle Lambert

If you wish to leave comments use the ANONYMOUS button and then you don't have to sign in to leave your message.

eBay - King of the Hill

Do you remember as a child when you played "King of the Hill?" How much fun was it to beat everyone else to the top. I can still feel the excitement as I pulled myself up that hill ahead of everyone .

But, once you were the King, and everyone else was trying to pull you down, it wasn’t nearly as much fun. I think that is where eBay is at the present time. They are in a position of having to defend themselves from newcomers.

I have been using eBay almost since its inception, and their changes have been in the process of capturing more and more of the market each year. This has been accomplished through acquisitions of their competitors and by an increase in their fee structure.

This has proven to be very successful for the company, but now, they are seeing new competition on the horizon. Companies like "OnlineAuction.com" have introduced the no listing fee format, and it is catching on. Why should this matter?

I believe it matters, because in my humble opinion, the number of unfinished listings, meaning sold listings, will be eBay's undoing, unless they change their policy. The sellers will soon realize that they are losing so much money on uncompleted sales in listing fees, that it can’t be made up by the profits on their completed sales. eBay has tried to combat this by encouraging the sellers to list their items without reserves, so that most of the sales will be completed. This, however, puts the seller at a disadvantage, because they can’t protect their items from selling at a price that isn’t acceptable to them. The way eBay has encouraged this is by making the reserve price too expensive to use.

So, I've been thinking about this, and have some thoughts of my own. Call them my predictions, if you want, or just one man's opinion. But, I believe eBay offered the month of September with no listing fees to see if the increase in final value fees would offset their losses in listing fees. I think eBay will soon eliminate all listing fees. Why? For months now, they have been inching up all of their other fees, the ones outside of the listing fee itself. Things like gallery photos and listing style fees just to name a couple. Their other service fees, such as PayPal, Pro Stores and eBay Stores, have also increased. If they can maintain their profit margins, without charging a listing fee and increase the number of listings, I think this will give them what they're looking for.

This would be a huge blow to other companies trying to compete. I am not sure that other companies that have chosen this route could survive. And, eBay can’t continue to increase their profits each month, if competition offers the seller and buyer a better deal. So the only solution for them is to make it unprofitable for their competitors, because of their dominance in the market place.

My next thought is about why eBay has a "sign in" for the completed sales section. You see, I believe, and I'm going to make another prediction here, is that they are considering charging for their archives service like Ask Art, ArtPrice, ArtNet and Priceminer.

I stated in one of my early blogs that the market will always find a way to correct itself, and the companies that are in control will either change or be replaced by others. We'll see if this play out in the coming months.

Be sure to visit our web site for more information about how you can join the 31 Club and start your own race to your millions! Read more about it here!"The Guy in the Red Tie" --- Daryle Lambert

If you wish to leave comments use the ANONYMOUS button and then you don't have to sign in to leave your message.

LARGE and SMALL - They Both can be GREAT

In the Antique and Collectible Market, you will find items of many sizes. Surprisingly, the most value will usually come from the large or very small pieces. The medium size items are the most common of all, and therefore, bring less money as a rule.

First, a large vase by Rookwood is usually sold by so much per inch, everything else being the same. An eighteen inch vase by a top artist from Rookwood is going to bring a lot more money than an eight inch one by the same artist. This difference compounds as the item increases in size. The eight inch vase may bring $1,000 while the eighteen inch one might bring $30,000 or more. You should always keep this in mind as you are shopping.

The reason that larger pieces have more value happens to be true, because fewer of them will have been made. If a artist wants to make a very large piece, he knows that it is extremely hard to keep the consistency of the image that he is decorating the same throughout the piece. Also, just handling a larger piece is more labor intensive.

As for the smaller pieces, they acquire their value because it is very difficult to handle items under two inches, so few are made. We call these pieces mini, and often they are models for those pieces that will incorporate their design into larger ones later. A one inch Daum Nancy "Fall Scene" vase might bring as much as $3,500.00 or more. Can you imagine that? I just bought three mini Lotton vases, and the last one I saw sell brought over $500. Don't overlook something because it's small. If others can't see its value, you will find a Treasure.

I remember as a small child, I always wanted to be larger so that basketball and football would be easier for me. Later, when I developed a love of horses, I wanted to be smaller, so I could be a jockey. I didn't know it at this early age, but the principle of large and small had already been placed in my mind.

I would love to share with the club any articles that you would like to write and pass on to us.

Be sure to visit our web site for more information about how you can join the 31 Club and start your own race to your millions! Read more about it here!"The Guy in the Red Tie" --- Daryle Lambert

Ps: If you wish to leave comments use the ANONYMOUS button and then you don't have to sign in to leave your message.

Shocking Isn't It? - The Lights Came On

Would you think that a vintage string of Christmas light could sell for several thousand dollars? What about a single light from the string selling for hundreds of dollars? Unthinkable, right? But it happens to be true. Remember the old bubble lights that we would watch for hours? If you can find the older ones today they will fetch a pretty penny. SHOCKING!

Those old glass ornaments, that were stored so carefully in years past, might have done much better than other investments you have made over the years. A bicycle- built-for-two ornament, made in Germany, might fetch $10,000 today, and considering that its cost was probably less than a quarter, I would say that the return was quite adequate. Animal ornaments seem to bring huge money, and I think that it is because so few were made. Reindeer, camels, birds seem to have been appropriate at the time. Even the more common one can bring $40 or more and if they are purchased for one or two dollars each. If you buy serveral, then the reward could be quite handsome.

The next thing that you may watch for is paper mache candy containers. Some of the Santa ones have been know to bring over $5,000. Not bad for pressed paper. Other pieces from the Christmas story are also in demand. These pieces were originally priced at only pennies and given as gifts for the children's pleasure. Can you imagine if you told someone back then that these candy containers would sell for thousands of dollars later? You would've been sent off to the institution, never to have been heard from again. We aren't even to the best part, yet.

Toys for Christmas have always been a hit, and never has it been more true than now. The true toy collector would go crazy over any toy about Saint Nick from the 1800's. I would say that the sky is the limit for some of the first Christmas toys. These wonderful treasures can come in cast iron, wood, paper mache or even early plastic. There are some real treasures out there just waiting for our members to find them. What are you waiting for? Hook up the sleigh and away we go, Ho Ho.

I can't wait for the first Christmass story and I know it will be coming soon.

Be sure to visit our web site for more information about how you can join the 31 Club and start your own race to your millions! Read more about it here!"The Guy in the Red Tie" --- Daryle Lambert