What happened to cabochon sales on ebay?

I tried selling quality cabs on EBay for a time but there was very little bidding. I got tired of having them sniped at a tiny fraction of their value. I decided if I was going to give cabs away I'd give them to people I knew and liked, not complete strangers. Maybe it was the fault of my marketing strategy but mostly they'd sit with few or no bids until the last minute when they were sniped.

The auction format isn’t the best for cabs. Usualy only a few people are looking for them at any given time. Auctions are good for things with really high demand and low supply. Ever see the newest iphone aucting for twice retail right when they come out because the stores are sold out and demand is high? Everyone wants a deal and people know about sniping on ebay. I snipe great deals on rough all the time. Putting cabs on ebay at a buy it now is a better way to go. The nice thing on ebay is people can make offers that they are commited to. I’ve had some people on etsy email me with offers but it’s uncommon. Usually they either buy it or they don’t.

Agree about Facebook. My main sales page is on Facebook, but I have a link to an external store. If someone sees something on Facebook they want, I list it in the store for them.

My store page is on Scotts Marketplace, but can only have 10 items listed at a time for a free account. The system works well for low volume sales. Promote on Facebook and sell on Scotts. Takes some of the risk out of having people request something and not pay for it.

I sold a few cabs on eBay about ten or twelve years ago under the seller name Uwharrie2013. Very few brought more than what I would considered "clearance" prices so I stopped bothering.

I think a combination of the general public having much less disposable income than they used to, the price of precious metals going up and driving the price of the finished product too high for the general public, fewer people interested in doing silver/gold smithing, and a lessened appreciation for hand crafted products, all have contributed to the suppression of cabochon sales and prices.

I remember when the "Handmade" resurgence took place in the 1970s and average folks had the extra income to purcahse. I was a teenager and was selling cabs to two local silversmiths on a regular basis and doing individual sells to others. I personally knew seven silversmiths in my home town (population at that time approx. 60k) and I'm sure there were others that I didn't know. We also even had a couple of leather craftsmen and a few wood carvers. Today that same town has a population over 100k and I only know of two silver/gold smiths and know of no leather craftsmen or professional wood carvers practicing there anymore.

But there currently seems to be an economic and cultural reset taking place. So hopefully we'll soon see a resurgence of folks having the additional disposable income to fuel and indulge a renewed appreciation for "hand made" once again.

In the mean time I wouldn't advise sacrificing your best cabs and materials at a loss until we see an upswing take place. Good cutting material worthy of making into custom jewelry is just getting too hard to come by for that!


Larry C.