Insanely cheap Ebay Cabochons

I've been making cabs for over 15 years for my enjoyment. I didn't start selling until last year. I have more than 1000 that I will never try to sell and they are far better than the vast majority of cabs on ebay. Years ago, ebay was a place to sell cabs. Almost everyone has migrated to other sites. When I list a cab, I want it to be something that attracts interest. I spend time searching for affordable material that will make interesting cabs. The enjoyment is in the making. Years ago I did sports cards shows with my son. If income is a priority there are a lot better ways to get it. Some people do shows to get recognition for their work and as a social activity.

I had two goals when I started selling; having my work seen and making the hobby self funding. I had over 2000 cabs sitting in Riker boxes and there is no point to that. The self funding is the best part. When I was working, I had a good income. My retirement income is far less but adequate. It doesn't feel good to spend a lot of money on material and supplies, but I'm selling enough to buy whatever I want and good material is much more fun to work on than lesser material. Over the years, I've had non-buyers remorse, but those days are gone.

Some sites, such as the bay and amazon, do seem to have moved to mostly catering to Asian factories which pump out barrelfuls of cookie-cutter cabs from tons of material they buy up each year. They get preferential fees, subsidized shipping, and rely on labor that is paid by the piece (if they are paid at all). Most of my acquaintances who sold there in the past have set up their own sites, moved to other venues, and/or creating and selling finished jewels to contain their cabs.

A few have stuck it out, but they are not doing cabs with standard shapes/sizes and now concentrate on cabbing only the harder-to-find gemstone materials for which collectors and jewel designers will pay good money. That should apply to any venue on which you sell. Even for second-quality pieces can sell, but there has to be something special about it. It is impossible to compete with the mass-production Asian factories if all you are selling are 18x13 and 40x30 Brazilian agate cabs - it will be like paying the bay for the "privilege" of spending hours creating photographs, descriptions, figuring shipping costs, packing, etc. - for items that may not sell at all. But if you enjoy that part, too, then it may still be a satisfying way to get rid of excess stock (and even if not, it may be worth it to sell there just as a backdoor way to advertise your own site). As mentioned, shows could be a fun way to move some of your stock if the charges for space isn't too burdensome - best part of rock and gem shows is meeting other rockhounds and craftspeople.

Here's a pic of an old cab machine. Haven't used it yet but will rough a cab out in no time when I seen it working.

I think you could sell tumbles by the piece at the farmers market, say .50 or $1 each. Kids would buy them. Also sell them as fridge magnets for $2 or 3 each. Cabs are more of a specialty item. I think you’d do better with finished jewelry than bare cabs.

I played golf before starting with lapidary. Unless a person is a pro or a hustler, there is no physical product produced. Generating income from lapidary allows the purchase of better material. A gourmet cook wants to use the best ingredients. Even when I had more income, I couldn't justify buying more expensive material because it was only a hobby. I'm not trying to make an hourly wage so if I can sell a cab for more than the cost of the material and supplies, I can buy the rough or slabs.

It is true, there is a whole bleep ton of cabs that need to be re-worked 

I could actually spend hours looking and not see even half of them 

With one major exception to Chess........study the board all you want, there are only going to be a handful of pre-determined moves that can be made. It has it's limitations and expectations.....! Once, and only those who master it, have it down, it becomes just who's going to make the worst mistake first........it's not like so many other games of chance were luck plays a part more often than not.....!

With Art, which is, to some extent, what you are producing with stone material, there are no limits outside of your ability, imagination and the type of tools you use..........it's way more "creative" than any game were there are limitations and boundaries.........that's were the personal satisfaction element comes into play. Rarely, try as one may, will any two pieces ever turn out identical.........due to all the obvious factors involved......Just a thought....!

The chess in making a cab is deciding what to frame, how to frame it, what are the defects and how to work around them and how the pattern will change as the stone is ground down. Like chess, the strategy changes based on the opponent's(the rock) moves and past experience with the opponent(the rock).