I am getting so much awesome information from my ezine readers; you are all helping me to write this week's ezine. Thank you!

Check out this email that I just received from Jude, a Queen's Court member.

Hi Lynn,

Just to let you know after a lot of discussion on the QC (Queen's Court) about moving items that did not sell at auction into your store at not only a higher but a MUCH higher price with BEST OFFER added, especially discussed on the QC was plush, I decided to try it on the items I moved into my store (not plush) and have met with overwhelming success. I received over 20 offers within 2 days of moving those items and have continued to receive offers each day.

The beginning of November in only 9 days my sales are over $1,532 and one day my sales were close to $500! WOW!

This morning I received an email from a gentleman confirming he wants to purchase an Ariana Gorham gravy boat for $99.99, and the butter dish for $44.99, so in minutes I will be adding another $145 to that sales total. And all before 7:30 AM on only the 10th of November...sales of over $1,682 so far in 10 days!

Thank you so very much for sharing the Dralle method and making this such a profitable business for me! You totally rock! Feel free to use my statements if you desire.

Jude
love2shop2

I want to thank Jude for her mentioning the Best Offer feature. I had been meaning to add it to all my store listings that are over $9.99. Her email was just the kick I needed and last week, I took five hours and added the best offer feature to over 2,000 store items.

I used Selling Manager Pro to do it and it went fairly quickly. I have been getting at least two best offers each day and it is definitely adding profit to my bottom line. Thank you Jude and the Queen's Court members!

Check out this item that just sold with the best offer feature.

It was a Wrinkled Rose Platter that I had listed at $45.00. It had been in my store for over a year. Click to see what it sold for. Best Offer Rocks!

I am so excited to announce that the all new 2009 Boot Camp in a Box is ready for sale. And we are having an introductory sale with a valuable extra bonus -- me!

For our special introduction I'm giving myself as part of the bonus. Everyone who buys Boot Camp in a Box before midnight on Thanksgiving will receive a fifteen minute live telephone call with me (Lynn)! During this time you can ask any questions you have about your eBay business, we can look at some of your auctions and I will give you tips to improve your listings or anything you like. This time is yours to use to help build your eBay business.

We've revised the notebook, updated the graphics and basically revamped the entire Boot Camp in a Box. Now you can learn the Dralle Method from the comfort of your own home with Boot Camp in a Box.

Live Boot Camp 2009 had some awesome guest teachers. We had special sessions on selling books, selling plush, selling clothes and using social media (like Twitter) to build your business. These special sessions are part of Boot Camp in a Box and contain practical instruction to help you build your business and increase your profit.

Not only do you get the ten DVDs and two CDs of Boot Camp in a Box, you will receive the same goodie bag that all my Live Boot Campers receive, the bonus telephone call, and all of this at a special introductory price! So hurry, the offer of the special pricing and the telephone bonus ends at midnight on Thanksgiving.

Read more about Boot Camp in a Box here.

'Mexican Pottery and Glass--¡Más!'
by two of our ezine readers, Lisa Mull, Mary Canfield and me, Lynn Dralle, The Queen of Auctions

This email came in right after the last ezine was published.

Hi, Lynn!

The highlight of many of my days is when your ezine comes in! I can't wait to read it, as it seems I receive at least one helpful hint every time!

Maybe I can return the favor a tad. I lived in Mexico for three years, and my folks lived there for 14. This was many years ago, so I don't know the current "scene" (am I dating myself by saying that?), but good Mexican ware never grows old, as you know.

My parents lived near Tonalá, on Lake Chapala, and they knew a few of the artists in Tonalá and neighboring Tlaquepaque, just outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. In my family's opinion, one of the greatest potters ever, Jorge Wilmot, was a delightful, multi-talented, multi-medium, and eccentric artist from Tonalá in the state of Jalisco. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Jorge on several occasions. My mother, sisters and I were such fans of his and his protégé's, Ken Edwards, that I think we single-handedly supported them for a while!

Can you all believe how timely this is? All the pottery Lynn bought on Monday was signed with KE for Ken Edwards and it was from Tonalá!!!

Here is a signature from one of Lynn's pieces

Here is one of Lynn's pieces that is currently up for sale on eBay. It is a wonderful teapot.

Ken Edwards co-founded El Palomar factory in Tlaquepaque. El Palomar was also a fabulous government shop that carried the best examples and is still in existence today. The shop is a terrific place to get fill-ins to a particular pattern. But even now I can find a Wilmot, Ken Edwards, or a paper-tagged item with El Palomar at a thrift shop or garage sale, and I instinctively snatch them up. The idea is, sell them on eBay, but I cannot seem to let go of most of these pieces! I even have some Wilmot jewelry, at which he tried his hand for a short while, and my sister has a large painting of owls he did back in the 70s.

Last I knew, Jorge Wilmot had retired in Tonalá; he's now almost 80 (the most recent notation I could find on him was dated two years ago. This is a great article here. Last I found on Ken Edwards (2006) he was living in Guatemala. You can read that here.

Typical Tonalá

Several traits scream "I am Tonalá pottery!" to me. First I see a grey background, followed closely by decorations in olive green and robin's-egg blue, plus the expected traits such as eyes, nose and feet. Flowers and birds are a common theme. Birds often mean Ken Edwards, so I instantly get excited. It used to be that I could identify a Ken Edwards before I looked for the signature. But he is so copied nowadays that even I have to look to be sure.

Here are some examples of typical Tonalá. The big donkey is signed, but I don't know who the artist is.

Donkey's signature

Now, THIS is a Ken Edwards bird on a dinner plate from the 70s. Edwards had a large staff, and each artist had their own symbol. The symbols were animals and insects and some examples could be a bird, a scorpion, or a butterfly, etc. I have been trying to find out which symbol is Ken's personal mark, but I'm not sure which is. If anyone knows, we would like to know.

This plate was signed with a snail. Some eBayers call this pattern El Palomar, but they are confused by the name of the government store; it is the Tonalá pattern. The Tonalá pattern was done in blue, brown and green. Most of Lynn's set is the Tonalá pattern in blue.

Ken Edwards dinner plate with bird design.

Ken Edwards' signature on back of dinner plate.

Ken Edwards' animals tend to have pleasant, almost Disneyesque faces. Big eyes, long lashes, sweet expressions.

Jorge Wilmot

The other major artist of Tonalá is Jorge Wilmot, the provocative founding member of the artists' colonies there and in nearby Tlaquepaque (pronounced Tlac--as in "clock", the T and l are together--Tlac-a¯-po˘c'-eh. The small town in Arizona is modeled and named after this one.)

Wilmot's pottery is darker than Edwards'; darker as in overall emotional feelings. You can see by the candle holder (the wild ironwork was often in Wilmot's work during the '70s), the face of the sun/moon character is almost grim, while still managing to be whimsical.

Wilmot sun/moon face close-up

 

Wilmot also produced owls in many manners, including a brief stint at painting. Here's one owl of his I actually do have listed on eBay. The listing can be seen here.

 

Wilmot's signature is two 'W's overlapping and underscored:

Wilmot's mark on bottom of owl

Talavera Pottery

This goes hand-in-hand with onyx, as they are both produced in Puebla, Mexico (SE of Mexico City). I attended the University of Americas in Cholula, Puebla, just outside the city of Puebla. I was there for two years, while I was the Editor-in-Chief of the University newspaper. As a reporter, I wrote articles on onyx, the beautiful stone they carve into every conceivable item (jewelry to statues to dinnerware), and interviewed and wrote an article on the Talavera factories. I have a nice collection of Mexican Talavera, which was named after the similar style from Talavera, Spain.

These are, I think, stories for another time!

Lisa Freter Mull
Lisa's Bits & Collectibles
Denver, Colorado

Thank you so much to Lisa for that awesome information. I also need to thank Carmen (Thank you Carmen) for telling me to check on Replacements for the Tonalá pattern. I would NEVER have thought that Replacements would list this pattern but there it was with pages and pages of wonderful information. I was able to use this information to correctly identify a relish dish, an uncovered casserole etc. etc.

Here is that relish dish at auction.

Replacements does not have much in stock in Tonalá Blue and a salad plate lists for $27.99. I think I got 92 auctions out of that bunch of Tonalá I bought for $199.99!

Let's see how it sells this week.

And here is another wonderful email that I received from Mary Canfield:

Hi Lynn!

I was pleased to know that you had stayed in my hometown of El Paso. I sure miss it! When I was young, I frequently went to Juarez. We don't go there much anymore, because it is so unsafe.

Two things:

1. Some Mexican pottery may contain lead or other toxic glazes, especially if it is earthenware. If it is stoneware, you are less likely to have toxic glazes.

2. Casas Grandes pottery predates Mata Ortiz pottery. Casas Grandes is very old in Mexico like Anasazi is in the US. Mata Ortiz is a wonderful pottery that has happened in the last few decades. Juan Quezada (one of my favorites) used to walk in the desert, and he would find shards of Casas Grandes pottery. Just by observing and studying, he recreated the process that the people of Casas Grandes used to create and fire their pottery. In this way, he brought a cottage industry of beautiful pottery to the people of Mata Ortiz. If you ever have time, you should read the book, The Miracle of Mata Ortiz. That is where I learned what I'm telling you.

I love making pottery. It is a passion of mine which I seldom indulge in. :(  There is truly a whole world of wonderful handmade pottery out there. I eat from handmade pottery every day. It makes the food even more special!

So, of course, I loved your ezine article!

With warm regard,
Mary Canfield

Thank you to Mary also for that interesting information. What great ezine readers we have that help us learn more!

I hope that you all keep your eyes peeled for these special types of Mexican pottery and make some money! I think I will be doing just fine with my 92 auctions of Tonalá Blue this week--I have just got to get it all listed! Wish me luck!

Happy eBaying!

Lynn

We are looking for your eBay success stories to share with our ezine readers and possibly make it into a book of our reader's best eBay stories.