B.L.M. and the Ebay seller

[chameleon54]

Like many Australians, I was sick to death with all of the posturing and fighting over Australia day celebrations so I got right away from it all and went to my remote farm for the day to take in some of the " real Australia ''. 

I didnt think much more about it until I got home and checked my ebay sales for the day. I was pleasantly suprised to find I had sold one of my most expensive items, that on reflection had the " woke BLM B$ written all over it. ( Not telling what it was, I,m planning to continue that line of sales as hard as I can  ) 

It got me thinking though. We regularly get people coming to the boards asking what they can sell. There are always new fads and emerging trends such as BLM and these offer a whole new base of customers looking for new products that didnt exist two years ago. If sellers can find products to target the new emerging market it offers the chance to cash in on fertile new ground that may not be supplied by other sellers yet. 

The " woke " customer is likely to be older, more affluent, internet savvy and have more time on their hands than some other buyer demographics so is a perfect customer base to target.

For sellers looking for new emerging markets, its something to think about.

[digital*ghost]

Fair warning - what follows is opinion (albeit decently informed on such issues), and one that has the potential to be contentious. I am not criticising anyone (or you, chameleon) personally or directly. 

One of my Chinese suppliers has come out with a range of BLM products, and even jewellery depicting black people. 

At the risk of sparking debate, it felt very crass to me - when I saw it, I thought to myself, yeah there's definitely a market for it, but I wouldn't be comfortable selling it. BLM is an American civil rights movement, at its core (<<that bit is important), it's not a fad or a trend, though marketers could try to sell it as one, and corporations certainly support it not because it's right, but because it's more profitible to do so, but it's not really a movement here - there is work that needs to be done here surrounding race issues, but just speaking for myself, I could only sell that kind of stuff if all the profits went to the movement. 

[chameleon54]

While selling to a new or emerging market can be exploitive, ebayers can also build a reputable business servicing special interest groups such as BLM and " Invasion day " activists by supplying very niche, high quality and rare items that can be of great value and interest to the niche buyer.

I collect a lot of stuff as well as trading on ebay and one thing I have an extensive collection of that would be of great interest to " woke invasion day activists "  is a large number of original, official government annual reports from the  late 1800,s and early 1900,s issued by the Protector of Aborigines. ( The chief Government authority in charge of Aboriginal affairs ) These give offical statistics on populations in different locations, age and gender stats, rations supplied, numbers of children in education, numbers of aborigines in employment, housing conditions, health stats  etc.

I accumulated these years ago before the " Woke invasion day " was ever heard of.because I had a genuine interest in our colonial relationships with indigenous Australians. These would now be quite valuable both in monetary terms, but also as important historical documents of interest to the Woke Invasion day collector.

This is a perfect example of a product that can be reputably traded to a new or emerging client base. The point of my thread was to show that there are always new markets for new product lines on ebay if you keep your eyes open. I,m not a fan of all the PC rubbish that goes on, but sometimes new major markets and clientele come out of left field from the most unexpected places. And if they want it...I,m happy to take their money and sell it to them.

[chameleon54]

Some info about the " protector of Aborigines ".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protector_of_Aborigines 

[chameleon54]

And this.........A new collector field and original documents should be worth big bucks

https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/digitised_collections/remove/63423.pdf 

[digital*ghost]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

I accumulated these years ago before the " Woke invasion day " was ever heard of.

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Before 1938? Didn't know you were that old, lol. (Ok, sure, the protest in 1938 was called The Day of Mourning and "woke" is a new buzzword, but it's the same issue).

I'm not here to debate that, though, it's clear we'd have pretty strong disagreements in some areas and I've been there, done that enough this year  I just wanted to express my thoughts on the idea, is all, as social movements and progression is something I take a keen interest in. 

[chameleon54]

I get where you are coming from digi, but I think we are talking about completely different things. Your post mentioned trashy " jewellery depicting black people ", My posts gave examples of serious research documents of historical importance.

This is one area I specialise in on ebay and over the years I have sold important pieces to some very high profile museums and organisations. This includes original blueprints for a 1950,s racing car, going back to the racing team factory in England and rare books issued with an Australian racing motorcycle ( just over a dozen built ) going back to the major brand motorcycle manufacturer in Japan. They where believed to be the last known copies in existence and when they turned up, settled a number of online disputes that had been going on for years between fans of the bike.

I currently have an original 1906 photograph that could change the documented history of when the first Prime ministerial government motor car was used in Australia. It may not interest you, but it is of interest to motoring historians. The photograph has been borrowed and researched by the National Motor Museum with results inconclusive. ( and as an asside, I have also donated material to the National Motor Museum on Australian built motor cars, that I purchased at a dispersal sale of the manufacturer  ). 

The annual reports from the Protector of Aborigines are probably the most accurate census details we have of Aborigines throughout early settlement and include statistics on incarceration, health, housing etc. 

Every new movement, throws up a new field of collectors seeking rare source items and BLM / Invasion day is no different. If you know where to find this stuff and can supply the market, I don't see a problem. They want it, but don't know how to find it, I know where to look for it and can bring lost items back into circulation. Forgotten material is then available for research. And along the way, I pick up a new client base, do some interesting work and pay my wages. Everyone wins.

[digital*ghost]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

I get where you are coming from digi, but I think we are talking about completely different things. Your post mentioned trashy " jewellery depicting black people ", My posts gave examples of serious research documents of historical importance.

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I respect the historical significance of the documents etc, it's just that my initial post was responding to "There are always new fads and emerging trends such as BLM and these offer a whole new base of customers looking for new products that didnt exist two years ago. "

Perhaps I just misunderstood what you meant by "new products that didn't exist two years ago", but it was the dismissal of it as a fad, plus the commercialisation and profit motive rather than a genuine desire to raise awareness and support the cause that "triggered" me, if you will, but at least sometimes the two can co-exist. 

[chameleon54]

My initial post was in response to a " penny drop " moment. To return from deliberately being away over Australia Day to find one of my rarest and most expensive items had sold to a new demographic ( one that I had probably been a bit dismissive of ) started me thinking on how we as ebay sellers can be blind to changing trends. It was a big picture moment.

And OK I will share that the item sold was a one-off 1800,s item of interest to the invasion day / BLM researcher. There where other give aways that it went to a " woke invasion day collector ", but I wont disclose these details for buyer confidentiality reasons. 

My post was not meant to a be a social commentry, I would have put it in the community forums if that was the intent. The point I was trying to make is ebay sellers need to have their eyes open to changing trends and adjust their product mix to suit. As one field of buyers shrink, new fields of buyers emerge, wanting different things. Those who can adapt to meet changing demographics will survive and do well, while others who stick to dying product lines and shrinking demographics because " that's what I always sell " will struggle.

[chameleon54]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@chameleon54 wrote:

I get where you are coming from digi, but I think we are talking about completely different things. Your post mentioned trashy " jewellery depicting black people ", My posts gave examples of serious research documents of historical importance.

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I respect the historical significance of the documents etc, it's just that my initial post was responding to "There are always new fads and emerging trends such as BLM and these offer a whole new base of customers looking for new products that didnt exist two years ago. "

Perhaps I just misunderstood what you meant by "new products that didn't exist two years ago", but it was the dismissal of it as a fad, plus the commercialisation and profit motive rather than a genuine desire to raise awareness and support the cause that "triggered" me, if you will, but at least sometimes the two can co-exist. 

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Not looking to argue, but the line I used was " new fads and emerging trends such as BLM." I would probably put BLM in the emerging trends category rather than fad. 

What I didn't put was another example at the opposite end of the spectrum that is definitely in the FAD class that I was thinking of. Recently Pokemon has made a re-emergence after a number of years in hibernation. Early Pokemon cards, figurines and related items are currently worth a small fortune. I have been turning up a lot of this stuff recently at garage sales, but due to the buyer demographic, I have simply been giving it to a young extended family member for their collection, rather than sell it. 

Which gets back to sellers carefully choosing their buyer demographic. As mentioned in the OP the Woke BLM / invasion day " collector is likely to be mature aged, relatively wealthy, computer savvy and have plenty of time on their hands. They are a gold standard demographic to sell too. 

At the other extreme, Pokemon collectors are likely to be young, big eyes, but often small wallets and possibly a bit erratic in purchasing behaviour. All up, potentially a much more difficult buyer demographic to service.

The above is complicated, by the older " Geek " buyer who may actually be able to afford to pay the big money for their collection.

All up, just some observations that have had me thinking the last few days and it is awhile since we have had a constructive thread with useful suggestions on the selling forums..