Like this:
I had cloisonne lapel pins custom-made to celebrate the forthcoming BloodhoundBlog Unchained real estate marketing conference. I made a total of 35 pins, 31 of which are being distributed to BloodhoundBlog contributors.
I have four of these lapel pins left. I’m offering them for sale, one at a time, on Ebay. If they bring a decent price, Odysseus Claus can spread a little Christmas joy — possibly drool-dampened — a welcome delight.
This is a very small fish in a very small pond, and the market value of these lapel pins, for now at least, is purely emotional or sentimental. But there are no more of these to be had, nor will there ever be any others. If you want one, these auctions are the only way you can obtain one.
The photo was taken in yellowish light. The artwork is white against a gold metal mount. It’s reduced from the BloodhoundBlog Unchained promotional graphic:
Size is approximately 1″ x 3/4″. All of the pins are new in poly-bags. No returns, of course, but I’ll pay the shipping.
These are the auctions and deadlines:
I can think of a number of fun places to wear a pin like this — which is why I had them made. If you’ve been wanting to tell the world where you stand on real estate issues, I’ll bet you can, too…
Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing
John Kalinowski says:
Greg,
I used to own an eBay business that sold machine tools (long story), and I have a quick suggestion. In your eBay description, include a link (or two, or three) to the BloodhoundBlog site, so people who stumble across it can link out to see what this is all about. It may help raise the interest level, and your bids! You can edit your listing up until someone places a bid.
December 12, 2007 — 2:48 pm
Greg Swann says:
Bless you, sir. Thank you. This is pretty inside-baseball, so I can’t imagine a stranger caring, but it can’t hurt. I buy guitars on Ebay and Cathy has bought a ton of staging stuff. We list houses there, but this is my first try at selling merchandise. Utterly painless so far. 😉
December 12, 2007 — 2:59 pm
Allen Butler says:
What a fabulous idea Greg! I have bought and sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of stuff on ebay. Never had a bad experience. Those pins are super duper. Can’t wait to get one. Also, I didn’t realize you are a guitarist! I have six, of various styles and vintages. We should jam sometime!
ALlen
December 12, 2007 — 3:02 pm
John Kalinowski says:
Greg,
One other thought. There’s a way to use HTML in your eBay listings, particularly so the links appear as true clickable links. Type this eBay Item Number in the eBay search box: 320193034679 (here’s another 320193034896) – You’ll see an item we just sold along with a bunch of other “stuff” we dumped on eBay this month. We used the proceeds to purchase a Wii (also on eBay) for our five little ones (yes, we fell for the hype!).
Anyway, you’ll see how nice the formatting looks, and the way the link is properly presented. I use eBay’s TurboLister, which is a free download, and allows you to use HTML when putting your listing together. Have fun!
December 12, 2007 — 3:14 pm
Greg Swann says:
I play guitar badly, but I am excellent at buying them. My fondest near-miss: A black Gibson SST solid body acoustic prepped for Chet Atkins by his personal luthier. I’m glad I didn’t get it, because I would have been afraid to touch it.
December 12, 2007 — 3:15 pm
John Kalinowski says:
Also, start most auctions at $.99 with no reserve price and low shipping cost. You’ll attract more buyers early, which helps bid up the price. We’ve sold items for thousands of dollars that started at $.99. It always gets bid up to its true value. Also, just like real estate, lots of clear, close-up pictures will help you bring a higher bid.
December 12, 2007 — 3:26 pm
John Kalinowski says:
OK, here’s my last eBay tip. When buying on eBay, ALWAYS use a bidding service like Phantombidder.com. It’s really cheap, and they place your bid 3 seconds before the auction ends. It keeps you from running the price up, and helps to bring it in at a lower price.
Here’s how it works: Say you’re interested in an item that is worth $100, and the current bidder is sitting there at $35 thinking he’s getting a great deal. If you bid now, you’ll just run up the price, so you enter your maximum bid in PhantomBidder and 3 seconds before the auction ends they place your bid. If the high bid is still at $35, you’ll get it for $40 instead of running it up and bidding against other buyers while the auction is live.
December 12, 2007 — 3:36 pm
Derek Burress says:
I Greg would be much more popular if he took up the banjo!
The Dueling Bloodhounds!
December 12, 2007 — 5:08 pm
Allen Butler says:
Greg, will you be performing at the Bloodhound Conference? 🙂
December 13, 2007 — 1:18 am
CJ, Broker in L A, CA says:
If several Bloodhound readers use auto-bidding services, we’ll get to watch Dueling eBay-Bid-Agents.
December 13, 2007 — 4:54 am
Jeff Kempe says:
Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!
Love the pin; will wear it proudly.
OK. Enough about real estate:
My guess is besides Allen and me there are others who play. (I can hear Russell doing a Patti Smith cover.) Do you have enough guitars for everyone to play or should we bring our own? We can do the whole Unchained Melody set!
December 13, 2007 — 9:00 am
Greg Swann says:
I have five guitars, most of them cheap:
The Variax is 27 guitars under one roof, but all of them play like a Strat, with the action low and fast. I spend 90% of my time as a D28, which tells you all you need to know about my skills. I will not be playing at Unchained, although it sounds like we may end up schlepping amplifiers.
Cameron has a couple of superior violins, including a Yamaha solid-body electric that shreds incredibly. Wheedling him probably won’t work, but remuneration might.
December 13, 2007 — 9:20 am
Allen Butler says:
I have the following:
1 Fender American Fender Strat
1 American Thinline Telecaster
1 Gibson ES335
1 Yamaha 6 String Steele
1 Fender Nylon String Classical
2 Cheap No-Name Acoustics
1 Kentucky Madolin
1 Off-Brand Violin
I have often wondered about the Line 6 Variax
Can we expect to hear somebody play? How bout a full band! Not volunteering, of course!
Allen
December 13, 2007 — 10:41 am
Greg Swann says:
Jim Cronin plays a Gibson SG, I gather very well.
December 13, 2007 — 10:46 am
Jeff Kempe says:
Allen …
I’m with the band thing! I’m just a hobbiest, but get together with a group once a month just to play. For six or seven hours.
I’m down to two essentials:
Larivee D-09 cutaway
Am Texas Strat w/Seymour Duncan Humbucker
Greg, anxious to hear the Variax. A pre -’80 D28 is hands down the best sounding acoustic guitar on the planet; if the emulation is close – and I understand it is – I’d expect, say, a little acoustic Pizza Tapes set Jerry Garcia style w/Allen on the Grisman mandolin (I’ll beat rhythm)…
December 13, 2007 — 1:56 pm
Greg Swann says:
The Martin 12s are sweet, too, and they glisten through a clean amp — all of which is wasted on me. The Les Pauls are cool, also.
December 13, 2007 — 2:02 pm
Geno Petro says:
I have a factory composite strat that was given to my by a relative and Fender collector as a wedding gift and an inexpensive 20 year old Sigma, also a gift, that sounds better every year—as long as it’s not me who’s playing it.
Over the years I’ve owned, traded and hocked a Gretsch Country Gentleman, a Guild D-35, a vintage Silvertone Danelectro, a Roland G 808 synth guitar, and a Martin D-28 along with a truckload of amps—tube, circuit, etc.
I get sick everytime I think about it. I don’t think I ever took over $300 for any of them. Stupid youth.
December 16, 2007 — 9:18 pm
Greg Swann says:
Your guitar collection is peopled by beautiful ghosts. I feel that way sometimes about the books and records I’ve abandoned over the years.
December 16, 2007 — 10:21 pm