Lynn’s eBay ezine Volume IV, issue number 28

‘Could they have been Sorority Sisters or just Sakura sisters?’

by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’

Before I start this article I need to know, do you want the good news or the bad news first? I personally always ask for the bad news first because then the good news is always a million times better than it would have been if it were told first.

So here we go with the bad news. Remember that C. Jere figurine that sold for over $100 the first time and then the buyers couldn’t pay for it? Well it only sold for a fraction of that price the second time at auction. I am kicking myself. I should have just listed it in my eBay store at a high price. Oh well, live and learn.

Check out the C. Jere figurine here and see

what it sold for the second time…Bummer!

Now for the good news! Not only did I find the Laurel Burch mug at a garage sale in Newport Beach, the Sue Ripken set at the thrift store with Cherie Castro, but I also found the most adorable Debbie Mumm Christmas set at a different thrift store here in the Coachella Valley.

The only one of my favorite women designers of dinnerware that was missing was Mary Engelbreit. So the good news was that I not only found some great items, but I also had a great subject for my feature article this week.

Let’s look at each of these designer’s background and what their signature style looks like so that you can be on the watch when out hunting.

I am putting them in order of how well they sell on eBay (from my experience) going from bestseller on down. However, as always, demand varies depending on the particular piece. As an example, a rare Debbie Mumm item may sell for more than a common Mary Engelbreit and so forth. This is just a guide.

Also, I came to find that Mary, Debbie and Sue have all designed for dinnerware company Sakura. The only one who did not design for them was Laurel Burch. As a rule of thumb, I do not do well with Sakura dinnerware. However, as you will read in this article today, there are exceptions–especially when some of these ladies are involved!

#1 Mary Engelbreit, also known as ME

Mary Engelbreit is very well known. Probably the best known of the four women I am highlighting in this article. When I think of Mary Engelbreit, I picture her famous Queen caricature and cherries. I also envision lots of black, red and yellow.

I recently sold a Mary Engelbreit coffee mug out of my eBay store. So now, I don’t have anything at all left in my eBay store that is her design. Just goes to show you that ME sells!!!

Remember that ME dinner plate that Mo sold around Halloween two years ago? Just one dinner plate sold for $152.33!! It was a Mary Engelbreit Sakura dinner plate in the Always pattern. I typically don’t do well with Sakura–but I am looking for Mary Engelbreit–believe you me! By the way, this is more money than I have EVER gotten for a dinner plate (my record is $110).

Whoa!!!

Mary Engelbreit began drawing as a young girl of eleven. Her first studio was an empty linen closet in her St. Louis home where they jammed a desk and chair. She sat in that little room and would draw for hours.

Her art springs from real life and real life as Mary says, “Just keeps happening.” There is a contemporary yet nostalgic quality that pervades Mary’s art. She has a magazine, more than 150 book titles published and hundreds of millions of greeting cards sold. People magazine dubbed her a “Norman Rockwell for our times.”

One thing that stood out for me when I was researching ME, was that she opened her own greeting card company in 1983. At the time it was a risky move but here is what Mary had to say, “Proper timing is overrated. There is always a reason not to do things–it’s too expensive, or it’s not the best time, or this or that–but I believe there are wonderful opportunities sailing by, and you have to be ready to grab them.”

Go Mary! I agree with that attitude 100%. Do not let having a full time eBay business sail past any of you. You can make it happen with hard work and dedication!

#2 Laurel Burch

My mother has always been a huge Laurel Burch fan so I have followed Laurel’s work for quite a few years. Unfortunately, Laurel Burch passed away September 13, 2007 at the age of 61 due to complications from the bone disease osteoporosis.

Her designs are wonderful. Many animals with blacks, bright colors and golds are what I think of when I picture her art. The coffee mug I found this week has birds on it. I guessed that they are Toucans.

Check out the mug here.

When I searched my eBay store I found that I don’t have anything at all that is Laurel Burch. Once again, a very good sign that Laurel Burch items sell and they sell well!

Laurel Burch began creating jewelry in the 1960s that she sold on the streets of San Francisco. Even though Laurel had never taken an art course, she had an unmistakable style that featured a lot of mythical animals. Her designs can be found on jewelry, note cards, clothing, tote bags, mugs, silk scarves and collector’s plates.

Remember this plate from Money Making Madness that I paid $2.00 for? It sold for $76.00 on eBay.

Laurel Burch Cat Plate, number 84 from Money Making Madness.

The world has lost an amazing designer with the passing of Laurel Burch. Life is short, now is the time to follow your dreams and make them work.

#3 Debbie Mumm

Debbie Mumm also designed for Sakura. When I think of her designs I think of Christmas and Folk Art.

When I checked my eBay store for Debbie Mumm, I had 10 items listed. Not quite as quick of a seller as Laurel and Mary, but still a good bet.

This past week, I found 24 pieces of her 12 days of Christmas dinnerware at my local thrift store. I got 1 through 12 in the Christmas coffee mugs and 1 through12 in the Christmas Salad plates all for 99 cents each. As I walked out of the store with my $23.76 purchase, I thought to myself, “I just made $200!”

Why $200? Well, inside the store I had checked on my T-Mobile phone and found that the mugs and salad plates list on Replacements for between $15.99 and $19.99 each. I know that I will eventually get $9.99 for each piece. $9.00 times 24 is $216.00 gross profit.

Here is one of the coffee mugs.

Here is one of the salad plates.

Cute, eh?

Debbie Mumm is the author of more than fifty books on quilting and home decorating and she began as a Quilt designer in 1988. She then got into fabric design and today her artwork can be found on dinnerware, stationery, fabric and greeting cards.

I really liked this quote from Debbie, “I get a great deal of satisfaction out of being very productive, while at the same time it’s important to me to laugh and have fun with my staff and my business partners.”

We do the same thing here at the Queen of Auctions–we laugh a lot! But still manage to get our work done. I encourage you to do the same.

#4 Sue Zipkin

Oh my gosh! I just went to check and see how many Sue Zipkin items I have up for sale and guess what? Only one showed up and I know I have more than that. Well, lo and behold (due to my baseball brainwashing) I had typed in Sue Ripkin for every single auction.

I just had to spend the last 15 minutes revising all my listings. How funny is that!?

Anyway, there are 14 Sue Ripkin (I mean Zipkin) items listed in my eBay Store. You see, my ranking of the way these designers sell–for me anyway–was quite accurate. But even with Sue being at the bottom of the list, 14 items in my eBay store (with 6,000 items) is a tiny number. Her designs do sell well also.

Here is one of the Sue Zipkin auctions I have going this week for the items I found at one of my thrift stores with Cherie Castro.

Check out this auction here.

According to her web site, Sue Zipkin graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1983 and started working as an in-house designer for a well-known casual everyday dinner company. Oh my gosh! Could it be Corelle/Corning? That is my guess.

Then I started thinking–Oh duh–It must have been Sakura. But when I went back and checked all the Sakura designs she did–they were in the 1990s so it wasn’t that company. Because in 1989 Sue followed her dream to become an independent designer. She was told at that time that designers that go out on their own often fail.

Not listening to the naysayers, Zipkin followed her passion and her destiny and now her art can be found on greeting cards, home décor, scrapbook pages, fabric and her top selling dinnerware designs. Sue currently lives in the suburbs of NY.

What I liked about Sue’s web page was that she ended it with a note of thanks. She says, “I would like to thank my friends, fans, and anyone I’ve worked with who have believed in me and my art. Knowing my artwork brings joy to people is a true gift and I am grateful to be part of that.”

I think we learned a lot from these four women. Of course we learned to always look for their designs to make us money on eBay, but we also learned some very important life lessons.

Take risks, remember that life is short, always have fun and finally, show gratitude.

Thank you to this “sorority” of designing women for being so inspirational!