They're among the most collectable items and they virtually sell themselves. Postcards rank third most collectable item worldwide, just behind coins and stamps. Theyre not the bits of worthless paper many people imagine, in fact some amazing prices can be fetched for postcards, notably on eBay, where items flea market visitors consider overpriced at a few pennies can fetch double figure, sometimes three figure sums.
* In the early days of postcard collecting called deltiology almost every family had its own album, sometimes several. These heirlooms were cherished and passed through the generations, postcards were rarely destroyed or lost. Consequently many very early postcards remain in undamaged condition today, usually still in their original albums So you can buy hundreds or thousands of postcards in just one day at specialist postcard auctions and non-specialist sales, especially complete household clearances from elderly deceased collectors. You can actually buy hoards of postcards in just a few minutes, where traders in other antiques and collectibles take weeks or months to acquire stock to even contemplate the kind of money you'll soon be making.
* Postcards are usually very small and can be stored safely, close together, side by side in boxes, boxes stacked high one on top of the other. When I traded at postcard fairs, my entire postcard stock, once the biggest in the North of England, occupied a tiny corner of a spare bedroom. Compare this to space needed by sellers of larger, more fragile, unusually shaped antiques and collectibles which need to be stored separately, surrounded by bubble wrap and plastic chips, in varying size boxes which must be placed separately on the floor, not stacked one above the other.
* Postcards are usually all the same shape, roughly the same weight, making them extremely easy to pack, very inexpensive to post. You wont have to waste time looking for boxes of varying size to pack and post your products, as happens to eBayers selling oddly shaped items. All you need are a few cardboard backed envelopes or you could make your own from empty breakfast cereal boxes. Postcards also fit into any local post box so Post Office visits are few as happens for larger more fragile items that need to be individually weighed and postage calculated. Be aware you will have to visit the Post Office to Register or Record Deliver your postcards which is usually quite rare.
* Because so few listing details vary between postcards usually just location, age, publisher, postmark - you can create a template to suit every postcard you ever list from now to forever, where only a few details need changing each time.
* People who collect one postcard, typically collect lots of postcards, so you could develop a huge customer base of people who will watch your listings closely and buy from you again.
* Listings are easy to keep track of even over several months for items that go unsold first time round. While people selling books and prints, pottery and toys, must be continuously sorting through huge piles of stock to find recently sold items which were listed months before, you can organise the whole process using one of those modern plastic postcard albums with acid-free plastic pockets usually six to a page. Make very certain your pages are acid-free and do not leave the album in a warm or moist location, all cause damage including foxing which depreciates postcards or ruins them completely. Place the first postcard listed in the first pocket on the first page of the album; second card goes into the second pocket (horizontally or vertically, it doesnt matter much). Now when auctions end, starting first product, second product, and so on, you can open the album and begin removing cards in order they are placed in the album, leaving unsold cards in situ. Once all sold cards are removed, move unsold cards forward to fill the empty spaces. Now you can relist all the unsold items which will continue selling in the exact same order they feature in your album and you can begin adding new listings to spaces freed at the back of the album. Cards that remain unsold after a few listings can be moved forward, as before, and listed in bulk with each album page having its own illustration in your listing.
Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com