Came across some old bulbs - listing them on eBay tonight

[truefriendship6]

Hi all,
I came across some old bulbs at a garage sale...my husband has cleaned them up, and I am in the process of listing them. I've put a few up already - here is the first one:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260342831602&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

The item number is: 260342831602

They are so lovely that my husband would rather keep them. I said OK, let me list them first and if they don't sell you can have them!

One of them is 23cm and looks like a household bulb on steroids! It's marked Siemens Street Series. I also have a completely black bulb called a Philips Philora, some Robertson heat lamps, a carbon filament bulb (unknown maker), Royal Ediswan Candle bulbs, plus some blue bulbs, a mazda BTH series, and some more modern/ordinary looking bulbs. It may take me a day or two to list the lot.

If anyone is interested, would like pictures, or just has any information, please let me know.
Thanks!

Regards,
Roz,
NSW, Australia

[Tim]

Neat bulbs but the listed shipping cost to the USA is as high as $50 AU on some of them - is this correct?  I wouldn't mind bidding on a couple but the shipping cost seems high.  Maybe I'm just out of touch with International shipping costs these days...

[truefriendship6]

Hi Tim,

It's a combination of high international shipping costs charged by australia post and possibly me overestimating the weight of the final package.

I figure that I'll need to wrap them in bubble-wrap and use a strong box plus plenty of tape, so it's easy for a 200g bulb to become a 500g+ package if it's to reach you in one piece.

If you go here: www.auspost.com.au you can check the price points for different package weights. Up to 250g is AU$10, up to 500g is $15....over 500 but less than 750g is $25....etc.

I only charge what the post office charges me, plus a dollar or two for bubble-wrap. For shipping overseas, I try to find a box that is both strong and light. If you let me know what ones you are interested in, I'm happy to go hunt for a box and weigh the total, to give you an accurate figure. Sometimes I cut down parts of the box to bring it under a weight/price band. I'd recommend insurance - AU$10 for every $100 insured.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Roz

[truefriendship6]

Hi all,

Here's a response to an ebayer's question - I've uploaded extra pics. See address below:

Hi,
yes, I combine shipping and try to keep the weight and therefore the cost, as low as possible. I have some large foam/polystyrene boxes and I'll use these to send them as it's wieght that is charged, not size, for international postage.
I've just taken pictures of all the bulbs I have, some of which aren't listed yet. My husband has uploaded them to his google/picasa web album and here is the address.

http://picasaweb.google.com/araja99

Again, if you need anything else, just let me know. I'll try and list the other bulbs shortly, but my 2 year old daughter comes home from daycare in 30 mins, and it's hard to get anything done until bedtime!
Regards,
Roz

[Tim]

Roz,

Thanks for the link to the additional pictures.  Regarding the small Robertson bulb, #290287662131, I would advise appending this photo to your auction description.  This photo shows off a great feature of the bulb that should add a little value - the double filament and double supporting hooks.  These features aren't clearly represented in the current auction photo and they deserve attention.  These odd features make it more attractive to bulb collectors.

Good luck with the auctions, I'll be watching them!

[truefriendship6]

Hi Tim,
Many thanks for this - I'll add the picture and amend the item title/description.

Best Regards,
Roz

PS: You may also note that I've revised the shipping costs down slightly - I'll use foam packaging and lots of bubblewrap, and hope that the combination is strong enough but lighter than cardboard.

[Chris Kocsis]

Hi Roz,

Foam and bubblewrap are not very good ways to pack delicate bulbs.  They transmit a lot of handling shock and, when the box is dropped or thrown in shipping, bulbs or filaments can break.  I prefer one turn of bubblewrap and then either soft polyfill (like is used for stuffing cushions) at least 5 or 6  inches deep on all sides of the bulb (for valuable bulbs), or well-tangled shredded paper or gently crumpled newspaper.  The bulb should be able to shift a little on imapct without migrating to the sides or bottom of the box (which should be a sturdy one).

Others may chime in with other suggestions.

Chris

[truefriendship6]

Thank you Chris for the advice/technique.

It's a delicate balancing act between weight/shipping cost and strong packaging.

I've also added the last few bulbs - I wasn't going to list them as they looked pretty ordinary, but on closer inspection, and given the amount of interest, I've decided that the Thorn, Crompton, lava lamp bulb, oven bulb and Splendor bulb are worth the effort to list.

Regards,
Roz