We are absolutely taking advantage of eBay in the same way we have taken advantage of antique dealers and rare book sellers. The advantage of eBay is its size. Our "Wish Book" Christmas was greatly enhanced by eBay purchases of appropriate mail order catalogs purchased withing the budget of the exhibit itself. These catalogs continue to be important reference tools in our collection. Our Barn Again! Christmas this Christmas will be improved by the barn catalogs we have been able to find and purchase. EBay, as any other purchase venue, is "buyer beware." I believe my staff has shown true professional judgment with regard to the purchased made on behalf of our museum. Certainly we have items we could never find any place else, faster, and usually at less cost. We have actually had sellers DONATE the item we were willing to purchase... Particularly important to us has been sales of merchandise from our Gift Shop on eBay. You know the type of stuff we love to sell: the few remaining items that end up closeouts/clearance before inventory, the books that never sell, the "why did we purchase this" items from our shop have sold very well -- often for several times the original retail price. Remember that it is the buyer's responsibility to know what you are purchasing. Visit our eBay sales at South_Dakota_Agricultural_Heritage_Museum. BTW, "My eBay" has turned out to be an excellent proimotional venue for the museum. John Awald, Director State Agricultural Heritage Museum SDSU Box 2207C Brookings, SD 57007 http://www.agmuseum.com -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Amanda Kraus Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 3:38 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: online auctions and museums Dear Colleagues: I am interested to know whether museum staff are using eBay or similar online auction sites to acquire objects for their collections. I'd like to hear museum professionals' thoughts about these sites. I have listed a few specific questions below, but I welcome all comments relevant to the topic of how the Internet is affecting object acquisition in museums. Questions 1) Are museums/historical societies purchasing through eBay and other auction sites? Why or why not? 2) If so, are museum staff finding material they might otherwise never see? 3) Are online auctions curbing donations from individuals to museums? Do curators fear that objects will leave the public domain because private collectors are buying them online? I appreciate your input. --Amanda Kraus Publications Department, American Association of Museums ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).