I built a Masterpiece Bonsai Collection on eBay!- bonsaiTALK

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I built a Masterpiece Bonsai Collection on eBay!

Reno, NV: William Richertsen, a 32-year-old website designer spoke to us about his unique bonsai collecting experience.

"When I first got involved in bonsai, I can remember some of the senior members of the club explaining that it might take me decades to build a respectable collection. You can imagine their surprise when on the next home tour, they visited my home and discovered one of the most impressive private collections in the United States!"

How did Richertsen do it? By buying and selling bonsai on the popular online auction site, he parlayed a small investment into a collection worth tens of thousands of dollars.

"I first started out by purchasing some simple plants at the local garden center, junipers and pines, mostly in one-gallon containers.   Then I went about creating the ads. Trees don't sell for much, ordinarily, but you'd be surprised how hot the auctions get when you label the plants 'PRE-BONSAI MATERIAL.' In fact, I did over four thousand dollars worth of sales that first month!" he said.

BEFORE:
A simple starter bonsai

Not content, William set about increasing his return. "I had to find a way to make the ads even more appealing." He began embellishing the ads with more attractive descriptions and photographs.

"It goes without saying that any true bonsai should be listed as RARE and UNUSUAL, but the key to my strategy was the six words, ANCIENT SPECIMEN TRAINED BY ORIENTAL MASTER. (And unless someone can prove otherwise, who's to say it's wasn't?) It's amazing what a little wordsmithing can do!   Just toss in a few words like MASTERPIECE or COLLECTABLE and they'll beat a path to your door."

Next, he began applying his Photoshop skills to create more visually appealing photos.

AFTER -
A Bonsai Masterpiece!

"The ads in most auctions are pretty small, but that's no reason why they can't be made to look good.   I found a bit of creative license can make an average tree look great. I just just add a few branches where they're needed and stretch out the base a bit, and even the average tree starts to look pretty darn respectable."

Mr. Richertsen cleared over $44,200 in his first year in the online bonsai game. When it came time to buy the trees for his own collection, though, he turned his back on the auction circuit. "I bought all my own stuff at respected bonsai nurseries. There's no way I would spend that kind of money online!"

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