11-22-09 Just put up a new How Its Made video to my Photobucket site on how I make a button with the silver shanks. Eight brand new buttons going up for bid tonight (Sunday). Sunday night at 9PM is my usual target date and time for putting up new listings. I just feel that it is probably the best day and time for the majority of my followers to take advantage and be at home to finish bidding if they need too (East & West coast). I try to have a least a dozen pieces or more if I can each week. I had to discontinue the FREE shipping. If I were selling my pieces for two to three times their starting price I could continue, but that isn’t happening …yet. I think people may believe that producing these little jewels is easy and profitable…. To the contrary, when one a 1 ¼ inch marble can take up to an hour or more to make plus all the fees that we pay to Ebay. 40% of the money taken in for one piece goes to Ebay and PayPal fees, shipping, the cost of the glass, and energy and fuel for the torch. One tank of Oxygen cost me $20 and I can make maybe 10 marbles from it. You do the math. I am not whinning about what it takes. I just want my customers to appreciate what goes into creating these little wonders. How much do you make an hour where you work? Frankly I do not know how some of these artists sell their pieces for $3.00 to $10. They must not be doing it for a living, or perhaps they can make 30 marbles a day, or maybe they just do it for fun and are independently wealthy…LOL. I haven’t figured it out yet. I simply want to produce a pretty piece at a fair price. Oh, by the way, I do have fun making my little glass jewels. Have a wonderful week. Randall