Ten years ago, when New Yorker Roy Judelson and his wife Mary were just married, they put up their Christmas tree and began searching for one more decorative accent to extend the holiday mood around their home. What they found was a beautiful Steinbach nutcracker. Bringing it home, they wrote the month and year on the bottom, placed it in the perfect location, and began a tradition of buying new Steinbach nutcrackers from different locations around the world every year. Over time, the collection seemed to grow exponentially.
Then, in December 2002, Mary asked a fateful question, "Did you ever look for nutcrackers on eBay?" He hadn't. Roy recalls, "We sat down at the computer, quickly set up the account, and found hundreds of passionate collectors like me…except they were all sellers and I was a buyer. Now I have around 100 nutcrackers ranging in size from six inches to two-to-three feet in height, and easily 25-to-30% of these were purchased on eBay."
Among Roy's favorites are Father Christmases from around the world, including a Grandfather Frost, a St. Nicholas with a beautiful miter and jeweled eyes, an Irish Santa he bought for Mary, and a biblical series including the three wise men. He also has the characters from the Nutcracker ballet and the figures from Dickens's "A Christmas Carol", and he is currently collecting The Indian Chiefs.
"For our family, the most magical moment is the Saturday after Thanksgiving when we pull out our nutcrackers. Each one has a story behind it, so the children open them as if they were treasures, saying, 'This is from your first Christmas!' or 'This is the one you bought in Vail!' Not only do they have meaning for us, they've also come to have meaning for our friends. Last year, for our Christmas card, we photographed our children surrounded by nutcrackers, and my wife and I received the most incredible responses."
"eBay has been a terrific resource for my collection," says Roy. "It's difficult to calculate my exact savings, but I know I've saved 20% on some items and as much as 80% on others. Now, half the pleasure of expanding my collection is knowing I'm getting a great deal in the process."
"It's important to know the value of your collectible. I'm looking at a set right now that, if bought new, would cost nearly $6,000. The price they're asking is the price of one good nutcracker," he says. "On the other hand, there's a store near my office that has to complete Wizard of Oz set. If I went in and asked the price of the entire set, they'd offer me 10% off, but I've already bought three of the five pieces on eBay for 40% off."
Roy confesses, "I've been known to spend up to six hours a night searching eBay. I'll put the children to bed, log on, and the next thing I know is my wife will be saying, 'What are you doing? It's 3:00 am!' But I love the hunt, searching and finding vintage items that people may have had for two generations, items that may be 20, 30, even 70 years old. And eBay gives me a whole new collection to view every two days. I love the freshness of it all, and I've never had anything but wonderful experiences on the site."
Roy is a document manager who digitizes documents for real estate corps.
Article and picture courtesy of eBay.