We asked Harry Rinker for his five-year outlook on the antiques & collectibles market. (He cringes when we ask him this stuff as he insists his crystal ball is no better than the next person's.) Regardless, here is his response:

“It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times….” the opening line from Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities, applies.

Very few styles or brands of tableware can compete with the timeless simplicity and colorful elegance found in Fiesta. First introduced to the American public in early 1936, it was created by Frederick Hurten Rhead for the Homer Laughlin Co. Made of pottery, its beauty was found in its solid colors and curved forms with most pieces being adorned with a set of concentric rings. Production continued for nearly 25 years and then, in 1959, Fiesta was restyled.

I recently purchased some Shiny Brite Glass Christmas Ornaments at an estate sale. I'm 50 years old and remember them on our Christmas Tree as a small child. I've come across Shiny Brite ornaments before, but these were in incredible condition and unique colors. So I began researching.

A "Must" use Facility to Help Those Sales!

When I first started with Ruby Lane, like most of us, it took me some time to become familiar with all the modules in our shop home. I’d login to Ruby Lane daily and eagerly click on BUYER’S WISH LIST to see what items our visitors liked best and then head over to REPORTS to check out the number of “shop visitors” and the “click report”. I daresay that’s probably what most of do before we scurry off to add new items or go to our day jobs or whatever.

Victorian Scrapbooks are filled with treasures but very few are still intact. Most are with torn bindings, loose pages and other defects. However many times the contents of the book itself are still in excellent condition. The trick is getting these little beauties off the pages without damaging them. Let me teach you how.

Get Ready, Get Set

We asked Harry Rinker: "What is your opinion about developments within the sports memorabilia collecting category?" Here is his response:

Can key players make a market? The answer is yes; and, there is no better example than the sports memorabilia market.

The high-end of the sports memorabilia market is investment driven. Buyers are not collectors. They are investment speculators who retain their purchases only long enough to resell them at a substantial profit.

Here’s an interesting story I’d like to share with you. It was like an endurance test that was sort of funny in a way. I am a new seller on Ruby Lane. I started in mid May 2009; I didn’t have much jewelry in my shop when I had my very first on-line experience with a customer. There was a woman that seemed very interested in my jewelry. It all started out by her emailing me one day, complimenting me on my jewelry. That was day one.

With the explosion of online social networking groups like Facebook and Twitter I’d like to take a little time to talk about the value of offline networking groups.

A new found friend and I were talking. She brought up the fact that the companies that are offering cash for gold are also melting away many families’ histories. When our economy goes into a slump, you see these commercials and ads pop up everywhere. The bad economy just fuels the fire.

As a collector of Sherman rhinestones, I know that no other piece of this sensational vintage jewelry will make a collector's heart race more than when handling one of these rare and highly desirable hinged cuff bracelets.