Rarity - X to XXXXX

So I'm toying with giving items on my site a rarity from 1 to 5 stars. People like to look through the items to see which is the rarest and it generates traffic.

What do you think of these descriptions?

X = 90% Common – Items mass produced often by apprentices sold for many years in large numbers. Always available on ebay and fetching but a few pounds. Even at 99p on ebay they may not sell. Any damage at this level probably means they are worthless. 90% of available items on ebay.

Sturgeon's revelation (as expounded by Theodore Sturgeon), referred to as Sturgeon's law, is an adage cited as "ninety percent of everything is crap.

XX = 9% Less Common – Items that would be commonly appearing and still regularly available on ebay. Approx 1 in 10 items. Commands low value. Any damage at this level probably means they are difficult to sell.

XXX = 1% Unusual – Items will sell at the right price. Perhaps 1 in 100 items. Damage is important but in some cases it is acceptable if less obvious ie base chips, hairlines etc.

XXXX = 1 in 500 % Rare –  1 in 500 items. Very unusual to see. Perhaps 1-5 of these a year on ebay, but not typically years between seeing this for sale. Damage is important but in some cases acceptable if minor and not fully visible, item will still sell.

XXXXX = 1 in 2000 items. Very Rare or individual item – Items that are unique one-offs or produced in low numbers. A survivor. Commanding premium price, double figure bids on ebay. Seen perhaps once every few years on ebay. Damage is sad but items will still sell as so rare but much lower value for visible damage.

the info is accurate but the wording could be improved

Do you think it applies to many of the larger factory firms Poole Rye Briglin etc

There is also the category “rare / one off, but worthless”, which might be a glaze test or rare colourway which has no artistic merit or value other than the stamp on the back.

True. You always hear the phrase rare and valuable but never rare and valueless.

A lot of ‘Art Pottery’ porcelain pieces made between the wars that have fallen out of fashion. Even Royal Doulton seems to be in decline as new generations of collectors move on to other periods and styles, so you’d need to update the classifications every so often

Your website sounds interesting. Have yo got a link?
Agree with Dan, its a bit verbose. You really just  need only one overall  all phrase about damage for instance. Fashion comes and goes of course, things do regain their popularity. For instance Pre-Raphaelite paintings. By the 60's you could buy them for a 'relative' pittance, now they are worth £££ millions. The classic collector of those being Andrew LLoyd Webber.
         Ted Sturgeon was Science Fiction and Fantasy writer and critic writing in the 1940's- 60's. He was referring especially to Pulp  Science Fiction, which was truly appalling. He was a wonderful short story writer, and his work is still very readable.

Phil the links are under my icon World = Briglin.com then facebook and twitter. I started setting up the pull down menus so you can see some of the topics but apart from that only the contact page works.

It's going to be a very slow process as I'm determined to keep the level of photography high, which means a lot of photos to get one or two.

not sure about the X symbol often means something else

Yes good point it will have to be stars or pots

Or pound signs £ , universal symbol for value

Well I was also thinking of doing value as well.. rarity and value stars

Value can be a dicey business. Things can change very quickly, and has many variables. If you have any contact details on your site, I bet you will be plagued with endless questions.

No, surprisingly few, perhaps a couple month. Most people a very genuine and I'm happy to help. Mostly it's people wanting to replace items they have broken or had in the past and are now lost as they reminded them of relatives.

From that font photo of the site, it looks as tho it is going to be amazing. I have never seen an ordinary slipware pot look Sexy!

I though I would start with the humble CT cider beaker. If you don't see the beauty in a cracked Tustin cup then there is no hope.

For everyone these are the same gallery of images - one is FULLSCREEN and one has a navigation bar at the bottom. Still thinking about what I do for the other 30 or 40 galleries, it's a vast amount of work to re-do if I change my mind half way through.

NOTE: THE OTHER GALLERIES ARE NOT WORKING - JUST DUMMY GALLERIES!

http://www.briglin.com/fullscreen/slipware-slatgalze-cardew-finch-winchcombe-wenford-bridge/

http://www.briglin.com/fullscreen/slipware-slatgalze-cardew-finch-winchcombe-wenford-bridge-fotorama-fill/


Alex