Antique Co. joins online revolution

"Great," "incredible" and "amazing" are a few of the words Kerry and Tammie Martens use to describe their experiences with e-commerce.

The owners of Springfield Antique Company, at 406 South Ave., said that a year ago they didn't own a computer and were pretty much "computer illiterate."

Now, Internet sales of their merchandise on eBay have enabled them to get top dollar for items that were languishing in the shop, as well as allowing them to cut down on their hours behind the counter.

"We were working seven days a week for six years," Kerry Martens said. "Two months ago, we began to take Sunday and Monday off, and it's because of the Internet."

Now the Martenses have two computers one for home and one for the shop as well as a Sony digital camera to photograph items to be offered at auction on eBay.

The couple bought Springfield Antique Company six years ago, when it was known as Precious Treasures, and they changed the name a year later.

But since going online last year, the Martenses have also had another identity: SAC's Moderne, an eBay purveyor of "mid-century modern" collectibles, including retro items from the '50s, '60s and '70s.

"The Internet to be honest with you, it's saved us," Kerry Martens said.

"It's been great," Tammie Martens added.

The Internet puts the couple's merchandise in front of the world, and online buyers of their wares range from the East and West coasts to Germany and Japan, Tammie Martens said.

And if an item draws the eye of the right collector, the results can be nothing short of astonishing.

Just ask Kerry Martens about the stick of gum he sold online.

"I had a stick of Juicy Fruit gum from the '30s with a card attached," he said. "They sent them out to all kids at age 2 as a promotion." He showed the gum to everyone he knew, "and they laughed at me."

So, he put a price of $35 on it and put it on the Internet. A collector subsequently paid more than $100 for the stick of gum, adding it to his more than 1,000-piece collection.

Another example was Kerry Martens' Hai Karate experience. "I bought some vintage Hai Karate cologne, about half a case," he said. He put it out at Springfield Antique Company in a display that showed the product's signature image: a man fighting off an amorous woman.

The idea, Tammie Martens said, was that you'd have to defend yourself against women attracted by your Hai Karate cologne.

Kerry priced the cologne at $7.50 for boxed gift sets and $3.75 for individual bottles, but no one really bought it.

"I was giving some away as gag gifts," he said. Then he put one of the boxed gift sets on the Internet.

It sold for $56.

However, "eBay's not all peaches and cream," he said. "There is a lot of work to it, and not all items get the high dollars. Some things could have sold just as well here, and some things, really dynamite items, didn't get a hit.

"It's unpredictable."

Part of that unpredictability is the things that people collect and what they will pay for items that suit their collections.

Consider the Happy Meal affair, a story Kerry tells as an example of what's collectible and as a testament to his wife's faith in him.

He said he came home one day and told Tammie he'd just bought 67 Happy Meal boxes for $250. Her response?

"She didn't say a word," he said.

He subsequently sold the boxes on eBay at a significant profit. One Happy Meal box alone, a test-market version, sold for $203.

Martens said he was amazed. Happy Meal boxes aren't something he would collect, he said, but apparently, some people do.

Although the Internet prevents face-to-face dealing, word of mouth is still very important, the Martenses said. Sellers on eBay receive feedback from buyers via e-mail, and those comments about the quality of the merchandise and shipping, for example are posted online for anyone to read.

Positive feedback is measured in points, which appear after the seller's name. As of Feb. 23, SAC's Moderne had a rating of 281 feedback points. A very limited amount of negative feedback three or more messages results in the seller being kicked off of eBay, the couple said.

Likewise, sellers can provide feedback on buyers whether they paid for their purchases promptly, for example and this information, too, is posted online.

Despite the success of their online sales, the Martenses make clear that the one-on-one business they do at their shop is still their first priority.

"Some people are closing their stores and going completely (Internet-based). Others are making their stores stronger. That's what it's doing for us," Kerry Martens said.

Tammie Martens added that the shop and the Internet complement each other.

"In the antique world, January and February are the slow period" while sales are hot on eBay, she said. Likewise, sales are "slower on eBay in summer because people are not in front of their computers as much," while the shop is enjoying its big selling season.

Springfield Antique's customers get "first option" on the Martenses merchandise. "It's here for sale on the floor, then on eBay," Kerry Martens said. Much of what ends up on eBay is older stock "that everyone's already seen here," he said. "We put it on the Internet and it sells."

While the Martenses have shopped online, they agreed that for them, the thrill is still in the treasure hunt.

"The honest enjoyment of finding something is coming into a shop and finding something ... hidden away in a corner," Kerry said.

Back in the virtual world, the Martenses plan to have their own Web site, "when we find someone who can make up one that's outta sight,'" Kerry Martens said.