July 11 - And The Guest Author Is . . .

CATHI BASLER
Chatham Ho Treasures
EBay name: Cathbas

Those of us who frequent eBay have always wondered about the personal side of those from whom we buy. Who are the sellers? How do they acquire their inventory? If it's photographs, are they collectors as well? Friday, 11 July, Shades will introduce you to the ins and outs of eBay seller, Cathi Basler, and the collections in her photo room.

Cathi Basler is the owner of Chatham Ho Treasures, a store front on eBay. She sells all types of vintage photographs from the 1800s - 1960s. Cathi's sells a very high quality inventory and is a lovely person as well. She appreciates the beauty and mystery of the images we all love, images of long ago. When you access Cathi's store you are welcomed by a bevy of dancing feet showing her sense of humor and whimsy. From that point on you're hooked.

Cathi began working in retail right out of college; opening her own Wedding & Special Occasion Dress store in the 1980s. Cathi's life revolved around her family and she says:

As time went on, the store grew really large, but so did my family. An opportunity opened up in the early 1990s to add to our family of 3 children, and adopt a teenage Romanian boy. So I sold the store and began to work with teenagers. Our lives became so full of young people, that in 1996, my husband and I opened a youth center and coffee house in our community. In the following years, we took teenagers overseas on international performance and work projects. We developed camps, and had hundreds of kids that came to our center.

But as our own kids grew, retail was something that was still in my blood, and to help support our children that were about to enter college, I began to work on eBay in 2000.

. . . Although, I always loved and collected photos myself, I was never sure that there were other people like me. I mean, who wanted photos of people they didn’t know. (I sure did!)

From time to time, I would add a few photos to my auctions, and sell them. But it was after getting a huge amount of wedding photos at an estate sale and deciding to sell those, that I saw how my knowledge of period clothing, and love of photos could develop into an entire business.

Not long after that, I opened my eBay store Chatham Ho Treasures. I named my store Chatham Ho because it is a family name that belonged to my Great Great Grandfather. The story of his life was a happy one. He adored his wife, owned a candy store, and was a friend to everyone in the community (especially the children!) . He was a good man and lived a long life, those are accomplishments that we all want to achieve. Oh, and my children are almost all through college!

Cathi is certainly carrying on the history of the family name and her sense of family and community. She sells photographic "eye candy," is a friend to everyone she deals with and loves her family. You can't hope for more.

Join Shades on 11 July when Cathi Basler of Chatham Ho Treasures treats us to a close-up look at eBay and her "photo room."

See you then!