Kodiak, AK Sea Glass

by Sally
(Kodiak Island, Alaska)

Kodiak, Alaska Photos Needed

Kodiak, Alaska Photos Needed

~ sea glass question submitted by Sally in Kodiak Island, Alaska

Kodiak Island Sea Glass Question:

I have been collecting sea glass on the beaches everyday for 2 months, is there a market to sell it?

~ Sally in Kodiak Island, Alaska

Comment by Lin Schneider at Odyssey Sea Glass::

Selling Sea Glass? Kodiak, AK

A good place to start in order to see what the sea glass is selling for would be on eBay. You could look at the auctions that have been completed to see what they sold for as well as what didn't sell. Prices fluctuate wildly. Bottom line is it usually depends on who is looking at a certain time and what somebody needs at that time. Sometimes the feeding frenzy kicks in and the prices people pay for sea glass will make your eyes pop.

The only sea glass where it's location determines the price right now (that I've seen) is the sea glass coming out of England. Even though where the sea glass is from doesn't figure much into the price, people do like knowing where the sea glass came from that they're buying, so it's always good to put that in your ads.

I am not aware of any books that talk about how to sell sea glass, per se. On our site we talk about grading and separating out the sea glass according to jewelry quality A or B (worth more than the craft) and then craft quality A or B. We also
separate out by colors. Sometimes we separate out the pieces that have letters, numbers, designs, ridges.

If you also want to see what people are selling sea glass for, try Etsy and the other sea glass web sites and look at their prices.

Some sell by the ounce, some sell by the piece, and some sell by the number of pieces. There's no real formula or structure for selling sea glass. From what I've seen it's a big toss up price wise.

If you don't want to hassle with eBay, what about an Etsy store? A lot of folks use that. Maybe even putting an ad in craigslist for different areas might work.

Pictures are going to be the most important aspect if you're selling. People want to see clear, concise pictures of what they're contemplating buying, especially so with sea glass, so no matter where you end up selling, that is going to be one of the most important points to remember. People get turned off to blurry, dark pictures taken from far away.

I wish I had more info to give. We are facing a major move to South America coming up in the next few months and aren't really in the market for buying any sea glass. Whoo-how, can't wait for new beaches to explore!

I hope this helps. If you ever get a chance, how about a pic of all that sea glass? I would love to see that!

Lin Schneider (resident sea glass artist :-)

Comments for Kodiak, AK Sea Glass

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Oct 08, 2015
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by: >>>

History of Jackson?s Glass Beach  by: J. Mark  I moved to Kodiak in 1965. My parents had a trailer at Jackson?s Trailer Park where the fire hydrants suck in the ground and no water connection.  One of the things I loved to do was collect glass on the glass beach. I may have helped make it somewhat famous back then.  It was where broken glass bottles pieces (most the size of dimes and up to quarters) washed up on the beach on Kodiak.  There were no other glass beaches anywhere else on the island, I looked.  Most of the glass beads were very polished almost gem like and people made jewelry out of the beads and other stuff. The beach was mostly polished black volcanic rock mixed with polished glass beads.  I was able to sell a gallon bucket of beads form Jackson?s Trailer Park Glass Beach to jeweler/gem collectors in Anchorage for about $600 per one gallon bucket.  I did this at least 10 times from 1966 to 1968 from Alaska. It was also a great place to fish off the rocks. from Kodiak, Ak Sea Glass Dump Site  by: Sally  Here we have what is called Jackson Beach, and or Junk Beach.  It was actually on the Discovery Channel about one of the most unique beaches in the world because it has a dump site from way back when and it is eroding away.  I have not got to see the Discovery show, but I have witnessed the incredible things that are found there.  Such as old marbles and old porcelain spark plugs, and lets not forget the large pieces of molten glass.  I haven't found the history of the dump, but if appears that it must have caught on fire at some point.
Oct 07, 2015
 More Comments
by: >>>

History of Jackson?s Glass Beach 
by: J. Mark 

I moved to Kodiak in 1965. My parents had a trailer at Jackson?s Trailer Park where the fire hydrants suck in the ground and no water connection. 

One of the things I loved to do was collect glass on the glass beach. I may have helped make it somewhat famous back then. 

It was where broken glass bottles pieces (most the size of dimes and up to quarters) washed up on the beach on Kodiak. 

There were no other glass beaches anywhere else on the island, I looked. 

Most of the glass beads were very polished almost gem like and people made jewelry out of the beads and other stuff. The beach was mostly polished black volcanic rock mixed with polished glass beads. 

I was able to sell a gallon bucket of beads form Jackson?s Trailer Park Glass Beach to jeweler/gem collectors in Anchorage for about $600 per one gallon bucket. 

I did this at least 10 times from 1966 to 1968 from Alaska. It was also a great place to fish off the rocks.

from Kodiak, Ak Sea Glass Dump Site 
by: Sally 

Here we have what is called Jackson Beach, and or Junk Beach. 

It was actually on the Discovery Channel about one of the most unique beaches in the world because it has a dump site from way back when and it is eroding away. 

I have not got to see the Discovery show, but I have witnessed the incredible things that are found there. 

Such as old marbles and old porcelain spark plugs, and lets not forget the large pieces of molten glass. 

I haven't found the history of the dump, but if appears that it must have caught on fire at some point.

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