And now, the contest is here

And so he faces the final bid

My friend, I’ll say it clear

Design a fabulous site he did

He made a store that’s full

Of vintage ads from ev’ry highway

And more, much more than this

He did it eBay.

Sing it, kids. And no, I’m not talking Frank Sinatra. I’m talking Erich Kaiser of Bangor, whose online shop, My Antique Boutique, is a finalist in eBay’s Best in Stores contest.

“It’s amazing,” Kaiser said last Sunday, two days after he heard the news. “I’m floored.”

Kaiser opened his virtual boutique two years ago, selling vintage advertisements – French advertising art is a specialty – architectural prints, fine art prints and ephemera. At the time, he wanted to earn a little extra money without leaving his full-time job at World Over Imports.

He didn’t have enough time to open a free-standing store, and he didn’t have enough capital to stock a huge inventory. So eBay seemed like a perfect fit. After browsing stores with a similar focus, Kaiser was encouraged.

“I was interested in advertising art, and also art in general, and when I saw they were making such a great go of it, I decided to use them as a model,” he said.

For Kaiser, an art aficionado who studied architecture, aesthetics were key. He worked with local Web designer Caroline Moore to create the opening page and related graphics. The resulting storefront has an elegant, 1920s feel that caught the attention of eBay’s judges. It’s one of four finalists in the “Best Looking Store” category.

“I studied to be an architect, so my mentality is graphically oriented,” Kaiser said.

He’s also geographically oriented. Kaiser has traveled as far as Paris, New York and Las Vegas – and as near as a neighborhood yard sale – to find advertisements and prints for his business.

“It really is everywhere,” he said.

And it goes everywhere, too. Many of Kaiser’s customers let him know where his wares end up. Last week, he posted a monograph of the architectural plans for the New York Municipal Building, designed by McKim, Mead and White in 1913. Within hours, it had sold to a man who works on the 26th floor of the building.

A mother wrote to Kaiser after she bought an architectural drawing of the Columbia University library. She plans to give it to her son as a graduation gift, because he’d always call home to say he was studying at the library.

“Little things like that are really great,” Kaiser said. “I get a lot of feedback – people write personally, and that’s really gratifying.”

So is beating out more than 12,000 entries to make it to the Best in Store finals. The contest is open to anyone who has an eBay store. Registered eBay users can log on to www.ebay.com/bestinstores2008 to vote for their favorites through April 30. Winners will be announced in mid-May.

“If I win, I don’t know what I’ll do,” Kaiser said.

One thing’s certain: If voters select My Antique Boutique, Kaiser will get $1,500 and a free trip to eBay Live, which takes place this summer in Chicago. Even if he doesn’t win, Kaiser said the experience has been worth it. And he’d recommend it to anyone.

“If anybody’s interested in doing this, they should,” Kaiser said. “Like me, if you do a little research, invest a little time – that’s all I had: time and not a lot of money – eBay can work for you.”

Erich Kaiser’s web site can be found at: http://stores.ebay.com/My-Antique-Boutique.

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