Advantages of Selling On EBay Whether It Be Full Or Just Part Time?

           Many people have turned to eBay either as a full time job or just something to do on the side. Businesses through eBay have been competition for conventional small business owners for a long time now. Most people running eBay businesses do so without having much overhead involved what so ever. Instead of having to fork out the big bucks for a building or office, a lot of the work is being done from their homes. They can store products and even have them picked up by the post office for shipping. By not having a lot, or in some instances no overhead, these people are able to offer their products at prices substantially lower than those of conventional businesses. Also, think about the volume of customers that flow through any given store per day, it could be in the hundreds or so. Then, think about the traffic flow of customers that get on eBay, it’s in the millions. Not only is that one advantage but you also expand the area in which your customers are, they’re not just local any more their worldwide. I’ve sent things to Asia and all over the world; I never really thought my products could reach that far until eBay.

I’m not one of those people who run a full time eBay business; I’m just one of the guys who do it part time as a hobby. It’s not all about the money for me though, I just think it’s exciting to try and find things that I can sell and make money off of. I usually keep an eye out for good deals or sometimes I’ll get a chance to order things in bulk at a very low price. I’ve never needed to get any sort of business license or deal with someone looking over my shoulder, I was able to do it all by myself. You just have to pay small fees to eBay when you sell something but those fees are well worth paying. It’s nice on eBay because you don’t have to stick to one category of product, you can sell anything. I’ve sold baseball cards, Nintendo Wii’s, X-mod parts, do-it-yourself mugs, boots and just anything I can get my hands on. Your able do to all the work at your own pace and you can sell as much or as little as you want. Some months I’ll sell a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff then others I might not sell anything. A lot of people who sell on eBay aren’t always real business savvy; eBay’s just made it that easy to use its services. I take advantage of it all the time and fully endorse it to anyone whose looking for a little side venture.

                    

            Freedman, D. (2000). Can you survive the eBay economy?. Inc, 22(3), 88. Retrieved October 28, 2010 from MasterFILE Premier Database.

            

            Alpha. (2008). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting an eBay Business [Image]. Retrieved November 19, 2010 from

http://www.downeu.com/c/Complete+Intelligent+Business+Course.html

The eBay Economy

“EBay is creating a second virtual economy” said Brian Arthur (Hof, 2003).  The past couple weeks in my history class we’ve talked a lot about the economy and how much trade has played an important role in making an economy successful. One example was the Dutch East India Company, as trade was becoming extremely successful, some sort of order was in desperate need. That’s when a couple determined people stepped in like Peter Stuyvesant as governor and Alexander Hamilton who established the banking system. Stuyvesant did such things as developed streets and set up police forces (Hof, 2003). Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, must have been caught up with her history because eBay’s tactics are very similar to those of the gentlemen just mentioned.

EBay started off as a simple place of trade but now has flourished into a booming economy. It now has its own government, police force, laws, banking system and even EBay University for those who want to learn how to take advantage of what eBay has to offer. Meg Whitman is basically playing Stuyvesant’s role here as “Governor of eBay”. Think about today in our economy, we have our Governor, police force, laws, banks and educational institutions. EBay’s just the virtual version of what our economy’s like. As we have cops patrolling the streets keeping us safe, that’s what eBay’s security team is doing constantly, looking out for fraudulent listings and keeping us safe online. One time I tried listing a monopoly piece from the McDonalds game not knowing that it was against the rules and within a day they had removed it. They also have a secure way of doing financial transactions over the internet via PayPal which is their banking system. I’m always extremely confident in using PayPal and I’ve never run into any issues. You can even get a PayPal debit card, which I have, that makes it very convenient for me to get my money.

The buyers and sellers in this situation I’d say are the “people” and eBay’s management is like the “government”. The people ultimately have the power over eBay such as a democracy. We have a say in what goes on throughout the eBay community, if enough people revolt or complain about something then eBay will most likely look into whatever pleases the “people”. This is so because if it weren’t for people buying a selling on eBay then there would be no eBay, were the ones that make them successful. I could be considered both a buyer and a seller. I also do a lot of buying and selling not only for myself but for my friends a family; they always call me “the eBay guy”. I really don’t mind helping them out because every transaction done under my account whether it’s for me or not builds up my feedback. Personally now though, I buy more than I sell just because the deals are so great.

The latest thing that I purchased was an adventure/sport video camera for $20, the same one sells in Brook Stone for around $100. Those are the deals that are worthy of investing in to me. Also turning to eBay for buying birthday presents is probably one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. Doing so makes it easier to personalize gifts for everyone and can even help you earn brownie points from those you’re buying for. My step-mom is infatuate d with Winnie the Pooh, Wizard of Oz, Madam Alexander and Lenox. Searching on eBay I was able to hook her up with a Lenox Winnie the Pooh Ornament and set of Wizard of Oz characters made by Madam Alexander.My dad’s a huge antique collector and I found some antique cast iron banks that you just wouldn’t find hanging around on the shelf in a store, so he really loved those. I’d really recommend buying gifts on eBay for any occasion; just make sure to order them in time so they make it before the party. EBay has really changed my view on shopping and just the way we do business in general. It’s all done from the comforts of your own home so no long lines or sitting in traffic. Having four sisters, I believe I’ve done my fair share of crazy shopping trips so eBay has been like a little life saver to me.

 

Hof, R. (2003). The eBay economy. BusinessWeek, (3846), 124-128. Retrieved October 28, 2010 from, the Academic Search Complete database.

            

            Parisi, M. (2000). Wizard of Oz cartoon # 2000-01-12 [Cartoon]. Retrieved November 3, 2010, from

             http://easyauction.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/ebay-cartoon.jpg

What is eBay and How Has It Affected Me?

EBay is the Mecca of all auction sites; it’s a place where you can buy rare collectibles or just sell old stuff lying around the house. Almost everything you can imagine is on the site; the range of products being sold is just incredible. EBay has also become a platform to hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs since starting back in 1995, allowing the average person to start their own business (Hof, 2003). It all began as a trading hub for beanie babies by Pierre Omidyar in his living room and has now impacted our economy more than most people realize (Hof, 2003).

EBay has done a great job in making it simple for the average person to set up a listing. They already have categories in place for each item and selling templates as well. First you want to research though and make sure what you have will sell. Then, take pictures, come up with a description and decide a starting price. Also decide whether you want to make it a buy it now listing or set it as an auction style. After you post you need to check it regularly and make sure to answer any questions sent buy potential buyers promptly.

The first thing that I ever sold eBay was a Charizard Pokémon card back in 2002 for 20 dollars, and, I was so happy about it. Ever since the moment of my exciting first business transaction, I’ve been constantly selling and buying on eBay. My most successful run was when the Nintendo Wii came out: demand was very high and the quantity was very scarce so to me this meant profit! I snatched up everyone that I came upon and put it on eBay. Not really knowing what to expect I bought 14 at $260.00 a piece and started each listing at .99 cents. Throughout the seven-day listings I eagerly checked each page to watch slowly as the price went up. It wasn’t until the last day when they skyrocketed because everyone went into a last minute bidding frenzy, which indeed made me very happy. I ended up selling each for around $460, so in total I made around $2,800 in profit just on the side and didn’t really have to do much work. To this day I still buy and resell things on eBay and can’t get enough of it!

Hof, R. (2003). The eBay economy. BusinessWeek, (3846), 124-128. Retrieved  October 28, 2010, from the Academic Search Complete Database.

Williamson, S. (2009). Selling on eBay [Cartoon]. Retrieved from

            http://seantwcartoons.com/2009/07/31/e-bay-in-a-good-way/