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Confessions of an eBAY Rookie
By Ken Montville
You may have heard the rumor. Real Estate is in the dumper. Home prices are way down. Foreclosures are way up. Mortgages are difficult to obtain. So, like most people, I started thinking about how to supplement an income that has plummeted with the real estate market. There's lots of things to try. I tried dabbling in a few things and then I remembered that I had an eBAY account from years ago when I actually bought and sold a couple of items. I wasn't doing it to become the next internet marketing millionaire back then. I was looking for a deal and I wanted to get rid of some stuff without having to go through the hassle of a garage sale or flea market or something. I hit on eBAY. My account lay dormant for many years. I guess I lost interest or I just decided I didn't have a need for it. Then I thought I'd give it a go, again. I tried to buy one of those iPod external speaker thingies. It was a nice thingie and it had a great starting price. I bid. I got outbid. I bid, again. I was outbid, again. This went back and forth and I thought I would watch this thingie to the very last second and click my mouse on the highest bid. Wham! I was outbid at the last second. I later found out that there was software that I could get that would do this for me. I had no idea. I thought everyone just put in bids and, if you wanted something, you had to watch it. As time has gone by I realized that eBAY has evolved into a whole new level of sophistication that makes sellers trying to unload a couple of unwanted items look like 1st graders at college. Stores. All kinds of selling options. Big time eBAY sellers who do their eBAY thing full time. Arbitrage - buying low and selling at a higher price without ever owning the product. It's a whole new universe. Still, I've decided to use eBAY to get rid of some stuff just laying around the house. I'm starting off with books. I've read them. I probably won't read them, again, and they're in "like new" condition so they should make someone happy. I actually sold the first three books I put up on eBAY. I was pretty excited until I started running the numbers on what my "gross" was minus the eBAY and PayPal fees plus packaging plus postage. It turns out, it's not as wonderful as I thought. I still have a lot (lot being a relative term) to sell. I figure if I get anything for the stuff, I'm ahead of the game. It's just taking up space right now. That said, I figure I'll need to look at how I can cut costs. I found a good supplier (I think) of packaging supplies that's tons cheaper than Staples or Office Depot. So that's my first step. I'm told I should save boxes and packing material from the stuff I get from various places. I don't know if I'll ever become an eBAY millionaire but I know there are other people who are making a pretty decent income from eBAY so I might take some time to study it and see where it takes me. I've always heard that having more than one stream of income is the way to go.
Ken is the Realtor Extraordinaire of the MD Suburbs of DC. Personable and knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. You can find out what he knows, what he thinks and what he can find out on his blog - www.MDSuburbs.com
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Thank you for sharing your story, Ken. I've not had the courage to get going on Ebay, but like you, I've got to give it a try.
Best wishes.
Frederick
The copyright for this content entitled "Confessions of an eBAY Rookie" has been specified by the contributor as:
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