![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() |
Net Auctions and Auction Information |
|
![]() |
Easy Money on Ebay?
Ebay was only two years old when I discovered it. A friend I worked with was also starting to sell on Ebay at about the same time, and we exchanged ideas and experiences constantly. Since we were already working together on our Ebay ventures, we decided to combine our resources into one company and grow it while we were still both working our regular job. We found our niche selling technical books and manuals as our little company began to grow and prosper. Our co-workers at the company we worked at during the day came to consider us the "Ebay Experts". We were answering questions about online auctions on a daily basis, but one coworker had the same comment every day. "Hey, show me how to make easy money on Ebay!" he would ask. It became a standing joke between My partner and I that usually came up around two or three in the morning during a marathon packing or email answering session. One of us would look at the other and mutter in a disgusted tone "Yea, Easy money on Ebay.." In January of 2002, we had more sales, and more auctions running than ever before. We were looking at 100 to 150 auctions a day closing, and enjoying a sell-through rate of close to 75%. Our shelves were piled high with books and manuals, the shipping area was well stocked with supplies, and we were ready for long hours of fulfilling our orders. Then, as if fate stepped in to see just what we were made of, a huge ice storm hit our part of Oklahoma taking out large sections the electrical grid. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that online businesses can do without many things, but electricity is NOT on that list! On the third day of the blackout, we were able to learn from the radio (battery powered) that it wasn't just our area, but over HALF the state of Oklahoma. Worse yet, the damage was so extensive it was going to be at least TWO WEEKS before power was restored! A quick calculation and we almost panicked. We would have over two THOUSAND AUCTIONS END, and no way to contact the bidders! If we didn't keep up with the sales, payments, and shipping on a daily basis, we were in deep trouble... We couldn't imagine what a mess it would be in TWO WEEKS! The fourth day into the blackout, I made an executive decision. I grabbed the company checkbook, and headed for our closest Lowe's Home Improvement center (about 70 miles away..). The little roadtrip turned into quite the adventure. Strange thing about a massive blackout is gas stations can't pump gas without electricity, and you are burning gas while you are driving around looking for a gas station that was open for business. I was running on luck and fumes before I finally found a station and filled up. With a full tank of gas, I made it to Lowe's and purchased a generator. We assembled the generator in record time, put oil in the engine and then realized... Uh Oh, we need gas for the generator. No local gas stations were open for business, and we didn't want to risk another road trip. Using an old trick I hadn't used since I was growing up on a farm, we were able to get enough gas out of my pickup truck to fuel up the generator. The little generator fired up on the first pull, and with the help of a few extension cords and power strips, we had a computer network up and running at My partners house. It was then we made another interesting discovery. Cable internet connections do not work without electricity. I had a DSL internet connection at my house, so off we go with a partially charged battery in my laptop to test my internet connection. SUCCESS! DSL works off the phone line power so it was still functional. We made a quick drive back to My partners house to tear down the computer network and load the generator, then back to my house to set it all up again. At 4:30 the next morning We had the network online and a couple of lamps for light. We were self-contained, and open for business. Now we could get to work, and so we did, for the next straight 48 hours. We had a pickup truck load of packages ready for the post office when it hit us, "Is the post office open?". A quick phone call ( by the way, cell phones and cordless phones are useless during a blackout. The simplest plug-it-in-the-wall phones work great.) found us with another problem. Our local post office was closed (no electricity there either.) They did tell us the regional USPS hub had power, and was open 24/7. The bad news is, the regional hub was 75 miles away in Oklahoma City! Meanwhile, back at the fuel issue... We were relieved to discover that two local gas stations had rented generators and were open for business. We gassed up and headed for Oklahoma City. With the load of packages on the way to customers and most of the other urgent tasks completed, we took a much needed break. We shut down the network and use the generator to power an electric griddle and make a hot meal. The little generator wouldn't power both at the same time without throwing it's breaker. For the next two weeks, that poor little generator ran constantly keeping the computers running and the shipments going out, the questions answered, and our customers happy. Every other day I would make the 150 mile round trip to the USPS hub in Oklahoma City, stopping on the way back to fill the gas containers for the generator, and fuel up the truck for the next trip. One evening we took a short break, and stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. We noticed something different.... THE STREET LIGHTS WERE ON! I ran inside and tried the lights... ELECTRICITY! I went next door and asked my neighbor how long the power had been back on. "Oh, about four or five hours..". We had been so wrapped up working in our self-contained office, we hadn't realized the power had come back on!With our ordeal behind us, we couldn't resist the temptation to elebrate with a cold beer and a toast... "Here's to "easy money" on Ebay!" KL Bohn is an Industrial Engineer with a passion for technology and especially Ebay. Ebay was only two years old when I discovered it quite by accident. 7 1/2 years, and over 85,000 transactions later I'm still hooked on Ebay as a seller, buyer, and shareholder.
MORE RESOURCES: Sotheby’s Establishes a Foothold in Saudi Arabia After Hosting the Kingdom’s First Major Auction ARTnews Texas A&M TE Martellus Bennett Lists 'Most Desirable' Super Bowl Ring for Auction Sports Illustrated Historic Bricker Chest of drawers will remain in Canada, fetches $30,000 at auction The Globe and Mail Cable and Wireless Lobbyists Go to War Over Spectrum Auctions BroadbandBreakfast.com Auction Preview: Numismatic Auctions LLC Auction Sale #69 Numismatic News Bonds Retreat to Recent Range Ahead of Auctions, Powell, CPI Mortgage News Daily Roger Maris’ 61-Homer Season Jersey Up For Seven-Figure Bid Pinstripes Nation CBI auctions +$292 million on Tuesday Shafaq News Stradivarius Violin Auction Raises $11 Million for Scholarships at Boston Music School Good News Network Christie’s plans its first AI art auction GZERO Media MD Horse Foundation Stallion Season Auction Underway BloodHorse.com Western Flyer relics go to auction this week Gig Harbor Now Hidalgo County Public Auction, March 1st Texas Border Business The Legendary 1989 RUF CTR Yellowbird Coupe Heads to Auction stupidDOPE.com The 25 Most Expensive Cars Ever Sold at Auction Robb Report Graded Kenner The Real Ghostbusters Fire Station Headquarters Playset Hits the Auction Block Ghostbusters News Helping Hand Radio Auction Now At $28,568 Radio NWTN ‘All original’ Ford Bronco from 1976 up for auction and there’s a surprise on the dashboard... The US Sun CLOUD & LEAF BOOKSTORE AUCTION FUNDRAISER FEB. 15th Tillamook County Pioneer 3,700 artists sign letter opposing Christie’s AI art auction Straight Arrow News Classic car sales aplenty at Rétromobile 2025 auctions, but pre-sale estimates largely way off Magneto magazine Push Rods Charity Auction This Sunday KXRO Newsradio Apex Realty hosts benefit auction for My Father’s House Main Street Media of Tennessee Fleet of classic cars is up for auction in S.F. — including a $1.5 million Mercedes-Benz San Francisco Chronicle An El Greco Is Pulled From an Auction as Romania Objects The New York Times Historic bank building heads back to auction The Business Journals 'Catastrophic for this section' of city: CarMax 'reassessing' plans for Route 20 car auction Worcester Telegram Historic Holyoke Bank headed back to auction MassLive.com UK to auction £1.75 billion of 4% Treasury Gilt 2063 Investing.com St. Paul's former Pazzaluna space to be sold at auction Bring Me The News Victor Hugo Drawings, Barry Humphries's Wilde Collection, Presidential Letters: Auction Preview Fine Books & Collections Magazine Lewis & Clark Foundation prepares for annual online auction KRTV NEWS Great Falls Russia plans next crab quota auctions, including another discount effort Undercurrent News Christie’s plan for AI art auction sparks backlash from artists Financial Times Christie’s staging auction made up entirely of AI art Art Newspaper Minnesota Pink Game Jersey Auction to Open February 9-17 GopherSports.com Athletic Department announces online hockey jersey auction to benefit breast cancer research RIT Athletics Top Five Auction Picks For Whisky Lovers & Investors This February The Whiskey Wash Paxton’s Donates to St. Mary’s Ball and Auction stormlakeradio.com Travis Kelce’s game-worn 2018 jersey up for auction cleveland.com 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP-64 heads to auction Motor Authority Cod prices reach new heights at Scottish auctions Undercurrent News |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
RELATED ARTICLES
From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: Don't Be That Random Ebay Guy If I could convey only one concept to someone who wasabout to start selling on Ebay, it would be this: no one has ever purchased anything on Ebay with this in mind--"I think I'll buy something on Ebay from some random guy and pay more than I would at the storedown the street."No one has ever said that. Starting an eBay Home Business Do I need to explain what eBay is?If 'Yes', where have you been living for the past 5 years? On Mars?EBay is the world's largest Internet auction site. There are a reported 30,000,000 users, but that number has probably increased in the time delay between me writing this article and you reading it. How To Save Franchise Fees and Set Up Your Own Ebay Drop Off Store There has been a flood of publicity generated regarding the "Small Business Opportunity" being offered to would be internet entrepreneurs.The plan is for you to purchase a franchise operation to sell products on consignment via eBay. EBay: No Way?Yes Way (Ten Seller Themes) Hearing that there are more than 1.2 million registered eBay users, that more than 25,000 members make five figure income as full time eBay entrepreneurs, and that more than 250,000 part timers make several thousand dollars a year of supplementary income from eBay enterprises would make anyone comment in disbelief with, "No Way". Taxing Your eBay Profits As a small business person-slash-advice columnist I dread the first quarter of the new year. Not because in my mind my own business fortunes start at zero again every January or because I have already dismissed every New Year's resolution I made when the clock rang out the New Year. Is Selling On eBay Just A Hobby Or A Real Business? Q: I made extra money selling things on eBay last year. These were items I picked up at yardsales mostly. eBay: What Should I Sell? There is an art to picking profitable products. It's not just what you want to sell but rather what will sell. Sell Your Items at Cost and Make a Fortune on eBay! Like all ebay sellers I wanted to sell all of my items at a profit and what I found was that when I was getting to the end of line items that I was ending up selling them at cost, even though the items were finally selling at a profit price, because I was having to factor in the ebay relisting fees etc.So I took a moment and sat down and thought how I could deal with these items and still make money. How to Make Money from Internet Auctions If your business is not using eBay and other Internet auctions, you could be missing out. Here are just a few ways of generating additional income, profits and cashflow from online auctions. Join the Home-Based Business Revolution Greetings, Friend. So you've decided to go into business. Using Paypal for eBay Purchases Paypal is the preferred payment choice for many buyers because Paypal allows buyers to pay instantly for eBay purchases. In this article, we will review using Paypal on eBay from the buyer's point of view. Fundraising Ideas Using eBay Have you thought of using the online auction site eBay as your next major fundraiser?I have, and it was a huge success!Like many other businesses the fundraising business has seen an incredible change since the internet. Everyday there are new tools, softwares and websites that are making fundraising not only easier but a lot more fun. Mail Order: The Original Internet Still Going Strong While the world continues to go catatonic over the Internet and its endless possibilities, there's another industry quietly going about its business, piling up profitable year after profitable year after profitable year. What industry is that? It's the mail order industry--or as I prefer to call it, "the original Internet!"Yes, long before the birth and explosion of the Internet, mail order shopping was a hugely popular and preferred method of doing business--and still is. How to Locate Drop Shippers for Your Success Like the human heart, drop shippers can keep the blood pumping in an internet business. Often, they can be the key to success for online retail businesses who do not wish to stock actual inventory. How To Sell On Ebay: Pricing Strategy Many new Ebay sellers make one of two mistakes: eitherthey overprice items to an unsellable extreme; or theylose money on every transaction by setting low startingprices with no restrictions.In this lesson, I am going to go over which pricing strategies to use and when if you are using a ten-dayauction setup. Do You Pay Taxes On eBay Income? Q: I read your last column about paying income tax on eBay sales if you are doing it as a business, but as someone who only sells on eBay occasionally I'm still confused if the IRS rules apply to me. Can you tell me more?-- Norman L. Importing Products to Sell on eBay The interesting thing about online buyers is they are extremely price sensitive. A survey done by Forrester Research shows that 73 percent of surveyed online buyers expect prices on the Internet to be cheaper than in stores. Nine Simple eBay Selling Hints Some of these eBay hints will save you money, others will result in higher prices. Either way, these will help you run more profitable eBay auctions. Losing Sales By Overcharging For Shipping And Handling As a serious seller on eBay you're familiar with their fee circumventing rules. If not, visit: http://pages. Rent A Coder & Other Service Auctions You may be in the market for a new website. Perhaps you may be looking for a new logo or a database constructed for yourself or a small business. ![]() |
home | site map |
© 2006 |