![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() |
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: Treme's Historic Carver Theater, a landmark of New Orleans Black culture, is set for auction NOLA.com State law lets OK County sheriff sign back on with internet auctions of foreclosed property The Oklahoman Colonial Williamsburg Public Auction Slated for Saturday Williamsburg Yorktown Daily First home buyers beat six others to pay $1m for Richmond terrace The Sydney Morning Herald Young farmers take the stage at Monroe County Fair’s small animal auction Indiana Daily Student A Piece of Mars Is Up for Auction Explorersweb » The most expensive bikini ever? This is how much the Princess Leia swimsuit went for at auction Diario AS Princess Diana Auction Raises $5 Million in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills Courier BUDGET TOWING ABANDONED VEHICLE goSkagit FCC regains ability to auction off spectrum after more than two years Data Center Dynamics Mecum Auctions is Bringing the Heat to Florida July 9-12, 2025 Motor Sports Newswire County government hosts surplus auction Loudoun Times-Mirror JOHNSONS TOWING ABANDONED VEHICLE goSkagit Bend luxury estate heads to auction bendbulletin.com CVP Auctions launches – gear up for video at auction-only prices Amateur Photographer Live Auction Preview & Turquoise Rocks Old West Party Fundraiser Gala To Benefit Millicent Rogers Museum Aug. 1-2 Los Alamos Daily Post Dover-Foxcroft Kiwanis gearing up for 75th annual Summer Auction Piscataquis Observer Hintco Opens Application Phase for Four Regional Lots Fuel Cells Works Brazil auctions off several Amazon oil sites despite environmentalists and Indigenous protests AP News A Rare Vintage Jaeger Watch Fetches €68,200 At Auction en.worldtempus.com Anacortes Towing Abandoned Vehicle goSkagit County tax deed auction has unique properties burnettcountysentinel.com Tony Hawk Auctions Iconic Trick Gear: Own a Piece of Skateboarding History! thebanginbeats.com Wellsville Auction House: Stannards NY household online bidding is now open the wellsville sun Shaq’s Big Chicken Lake City location closes, now up for auction Action News Jax Public Auction at Extra Space Storage July 17 in Cocoa Features a Variety of Household Goods and Equipment Space Coast Daily London’s Old Masters Week Sees Cross-Catagory Bidding and Strong Interest in High-Grade Works ARTnews.com A piece of another planet is for sale New Atlas The Princess Diana Museum Founder Took Out a Fourth Mortgage to Buy Pieces of the Late Royal's Wardrobe Town & Country Magazine Greg Beckwith Throwback Jerseys - No. 7 University of Richmond Athletics Ultra-rare first edition book from Galileo heading to auction Popular Science General Procurement & Auctions Iowa Department of Transportation (.gov) March Government Surplus Auctions to Feature Vehicles, Equipment for Sale; Bidding is Online Only Clark County (.gov) New York’s Spring Auctions Aimed for Trophies. They Got Troubles. The New York Times John G. Kraman Obituary January 12, 2025 Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory LTD. University of Richmond Athletics Auctions - Greg Beckwith Throwback Jerseys - No. 13 University of Richmond Athletics David Lynch’s Director’s Chair Sells for $70,000 at Los Angeles Auction The New York Times Can You Know Princess Diana by Owning Her Things? The New York Times Wine and Spirits Christie’s Valuable Books and Manuscripts Christie’s 2CV Auction MI6 - The Home Of James Bond Art for Healthy Lakes auction underway InkFreeNews.com African and Oceanic Art Christie’s Auction result of Treasury Bonds - RIKS 29 0917 GlobeNewswire Marquee May auctions in New York come at a volatile moment The Art Newspaper Google’s token auction: When LLMs write the ads in real time Search Engine Land Monterey Auctions 2025 – an early look at California’s collector car sale extravaganza magnetomagazine.com Hendrick Motorsports surplus online auctions start today through Iron Horse Auction Co. Hendrick Motorsports Stoweflake Resort foreclosure auction on July 14 cancelled Vermont Business Magazine Dave & Buster’s auctions off items from Ward location Hawaii News Now Creating local value: renewable energy auctions in Colombia | SEI Stockholm Environment Institute ACV Auctions delivers Q1 revenue gain of 25% Digital Commerce 360 Autograph Album Featuring Letter from Charles Darwin at Anderson & Garland Fine Books Magazine J.D. Power Acquires Superior Integrated Auctions (SIA) to Expand Used Vehicle Marketplace Capabilities Business Wire VRRR auction draws robust response amid surplus liquidity in the system The Economic Times Sanju Samson becomes most expensive player in Kerala Cricket League auction, signed by Kochi Blue Tigers for Rs 26.8 lakh The Indian Express |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
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 |