Ebay & the Internet

The preowned Sit n Spin I recently sold for $36.

I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I wasn't immediately won over by the concept of the Internet. In the late 1990s, I worked as the marketing manager for Turtle Fur®, a cold weather accessory company in Vermont. Fortunately, we were already using some progressive techniques to market our products. For instance, we were using a digital photo studio and adjusting color electronically, as needed, to produce our product catalogs. So it was a natural next step to talk about launching an Internet presence. We planned to create a virtual catalog online, but when talks turned to customers actually placing orders on the Internet, I was the great naysayer. 


I'll never forget saying it because I laugh out loud whenever my memory whispers, "hey, remember saying this?":  "No one will ever buy anything on the Internet." I still feel the weight of my skepticism because, honestly, it was more than that. I believed emphatically that the whole idea of buying and selling goods on the Internet was PREPOSTEROUS!  

Yet by 1999, I had purchased a digital camera and was photographing and selling my own things on ebay. By now I have made well over $20K (it's likely twice that), mostly from selling stuff I no longer want in the house. Since I began selling on ebay, I've sold thousands of things: a used toilet seat was an early coup, but the list includes sheets, pillowcases, diaper bags, clothing, fabric, belts, blankets, comforters, scarves, drapes, pillows, hats, games, gloves, china, glassware, cookware, jewelry, toys, dolls and stuffed animals, purses, shoes, briefcases, luggage, art, ornaments, books, show and event tickets, electronics, rugs and furniture as well as vintage and antique items of all kinds.

I have fully integrated the Internet into my purchasing style for everything from granola for my husband's yogurt to Mogo bracelets for Christmas. I love it and my list of favorite sites is forever growing – Amazon, Craigslist, Etsy, Overstock... If you ever want advice or tips about ebay or how to get started, please get in touch with me. It's a terrific marketplace and makes for a fun, money-making hobby for many millions of people.