posted on May 18, 2001 09:33:25 PM
I was wondering what some of the more "classic" reactions are of people when they find out you sell on ebay. I've had some amazingly unique responses. For example:
"And where do you work?"
"I sell on ebay full time."
"Ebay?"
"Its on the Internet. An auction site."
"Oh, I know someone who tried to sell some jam he made on that Internet. Never sold."
I've also been told the Internet is of Satan when I have said I sell full time on Ebay.
posted on May 18, 2001 10:29:26 PM
I don't normally publicize the fact. But at my local Goodwill, where I've been shopping for many years, the cat is out of the bag. I guess I just couldn't resist bragging about the $5 piece of software that sold for $1,050 on eBay.
Here in Silicon Valley a lot of the promo software and closeout computer items show up at Goodwill. A couple of weeks ago I discovered about 70 graphics tablets on sale for $12.99. I spoke to the store manager and bought them all at half price. (The manager also told me she'd keep an eye out for more items I might want.)
I've said it before, eBay sellers are easy to spot. When they pick up a piece of pottery or glass, they immediately turn it over and check the bottom for a trademark.
posted on May 18, 2001 10:31:23 PM
a friend of mine was having a garage sale, my wife was at the garage sale and she called and asked if I knew what some of the hook-ups were for on a receiver he was selling. this thing was worth about 500 and he was selling it for 50 I wanted the receiver and jumped in the truck and when I got to the house I saw a guy loading it in his truck..
ok now the funny part, I was wearing my ebay "power seller" t-shirt I sat down behind a table of jewelry and just started BS'n. the table hadn't had too many lookers all day, after I sat down everyone started checking out the stuff and it started selling, everyone tried to pay and haggle with me but I was really off to the side and it was obvious that I was not the seller.
the next time he has the garage sale he wants to borrow my shirt, I'm thinking about renting it out to swap meet and garage sale sellers.
One time I wasn't even thinking about it and I was wearing a ebay shirt, I walked into a shop and the guy asked if I sold on ebay, I said I do a little. he asked me if I was interested in buying a bunch of Department 56 items, he took me to the basement and showed me the piles of boxes. most of the stuff was old stock, retired item, per their sales agreement with D56 they can never sell items for more than their retail value and once a piece is released he said they pulled it to make room for more "new" item. yep a whole room full of retired D56 and I bought it all for about .10 on the retail dollar.
[ edited by airguy on May 19, 2001 03:00 PM ]
posted on May 18, 2001 10:42:51 PM
Ladyfargo, that's true, but I don't care to hide what I do. It just so happens I recognized a potential profit that the store manager didn't see. More power to me. And no need to be secretive about it. As I said, since the store manager knows I'm buying to resell, she keeps her eye out for me.
It comes down to what you know. I'm sure a lot of valuable items slip past me because I don't recognize them as collectible. If someone bought something from me and resold it for 10,000% profit, I'd kick myself for a while and then say "more power to 'ya!"
The bright side is that when I do find a deal, as happens occasionally, I take it as a real "miracle" find.
posted on May 19, 2001 12:59:53 AM
When one of my co-worker at work find out I sell on Ebay and have my own business. She get so jealous. She go around the office spray rumers about me that's true. Turn other co-workers against me. One co-worker try to buy my merchandise, she told her not to buy.
I have been sitting next to this person for the last 10 years. It's time to quite my job! I hate her guts. Thinking about all these time I help her out on computer. She doesn't appreciate it one bit. It's not even worth it. I can't even ignore her since she is sitting next to me. Life is hell.
Two good things about my job are good salary and nice boss. I just can't stand the co-workers around me!
posted on May 19, 2001 04:57:05 AM
to the last messege. interesting comment about how people react at work. i have a brick and mortar retail business and a internet business selling on ebay and books on amazon and half com. the problem is after being in retail for 40 years quite simply people are nuts. customers, employees, vendors, strangers that drive by the store. everyone today feels that they have the right to poke fun at you, insult you or call you names. on the internet however its a different story. there are very few names being called out, most people are nice on line. its not that i don't have problems or refunds in both places but on line it works out in a amicable way, and at the store people call mew names and accuse me of deception on a everyday basis, because thier wife told him off that he did not get the trash out that morning. once, however, someone on line got abusive on a email. i deleted him[his email]. felt good. at work people are always worried about what i am doing. they are too stupid to realize that the reason i do well on the internet is because between both jobs i work 100 hours a week. there is no magicthere. other than the internet is fun and my other business is like going into the ride that you stand up against the wall and the cylinder spins around real fast. then the floor gets pulled away and you stick to the wall. then the ride slows down , the floor comes back up and sometimes you throw up.the internet on the other hand is like i am sitting on a beach with a quiet cool breeze and blue sea water. drinking a cold water from a bottle and thinking about how good everything is. a oxemoron, contrast, view from a different world. so anyway leave the job and build up your internet business instead. evenrtually if you persevere you won't have to listen to everyone else sh...t, and you can think about them rushing to work in a snowstorm while you wake up with a cup of coffe and post cabbage patch dolls on ebay, collect money from paypal and package products to ship when the storm blows over.hey maybee i missed my calling i should be a stand up comedian or something. peace.. don/retrolink
posted on May 19, 2001 05:15:36 AM
I get a lot of - "What's eBay?"
One of these people was the multimillionaire
owner of 26 companies. After talking with him a little I found that he considers being able to use a computer something that underlings do - secretaries and techies not managers.
When he wakes up to the fact that it has become a basic component of literacy it is going to be too late I fear because his son is frankly dumb as a rock and when control passes to him he is going to need all the help he can get.
posted on May 19, 2001 05:28:31 AM
Usually, they ask me how business is doing. I tell them in a nutshell that it is slowing down but is still profitable.
Then, they either say that they don't have the time & knowledge to sell online or they tell me that they want me to show them how it is done.
Two of my friends sell online and one other friend has become a buyer online because of their interest in what I am doing online. They love discussing ebay topics.
Overall, everyone has been supportive even though they may not really understand (except for my three local Ebaying friends).
I never reveal to any business from which I buy things that I am a reseller. Everyone's situation is different, but in most of my experiences, I think that knowledge would hurt me. I sell on a very small scale compared to many here, so I don't get into wholeselling agreements or anything where the business would need to know.
If I am asked casually by a seller about my intentions for an item at a sale, I just say, "Oh, I have a cousin that would like ( or 'could use') this." The person does not have to know that I have no intentions of ever showing the item to that cousin and that the item is going straight to the Ebay auction block.
posted on May 19, 2001 05:44:35 AM
I certainly don't tell anyone "anymore" that I sell on eBay.
My biggest problem was everyone wanted me to look up some piece of junk they had to see if it was worth anything. Sometimes they even brought it for me to look at. Mind you, they never wanted to sell it, they just wanted me to do all the work of looking it up and appraising it for them....Gheesh. Like thats all I've got to do. Oh...a few would sometimes have something they would want me to try and sell.
NOPE.....MUMS THE WORD for me!
Besides most people that don't understand eBay think we are really "lazy" and sit on our butts all day at a computer ~having fun~.
I've seen a few try to sell and give it up right away.....to much work for them they say..HA.
I think it takes a person with a lot of "stick-to-it-tive-ness" to do eBay.
posted on May 19, 2001 05:50:46 AM
>I was wondering what some of the more "classic" reactions are of people when they find out you sell on ebay<
We stopped telling them, for the most part.
Actually, we don't tell anyone other than a few freinds and they seem to advertise for us. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. People think of ebay alot like PayPal......love it or hate it. More often than not people ask "What could I get for this blue DINK?? I heard a red one sold for $400.00 on ebay!" Then I have to explain that a blue DINK is not a red DINK and the value may not be the same. Plus, it took two people to run the red DINK to $400.00 and they may not want a blue DINK. Of course everybody thinks that you will auction stuff for them for 5 or 10% of the sale, then you have to explain why it cost you more than that to sell it sometimes.
All in all, we believe that ignorance is bliss, in this situation anyway.
posted on May 19, 2001 07:59:12 AM
I used to tell people I sold things on eBay, but the response was usually awful...
"What's eBay?" (It's a website. Go there and see for yourself.)
"How does it work?" (It's complicated.)
"You can't make a living doing that!" (Okay, so who's giving me all this money then?)
"Oh, yeah, eBay. I heard everybody who buys stuff there get ripped off by scam artists." (Gee, it's nice to know you think so highly of me!)
"Hey, maybe I should sell widgets on eBay too! Can you help me get started?" (Uhhh... no.)
I finally started telling people that I run an online bookstore. They immediately assume I mean something along the lines of amazon.com, but at least they don't ask a lot of questions about it.
And I never, ever tell people I buy stuff from that it's for eBay. If anyone asks why I'm buying fifty math books, I say I'm buying them for homeschool families that I work with... which is mostly true. I simply neglect to mention that the homeschool families are scattered all over the world, and that they'll be paying me a tidy profit...
If it's non-homeschool stuff (I occasionally sell musical instruments and electronic equipment) and they ask why I'm buying it, I usually mutter something about how my husband will like it. Again, mostly true... he'll like it once it's sold and we have the money.
posted on May 19, 2001 08:05:11 AM
I don't tell anyone. When I first started, I would always hear about someone making a "gazillion" dollars a week on eBay and it was demoralizing since I wasn't. A couple of friends know and that's about it.
posted on May 19, 2001 08:21:04 AM
other than close freinds and family I don't tell peaple It's not a problem becouse I do have a mainline business other then ebay that explains income
I was at a garge sale recently where a woman rather loudly proclaimed she sold full time on ebay she then when on tell the peaple running the sale the items she did well with one was a item I had not thought to resell I have since picked up a couple of peices and done ok with them one more profit base
When my wife and I are discussing weather to buy a item for resale we just say Hmm do you suppose aunt Meg would like this item ...
yes I bealive she would ..or no she has to many of those right now.
I don't see where it benifits me for peaple to know what I do with what I buy
posted on May 19, 2001 08:25:31 AM
I used to tell more people. Now, just my close friends and family know. The reason I stopped telling people is because the conversation would go like this:
'I have my own business.'
'Wow, what's your business?'
'I sell collectibles on Ebay.'
'Oh.'
The unspoken comeback (around here, anyway) is almost always "That's not a business." At least around the professionals I work with, there's a perception of Ebay as a swap meet where people sell stuff and get ripped off (not true but impossible for me to fight the stereotype). Also, the people I know realize that this kind of business is easy entry (doesn't cost much to start) so they unfairly think that it wasn't any kind of achievement to build it up or continue it! Also, we have to put all the cards on the table: to some people Ebay is a tacky business to be in because of those late nite infomercials touting get rich schemes. Tacky is tacky no matter how much money it brings in (A quote from Roseanne by the way!) Another thing i just thought of recently is that the professionals I work with associate Ebay with part-time work (hobbies) rather than full time careers. They also may associate it with stay at home moms, a group that is (again very unfairly) stereotyped as and associated with: part time work, tackiness, conservativism, all things they dislike (please note it's not ME who is saying this!) So I got tired of the interest/sudden disinterest thing and just quit telling people. Now if they see me going to the post office with packages I usually just say I do some mail order business with other people involved in my hobby. Since they know about my hobbies, they 'get' this and I don't have the burden of 'proving' myself to them (a pointless task).
posted on May 19, 2001 08:36:06 AM
One thing I do notice when asked if I sell on ebay is how many people claim they buy off of ebay. They also start to look at your merchandise and buy from you since you are local, saving the postage. I still dislike ebay as the only source for selling online that has some punch.. or did!
posted on May 19, 2001 08:44:05 AM
Most common response I get:
Them: "Oh, I know someone who got ripped off on eBay."
Me: "Have YOU ever looked at eBay?"
Them: "No, because I know someone who got ripped off on eBay, and it's all just a bunch of rip-off artists."
Me: "Uh-huh." (bangs head on wall)
Sometimes I do actually take the time to explain that in over 5,000 selling transaction, I have never ripped anyone off, nor have I been defrauded in any way by a bidder (plenty of deadbeats, but that's another story). Plus, in over 100 buying transactions, I have never been ripped off by an eBay seller.
And, funny thing, *I* do not know anyone who was ripped off on eBay. So how come all my friends and family do? They probably all know the same guy -- read it in the paper or something.
posted on May 19, 2001 09:06:11 AM
Wow! I have never gotten negative responses. Usually people are interested and intrigued with the eBay thing. I work part time at a mailing place (how convenient is that??) and between that and what I sell, I pay over $1,500 a month in bills and carry some over to the next month.
They always ask me about it and I have helped a few people get started. I just have rules: no direct competition and no bidding against each other.
posted on May 19, 2001 11:20:49 AM
Here is another one for co-worker who found out you sell on Ebay.
After explaining how to sell, fees and so on to this co-worker. He ask, can I sell his sperm on Ebay. Because he has this crazy notion that he should have some woman permanent with his kid before he turn 30. NUTs!!
I choke on it, just about throw up. It's so disgusting. I never speak to him again.
posted on May 19, 2001 11:26:29 AM
Some people just stare right through me when I tell them I sell on eBay. Alot of people refuse to believe that you can actually make money on eBay. There are some that think I am totally full of hot air! You know the kind that think the internet and ecommerce are just "another passing fad". You know like CABLE TELEVISION, now we all know what a flop that was!!!!!!! geeeeeeeezzzzzzzzz
posted on May 19, 2001 01:59:06 PM
I found out about eBay through a co-worker, she collects depression glass, so alot of co-workers started buying around the same time.
I am the only one that started to sell. Now whenever office conversation shifts to collectables or if a co-worker wins an award or pin everyone turns to me and says, "EEEE-BAY!" (in a sheep bleehhhing sound). Or one will come to me with ONE packing popcorn and say, "Thought you may need this for eBay." Of course I'd turn red so now I try not to talk too much about it.
I do get a few benefits from others knowing, my closer friends/co-workers give me boxes and packing materials. They also refer me to a friend or relative that is moving or about to have an estate sale (usually bulk or in a hurry to sell) and they give me first crack at their stuff.
I don't mention it to others. I do the same as others and have a code phrase when at garage sales, "Hmmm...I wonder if Aunt Louise will like this?"
[ edited by Malady on May 19, 2001 02:01 PM ]
