Common Cents #37 - eBay

 

eBay 

About 25 years ago, I was in my brother’s office when he asked me if I had seen the new online auction site, eBay. I hadn’t so he gave me a quick tour about how easy it was to list things and bid on other people’s listings. After a few minutes of observing the site I exclaimed, “This changes everything! Everything is now liquid. Anything can be sold and converted to cash in a week using this global marketplace.”

My dad was an auctioneer and I had grown up, literally, in a sale barn. I knew that an auction was the fastest way to sell a lot of stuff in a short amount of time and that the exact fair market value of an item, at that particular time and place, could be determined in seconds. I realized the potential of a world-wide market, an auction, particularly for antiques, collectables, of hard to find or hard to sell items.

I immediately set up an eBay account and started selling things. Over the past twenty-five years I have sold thousands of dollars of merchandise, mainly antique cameras and collectibles on eBay. Things that we thought were extremely rare or unique, turned out to be rather common on the world stage. An item that we had never seen before in Kansas might be a common item in a Paris Flea Market, for example.

It is also possible to get a pretty accurate idea about what something is worth by watching the eBay auction prices. Remember that an auction will determine the market value based on what a willing seller is willing to take and what a willing buying is willing to pay, not what one party thinks it is worth.

My experience is that eBay is best suited to items worth at least $25 but not more than a few hundred dollars and items that can easily be shipped using UPS. About a fourth of my sales have been international. I could never have sold an antique camera to a customer in Japan without eBay or a similar international marketplace.

There are people who make a living buying at garage sales and selling on eBay, but that requires a lot of knowledge of the market and a huge amount of patience. A better idea is that before you put your old stuff on the sidewalk, do a little research using eBay to see if you have anything that a collector might want to pay good money for. Collectors’ legends are made up of garage sale finds that were later sold for thousands of dollars. I know people who have done that, but I haven’t traipsed through enough garage sales to do that. If we do see something of great value at a garage sale, the honorable thing to do would be to tell the seller or at least offer them the fair price for the item.

Most eBay aficionados start by buying and later turn to selling. Personally, I think selling is more fun. Whatever, if you are not familiar with eBay and have some family heirlooms or other things that might be of value and you are ready to turn them into cash, check it out.