[I_Like_Plants]

OK first go read this:

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/

Then, the situation.... I was talking with a friend today and we were as usual complaining bitterly about how much Ebay sucks these days..... well, he said he's staying with it because back in the 90s it was SO GOOD!! He was making easily 2X what he is now, and can't let go because it was SO GOOD back then!

(In my own case, I've actually done steadily better each year, it's just that it's so much work and on Ebay, you never known when your acct will be shut down, hijacked, you name it - thus, I am working on doing something else.)

My friend is also a gambler, loves the electronic poker machines. He claims to make money, but if you look at the time spent, he's really not.

I'd say I"m in a mild "monkey trap" because I should have left Ebay for something less stressful say a year ago, but this guy's really in one.

Wouldn't much of US "culture" be best described as one big "monkey trap"?

[cynicalheretic]

Ebay is a pile of crap that I won't use. They are corrupt and evil

[lateralus]

Help! My friend is a monkey and he is trapped in ebay. Send $5.00 now to help the chimp with an auction fetish.

[frankthetank]

Can honestly say i've never used Ebay. People have too many problems with it (friends/family), so i've stayed away.

Wait until he gets stuck into the bear trap someone is about to put out soon

[I_Like_Plants]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cynicalheretic', 'E')bay is a pile of crap that I won't use. They are corrupt and evil

[NEOPO]

Its all dependent upon how you use it or allow it to use you my brothers and sisters.

I could rant on about the pros and cons as they are many yet I will simply note a few personal experiences.

From my initial attempts at sales I found it priceless.
I would buy something from a seller who sold similar items that I was selling and bam foot in the door and you would not believe just how successful that method was.

In no time I wasnt selling retail - they were selling my stuff retail and I was moving large amounts at wholesale which is less work/stress and more pay.
In maybe 6 months it was running itself quite rapidly.
I continued to scout, find little niches and otherwise compound upon my contact list.
To this day I dont even have an ebay account but my stuff is still being sold on ebay around the world.
Dont ask please as everything is confidential on a need to know basis

Some people like the mr lister easy stuff so they buy similar/same items to resell in bulk or they drop ship etcetc yet I found that several times a month certain collections of various "things" would go off well below value so I started buying these "things" and busting up the sets or offering them in more appropriate categories etc etc and I turned 100-200% profits usually.

Yes its a bit of madness to do custom auctions and to deal with the people yet once you know the ropes its nothing but repetition and time.

Dont even get me started on all the money I have saved on "gently worn like new" childrens clothes and things of that nature.
I would say my entire wardrobe of casual wear was bought on ebay at 25% the price of something similar retail.

In case anyone is wondering I dumped it all in 2005 and went back to work in my previous career.
I look at it like the lottery and this time I won!
PO does strange things to people, strange things indeed.

Is ebay just another part of the unsustainable madness that is our current reality? Yes, yes it is and so inevitably it will die.
Its the big yard sale in the sky yet it is just a temporary illusion.

[Eli]

I think ebay can be good but it has gotten much worse over the years I agree.

I was scammed out of a lot of cash by someone who really new the ins and outs of ebay. I sent him an item and when he received it he lied and said the most expensive part was missing. Ebay policy at the time held me liable and since I could not clearly document that the item was actually in the box when shipped I got screwed.

Oh, and never by or sell something to a Canadian you are bound to get ripped off.

Ebay now has a too many scammers who are out to rip people off.

Your friend Plants just needs to stay away from the poker machines.