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 Technology News | October 2007 
Dreams of Collecting Riches Abound for eBay Classmates
 Monique Polak - The Gazette
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The 600 students who showed up at the Hilton Bonaventure on a Saturday morning last month for eBay University brought something besides the usual pens and notepaper - they brought their schemes.
Bob Hutchings, a research assistant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, hopes to make a bundle selling his collection of original records on eBay. Jack Fasoli, a technical sales representative who lives in St. Eustache, has been purchasing fossils and dinosaur eggs on eBay to create a mobile exhibit he plans to rent out to schools. Legal secretary Manon Thiboutot dreams of giving up her day job and devoting more time to selling secondhand children's and plus-size clothing on eBay.
Many turned up early to get a spot up front near John (Griff) Griffith, the "dean" of eBay University. This was the 18th stop on eBay University's 20-city tour. The class cost participants $49, and they were allowed to bring a guest at no extra charge. It also was offered simultaneously in French.
Students came to learn how to conquer the worldwide marketplace to which eBay, an online auction and shopping website, provides access, and to join the ranks of the 724,000 North American sellers for whom selling merchandise on eBay is a part-or full-time business.
Some, like Hutchings, 56, had never sold anything on eBay.
"I'm a rookie," he said. But Hutchings said he believes eBay is the ideal place for him to sell his record collection. The listing and commission fees are relatively low and he will be able to reach millions of potential buyers. "I have about 1,000 original LPs. The Beatles are my specialty. Original Beatles albums - the ones with the rainbow swirl on the label - go for $100 or up on eBay," he said.
Diane and Robert Montreuil, who live in Ottawa, got up at five in the morning to make it to class. The couple, who have been travelling extensively since they retired from the civil service, want to buy merchandise abroad and resell it on eBay. "We saw a porcelain sink that sold for $33 in Puerto Vallarta. It sells for $550 in Toronto," Diane Montreuil said.
For Longueuil resident Pierre Hamel, Saturday's seminar was more of a refresher course.
Hamel, 50, has been selling Indy 500 racing memorabilia on eBay since 2004. His treasure trove includes pins, photos and films. Hamel tried selling the pins to co-workers at Pratt & Whitney Canada, where he works as a test cell operator, for $2 apiece. But they weren't interested. Auctioning the pins on eBay turned out to be a better business move. "I sold some on eBay for $40," Hamel said.
Griffith, a former decorative artist who joined eBay in 1995 and who went on to write the bestselling The Official eBay Bible, kept his audience entertained while he shared tips for maximizing profits on eBay.
"How many of you aren't registered on eBay?" he asked the group. When a sprinkling of people raised their hands, Griffith said: "How do you survive? I buy something nearly every day on eBay - or else I get the willies."
Griffith has been buying and selling on eBay since the company was founded in 1995. He has a collection of more than 800 fragrances, in addition to collections of oriental rugs and textiles, Quebec antiques, and most recently, fish decoys.
During his presentation, Griffith emphasized the importance of doing research before putting merchandise up for sale on eBay.
"Research is the backbone of any successful business," Griffith said. He advised new vendors to check out the competition to determine the market value of their goods. He also recommended they read what buyers have to say about the competition. "If they have negative feedback, see how you can make your service better than theirs," he said.
Griffith is also a proponent of liberal return policies. These, he said, help create a positive impression and increase customer loyalty. "Once I was doing one of these talks in Las Vegas and a woman kept shaking her head when I was talking about return policies. 'That's not gonna work,' she kept saying. I finally asked her why not - and she told me she sold condoms."
Griffith has been on the eBay University faculty since 2000. A lot has changed, he said, since then. "At first, people were interested in the technical aspects, such as how to take photos and use html. Now, they want to know how to start a business on eBay," he said.
Rita Plamondon drove in from St. Sauveur to attend the seminar. On leave from her job as an assistant manager at a bank, Plamondon, 53, plans to retire at 55. She hopes eBay will be a way for her to keep busy, supplement her income - and dispose of her enormous collection of miniature porcelain shoes and Hallmark Christmas ornaments, many of them still in their original boxes.
"I've been collecting for years. We have no more room and we're planning to downsize," said Plamondon, whose online moniker is "shoesie54."
Plamondon said her husband, Roger, who did not attend the seminar, shares her obsession with collecting. "We've been married 33 years, but I'm not trading him in," she said.
So what are all the students at eBay University planning to do with the profits from the sale of their merchandise? Hutchings - the man with the Beatles records - didn't need to pause to consider his answer. "I'll probably buy more music," he said. |
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