BillMyers
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posted on November 29, 2000 07:46:27 AM
Hi,
I am new to AuctionWatch...GREAT message boards! Looks like lots of friendly folks are on here helping each other to succeed!
I thought maybe we might all benefit by doing a quick brainstorming session.
I was wondering what you considered to be the three biggest obstacles encountered when looking for more things to sell online?
My three biggest obstacles are:
1) Knowing where to look for things in the first place!
2) Knowing that the source I am buying from is reliable.
3) Figuring out the best negotiation tactics when dealing with that particular "source".
What are your three biggest obstacles?
Please try not to copy mine, let's try to think of some new ones for all our benefit).
To Our Continuing Auction Success...
-Bill
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mzalez
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posted on November 29, 2000 08:12:29 AM
Lack of cash to buy them with!
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stusi
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posted on November 29, 2000 08:23:34 AM
bill- i am afraid that you are not going to get many responses from the very sophisticated AW members. remember the more advice given to a "newbie", the more competition. having said that, the biggest "obstacles" to finding things to sell are timing and price. certain markets suddenly get hot for no logical reason. unless you are buying at the right price you can't resell at the right price, particularly at auction where the final price is unknown. you really have to know what you are buying and specializing is probably the smartest way to get to know what you are doing.
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Pocono
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posted on November 29, 2000 08:53:32 AM
I have been looking into the following "HOT" sellers.
1) LOSE 300 pounds by Christmas...GUARANTEED
2) "MASSIVE 400 CD collection - only 1 cent"
and as special bonus, receive absolutely free, the "I made a trillion dollars on ebay last week, you can too!" CD
3) Buy this SCOOTER, and receive a FREE VACATION.
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amy
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posted on November 29, 2000 09:30:05 AM
Pocono...I am happy your back! No one is able to cut to the core of a question better than you! And with such wit too!
Welcome back!!
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SilkMoth
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posted on November 29, 2000 09:34:29 AM
hmm.... Lose 300 pounds by Christmas, GUARANTEED?
I thought it took six weeks for a divorce to be final? 
--------
not SilkMoth anywhere but here
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stusi
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posted on November 29, 2000 09:45:16 AM
bill- don't be put off. these are just some of the very sophisticated AWers i was talking about. early morning intravenous doses of caffeine create interesting chats.
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Pocono
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posted on November 29, 2000 09:52:20 AM
stusi: I resemble that remark! er, all of em.
Thanks Amy
Silk: LOL
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brighid868
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posted on November 29, 2000 10:14:22 AM
have you considered the up and coming beanie baby market. I hear they are going to be red hot this year.
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llama_lady
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posted on November 29, 2000 10:17:19 AM
1. when I am bidding on an item at an auction, getting the other bidders to quit bidding so I can get a bargain. <G>
2. Learning what will sell and what will not (regardless of the sale price it is not a bargain if I can't sell it)
3. There are only 24 hours in the day.
[ edited by llama_lady on Nov 29, 2000 10:17 AM ]
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cdnbooks
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posted on November 29, 2000 10:20:21 AM
a lot depends on whether you are selling new items or antiques/crafts/collectibles.
Selling the latter, the biggest difficulty is knowledge. What is hot? What will it sell for? The second difficulty is time to aquire this knowledge.
Finding the actual collectibles is far easier.
Bill
[ edited by cdnbooks on Nov 29, 2000 10:20 AM ]
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RainyBear
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posted on November 29, 2000 10:45:45 AM
I have no problem finding things to sell. Finding the time to photograph and list it all is the bigger problem!
But I'm a part-timer.
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shaani
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posted on November 29, 2000 11:04:09 AM
BillMyers, Is this one of those deals where you get all our secrets for success and you put them in a book or on a CD and sell it on eBay and make tons of money off us?
If so, do we get a share of the profits?
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honestjonstoys
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posted on November 29, 2000 11:20:41 AM
My competitors....like you.
--------------
Don't take life so serious, it ain't nohow permanent.
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avaloncourt
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posted on November 29, 2000 11:38:39 AM
RainyBear - you hit that one on the head! I have about 300 items sitting in boxes waiting for that magical free time to get them imaged and their descriptions prepped. Maybe I should do a search for free time on ebay.
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kinkajougirl
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posted on November 29, 2000 11:56:41 AM
ebay search term "free time"
170 results
bwahahahahaha!
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stusi
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posted on November 29, 2000 12:15:15 PM
i noticed that the original poster hasn't been heard from again. are you there bill? don't let pocono, brighid and shaani scare you off! they're harmless! just part of the newbie initiation. to get serious for a moment-has ebay gotten so bad that you guys would really discourage a newbie from getting involved?
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cariad
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posted on November 29, 2000 01:15:38 PM
my 3 biggest obstacles are
1. Elmer Earlybird.....has the amazing ability to be first at every single garage/estate sale within a 50 mile radius. Word is he starts out at 5
a.m. 3 days before the sale.
2. Susie sixarms, she is always first in line at every church sale and can block access to an entire 12 foot table and scoop everything off of it in 5 seconds flat.
3. Patty Pickyourpile. She's the one who grabs things out of your pile when you turn your head for one second. You know she's there cause you hear someone screaming "who took my --whatever the hot collectible of the week, that was found with a 50¢ sticker on it-- .
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CAgrrl
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posted on November 29, 2000 01:51:38 PM
cariad- I think I ran into Patty at a thrift store yesterday.
yes mzalez! That's my biggest obstacle too! 
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joycel
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posted on November 29, 2000 02:00:59 PM
Mabel Multiplier. She brings all six kids to the auction/garage sale/estate sale and they (1) stand in front of whatever it is you want to look at (2) bid on the items you want and let their kids bid too(3)all speak a foreign language and look at you and laugh while they're speaking it.
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BillMyers
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posted on November 29, 2000 02:06:18 PM
Yeah, I am still here. Takes more than a couple of "old hats" to scare me off!
I'm still learning the ropes about all this online auction stuff, but thought I'd try to steer a discussion to a higher level to something we could all benefit from the knowledge in each other's head--beyond just chit chat. I know that this is difficult because of people not wanting to give their secrets away, etc., but even though we are competing in a global marketplace, we are sourcing in a local marketplace. Our techniques we use to find more things to sell or the obstacles we encounter when buying stuff can be shared with each other WITHOUT RISK, since most likely you and I and everyone else is on different parts of the world. But, if you and I are neighbors...then, of course, there would be competition!
Anyway, hope more people will take my "brainstorming" idea seriously as we all want to make a success of our fledgling eBay businesses!
-Bill
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HartCottageQuilts
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posted on November 29, 2000 02:26:27 PM
Our techniques we use to find more things to sell or the obstacles we encounter when buying stuff can be shared with each other WITHOUT RISK, since most likely you and I and everyone else is on different parts of the world. But, if you and I are neighbors...then, of course, there would be competition!
No risk?
I find 50 rare gold-plated widgets here in FL, and list them on ebay. I have a secret to locating widgets, and so I I have a corner on the ebay widget market.
You're in, say, ND. I give you pointers on how to find rare gold-plated widgets. You follow my instructions to the letter, and find those widgets in ND, and list them on ebay.
You are now in competition with me for the same bidders. And since gold-plated widgets are now not as "rare" as they were before I was so helpful to you, I've assisted in depressing the widget market.
The issue isn't whether we find our stuff in the same hemisphere. It's that we're selling our stuff in the same block.
[ edited by HartCottageQuilts on Nov 29, 2000 02:28 PM ]
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cariad
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posted on November 29, 2000 02:41:03 PM
Bill says Anyway, hope more people will take my "brainstorming" idea seriously as we all want to make a success of our fledgling eBay businesses!
I say: I am being serious. I don't do new, wholesale. Though the names may be humorous to some, anybody who does antiques and collectibles either has these characters as the biggest obstacle(money is way behind) to the successful acquisition of merchandise or is one of the obstacles.
cariad
Noah's last words: "damn woodpeckers"
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cdnbooks
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posted on November 29, 2000 02:46:09 PM
actually, if you read carefully, there is lots of info here.
Bill
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amy
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posted on November 29, 2000 03:09:39 PM
And the chit chat is also part of running the successful ebay business. Look at it as the water cooler in the office, the business lunch, entertaining your business associates at home. The chit cat on these boards is a form of networking.
It is also similar to the services a big company offers it's employees..you know, the department that helps employees deal with the stress of the workplace. Chit chat here helps us keep in touch with other real live people instead of just a computer screen!
Chit Chat is GREAT!
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