posted on February 16, 2001 06:37:15 PM
After two years on e-bay I'm seriously considering leaving my part-time "real-life" job to devote more time to e-bay. But--I seem to argue with myself the pros and cons until I'm going crazy!
On one hand--I don't make much at my part-time job, but it IS a steady paycheck and does pay a couple of bills.
On the other hand--I don't make much at my part-time job so therefore I wouldn't have to make much more at e-bay to cover the loss.
My real life job is OK--no great shakes, but OK--and, it does get me out of the house and talking to real people. However, I really really like all of the aspects of e-baying--going treasure hunting, listing, making up ads, photographing and I don't even mind packaging (well, not too much.)
I'd like to hear from those of you who gave up your "real" jobs to spend more time e-baying. Are you glad you did it--or wish you had your "real" job back again?
posted on February 16, 2001 06:42:34 PM
If you leave your part time job and the eBay stuff doesn't work out, will you easily be able to find another out of the house job?
posted on February 16, 2001 06:43:43 PM
The 3rd best decision I've ever made
In case you're wondering:
1. Divorcing my 1st wife
2. Marrying my current wife
It's not easy, and not always fun, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I left a well paying full time job nearly a year ago. I'm making a bit less now, but enjoying it a lot more.
posted on February 16, 2001 06:53:14 PM
The worst thing you can do is leave your part time job to run ebay at full speed!. I was making $1500 a month profit. This is a part-time job for me. Now I am only making $450.00 a month. This is due to increasing fees every three months by someone contected to ebaying. I now have found a part time job paying $10.00 an hour two days a week. This will make up for half of what I was making on ebay. The job is not hard. Don't be fool by people who said they make alot of money with auctions! Believe me I'm on ebay for 2 years now and about 40 hours a week.
posted on February 16, 2001 06:54:01 PM
In answer to your question: No, I won't be able to easily find another job. I live in a small rural community and jobs are few and far between. However, they are also low paying and the janitor where I work makes more than I do....
"When in doubt do nothing" (????) I hate the thought of that...
posted on February 16, 2001 07:31:57 PM
keep your part time job, burn midnight oil doing eBay stuff, then if business on eBay increases enough to match your part job's salary and benefits then quit your job, maybe. Heck, I don't know. I can't even make decision myself. LOL
pcalton
Perry Calton [email protected]
http://www.pcalton.com
posted on February 16, 2001 07:35:44 PM
Do you have enough sources to get product at a low enough price to make up the difference on ebay? If you don't better stick with the part time job.
posted on February 16, 2001 07:38:49 PM
We are headed into a recession. I would keep my job and work at E-bay still. See how your catergory holds up. Do you get any benefits from your current job such as medical etc;; These are things to consider. Also remember you will have new expenses to think of. If this is a full time jon its taxable so you have self employment taxes etc;;
posted on February 17, 2001 12:57:09 AM
Do this - take two weeks vacation from your parttime job. Prepare for this beforehand. Work as hard as you can during these two weeks on ebay. See how much you sell.
Now - figure out if:
You like working alone.
You like packing & shipping and waiting on line at the post office.
You have the room to store all the extra stuff you need to sell and don't mind turning your house into a flea market.
You like the uncertainity of not knowing how much you make.
You like dealing with deadbeads & slow payer, lost items, buyers paying you and you have no idea for what, ebay downtime when your lots are closing, you can't list lots because MisterLister don't work, images won't load because your host is down, everyone wants more fees, etc...
Now, after all that and you still want to keep doing ebay fulltime, than project how much you need to sell annually. If you still think you can find sources of items to sell to reach your sales target, than quit your job and go for it.
posted on February 17, 2001 04:25:50 AM
You have to remember that there are quite a few factors here out of your control. You have to look at the risk and say is it worth it? The economy seems set to have a hiccup for the first time in many years. A lot of young people have never experienced that. What are your obligations? Do you have a family to support or a house you would loose if you can't keep your income up? Do you have enough personal savings to get through a few months without the money rolling in? You can be sure that the sales and fees in any category of eBay will continue to change so you may make more or you may make less 6 months or a year from now. You may need to find new products and change your presentation to stay competative. Can you do that? That has been my experience personally. Are you inventive enough to come up with another small business off line if you need it instead of online only?
I would always much rather have 3 or 4 small businesses going so when one is slow the others carry you.
posted on February 17, 2001 04:56:55 AM
After 8 years as a stay-at-home mom and 3 years of selling on eBay, I am finally going back into the "real life" work field. Just part-time. Realized I seriously need human contact again! Besides, sales have been very slow this month! Good luck on whatever choice you make!
posted on February 17, 2001 08:44:49 AM
I quit my fulltime job to work ebay full time. I did continue to have a work at home part time job.
I found after 6 months or so that I needed the contact with more people than my hubby, daughter, dog & bird, so I now have a part time, 3 six hr days a week job. I have been happier and ebay has been easier for me to handle.
posted on February 17, 2001 11:11:34 AM
I left a high paying job with good benefits to do ebay FT. I miss the money, but don't regret leaving a job I hated to do a business I love. Hopefully the gamble will pay off and pay me more in time to come.
Some of the glamor of doing ebay may wear off when putting food on the table and paying bills become top priorities. When sales are slow, deadbeats pop up, and the demand for your items weakens, it puts stress on your body and mind.
Make a plan how to deal with the downturns. Can you survive if your income drops 70% for a few months? Or work harder and do more listings?
If you've been surviving on a pt job with low pay, I think the transition to ebay would be easy for you.
posted on February 17, 2001 12:30:19 PM
My wife and I sold used items for 15 years in a brick and mortar store. A minimum of six 10 hour days was needed to make that work. We closed it in 1999 due to rent, utility, insurance, and other increases. She continues with the auctions and I work a regular job full time. On these auctions, she puts in a minimum of six 12 hour days a week. I help her with them on my weekends off. For one person, I would say keep the regular job, (to be in that real world) and then do auctions to whatever extent you have the energy and desire. Auctions are hard work, but are still fun to us after 2 years.
posted on February 17, 2001 01:08:35 PM
I started selling on E-Bay with a few items a week and kept putting all of my earnings back into buying more merchandise, while keeping a day job. You can make a lot of money of E-bay, the problem is you have to steady source of inventory, and a pretty decent amount of dollars to buy inventory. It helps to specialize in something you really know about and love, record albums, model trains, coins, etc. I started with selling around $200 a month, I am up to $4,000+ and still growing. The other thing is to make this only part of your business, I sell at shows ,do direct mail order and thanks to E-bay, have a store now. I still have a day job at this point and don't plan on giving it up right away, Insurance, 401K, steady income etc. are all nice to have, but my ultimate goal is to run this business full time. For me right now having both is the best thing going...I'd say keep the day job and keep growing your enterprise until your at the point with which you are sure you can survive with this income, best of luck....
posted on February 17, 2001 08:09:52 PM
I would keep my real world job AND do eBay on the side. If you are just working part time you should have enough free time to build up your eBay presence.
Also, I think it is easier to get bids and bids tend to be a little bit higher when you have a higher feedback rating. (At least over 100 or so)
Try building that up and see how much you like working eBay. If at that point you feel you are ready to take the plunge ....
posted on February 18, 2001 09:22:34 AM
Hello. I would keep the part time job and still continue to run ebay. We have a full time sports collectibles store and will be shutting it down in the next two months. And I was layed off my full time job!!! What a month!! Ebay is doing okay for us, but on most stuff we are now either break even point or sell at a loss. So keep your job and still run Ebay!! At least you have income coming in and when the economy ever picks up, you will be established!
posted on February 18, 2001 12:05:41 PM
Thanks for all of your advice. As you can tell, there are a lot of pros and cons to consider. I have been on 3-bay for 2 years now and generally list 80-100 items per month. My feedback record is excellent, so I consider myself to be well established. I have come a l-o-n-g way experience wise in the past two years and am feeling more confident about what I buy to resell. That is the confident part of me speaking. On the insecure side--even my real life part-time job pays a couple of bills and I HAVE been able to do my e-baying on my time off. (I just don't want to!) I keep thinking that I would be able to make up the lack of income if I just had the time to do it--and not from 7-10 at night when the rest of my family is enjoying the evening! (sigh) Decisions, decisions. If I do quit I'd like to tell my boss that I'd be leaving around the first of May so we have time to find and train another employee. The thought of leaving my "real life" job at the beginning of summer sounds SO enticing....
And--one more encouraging thought--saw on the news the other day, that although the economy has taken a downward turn, "online sales are up 36% in the past year..."
