We received an outpouring of stories from our inaugural publication of the "First Item Sold Online" feature in March. It seems everyone remembers his or her first item ever sold online!
Today we hear from two sellers, David Ely (Tonka Younkers rig) and Quiltworks (a quilt).
Hi Ina,
First eBay deal. BE (before eBay) I sold at an Antique Mall and/or Toy or Train Shows. I had a Tonka Younkers rig in G condition. Paid $250, had it in Mall starting at $600, finally down to $400. Put it on eBay, with 0 feedback, in Dec. 1998. It brought $1700. I'm hooked.
Most surprising. Enroute to the one train show at which we now sell, I bought some toy train items and an old, chipped, Santa Fe RR chop plate (I know nothing about RR dishes). Put it out at the 2-day show for $100 OBO. Hundreds of people walked by, some chided me for my price expectation. 2 days NO bids. Next day on eBay. Sold for $3283! Now they chide me for being a "profiteer".
David Ely, ElysToys
******
Hello Ina,
I enjoy reading your newsletter and want to share my story. I hope someone will enjoy it as much as I did reading the story about the broken watch.
I discovered eBay 6+ years ago quite by chance. I had made a special art quilt for a friend's wedding. The wedding unfortunately was called off, and my friend did not want the quilt, as it was a reminder of this sad occasion. I did not want to give it to anyone I knew, so when someone mentioned to me that they discovered this interesting site where anyone can put anything on auction, it seemed like a perfect solution. I figured this was a good way to make sure that my friend would never see this quilt again.
I did not expect much, but to my utter surprise my quilt generated a lot of interest and began accumulating bids almost instantly. The quilt gained more than 30 bids, became a member of the exclusive "hot" category, and resulted in a final bid of many hundreds of dollars! Needless to say I was instantly hooked on eBay, and decided that, of course, all of my art quilts would have similar success. Even though I have never again achieved the "hot" status, I find eBay a wonderful opportunity to share my artwork with other people and still enjoy every transaction and the wonderful emails I get after my art work reaches the winner!
Quiltworks
Do you remember the first item you ever sold online? Let us know by sending an email to ina@auctionbytes.com and we may publish your story.
About the author:
Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and AuctionBytes.com and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @auctionbytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
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