728_header.jpg (23748 bytes)
 Home   EB Blog   AB Blog   Letters   Podcasts   ABTV   Forums   EPIS   PR Service   Classifieds   Ecommerce EKG   Service Ratings   
  Subscribe    RSS Feeds    Twitter        Contact Us  Web Site  
Service Ratings 
   Auction Sites
   FP Marketplaces
   Inventory Management
   Payment Services
   Storefronts & Carts
   Sniping Services
   Wholesale/Dropshipping
   Email List Hosting
   Consignment Services
   Ecommerce EKG 
   Auction Calendar
   Collectors' Links
   eBay Promo History
   Bookshelf
   Fraud Resources
   Drop-Off Store Laws
   ABTV
   Ecommerce Resources
   Photo Tips
   Marketing Inserts
   Yellow Pages
   Advertising

EcommerceBytes-Update, Number 213 - April 20, 2008 - ISSN 1528-6703     Previous | | Next

First Item Sold Online: A Pot, Monopoly Game and Pencil Sharpener

By Ina Steiner
EcommerceBytes.com

April 20, 2008
 



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. Today's stories highlight the lesson that, whether it's lying around the house or lying in a junk-box at a yard sale, an unwanted item just might have value to someone else!

Ina,
My new husband and I were trying to clear out some of my "stuff" to make room for his "stuff" in my 1100 sf house. I had a ceramic pot of nickels from separating my change for a couple of decades, and we dumped the coins in the bank's change counter. Then he, an experienced once-in-a-while eBayer, looked at the pot. He showed me what to do, and I got $37.50 for a pot that to me was "useful for storing change."

Then I tackled the thousands of books I'd read and kept, and those books (and others I've been collecting cheap or free since then) have been paying our utility bills for a couple of years now.
JM

********

Ina,
I was living in Australia at the time. At the last garage sale of the day I spotted a box that looked to be full of junk stuff. Lots of miscellaneous paper items and folders, but down at the bottom of the box was a Monopoly set. Not just any Monopoly set but the one the seller played with as a child. I knew it was different because it had a numbered card with an arrow instead of the normal dice, which is how the Monopoly sets were made during WW11. I happily paid her the $5 dollars she wanted even though she pointed out that it was missing one of the properties. Besides the Monopoly set there were many other surprises in that box: WW11 travel documents, early century birth certificates, receipts for cremations, very old photographs, etc. I tried to return some of the items thinking that they had sentimental value but she wont have any of it. I had paid for it and I had to take it away. One less box she had to move.

Well the Monopoly set netted $60 dollars from a collector in Canada and was my very first item sold on ebay. That was way back when ebay was still privately owned and was still warm and friendly.
Tim

********

Hi Ina,
My wife and I have been buying and selling on eBay since February 1998. I don't really remember my first sale, but I do remember the first sale that got a lot more than we expected. We like to scour garage sales for unusual items that we think might sell. My wife was digging around in a "dime" box (everything in the box was selling for ten cents each) and she found a pencil sharpener. It was made by the "Swing-A-Way" company in the USA and had a special mounting bracket shaped kind of like a "V." I thought we might get three or four dollars for it, so I said yes when she asked me if I thought we could sell it. Well, our surprise came about a week later when the auction ended with the high bid of $86.00! After that I was hooked. Thank you for the opportunity to share our story.
Sincerely,
Jim and Sharon (justin-tyme)

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.


You may quote up to 50 words of any article on the condition that you attribute the article to EcommerceBytes.com and either link to the original article or to www.EcommerceBytes.com.
All other use is prohibited.

Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, 
E-mail List icon Sign up for our Email Newsletters

Email this story to a friend.

Previous | | Next



 EcommerceBytes Blog 
 AuctionBytes Blog 
 Letters to the Editor 
Related Stories 
Related Stories
  • AuctionBytes Feature: First Item Sold Online - January 06, 2008, Issue #206
  • AuctionBytes Feature: First Item Sold Online - January 20, 2008, Issue #207
  • First Item Sold Online: Spiderman Comics and an Old Hearse - February 17, 2008, Issue #209
  • First Item Sold Online: eBay Transactions Lead to Roadtrips - March 02, 2008, Issue #210
  • First Item Sold Online: Modem and Carnival Glass - March 16, 2008, Issue #211
  • First Item Sold Online: Beanie Babies and More! - April 06, 2008, Issue #212
  • First Item Sold Online: A Pot, Monopoly Game and Pencil Sharpener - April 20, 2008, Issue #213
  • First Item Sold Online: Seller Saves the Day for School Play - May 04, 2008, Issue #214
  • First Item Sold Online: A Used Mousepad?! - May 18, 2008, Issue #215
  • First Item Sold Online: Helping Move Armies! - June 01, 2008, Issue #216
  • First Item Sold Online: Getting Hooked on Online Selling - June 15, 2008, Issue #217
  • First Item Sold Online: Shaken, Not Stirred - July 06, 2008, Issue #10
  • First Item Sold Online: Michael, Barbara and Dick and Jane - July 20, 2008, Issue #219
  • First Item Sold Online: Makeup-Brush Sparks Friendship - August 10, 2008, Issue #220
  • First Item Sold Online: It's Small World After All - August 24, 2008, Issue #221
  • First Item Sold Online: Portrait of a Hippo - September 07, 2008, Issue #222
  • First Item Sold Online: Employing Estate-Sale Savvy - September 21, 2008, Issue #223
  • First Item Sold Online: Brad Pitt and a Native American Bolo Tie - October 05, 2008, Issue #224
  • First Item Sold Online: cMarket Charity and an eBay Business - October 19, 2008, Issue #225
  • First Item Sold Online: Turkey Calls and Boxing Gloves - November 02, 2008, Issue #226
  • First Item Sold Online: Fur Poodle Sweater Clip - November 16, 2008, Issue #227
  • First Item Sold Online: Bagel-Slicer Hooks Senior on Selling - December 07, 2008, Issue #228
  • First Item Sold Online: Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel of Love - December 21, 2008, Issue #229


  • AuctionBytes-Update Archives 
    You can read past newsletters going back to 1999 - click on a year and you'll be taken to all 24 issues from that year, which you can read in full-text!

      AuctionBytes-Update - 2010
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2009
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2008
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2007
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2006
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2005
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2004
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2003
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2002
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2001
      AuctionBytes-Update - 2000
      AuctionBytes-Update - 1999

    Discussion Forums 
    Have a question about buying or selling online? Want to get marketing or technical advice? AuctionBytes Discussion Forums are the place to come to get answers to your questions and get advice! Great tips - a refreshing change!

    Current Discussions:
     

    About Us      Privacy Policy      Link to Us      Partners      Our Writers      Write for Us      Press        Site Index

    Copyright 1999-. Steiner Associates LLC. All rights reserved.