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 we hear from Marina who sold a doll in 1994 - before eBay was even conceived! But while Marina saw the potential of online selling right away, it was not so easy to convince her colleagues.

The first item I sold online was a Mrs. Beasley doll. It was in 1994.

I had a retail store and started bringing my laptop in and going online during "down" times. At the time, both AOL and Compuserve had bulletin "want" boards where folks listed things that they were looking for.

I saw a listing for a Mrs. Beasley doll and I had one. I wrote to the person, the sale was made... and I was hooked on online sales!

I proceeded to sell from these "want ads" for a couple of months and before long my online sales were triple my store sales!! The handwriting was on the wall!

I sold my business to two older women and moved home. Ebay came along a year or so later and the rest is history.

Funny sideline.. When I started having this "success" selling on line I contacted all of the other antique stores in our town and we got together for meeting. I presented a proposal to them that we collectively open an "online" store with a different "department" for each business and be the first Virtual Reality Town store.

Not only did they think it was a terrible idea.... they scoffed at me, laughed at me, thought I was nuts... and were generally unkind. Statements like "No one would EVER purchase something they could not touch!", etc. prevailed. I went home in tears. My husband consoled me and said nevermind, just do it yourself... which I did.

Needless to say, all of these non-believers now sell on-line in some way or another.
Take care.
Marina

PS: One more story to share... About three years ago I sold a book on ebay to a man in France. We started corresponding and became quite friendly. He was an English teacher, his wife was a potter, and they had three young children.

Over the course of time he suggested that I "deliver" the book to him in France instead of mailing it. He invited us to come and visit him at his chatteau in Northern France. My husband and I went three years ago, and we go back every year. He and his family have become very dear to us and it has been a wonderful experience.

Naturally my friends thought I was nuts to be going to visit a stranger in another country that I sold a book to... but I am so glad that we did!

It's a wonderful world out there and the internet has brought so many of us together!!