Ebay: The Solution To Peoples Problems?

[SavageTaker]

FTS, I promised you a thread and here it is. Could Ebay be the solution to peoples problems? To clarify, I’m talking about peoples financial problems.

I remember watching a video in my marketing class about Ebay in the UK and the people on the video were making good money. At least that’s what I assumed just by what the video was telling me. They were making good money because of Ebay and some of them had even quit their jobs and decided to just sell stuff on Ebay.

Well, today in America there are a lot of people jobless because of the economy. Then there’s a lot of them that don’t have any other source of income so they can’t afford to buy food, pay the electric bill, pay the mortgage, e.t.c. They basically can’t pay all of their bills and as a result they are losing their homes. Well, there are people who have things they can make money off of but aren’t doing so.

That’s were Ebay comes in. First of all, here is how I look at it. If I have all of these items that I know I can make money from selling them and I’m in financial trouble, then I really have no other option but to sell them. But there are other people that don’t do that because they’ve spent precious years collecting these items and now they don’t want to get rid of them. I know it’s hard, but by putting them on Ebay for sale these people could be solving their problems financially speaking, whether it be a long or short term solution. There are people that will buy those items and the people with those items should take advantage of that.

What are your thoughts? Could Ebay by the solution to peoples problems financially speaking, whether it’s a long term or short term solution?

 

[Dagger Dias]

It could quite possibly be. A friend of mine often has to sell his stuff to a local pawn shop to get money every now and then, only to end up buying most of the stuff back when he gets more money (sometimes with a refund check from school). I feel bad for him when he gets stuck doing that at least once a semester. Other people who are dealing with situations like that could try selling things on Ebay like you suggested. They are more likely to get a higher amount of money from buyers there because someone out there might REALLY want something you put on Ebay, whereas pawn shops don't give a lot of money for most things. I actually never thought of suggesting to my friend about Ebay, I might do that so he can get a little more money. You made some valid points in your post, ST.... I think that Ebay could really help some of those people out if they were willing to sell things on there that they have a high likelihood of someone wanting to pay a larger amount of money for. I'd say it's only for a short-term solution though because chances are slim to none that anyone would get rich off of putting an item on Ebay, it can get them some much needed cash for the time being though.

 

[lghikas]

I don't know if it could be the answer to all of their problems financially, but done right it could ease a good amount of burden. I think websites like Ebay...Half.com, are great. From what I have seen, as a college student, I am able to get alot of my books cheaper. Pretty much if you look around and are willing to wait a bit more, for shipping, I think most will find it is cheaper and they will find more money in their wallet after a bit.

Oh an I didn't even think about just selling stuff on Ebay which once again to make some money depending on what you got, but generally there seems to be someone that will buy just about anything. One man's trash is another's treasure.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

You're not going to be able to make a living just selling off stuff you already own, you might get a lump sum which you can then use to buy other items to sell, but that's the only way you can make a living off e-bay.

Then you've got more problems, like where do you get stock that isn't being sold cheaper elsewhere on e-bay, listing prices, you need to take into consideration you're becoming self employed which isn't worth the hassle if you're not making a substantial ammount of money, the time it takes to package up items, replying to messages, delivery & courier services, lost parcels etc.

 

[The Roid Rage]

If you do it right it can become not just a supplemental income, but a chance at entrepreneurship.

I actually had a friend in college who had just graduated a year ahead of me who used ebay to support his current income. This guy was working with a very prominent insurance company called Nationwide if any of you have heard of them, so he was already making good money. However, his student loan payments were so huge he was basically as broke as he was in school even though he now had a great paying job. He needed some supplemental income and started selling stuff on ebay, not his personal stuff though. He had used his own money to buy what are called "Lots" of specific items. Depending on what you are looking for you could be buying a "Lot" of 6 PS3's or a "Lot" of 60 PS3 games, or a "Lot" of 35 watches, or a "Lot" of 25 cell phones. He bought those type of items in (here it is again) "Lots" for extremely low prices, especially since it was bid on instead of just for sale, then would turn around and sell the stuff on ebay individually or to people he knew. The guy made enough money in a short amount of time to pay for his wedding, and was able to start paying his student loans off of that money, and was then able to keep the salary he was earning at his normal job. Sure it's a little work, but if you do it right it can replace your job, and you can be in business for yourself.