Posted on 09/10/2004 12:28:21 AM PDT by VisualizeSmallerGovernment
Indicators measure the nation's unemployment rate, consumer spending and other economic milestones, but Vice President Dick Cheney says it misses the hundreds of thousands who make money selling on eBay.
"That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," Cheney told an audience in Cincinnati on Thursday. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay."
San Jose, Calif.-based EBay Inc. is an Internet auction site where anyone can sell just about anything, including clothing, cell phones, jewelry, memorabilia, trinkets and automobiles.
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards responded that Cheney's comments show how "out of touch" he and President Bush are with the economy.
"If we only included bake sales and how much money kids make at lemonade stands, this economy would really be cooking," Edwards said in a statement.
Does anyone actually have any stats on estimated income generated by EBay sellers? It would be great to shove a few good statistics into the dems' faces! I googled, but couldn't find anything.
eBay's gross sales were around $2.7 billion last year. That is what they took in from fees. Assuming fees are around 10% of total sales, then total sales would be around $27 billion.
By comparison, the total domestic box office of every movie released in 2003 was around $8.7 billion.
So when Kerry / Edwards suck up to Hollywood and pooh-pooh eBay sellers, they are actually dissing an industry LARGER than Hollywood. (Though the Hollywood money is divided among fewer people).
It should be noted that eBay's sales are rising rapidly, while Hollywood's are fairly stagnant.
Thank you kindly .. Appreciate your help.
I'm shocked!!! I had no idea you could make that much money on ebay. I've got tons & tons of books that I'd like to sell on ebay. Is there a trick to making a profit?
[friends] did $10K worth of E-Bay business during December
I'm stunned. In one month?! Somebody please tell me how to get started. Are there any tricks of the trade? What do you have to pay to ebay in order to sell your stuff?
Be careful of those discussion boards. It's better to have a 2nd id that you use only for the eBay discussion boards. It's happened in the past that someone has rubbed someone the wrong way and then they get stalked on eBay.
Good luck!
"Buy something and sell it for more than you paid for it." - Father Guido Sarducci.
I would reckon profits as dollars per lot sold, not dollars per item. Figure that it takes about 1 hour to post and process one lot. Set a minimum thresh hold of profit that you want to make on a lot, and post things that you can reasonably expect to sell for that much.
If you want to see what something sells for, do a completed item search on a similar item.
If you don't have enough of your own stuff to sell, you can always sell someone else's stuff on consignment. However, I wouldn't sell anything on consignment until I had some experience selling my own stuff.
Before selling, I would buy some stuff on eBay so you understand what the process is like to the buyer.
Be honest about your items. Be descriptive. If there's a flaw, mention the flaw. Don't be judgmental. Just be descriptive and let the bidders decide if the item is worth it.
Good luck!
Thanks, VSG!
I set up a storefront and have been making my living on eBay selling other peoples things. It's going great. I guess I live in that 'other' America.
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