You Never Know What Treasures You’ll Find on eBay…

I’m still not quite in the mood to buckle down and get back to business after the long weekend, so I thought I’d share some entertaining bits of information with you all today to make the first day back to work a little more bearable, even if it is the end of the day.

While surfing the Web between loads of laundry and setting up some new listings, I came across a website that really made me laugh out loud called WhatTheHeck.com.  A particular portion of this website is dedicated to some of the weirdest eBay auctions—and take it from me, they are weird, indeed!

It reminded me of a book that came out a few years back called Grilled Cheese Madonna and 99 Other of the Weirdest, Wackiest, Most Famous eBay Auctions Ever by Chris Cihlar.  The author uncovers such crazy eBay items up for sale in the past as:

·    The world’s largest French fry,
·    The meaning of life,
·    The privilege to change a grown woman’s name to whatever you wanted,
·    The state of West Virginia, and
·    A fully functional kidney.

And there were plenty more where those came from, both in the book and on the website I mentioned above.

Obviously, it would be a little hard to believe that these items were up for grabs, but anything is possible on eBay and I’m sure somebody, somewhere was excited enough about them to place a bid.

Luckily, the reputable companies that I work with on eBay provide me with products that are guaranteed to make a profit, as I sure would hate to have to depend on selling philosophical ideas or someone else’s first name to make a living.

eBay Memoir is My Favorite Summer Read So Far

Last week, I started reading Bringing Home the Birkin, a memoir written by Michael Tonello. This book jumped out at me at the bookstore because Michael, like me, makes a living selling products on eBay, but he focuses solely on Hermes products—and, more specifically, the notoriously popular Birkin bag.

I was able to read this book within a few sittings at the pool. Michael’s stories about chasing down Hermes products to resell are pretty entertaining, and make the book into a pretty great summer read.

But it really got me thinking about my own start in the eBay industry. Michael Tonello chose eBay because he needed a job in his new home of Barcelona that wouldn’t require a work visa—whereas I stumbled upon my eBay career by chance, and it just happened to be a perfect fit.

If you don’t know anything about me, then let me explain what I mean when I say I fell into eBay by chance. Almost 10 years ago, I was working two jobs to support myself and my three kids as a secretary in the Chicago Public School System and as an assistant manager at a bookstore in the evenings. Around Christmas, the school started making layoffs and I was one of the first employees to go, cutting my income down to the mere eight or so dollars an hour I was making part-time at the bookstore.

I was in pretty bad financial shape, and I can honestly say that this was the low point of my life. I was about to miss my rent payment, I had to ask my mom to lend me money so that I could buy my groceries for my kids, and all of my bills were beyond late. But the one good thing that came out of it was being able to be at home with my kids during the day for the first time in a long time, and I was very reluctant to give that up as I began my job search.

That’s where eBay stepped in to save me—or rather, a random, chatty stranger sitting next to me at my son’s doctor appointment offered up eBay as the solution to all my problems. He pointed me in the right direction, and within a few days of diligently listing products on eBay for top-selling companies, I had made enough to cover my rent and pay my mom back for the money she had lent me. And what’s even better is that I was able to quit my night job and stay home with my kids all day, every day.

So, like Michael Tonello, I found success on eBay, and have since pointed others in the direction of that same success with my eBay program, Work at Home Recruiters. From this program, I’ve been able to see eBay success stories happen firsthand, but it never gets old. So if you’re like me—addicted to beach reads and a sucker for happy endings—I definitely recommend Bringing Home the Birkin.