What is it?
Internet auction website eBay is one of the fastest growing retail phenomenons of our time. The opportunities offered by eBay stretch way beyond the chance to sell unwanted bric-a-brac or discarded christmas presents. eBay has allowed millions of people to go into business who previously wouldn’t have considered it, while growing numbers are making healthy second incomes by buying items and selling them online for profit.
eBay was started by Pierre Omidyar in September 1995 as a result of his wife’s desire to add to her collection of sweet dispensers. The site now has over 181 million customers worldwide, 10 million in the UK, with up to three million items from Britain on sale every day.
As any user will know, eBay features just about everything for sale, from the weird and wonderful to the plain and practical. With thousands of UK customers looking for an eBay bargain every day, it’s unsurprising that some entrepreneurs have decided to take advantage and use the website to generate a full-time eBay business.
In fact, more than 724,000 professional sellers in the US alone use eBay as a primary or secondary source of income.
Julie King, from Newcastle, gave up her job as an IT consultant after she found she could buy and sell designer shoes and handbags on eBay for a profit. Her eBay business, Killer Heels, now makes over £6,000 a month buying shoes and bags from wholesalers and selling them on eBay.
Amid all the wacky eBay stories that regularly invade the press, such as the housewife who put herself up for sale for £25,000, there are plenty of thriving businesses taking advantage of the phenomenon.
Wilmamae Ward sold vintage clothing through her eBay business, The Gathering Goddess.
“I had been buying beautiful vintage clothes on eBay for several years and had amassed a huge collection for which I no longer had room,” she says. “I decided to sell some of my collection back on eBay. I was amazed at the prices achieved so I began to sell more and more and it just snowballed.
“I soon decided this was a business I would love doing as I was able to indulge my fashion obsession and make a great living at the same time. It also enabled me to work from home and make my own hours.
“In addition, unlike a bricks and mortar shop which has to rely on passing trade and extensive marketing, eBay provide all of this on a global basis without the overheads.
“I'd be mad to open up my own shop. It makes complete sense to me to have my business on eBay.”
