I am new to Word-press but I am not new to selling online. I started out  in 1995 selling on local BBS  with a dial up connection using a 300 baud acoustic modem. Usually BBS was geared to swapping files and small utilities but they did have a “For sale”  column that would allow you to buy and sell the latest games and hardware .Ones that was a local phone call were named Bos’n Locker , Outland and Upstairs Hideaway.  These typically ran on 286’s – 16 Mhz IBM clones  and were 100 percent text based.They ran a DOS program called “ Wildcat!”   Not pretty but functional .During this time there was a Washington State Bussiness line that I could post adds on their BBS also .

After “our” Internet became 4 times  faster by using  a 1200 baud Zoom  modem I would post and sell on Usenet or Newsgroups –usually things like tube testers, signal generators, and test equiptment .. I would   (like others)  post what I had  and how much I wanted for it – no photos etc just text . I did sell a few items  including a rather large and heavy box of  (Texas Instruments )99er magazines to Canada . I used a Packard Bell 486-66  computer which was a  royal piece of junk from day one. This however was an upgrade from a 286-16 with 32 MEG harddrive and  green monochrome monitor.

Back then  people seemed to trust others and ( if  there were any ) I was not aware of any scams, viruses, and no pays  People would send a money order or check and you would ship it to them .No fees – it was simple – and it worked !!!

After probably about 4 years my son told me about a site he heard about on TV called “eBay” and I should try to sell things on it-I read what I could about it … the site was an online auction . I went out to the garage and dug up a magazine  ..yet another TI 99er’s magazine which to my surprise brought about 15.00 + shipping . That’s all it took to be hooked…fees  were probably 35 cents  total on a sale  .  I had maybe 30 more vintage 99er’s in mint shape so started selling them one by one  –scanning each one on a rather large  UMax scanner which was maybe a 350.00 purchase and the size of  a  a case of pop.

Ebay sales were crazy – I could put 2 non working / broken  VCRs on eBay and get over 30.00. I remember buying a very large box of new key-chains for 50.00 and separating them into themes – I would put like 5 or 6 into “related” areas  (such as sports , automotive, cartoon chareters and so forth and get from 25.00 to 60.00 a set – it was unbelievable – you could not go wrong (so I thought).I think I made 10 or 15  times my original investment on the keychains .Every listing was an auction as there were NO fixed price at that time.

It was fun –I  sold everything from Smith-Miller trucks, 16 mm films, vintage  Yamaha Synth, test equiptment, Zenith Trans-Oceanics, and just about everything else – the stranger the better – at one time I pulled 3 old magazines out of a “FREE” box at a garage sale  and got 30.00. Selling on eBay was the newest thing to either buy or sell on. I think close to eveybody tryed it .. at least once.

I did however (in my greed) purchase a couple bad investments ..A “White” sewing machine “head’ for 5.00 — I spent maybe 15.00 listing it over and over and ended up throwing into the scrap metal at work – Also  my purchase  of a 1913 “kiddy” film projector which used a candle and a hand crank – I payed 20.00 at an antique show to get it home and find out that one was being sold on eBay for 25.00 –The one on eBay  was still in the box with original unused candle AND a small film – goes to show you …you really need to know what you are buying. Funny if I relate stories about eBay usally the “good” ones come to mind never the bad. Buying state surplus at a local  outlet did pretty good  ..untill the owner  figured out why I purchased  so much …I started seeing things that I listed show up under another name at about the same prices mine closed at . Wasn’t vary long before he quit selling to the public and he listed 100 percent on eBay. 

I went along  like this for pretty many years – finding ways to cut down listing time , finding out what sold and what didnt  and going to weekend garage sales , book sales , and swap meets. Probably 2005 was the turning point as everyone was on “the wagon”. People at garage sales figured everything they owned was worth a lot more than it was even at eBay  selling price standards. Also eBay started many steps to make it harder to sell and cover costs. They imposed rate increases, massive rules I am sure to protect themselves, what you could and could NOT do. Buyers were getting burnt and  shyed off from buying and I am sure collections were completed and “everyone” had their fill.  I did meet some really nice people – actually less than 10 irritating people in all 10 years. I met some super people and probably some of the nicest one you could ever ask for .

In the earier times you could accept checks and money orders – One and only one personal check I was ever burnt on was one written by a doctor (MD)  from the midwest that bounced a 5.00 check  (he did cover it in the end).

Some of the fun was the excuses that people would use for forgeting to send a check or money order – I think the all time best was the guy that told me he ran off the road  with his truck and landed in a small pond and broke his arm so he could not  write the check …. I did wonder how his broken arm typed me the email  but didnt ask. 

Pretty soon sellers that came out of  “nowhere”  would list items for way too low of prices — listing and selling common things for  99 cents  and I am sure making next to nothing for their sale after fees. Iguess many found out that if you take away the 25 cent list fee and the FVF they probably clear a dime or so .Sellers did the common trick of inflating shipping to offset low prices that sold at ( I had seen 25.00 shipping for a VHS tape for 99 cents) …eBay imposed …”No excessive shipping costs” !!…( fees are calculated on listing and final value not including shipping) …… plus you must remember they were just a venue (eBay stated) …like a newspaper ad..

At this point I tryed many “carts” such as Zen-Cart , OSCommerce and checked out sites such as Shopify . Shopify was the “simple cart”  to start with   ..a free storefront  with only “I believe” 10 percent on any sale that passed thru there site. 

I must admit the “best” move I made is opening an eBay storefront ….Basic store was about 15.00 a month + 3 or 5 cents a month to list an item . It did real good from the  start, I cant complain – They did provide it all … exposure, traffic, customers and sales.For the stuff I sold  it worked good  as a 1995 Jetta tail lamp is not really a good auction listing material.