Thursday, March 6, 2008

Ebay is Still a Great Online Opportunity

I just finished reading an article posted over at MSN entitled "Should eBay s Meg Whitman resign?" and want to say a few positive words in defense of eBay. Maybe it s just me, but I don t get all the whining about eBay. To read some of the comments posted by readers of that article you would think eBay had paid a hit man to kill their dear old Aunt Matilda. What drives an eBay seller s frustration level to these heights? I think much of the buyer and seller frustration with eBay is self-inflicted. The attitude you take with you into any relationship, be it a marriage, friendship or even a business partnership, in large part determines the quality of that relationship. Here s what I mean. I simply cannot afford to hate eBay! So I don t think HATE EBAY THOUGHTS all day. I am in a business partnership with eBay for Pete s sake! If everyday when the opportunity clock rang I jumped out of bed, started ringing my hands and thinking to myself...oh no...how can I possibly make it on eBay, eBay is so mean to me, and eBay has such lousy customer service, and I just hate their feedback system, and...look what everybody else is saying about eBay it MUST be true, someone even took the time to write an article on an important web site. Yea right, a professional writer getting paid to write an article they know will pull your strings or they get fired. Here s the comment I love the most from forum posters. EBay is just out to make a profit, they don t CARE about me. This kind of reader comment is just too much for me and sends me straight to the bathroom for a Kleenex. EBay out to make a profit, ya think? Two years ago, I knew zippo about selling on eBay and today I am sitting here in my pajamas, while I write this article, able to decide how I want to spend my energy today. I am the major part of this equation but another huge variable of this same equation that allows me this kind of personal freedom is EBAY. So HERE...HERE to eBay! I won t be throwing any stones your way. I think eBay s customer service is terrific! PayPal s is even better! And when I need help I can find it. I probably paid over $15,000 in eBay and PayPal fees in 2007 and they were worth every penny. In fact, call me crazy but I think their fees are a bargain when I take the time to think what it would cost me in time and money to drive my own traffic to my own website. In fact I would go as far to say eBay makes it too easy for me and has acted as my own personal King Status Quo III. I m going to let you in a little secret...it goes something like this. If you re focused on the negative you will SEE the negative, If you re focused on the positive you will SEE the positive. I fell into this trap with my opinions of Internet Marketers. It was so easy for me to see the negative with all the Hipster...Dufuss s out there trying to sell get-rich-quick crap online I started seeing all the faults of even the best intended Internet Marketers. EVERYONE has faults, even a mega-successful enterprise like eBay. The only question I carry with myself throughout my day is, "how can I use all of the tremendous tools and traffic eBay spends millions of dollars on to my advantage?" Now I don t get paid to stir up readers, but if I have stirred up any pro or con eBay juices inside your head, go ahead and let it out. I can take it. Just keep it clean. This is just my take on how I feel about eBay. Need a break from the same old Internet reading rut? Like to be entertained, inspired and provoked to deeper thoughts than how to get rich on the Internet? Then join me on My eBay Adventure where I ve thrown open the captain s log to share with you the sights and sounds from the mizzen mast of my ship of discovery. You won t be disappointed.

No comments: