Monday, January 2, 2006

Using ABCs of eBay: It's increasingly a source of income

GREG WILES

The Honolulu Advertiser

HONOLULU - Mark Macowitz credits eBay for launching his Internet business. The world's largest auction site helped him turn the $3 purchase of a 1940s Duke Kahanamoku aloha shirt into $1,800 when he offered it on eBay.

But now, after four years of selling on eBay, Macowitz, 41, of Kailua, has moved on. He sells his vintage Hawaiian shirts through his own Web store and uses eBay only to attract people to his site.

"It's just a lot cheaper to do a Web site," said Macowitz, who sells shirts to buyers worldwide, including those in Europe and Japan. "Saudi Arabia is a big one right now."

Macowitz is one of a growing number of online merchants who got into online sales through eBay and now are moving beyond auctions. The Web entrepreneurs are opening their own Internet stores or are offering consignment items for sale on eBay. Others see a lucrative future in teaching potential eBay merchants how to sell.

"Definitely, the secondary market seems to be growing on eBay," said David Steiner, who, along with his wife, Ina, runs the Natick, Mass.-based www.Auctionbytes.com, an online newsletter that closely tracks eBay news and trends.

"The drop-off stores, consignment sales, teachers seem to be a very healthy market right now."

An ACNeilsen International survey last year found 724,000 U.S. residents use eBay for their primary or secondary source of income. Another 1.5 million people supplemented their pay by casually selling on eBay.

Eric Quakenbush, a visual designer for software, has sold more than $4,000 worth of collectible toys on eBay in three years and is now branching into giving eBay seminars.

"The teaching could turn into pretty good part-time money," said Quakenbush, who goes by the screen name "robotoy" on eBay and is certified by the online auction house to give its classes.

While Quakenbush, 41, plans to keep selling off Battlestar Galactica models, robots and other collectibles he's gathered over the years, he acknowledges running auctions can be time-consuming. Photographing, researching sales prices, listing, answering questions and shipping items to buyers can gobble up hours of time, he said.

That's compared with the up to $50 a person he charges for a three-hour seminar on getting beyond eBay basics. "I share all my experiences, but all the teaching materials are from eBay," said Quakenbush, who's previously worked as a visual designer for Apple Computer and video-game designer for Sega of America. "It's the kind of thing I could do anywhere."

Learning the best practices in a course sanctioned by eBay may save people from making costly mistakes. Macowitz said he lost money on some of his first sales. "There was a learning curve," he said.

Macowitz said he spends almost as much time on his Web sales as he does at his Postal Service job. He's cut back on eBay auctions in the past three years to concentrate on a Web store he created with off-the-shelf software.

"Many of the top sellers now have their own e-commerce site or are part of a mall with other sellers," said AuctionBytes' Steiner. "Sellers are becoming more savvy."

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