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Sex,
Lies, & eBay
by: John Clark
I
recently watched a movie called “Shattered Glass”. It’s
the true story of Steven Glass, a writer for “The New
Republic”, a very prestigious political magazine. Steven
was the subject of a scandal in 1998 when it was
discovered that most of the writing he had done for the
magazine was fabricated. A rising star, he wrote dozens
of high profile articles for a number of national
publications in which he made up some or all of the
facts.
Steven’s
world came crashing down when publication of the article
“Hack Heaven” was exposed as fabricated by Forbes
magazine reporter Adam Penenberg. After creating a shell
website, a fake voicemail account, and ficticious notes
in order to fool fact checkers at the Republic, he was
subsequently fired.
Recently, Steven has written a biographical novel called
“The Fabulist” to give his individual spin and excuses
for having fooled his employers, friends, and the public
with his dream weaving. He’s done interviews with 60
minutes among others. Today, he continues to profit from
his exploits.
To say
that eBay has been, and is, a changing landscape would
be an incredible understatement. I’ve been selling on
eBay since the beginning in 1995. Early on, I made a
tech support call to eBay and from the receptionist’s
desk was connected to the “server room”. The phone was
answered by “Pierre” who I realized later was the
founder. Things have changed quite a bit since then.
I spend
most of my day on the internet. Selling products.
Writing books. Creating websites to produce income. But
by far the vast majority of my time is spent doing
research. Making attempts to gather information to
improve my current endeavors or to create new ones.
Wading through the vast wasteland of the internet today
while trying to create my own little oasis is harrowing.
When you
mention the name “eBay” to someone it will almost always
invoke an opinion. You can ask my mother and she’ll tell
you all about it although she owns no computer and has
never surfed the internet a moment in her life - it’s
simply amazing. The one thing all the opinions will
contain is dollar signs. eBay means money. For many
people the prevailing idea is that at any point they can
quit their job and instantly make a living on eBay. I
don’t know how we got here but it’s one heck of a
marketing job.
Don’t
get me wrong. If you want to clean out your attic eBay’s
the place. If you want to cruise a few garage sales and
make a “C” note or two, no prob. But if you want an
electric-bill-payin’, heath-insurance providing’ full
time job, you better stay at Wal-Mart.
Seeing
“Shattered Glass” stuck an off-key chord with me
concerning the state of eBay today. I buy eight to ten
eBooks containing money-making subject matter every
month. I’ve got the $39.95 “Auctions For Income” sitting
on the shelf right here at arm’s reach. Just about every
book I buy has something in common with all the others.
They are yesterday’s ideas and information. Good ideas?
Yes. Ideas that work today? No.
People
who are making big money on eBay don’t share their
ideas. Would you? They ride their horse into the ground.
Then they write an eBook telling people they’ll cash in
too for only $29.95. Problem is, when people want to
tell the truth, it’s a hard sell. eBay is sexy and so
are the stories that are told about it. It’s the same
reason most people by lottery tickets – the dream of
fortune and glory. It’s why people never stopped to
check the facts of Steven Glass’ stories. It was just
too much fun to dream in his world.
There’s
money to be made on eBay – no doubt. There are people
making their living on eBay today – most certainly. But
the days of work-free quick fortunes are over. And from
this point forward, good old traditional business
principals are the rule of the day. Finding a niche,
working that niche, and looking for your next one should
be your daily practice. Do good business and every now
and then, hit a lick and be grateful.
Don’t
believe lies just because they’re sexy. Leave the pie in
the sky.
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