My ebay
I've been doing ebay now for quite a few years. It's a great way of getting rid of old junk that you would normally throw away, but it's great to know that somebody out there wants it. It just goes to show that the world is overproducing and we don't need half the stuff that we buy. We buy something new just to break the monotony of life and then it just sits on the shelf for a while before making it's way up to the attic. How many "brand new and hardly used" items do you have in your home? A lot I bet. Do you realise that you are paying to store those items? And that they are depreciating? Especially electronic goods. Of course many of the things that you buy do get used a lot, but I'm not talking about those things right now. Once you start getting involved with ebay, then you start to think ahead a bit more. When you buy something new, you ask yourself questions, such as "how long till I get bored of this?" or "what would be the resale value of this item?" You start to keep the packaging materials and treat things as rental items.
I believe that doing ebay has put me in touch with a higher truth. That nothing is really ours. We don't really own anything. We are merely guardians or custodians. We pass things on. And it's also very eco friendly as well. If more people are buying and selling on ebay, then less new products are being sold, so there is less waste and use of diminishing natural resources. You save money, you save the planet and you make more space in your home which gives you more energy. I must confess that I do buy more than I sell. But it has prompted me to streamline my possessions to things that I use or love. Use it or lose it, as the Feng Shui books say. Let no area in your home become stagnant. Old clothes, books, CD's, etc. It's time to get rid them. I read a story of a man who went away on business and when he came back, his wife had cleared out lots of his old junk. He was horrified when she told him. He asked her what she had thrown out? And she replied that if he could remember any one of those items, then she would tell him if she had thrown it out or not. Of course, he couldn't remember a single thing, which goes to show, that he would never miss them.
What is ebay?
For those who don't know, ebay is one of the most popular online auction sites. You can sell new or used items by placing a photo and description of the item. Put in a starting price and postage costs and the time that you want your auction to run. If your item is popular, then you will get many bids and the highest bidder wins. They send you the money and you send them the goods. It does take a bit of time and personally I don't bother listing an item if I don't think it will fetch more than £5.00. I have also calculated that each transaction from listing the auction to posting the item takes an average of 40 minutes. You'll be surprised at how much you can clear by listing one or two items a week and with just one photo and a one line description