The Early Days of eBay

I get really peeved when people misrepresent eBay's rise to prominence. It all has to do with people who complain that the alternative sites are not doing enough to draw in buyers. Many people claim that eBay rose to prominence by advertising. This is not true. People complain that alternative sites do not have name recognition and that eBay had great name recognition from near the beginning under the name "eBay." This is also not true.

Google has archived the Usenet database (even all those insane alt.books.nancy-drew posts live on), so we can take a trip back through time and see how eBay rose to prominence. The founder, Pierre Omidyar, used the Usenet groups to spread the word. We can also see that eBay was not known as eBay.

In order to find the old word-of-mouth advertising, I ran an advanced search restricted to the second half of 1995 in order to locate Pierre's messages shortly after eBay's creation.

AUCTIONWEB: Interactive Web Auction

The above message was posted on September 13, 1995. The URL is eBay.com/aw, but notice that the site is called "Auction Web." I remember it by that name. We did not call it "eBay." I also recall that the main URL, eBay.com, was a portal that linked to the auction part and then to Pierre's other business.

Here is one from someone else on September 12, 1995.

Auction Web

Here's another:

AUCTION: Pickett Slide Rule

Everyone called it "Auction Web." Back in my first few years on eBay, I printed out copies of all of the auctions that I bid on or won. Here is a scan of one of them.


Look how the page does not say eBay anywhere, and the name at the top is Auction Web.

In the early days, the internet was very small, and "Auction Web" did not have to run television ads. We found Auction Web fairly easily. The site grew very fast, because it was the only one with auctions. The site which is first is the one which gains the most success.

Yes, eBay did grow by huge amounts once it began advertising on television. However, eBay was already getting huge by the time it advertised, which I believe was around three years after the site's inception.

Some people think that if alternative sites sink large sums of money into advertising then the alternative sites are guaranteed success. Not so. In 1999, Amazon launched Amazon Auctions and spent a lot of money on advertising. I am pretty sure that I recall television ads.

I signed up to sell in the Amazon Auctions, and my auctions closed at higher prices than similar ones did on eBay at that time—at least during the time that Amazon advertised. It was great: Amazon's auctions had lots of buyers because of the ads. The problem is that once the ads ended, the buyers left, and nothing sold. Amazon Auctions no longer exists.

Advertising is very tricky and must be done at the right time. Upillar.com did some high dollar advertising recently. Ever heard of it? Probably not, unless you heard the same ads that I did. For a couple of days earlier this year, Upillar had a well-known radio talk show host advertise the site. Let's see how that worked out.


Upillar had a big jump in traffic, and then the traffic has now fallen almost as low as the previous level. That must have been a bunch of money wasted. Let's compare this to Bonanzle's traffic over the same time period.

Upillar's peak traffic at the beginning of this year solely due to advertising is where Bonanzle was at in early 2009 without advertising. Bonanzle has continued to grow, without advertising. Yes, Bonanzle needs to advertise, but the owners are so far playing it safe by not squandering large sums of money to no purpose. Once Bonanzle reaches a certain level—whatever that might be—then advertising will pay off big time. I think the magic number is 500,000 users. Bonanzle is currently approaching 300,000 users.

Alternative sites are better off building a strong foundation than in wasting large amounts of money in advertising. Advertising is important, but the money should not be wasted. People who need to sell in order to survive are better off staying on eBay where the traffic is higher. People like me who have a primary source of income not connected to selling online will do fine on the alternative sites.

As I have already reported, I am now as successful on Bonanzle as I once was on eBay. If I were selling the same amount on eBay that I am selling on Bonanzle, I would qualify for eBay's power seller program. This was not the case last year. I had quite a few slow months on Bonanzle, but I was able to let my items set in my booth until the traffic finally increased enough for me to get sales.

The Nicholas Flamel Series

Jack recommended this series to me awhile back. I decided to buy the books and read the first three earlier this year. The fourth book, The Necromancer, was published at the end of May. I promptly began reading it as soon as I finished the Linda Carlton series.

I enjoyed The Necromancer the most of the four books. With the Flamel series, I feel like the books are getting better and better. This is exactly as it should be. As the Harry Potter series neared its end, the books did not seem to be as good as the earlier ones. I was disappointed with the last three Harry Potter books.

I am in a quandary as to how to explain what the Nicholas Flamel series is about without spoiling too much of the plot. Here goes...

Sophie and Josh Newman are 15 1/2 year old twins who are spending the summer in San Francisco while their parents are off on an archaeological dig. Josh works in an antiquarian book store, and Sophie works in a coffee shop.

One day a man named John Dee arrives at the book store and confronts the owner, Nick Fleming. Both men use magic, which Josh witnesses, and the book store is destroyed. Nick's wife, Perry, is kidnapped. Josh and Sophie's world is turned upside down, and they end up on the run with Nick Fleming.

The Newman twins soon learn that Nick Fleming is the historical figure, Nicholas Flamel, who has become immortal through a spell found in the Codex. John Dee, who is also immortal, stole the Codex from Flamel, but the last two pages were accidentally ripped from the book during the fight.

Flamel informs the twins that they are the legendary twins of silver and gold auras, and that John Dee will have realized this fact and will now be hunting them. The legendary twins have the power to save or destroy the world.

John Dee wants to bring the Dark Elder Gods back to the earth and restore it as it was in ancient times. If this happens, then humans will cease to exist. So, what we have is a battle of good versus evil with the twins thrown in the middle.

In these books, all of the mythological figures from past religions are real and exist in various Shadowrealms. Some of them live in the human world alongside humans. Not only that, but quite a few historical figures, such as Joan of Arc, have attained immortality and are introduced to the story along the way.

At times, the information overload is a bit much, and the reader has trouble absorbing all that occurs. This becomes easier for the reader as the series progresses.

Both Sophie and Josh are not certain whether they can completely trust the Flamels, and John Dee plays into this by manipulating Josh. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that Sophie may lose Josh to the forces of evil and may end up fighting on the opposite side as her twin.

Each book has ended in a cliffhanger, and the fourth book has a doozy of one. I wish I could read the next book right now, but I'm going to have to wait a year. This is a very interesting series.

Linda Carlton's Hollywood Flight

Linda is watching a newsreel in the theater with her friends when she is electrified by the announcement that the famous aviatrix, Linda Carlton, has signed on with a film company to appear in a Hollywood film. Linda's friends believe the story, and it is with great difficulty that Linda convinces both her Aunt Emily and Dot Crowley that the Linda Carlton in the newsreel is an impostor.

Linda and Dot leave quickly in the Ladybug for Hollywood. During their journey, the girls are forced to land on an office building because of a storm. As luck would have it, the office building houses a newspaper, and their photos are taken. Quick-thinking Dot gives the reporter false names, since Linda hates publicity.

The emergency landing of "Sallie Slocum" and "May Manton" appears in newspapers across the country, so when Linda arrives at the film studio, the secretary thinks that Linda is Sallie Slocum, an impostor! Linda finds it impossible to prove that she is the real Linda Carlton and faces arrest as the impostor!

This summary covers just the first 60 pages of the book. This final Linda Carlton book is action-packed, just like the other books in the series. Linda and Dot are even chloroformed! I couldn't help thinking of Nancy Drew.

I anticipated reading the Linda Carlton series for several years. I usually have a pretty good idea of whether a series will be below average, average, or above average. I expected the Billie Bradley series to be no more than average, and I was correct. I expected the Linda Carlton series to be above average, and I was not disappointed.

In all five books, Linda goes from one thrilling adventure to another. If I were to pick just one series to which to compare Linda Carlton, I would have to select the Beverly Gray series. Linda is in multiple plane crashes, stranded on a desert island, and arrested more than once for crimes she did not correct. Linda ends up in Cuba and in Hawaii at different times, just like Beverly Gray. Linda has multiple admirers who vie for her attention.

I read this series in approximately one week, because I had to know what would happen next. I found all five books to be excellent, and I liked volumes 3 and 5 the best, since they have the wildest adventures. Edith Lavell wrote three series: the Girls Scouts series, the Mary Louise Gay series, and the Linda Carlton series. I greatly enjoyed all three series, but I like the Linda Carlton books the best. It is a shame that the series is so brutally hard to collect.

Regional Buying Patterns

This pertains to all of the items I sold on eBay last week when eBay had the free listing promotion. I made note of all of the states in which my winning bidders and the under bidders reside. I did this to see whether any patterns exist, such as regional buyers and rolling blackouts. Each line represents a single listing and the people who bid on that listing.

1. New York, South Carolina
2. Indiana, Illinois
3. Ohio
4. Minnesota
5. Florida, New York
6. New Jersey, California, West Virginia
7. New Jersey, West Virginia
8. New Jersey
9. West Virginia
10. Oklahoma
11. Oregon, South Carolina
12. North Carolina, Georgia
13. Oregon
14. Kansas, Louisiana
15. Pennsylvania, Ohio
16. Georgia
17. Alabama

I did not list all of the items, since in several cases, the same people bid on multiple items. It also matters whether these people read this blog, since I mentioned the listings in this blog.

The person from West Virginia definitely reads this blog, so that one is not part of any pattern. A couple of the other bidders are people known to me from transactions over the years, but I do not know whether they read this blog. These people are the ones from New Jersey and North Carolina.

With one exception, all cases where a certain state (West Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio) is listed multiple times refer to the same person. Georgia is listed twice, and Georgia represents two different people, so this may be a sign of a regional pattern.

Not counting anyone who does or might read this blog, this is what I notice.

South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama are adjacent states.

Kansas and Oklahoma are adjacent states, and Louisiana is very close.

Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York are connecting states. Minnesota is one state away from Illinois.

All of the states I mentioned are in the central, south, and midwest regions. California and Oregon are the only ones in the west. It is enough to make me wonder, especially when I look at a map of the United States. It does look like a pattern.
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People have observed that many of eBay's auctions that start at $0.99 end up with only one bidder or close very low. They have wondered whether eBay's promotion of free auctions at any starting price for up to 100 listings could have been a way to see if eBay would gain better results by letting sellers list their free auctions at above $0.99.

I participated, since I was able to start my items at what I wanted. I will not ever use the 100 free auctions so long as I must start the auctions at $0.99. If eBay should decide to let users pick any start price, I will list more items on eBay. Do you want me back as a regular but low volume seller, eBay? Now you know how.

The reason that I left eBay for Bonanzle is that the fees on the unsold items were killing me. I cannot afford to list hundreds of items with a very low sell-through rate. I used eBay during the free auction promotion since I was able to set my price and not take a loss on the items that did not sell.

I greatly dislike the direction that eBay has taken in recent years, but I only left eBay because of the fees on the unsold items. Are you listening, eBay?
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The auction format is the best way to sell items in a timely fashion. I had some books listed for close to 1 1/2 years and was able to clear them out by listing them in auctions. Nobody felt like buying the books when they were available at a fixed price. Once the items were placed in a timed format, buyers had to decide to bid or not to have the opportunity the purchase the books.

As both a buyer and a seller, I prefer the auction format. I was forced out of the auction format, since eBay's fees are too high for the lousy service that eBay provides. The auction format has been nearly destroyed by eBay's disastrous changes of recent years. When will they get a clue?

Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer

While reading this book I finally figured out in which state Linda lives. Perhaps it was mentioned in the first book, and I somehow missed it; but I don't think so. Linda and her Aunt Emily live in Spring City, Ohio. Each summer, they vacation at Green Falls, Michigan, which is on Lake Michigan.

It is rather helpful to know where Linda lives.

This book is like the typical mystery story in the spirit of Nancy Drew. Linda and her friend, Dot Crowley, fly in Linda's autogiro over Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. While there, they see a hit and run accident. A young girl is struck by a man in a car and is flung into a ditch. Linda and Dot take the girl to a hospital. Since the girl has no memory of whom she is, Linda and Dot take her back to Green Falls.

Like in the typical series book plot, the young girl is an heiress and an unscrupulous relative is attempting to steal her inheritance. Will he succeed, or will Linda manage to outsmart him?

Just like in Linda Carlton's Island Adventure, Linda has a suitor who doggedly pursues her. At first, Linda enjoys his attention, but later, she decides that he is not her type. Linda picks up potential suitors as easily as Connie Blair. Each book has a new one to add to the list.

The book has a ghost, a couple of plane crashes, and a burning building. It should come as no surprise that Linda and her friends are trapped inside the burning building. Can they possibly make it out alive?

Linda Carlton's Island Adventure

This book reads like a Beverly Gray mystery. If you love the Beverly Gray books like I do, then you will love this book. I have speculated about which series might have inspired Clair Blank to write the Beverly Gray series, and the Linda Carlton series has to be added to the list of possibilities.

In fact, since Clair Blank submitted her first four books to the A. L. Burt Company, then surely she was familiar with the books published by Burt. Therefore, it is extremely likely that Blank had read some books published by Burt, such as the Linda Carlton books.

In this book, Linda has become famous after her exploits from Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight. Linda finds that fame is a great annoyance and even goes by Ann Carlton during this book in hope of keeping people away from her.

Linda purchases an autogiro and takes a job in Georgia. Soon after Linda reaches Georgia, she is intercepted by bandits who take her captive. The bandits target Linda because of her fame. They knew that she was headed to Georgia because of the newspapers. Linda is held captive on an island in the middle of a desolate swamp. The bandits force Linda to use her autogiro to help them smuggle jewels out the country.

Linda has quite a few wild adventures in this book, such as swimming through the alligator-infested swamp, getting marooned on an island in the ocean, and more! Linda's adventures in this book are very much like Beverly Gray's outrageous adventures. I love it!

The book even has some melodrama, like a young man's mother snubbing Linda so she snubs her son in return. The son falls in love with Linda at first site, so he proceeds to show up in unexpected places as Linda continues to snub him.

I also should mention that people get killed in the Linda Carlton books. Not our beloved Linda—so far, at least—but other people meet terrible ends. Of course I seriously doubt that anything happens to Linda since she is the star of the Linda Carlton series.

Now, I'm going to find out if those reprints of volumes 4 and 5 were worth it.

Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight

It was a pleasure to begin reading this book, since I actually have a Burt edition with good quality paper. While I greatly enjoyed the first book, I disliked having to read a Saalfield edition that has poor quality paper which has an odor. Unfortunately, with the third book, I will return to a Saalfield edition with poor quality paper. Yuck.

In this book, Linda has decided that she wishes not only to become an airplane mechanic but to become a commercial pilot. Linda is subjected to jokes about her name, that she must have been named after Charles Lindbergh, aka "Lindy."

Both Linda and her best friend, Louise, sign up for a flight school in St. Louis. Before they depart Kitty Clavering organizes a flight club, and one of the members is Bess Hulbert, an aviatrix. Bess Hulbert takes an immediate disliking to both Linda and Louise.

The girls learn that a wealthy woman is offering a $25,000 reward for the first woman or women to fly from New York to Paris without a man. Both Linda and Bess decide to try for the prize. Bess decides to resort to an underhanded scheme in order to prevent Linda from being able to attempt the flight. Linda finds herself in a very messy situation as a result.

Books with jealous rivals are always fun, and this book definitely delivers. Without getting into the specifics, I can tell you that so far Edith Lavell has had the villains in this series get punished quite well. Ouch. I wonder what the next three volumes have in store?

I have enjoyed the first two volumes in this series tremendously. Onward to volume three!

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I have now added the Linda Carlton section to my website.

eBay's Survey on Ease of Use of Site

EBay sent my low-feedback ID a survey on how easy it is to use eBay. It was awesome. This question was asked:

During the past month, was there anything you experienced in each of the areas below that you felt was FRUSTRATING? If so, please use the space below to explain.

Without having to think, I was immediately able to give a complaint for every section! I saved the questions and my responses before submitting. Here they are for your reading pleasure.

Visiting My eBay to view my selling activity:

My answer: Yes, eBay makes it hard to find the link when I have to send a second invoice. The link should be visible on the order details page as well, and that link is not present when eBay has already sent an automatic end of auction notice to the buyer. I had a buyer make an invoice request after eBay sent the automatic one, and I had to look everywhere before finding the link.

Answered questions from buyers about an item I was selling or had sold:

My answer: When I answer a question, eBay continues to tell me that I have an unanswered question for up to 24 hours after the question has been answered. When that notice is clicked, eBay says that I have no items for sale. This problem has existed for many months and needs to be fixed.

Researching pricing or other aspects of an item on eBay (before listing it):

My answer: We can only see the last 15 days, which is totally useless since so few sellers of collectibles are still listing on eBay. I no longer have any idea what the true selling prices of collectibles are on eBay. The only way I can get this information is to pay a prohibitive price, which I cannot do when selling only a few items. Therefore, 99% of eBay's sellers of collectibles have no access to this information.

Listing an item using the “Sell Your Item” form on the eBay site:

My answer: I have no trouble listing a handling charge to be added to the postage amount so long as I am only selling to the United States. When I also select an international shipping option, I have a prompt where I can enter the *international handling charge* and no place to enter the United States handling fee. As a result, my U.S. postage is too low and my international postage is just right. Or, I can raise the weight of the package by a few pounds so that the U.S. postage is correct and the international postage is too high. Either way, one of the two options does not have the correct postage amount displaying in the listing.

Receiving payment from a buyer for your item that sold:

My answer: I had one buyer wait for 1 1/2 weeks to pay with no communication about the delay. Since sellers cannot leave anything other than positive feedback for buyers, buyers can do whatever they want.

Packaging & shipping an item to a buyer:

My answer: PayPal shipping is glitchy and has given me multiple error messages recently. This needs to be fixed.

During the past month, was there anything you experienced in each of the areas below that you felt was IMPROVED compared to before? If so, please use the space below to explain.
Please be as specific as possible (and skip any that are not applicable)

The choices for this section were identical to the ones listed above. I had to leave every option blank, which is no surprise. Nothing is easier to use than in the past.

I was also asked this question:

Please indicate how satisfied you are with each of the following aspects of selling an item on eBay, based on your experiences in the past month or so.

Editing and revising multiple listings at a time, in bulk

I selected "extremely dissatisfied."

Editing and revising a single listing at a time

I selected "fairly dissatisfied."

I was not exaggerating my opinions. I find eBay to be infinitely harder to use than Bonanzle. It is so easy to batch edit items on Bonanzle. I can change prices quickly through multiple methods. I can change postage costs, correct typos, and anything else that needs to be fixed without having to jump through hoops.

I will not be relisting my unsold items on eBay. I only listed those items to take advantage of the free listings. The unsold items are all returning to Bonanzle. So long, eBay, it was nice using you for about a week. By "using," I mean "take advantage of."

EDITED TO ADD: Go to my Facebook page to read a recent exchange between two of us about problems with eBay.