I love eBay

eBay

I’ve had my eBay account since 2002 when I started selling office supplies that I had accumulated through many free after rebate deals from Staples, Office Max and Office Depot.

I first started on Yahoo auctions, I was afraid of eBay, it looked too big, I was comfortable on Yahoo but I was buying more than I was selling, things weren’t selling fast enough, so I jumped into eBay.

Back then I was addicted to Fat Wallet, it looks much different over there now, a huge dark hole, set a timer before you go over there. I had accumulated a lot of very cheap inventory and I needed to move it. I started selling on eBay and sales really took off. It was Retail Arbitrage but we didn’t have a name for it back then.

The education that eBay provided the seller is probably what got me hooked on the platform. After a few years of hobby selling, I attended a local training event in the Denver area put on by eBay Education, my now good friend Griff is Dean of Education over there, he is employee #5.

I was really intrigued with the eBay opportunity. I first started attending eBay LIVE events back in 2006 when I attended their Vegas conference that year and I haven’t missed too many events since then.

Since I’ve been selling on eBay, it’s allowed me the opportunity to travel all over the country, even International, learning great business tips, meeting some amazing like minded sellers and cultivating many lifelong friendships along the way. I’m so grateful for my eBay experience.

Another perk of the job, I also love to go to the ASD trade show that happens twice a year in Vegas. It’s free to attend as long as you register in advance. It’s an excellent event for sourcing products. If you are my customer, this is where I find the majority of my cool products.

ASD has many great educational sessions available during the show, many of those sessions are provided by the IMA Merchants. Ever since I’ve attended ASD, the IMA has provided a networking suite where sellers can connect. The Colorado Online Sellers group always has some sort of party planned also, and again, this trade show is a gathering place for my growing online family. It’s coming up in just a few weeks 7/31 – 8/3, 2016. You can register for free at www.ASDonline.com

There’s also a big eBay event coming up a few days before ASD, eBay has some exciting things happening this year and this entire trip will be a family reunion for me.  I’ve made so many great friendships over the years, both online and in person, I’m committed to going to as many events as possible, and I’m not ashamed to say the my #1 reason to attend is always for the social.

I haven’t always optimized what I’ve learned from all these conferences and events I’ve attended over the years. It’s a competitive world out there now and I have some great stuff to sell so now is the time for me to get rockin!

The last 2 years I have been honored to be the co-organizer of the Sea-Commerce Conference Cruise, International e-commerce networking on the high seas.

We are currently planning our next voyage for February 25 – March 4, 2017, out of the Port of Galveston, TX.

We have a great time on the cruise, networking with our peers as well as meeting many of their families. We learn a LOT from our amazing speakers who bring years of experience on a variety of e-commerce topics.

Please connect with me if you feel you have something to offer our SeaCommerce community. We will cruise to Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Cozumel, with an optional networking event set up in Ochos Rios, how cool is that!

We would love to have you join us next year on the high seas.

I invite you to like my facebook page,  I will soon run some contests over there when I get back from Vegas.

I’m an eBay cheerleader, have been for a long time. I like the new direction the company is taking. If you are at either event this month, make sure you say hi! If you’re a customer, I’m sorry, my eBay store is on vacation but Amazon is open, I still love eBay.

peace, Vicki