Buddha babble on Real Life Fiction

 

 

 

 

This February 2005 AMP Girls Uno magazine I bought at 150 pesos and sold for 800 pesos.

Closet bursting with clothes?

Too old for your childhood toys? Comic books and magazines gathering dust?

Too much stuff for your own good?

 

 

 

 

Authentic MANGO cigarette all-purpose pouch selling at PhP 400.

If you’re waiting for the inflation rate to improve, or for your paycheck to reach executive proportions all waiting for the big pay-off and get rich, you might as well be waiting for the fat lady to sing because UNLESS you get a move on, neither will your fortunes, for indeed luck does favor the brave.

Though Harvey Dent may seem a little too (coin) flipped, he does have the right idea- WE MAKE OUR OWN LUCK.

For the uninitiated or the full-time professional professional or parent or just plain self-professed pack rat, fortune in this modern day comes in the form of ON-LINE AUCTIONS where the market has just (b)reached a whole new set of boundaries from the wet to the flea to the black and now to the electronic.

 

 

Used sparring gloves selling for PhP 100.

Online auctions are internet based market possibilities where you sell goods (from clothes to load) or services (from housekeeping to customizing) on-line in sites like ebay.ph or bidshot.com. Because the internet community is such a small world after all, thousands of sites actually have forums like tipidpc.com that advertise or sell anything from pets to Avon.

For those would be entrepreneurs who neither have the capital, the time, or the guts to be full-time capitalists, on-line auctions are the ideal training ground for on-line beginner businessmen or “netrepreneurs”..

 

 

Original STAR WARS Special Edition VHS (episodes 4-6) selling for PhP 50.

What’s cool about on-line auctions like ebay Philippines is that it’s cheap (going on-line is not as expensive as it was in the old days) and at the same time it’s FREE (no registration fee, no asking for your credit card numbers). All it asks is you devote a little patience starting up- taking product photographs and writing down your product profile. After that you wait and voila! Before you know it, cash is trickling or gushing in, depending on the season or the product or your very own market savvy.

Here’s how to start:

1. Log onto ebay.ph and get registered.

2. Once you’re logged on, click on “sell an item”.

3. Next, click the categories of the product you are about to sell.

4. Then upload pictures of your product. It would help if they were the actual pictures and not stock photos from the net.

Some sites like ebay allow only a fixed set number of pictures per product free of charge. If you want to upload more pictures, you’d have to pay for it.

5. Then give an accurate description of your product including packaging and possible defects.

6. Provide information on how the buyers might pay- like COD or bank deposit or G-Cash/ Smart Padala. Some even open their own Paypal account especially if they wish to accommodate international buyers.

7. In your product profile, include the options on claiming. You can do meet-ups wherever it’s convenient for the both of you or you can ship the item.

You’d be surprised how an entire world of business exists in local shipping alone with companies like Air 21 (the local Fed Ex), LBC Padala, Xend, who all make life convenient with next day door-to-door delivery.

8. Choose to whether you want the item sold for the price of your choosing or to start with a certain price for buyers to bid on. Give freebies or start with a low bidding price; either way, sellers use various strategies to sell and promote their commodities.

9. Click DONE.

It’s that easy. At first it may seem a little awkward and laborious but once you get into the groove, it’s as easy as warm apple pie.

 

 

Complete set DC Comics Superman “For Tomorrow” 12 issues by Jim Lee selling for PhP 1200.

A little piece of advice, make sure your claiming and payment information are very VERY VERY specific. While there is no existing protection against illiterates and idiots devoid of any manners or common sense, it helps to be detailed and prepared.

The cool feature of online auctions are the rules that govern both buyers and sellers.
There is a code of conduct, the “do’s and the don’t’s” for everyone to follow to make the entire on-line auction experience safe, secure, and worthwhile.

 

 

King Theoden Lord of the Rings action figure mint condition selling at PhP 250.

The coolest safeguard feature of any sell-site is the feedback mechanism where a buyer’s/ seller’s credibility as a buyer/ seller on-line is determined by the feedback he has compiled from other buyers and sellers. If people are generally satisfied after having transacted with you, they leave a positive feedback; otherwise, they leave a neutral or negative feedback. The more positive feedback a seller/ buyer has, the higher the status and credibility he has. After all, you wouldn’t transact with an anonymous seller with negative feedback, would you?

 

 

Used mini-SD memory card for digital cameras and mobile phones selling for PhP 50.

Selling on-line doesn’t necessarily mean your items have to be brand spanking new. Even old items- vintage ones or just plain garbage to you, is actually someone else’s gold. I’ve sold my share of old jeans, old heaps of comic books and even magazines just lying around from a time that I purchased and consumed with ruthless abandon.

Now, instead of just waiting for these items to accumulate dust or get eaten by termites, you might as well, as they say “strike while the iron is hot”. You’d be astounded that some items actually appreciate in value over time. Some of my old childhood toys (from Matchbox to He-man, among many others) I sold for 10 to 20 times higher than how much I got them. For my other items, I’m just glad I got rid of them and still got a few pesos worth out of it. It’s almost like the stock market.

 

 

Complete set 52 the comic series from DC comics 56 pcs with freebies selling at PhP 3000.

The point is, instead of wasting the items further, you got rid of items you no longer use (even if they are still unused) called “garbage” and still got money for it. That makes sense, don’t you think?

However, a word of caution: If you’re looking to get rid of stuff and earn a little money on the side, remember that the abyss gazes back as well. You are bound to discover that there are loads and loads of good buys and downright steals on ebay just waiting, like you, for the right time and the right buyer, like you. So don’t end up with more garbage and less money than you originally intended.

 

 

Vertigo’s “Death: High Cost of Living” complete set from Neil Gaiman selling at PhP 300.

My ebay days have evolved from just selling junk and unused stuff to buy and sell. I survey the ebay landscape for cheap stuff that I know have potentially higher peso value and I buy them to sell later on.

After transacting with so many “netrepreneurs”, I have established my own networks of buyers and sellers where we make and close deals without having to ever leave the office and with just a click of the mouse or a press of the button on the mobile, money exchanges hands and capitalism prevails.

Have I made any money off on-line auctions? I have bought many of my current needs and stuff with it- from my laptop to my digital camera to a brand new mobile phone- all paid for entirely by netrepreneuring. The money helps you pay bills, pay for dates or just basically help you get out of a financial bind when times are tough. Bottom line, it’s passive income and extra cash. And extra cash is always good.

At present, I am saving up for a wedding and a Honda Civic with all those small sales to HELP finally land the big money.

 

 

Lord of the Rings Sauron action figure from Toybiz selling at Php 2500.

What’s the pay-off? It’s definitely not a cash cow with revenue you can raise a family with. At first it may not look like it’s much, but if you keep it steady and sure, the almost miniscule value of a few pesos will eventually add up to a respectable set of digits. I keep my ebay sales in a bank account that I hardly touch. From my first 120peso sale from a Spiderman comic book last year, now I have PhP 30,000 in that account (plus everything I have bought) all from ebay sales alone.

Now THAT is certainly a pay-off.

(Atticus Finch has been silent but deadly atticusfinch1974 in ebay.ph since July 2007)