Hey, Ebay Is Now Part of our National Economy

And it is only the beginning. If you think of it, a lot of stuff on eBay is used. Normally, people would keep the stuff in their attic or toss it out. Now the goods are recycled. And that's a good thing!

Look, people, Ebay is a good thing and yes, some people make good money off of it.

But using the idea of ebay to counter our sagging economic numbers is ludicrous.

Cycloptichorn

By itself, sure it is. But eBay is part of a trend towards a whole new way of obtaining goods and services that did not exist not too long ago.

Sagging economy?

The Federal Reserve Bank reported yesterday that U.S. household wealth reached a new record. Sadly, most of the people in this country received the totality of their economic education in government schools. They couldn't explain the difference between gross and net, they think that the government distributes wealth, and they believe that tax cuts are a "give-away." Because of this these poorly educated Americans will have no understanding what this new record in household wealth means. It means that you're richer, you fools! And guess what? John Kerry didn't do this for you!

Wait! There's more!

While The Poodle continues to bark about the sagging economy, the net loss of jobs and accuse President Bush of the excuse presidency, the economy in the United States continues to boom. First up, let's look at the unemployment rate, currently at a very low 5.4%. That's lower than the average rate of the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. That's also lower than it was when Bill Clinton was re-elected over Bob Dole in 1996. Funny...the media never found unemployment high then, yet they're talking about 5.4% not being very low. Media bias at its finest.

Another telling statistic is New York's unemployment. It is now back at it's pre-9/11 levels, at 6.7%. That's down from July's 7.5% and 8.4% last year. In the state hardest hit by the terrorist attacks, the economy is booming. Home ownership is at record levels too, by the way. What else is it going to take for the media and the Democrats to admit the economy is booming? The answer is that they'll never admit the economy is improving. It just ain't in them.

Let's review:

* Unemployment is lower than the average of the last 30 years
* Unemployment in New York is back to pre-9/11 levels
* Home ownership is at record levels
* U.S. household wealth is at record levels

So what's the problem? Only a dishonest partisan hack determined to defeat the president for re-election could argue that the economy is anything less than robust.

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And they had enough money to buy the inventory. If they are actually doing what you say, why are you sitting there? Go for it.

Collectibles, BTW, are historically risky -- they have their day and then the market floods out and becomes unstable. Let's see where they are in five years.

why would I do it? My job allows me to be able to do this all day and also allows my wife to stay home and be a mom. I wouldn't trade in the gig for most anything.

Too bad your friends don't have the same advantage. They can't pay for health insurance without their wives working. Doesn't sound lucrative to me.

I worked as a consultant for a year for the couple (who are indepedently wealthy) who have the largest inventory of art prints on the Internet and the most active E Bay site. For the work they put into it, my advice to them was it wasn't worth it. They made a reasonably good profit out of the brick-and-mortar gallery but recently had to close their main location. The volume didn't make up for the low profit margin on E Bay. It was pin money for going on trips. They spent a lot of money on promoting the site and getting a good position on Google search. They are now trying to no avail to unload the inventory. A small guy who is recently out-of-work buying an inventory of something he believes will make a decent income on E Bay is very risky.

An established brick-and-mortar store like the gallery this couple operated was supplimented by the E Bay sales and their Website worked to bring local people into the gallery. They've now sold off the majority of what part of their inventory was salable based on the hot and cold market of collectibles.

And even sillier is you bringing up the entire issue of "ease". How easy or complex something is to do has ZERO to do with anything said in this thread. The fact is you have no counter so you threw out a red herring.

My "red herring" to your smelly tuna fish. Thanks anyway. It's not that easy to make money on E Bay or the Internet. It's like bragging about how much money one made at their last garage sale. You're obviously not knowledgeable about how Internet sales work and don't work. Ask Craven if he's cleaning up on this site with the shop. Otherwise, recommended reading:

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~stoll/silicon_snake_oil.html

If facilitating transactions is "nothing" - I suppose E bay produces nothing.

E Bay is what it calls it self - a "Bay" a Portal in the electronic medium that allows people who have unique items to connect with someone looking for that specific thing.

You could search all day in junkyards for parts for vintage automobiles. And a search for a minute or two will yield a match if there is one. I have an old synthesizer that I found at a yard sale. E bay was my guide to appraise it and to find links to overhaul it - and get rid of it if I had a mind to.

E bay is "cool." It may be symptomatic of the digital divide. But an irony of the digital divide is that many of the most computer illiterate people are well educated middle class white people. For most - the computer is a typewriter, address book and file cabinet and tax rep.

Their computer's like their brains are used at 10% capacity.

I don't think the digital divide divides us along the lines you may draw in your own minds. Don't forget, on the internet - the instantaneous poll - Clinton's little act with Lewinski didn't strike us as being something to dwell on.

Perhaps the Luddite population is somehow more chaste and pure and more patriotic and upright than the previous elected president.

Lest we forget the previous president was elected.

Has anyone else noticed that even C span has been invaded by plutocratic "pundants" who speak of imminent success in Iraq while the Lugar committee is raising its eyebrows?