The Ultimate eBay Listing

I listed a few more items tonight even though I know Fridays are not great for auctions. My son has outgrown his lime green Croc sandals, and I've got a couple of dressy shirts I'd like to find a good home for. However, as I listed these items I kinda came to the realization that... I'm going to run out of inventory soon.

Now, a few people have asked me to list their stuff for them, and that was in fact part of my plan for Phase II. However, when I start buying things to sell on eBay or when I become a trading assistant the margins shrink considerably and that's when I have to start stepping it up with the volumes. After all, if you remember my starts I'm only listing about 16 items a month and as a trading assistant I'd only make a small commission off of people's earning. Quite frankly, I don't think I'm good enough to cut it as a full time trading assistant - nor do I have the time to sell as many items as it would take for me to reach my revenue goals.

I've been saving the ultimate eBay item for last... it's my classic and once expensive wedding gown. The problem is, as ruthless as I am with other items (I just listed my son's christening outfit for $.99 and free shipping) I can't bear to sell this gown for what it's objectively worth.

Let's do the math, shall we? The gown cost $4000 new in 2003. Now, I'm assuming that garments lose a chunk of their value as soon as they're worn, and that they depreciate in a straight line thereafter. So supposing right after my wedding the gown's value dropped to $2500, using the straight line method with a 5 year time horizon, my gown is now worth ... $0.

So given that the gown is still in good shape and is fairly timeless, the material is very, very high quality and the designer is still somewhat en vogue, I could probably hope to sell it at MOST for $200.... a price I'm just not willing to let it go for.

Sooooo it will probably continue to take up room in my closet, unless you guys convince me otherwise!