eBay vs. Debt

We have a good friend who had been a very casual buyer on eBay for a couple of years, but when she learned that we had sold much of our old stuff on eBay, her interests were piqued and she began asking the usual questions. "Is it difficult?", "Is it safe?", "Do you get ripped off?", "Are the buyers real people?", and the classic "Who'll want to buy my stuff?". After we had got her more excited about becoming a seller rather than quelling her fears, she jumped in with both feet and put a couple of pieces of furniture and some clothes up for auction.

About halfway into the auction we caught up with our friend and she was a bit bummed. "Nobody is bidding." she said. "I got some of my family to bid on them, hoping it might drive the bidding, but nothing." We told her that most of our auctions started to generate activity in the final day and one had even gone sky high in the last 30 seconds. I think she was encouraged - a little.

Yesterday, we saw her again and she couldn't wait to tell us that everything had sold and that the bidding got really rowdy on the last day. She garnered a little over $300 from the experience and the best part was she was able to make the last payment on a credit card she'd had since college. eBay is helping to kill the debt monster!