When I was bored I used to get on ebay and buy a lot of things that I really didn't need... old books, collectibles, etc. But I always told myself, I could just turn around and place them back on eBay when required (after I read books, etc.)

This churning of stuff help me build up 1500+ feedback... and most of the time I made a modest profit because I provided good photos and well-written descriptions. And I threw away my buying mistakes <grin>.

Now the market has changed; and it is no longer any fun. There appears to be fewer people buying unique items, and because of bad seller experiences in the past, they are reluctant to buy again from any seller.

The general public refer to "eBay" as a single entity. It now has evolved into a singular source with a shared reputation.

I often thought I could retire earlier and run a small eBay business on the side. That ship has sailed.

Sure there dozens of other online bidding sites with different payment models (Yahoo auctions are free, for example) but eBay was a cultural icon for many years and I think it is just imploding now because of greed.

Perhaps the old fashioned "flea market" where you get out in the sunshine and barter face to face wasn't so bad, afterall.

Cheers,

Mark