The Spotlight's On: welcomesite
by Robin
eBay Staff Member

Hello everyone! We'd like to introduce you to this month's spotlighted member, welcomesite. An eBay member for over two years, he started using eBay to find all sorts of wonderful items, and now sells products that he creates himself. His main category of interest is guitar picks.

welcomesite is a member of the new eBay group, The Musicians Community, founded by the musician and eBay member, intenselan. He has an extremely interesting background, having worked at one time or another as a private investigator, a bird trainer, a commercial fisherman, a disc jockey and several other less dramatic jobs. He moved to Florida from New York in 1985. Then after moving from Miami to the Keys, he spent about 10 years living on boats and reading. Besides selling on eBay, he currently is a caretaker for a beach house for some folks who live out West.

If you take a look at welcomesite's About Me page, you'll see that his pictures of his motorcycle and his bird steal the show! He told us he enjoys riding his 1998 Honda Shadow, American Classic Edition, Tourer and says he was a 'lone wolf' until recently, when a girlfriend from 21 years ago tracked him down. "Now I love cruising with Mary on the back," he says.

But his bird holds a special place in his heart. "Babe is 7 years old. He is a male Moluccan cockatoo. I raised him from when he was 6 weeks old and hardly had any feathers. He roller skates, plays dead, fetches, rolls over and cleans leaves off the deck, on command. He absolutely loves any and all people. I take him all over town, and he is a major celebrity on our tiny island in the Florida Keys."

"While I'm working, I toss him up into the trees where he flitters around until I call him. We have no fear of him flying away… he loves us too much! His favorite thing is meeting new people, whom he charms immediately. I first got involved with parrots around 1980, when I lived in New York. I worked for a bird warehouse as their premier trainer.I then went on to buy and sell about 80 birds of my own. In 1984 I was recruited to start a training program for a major importer in Miami. Bird importation almost ceased shortly after that… and almost all pet birds are now domestic birds that are bred in this country."

His boss first introduced welcomesite to eBay, and now he visits the site every day. His daily visits include a check on his listings for Lignum Vitae guitar picks, which he invented and now manufactures.

Why guitar picks? welcomesite told us how he got started. "I was making pens and collecting various rare woods. There was one wood that I was fascinated with, called Lignum Vitae. About 4 months ago I decided to make a guitar pick from this wood. I sold a few to see what others thought of them and was surprised at the extremely enthusiastic response. Now I sell about 2 a day on eBay." He also stated, "Lignum Vitae wood was popular until about 100 years ago. It has been used as prop shaft bearings on aircraft carriers."

We inquired what tips welcomesite would give to people who are selling or buying their items on eBay. He replied, "If you want to sell, find something that you know people will really love... and do your best to make sure they are satisfied." Commenting on how his feedback rating has improved his reputation, he said, "I sell an unusual product, so the great comments about it in my feedback help new buyers see that my product is worthwhile."

We asked welcomesite if he participated in any of eBay's chat or discussion boards. He replied, "I visit 'Seller Central' almost daily... and occasionally, The Park." He told us he would strongly encourage new members to participate on one of eBay's Chat, Help, or Discussion boards. "You can learn important, useful things, from experienced people, on eBay's message boards."

When asked how his life has changed since he began visiting eBay and what particular site feature he has found the most helpful, welcomesite said, "I live on a tiny island but now I can find great deals on even the most obscure items. I can also now sell to people thousands of miles away, without leaving my little spot of paradise." As for helpful features, "I think eBay's company PayPal has made it very easy to do these transactions and I am looking forward to receiving my PayPal debit card... because I can spend money and PayPal does the bookkeeping for me!"

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We would like to thank welcomesite for sharing his thoughts and comments with us! If you would like to be considered for Community Spotlight Program check out our Community Profile page and follow the instructions near the bottom of that page.