The Spotlight's On:
maine-antiques.com
by Randall
eBay Staff Member

This month's spotlighted member, maine-antiques.com, has been an eBay member since January of 1997. After starting out as an occasional eBay seller, she blossomed into a full time antique dealer with her own brick-and-mortar shop. As a veteran eBay member for over eight years, she uses her eBay business to supplement her in-store sales and couldn't be happier with how eBay has helped change her life.

“When I started on eBay it was just taking off, and I had a full time insurance career,” she says. “Eight years later, I've quit my career, bought an eighteen room Victorian mansion (with my eBay sales as the down payment) that I use as my shop, have become a full-time antique dealer, wear jeans, not panty-hose, and I get to go to Europe twice a year on buying trips. Life is fun now – I'm having a blast, I'm addicted to eBay and I couldn't dream of anything better!”

maine-antiques.com first discovered eBay while trying to track down Pez dispensers for a Christmas present for her daughter. She describes those older times with fondness. “Every night we'd all chat in the eBay Café chat room (primarily about Pez dispensers), wondering if anyone else would ever discover eBay.”

She recalls it was also a time “when you could see every single item for sale in about an hour!“ As the years rolled by and eBay's popularity began to swell, she and her friends in the eBay Café realized eBay would in fact be discovered by many people, even by those looking for things besides Pez. maine-antiques.com 's attention on eBay soon shifted from Pez to antiques, where she became one of the category's early sellers.

She told us she is on eBay almost every day, depending on the season. She ranges from "eight hours a day in the winter” to “constantly checking from my brick-and-mortar store during the summer.” She spends much of that time interacting on the various Community forums. She feels that the discussion boards, eBay Groups, Answer Center, and chat rooms are an excellent resource for novice and experienced members alike.

For maine-antiques.com, the best strategy to stay abreast of the latest trends in her categories is to tune in to the conversations on discussion and chat boards. “I like to browse the Antiques boards for the specific collectible I'm researching, to see what buyers look for in a particular category, and to learn more about the category. I like to create my own templates, so I check the boards for HTML tips as well.” She feels it can be an excellent way, especially for newer users, to get up to speed as well as to network. “It's the only way you'll learn how to do it and everyone has started at the beginning. Most people are thrilled to help 'newbies.' It's a great way to make friends and learn a lot!”

In addition to using the forums, maine-antiques.com has valuable suggestions for other aspiring sellers. “Take a lot of really good pictures, use the 'bold' feature and always use ‘Gallery'. I also try to make sure the customer is satisfied and happy.” She also feels that researching all aspects of an item can lead to greater success. “The Completed Auctions search is great for researching price levels and the best categories to list my item under.”

On a much broader level, she extolls the benefits of being honest and friendly with buyers, remembering that keeping the customer satisfied is the ultimate goal. Other tips include using PayPal (“you'll lose bidders if you don't!”) and “If you're buying, check out the feedback BEFORE you bid!” 

With 99.8 % positive feedback, and her feedback score nearing 2000, it's not hard to see why maine-antiques.com is a firm believer in the importance of feedback to success. “I think my feedback lets future bidders know I'm a reputable person and they can buy with confidence.” 

While she's mainly a seller, maine-antiques.com also feels that eBay is ideal for great buys for keeping the household and office supplied. “Although my 'job' is selling, I buy about 80% of our household and office items on eBay--jeans, dog leashes, CDs, books, pens, cookware, sheets, hairbrushes, computers, jewelry--everything except the groceries!” 

As always, the story is not complete without learning what eBay means to our spotlighted member, and maine-antiques.com's short and sweet summary says a lot. “eBay has given me the freedom to live my life the way I've always wanted to.”

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