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Around the country, eBay entrepreneurs are shunning the 9-to-5 world and finding a 21st-century gold rush on the Internet.
Steve Holt, a retired Marine, and his wife, Crystal, are film buffs who own an eBay store called Movie Magic. They live in Denison, Iowa, and like others, operate their own online store on eBay, a cyber-bazaar that allows buyers to connect with sellers and bid for the items they want.
"We sell new and factory-sealed DVDs and VHS," said Steve Holt. "Everything from newly released movies to unforgettable classics that I love and grew up with. What's wonderful is my hobby is now my career."
Crystal Holt has kept her job as a high school teacher. But running the eBay business has given both parents more time to spend with their 9-year-old son. The money isn't bad either.
"In our first full year of business, 2003, we grossed about $680,000," Steve Holt said.
Selling With a Passion
Profitable since it launched in 1995, eBay boasts nearly 105 million users and offers goods in more than 50,000 categories from computers to movies to colored gemstones.
Last year, the value of goods traded on eBay reached $23.8 billion. As it grows, the number of entrepreneurs jumping on board with their small businesses has grown, too.
In fact, last week in Washington, eBay held its first United States of eBay Conference, gathering 51 small-business owners — one from each state, plus the District of Columbia — who make at least part of their living by selling on eBay.
Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, said that many entrepreneurs find a category that they love. One woman she met had been interested in vintage clothing since she was a teenager and managed to turn it into a career, thanks to eBay.
"She said, 'You know what? I can make a business selling a product that I love and I care about and I know a lot about, and by the way, I can stay at home, work at home, see my daughter when she comes home from school, and at the same time earn a great living doing what I love,' " Whitman said.
Toy Cars, Big Bucks
If Whitman were going to be a seller on eBay, she would choose something she found truly engrossing.
"You might know, I have a passion for fly fishing," Whitman said. "So I would probably get into selling antique flies, antique fly rods, old fishing vests, vintage fishing clothing. But I think it's important to have a passion for what you sell."
Cheryl Celso-Weber of Perrysburg, Ohio, has been operating a business called Buddy's Toys since 1996, selling diecast collectible cars and other toys. Hot cars, especially, can fetch big bucks.
"Thanks to eBay I ordered a lot and I sold a lot," Celso-Weber said. "I sold over 700 of those cars."
Selling them for about $70 each, Celso-Weber made $50,000 in sales. Celso-Weber walked away with almost $20,000 in profit.
Susan Robbins of Portland, Maine, discovered eBay one day while she was surfing the Web in search of vintage clothes. She went from savvy shopper to super-seller, creating a business called Northstar Vintage with customers around the globe. At first, she was surprised by the international interest.
"It's people in Australia, Germany, who for whatever reason don't have access to vintage clothing like we do in the United States," Robbins said.
For many entrepreneurs, eBay isn't just changing the way they shop. It's changing the way they work.
"It gives you that chance to pursue your dreams and your goals and it gives a small entrepreneur a chance to really make the lifestyle they want to make," Crystal Holt said.
From disco balls to sports cars, you can buy it all at federal auction.
Reported by Leslie Haggin Geary, CNN/Money Staff Writer
Sure, you'd love some of life's sweeter toys - a Mercedes or a yacht, diamond jewelry, maybe a ranch house getaway. But the prices for such items are enough to put a chill on your shopping fantasies.
It's time to thaw out. Adventurous shoppers willing to test the frontier of merchandising may find their dream wares selling on the cheap. No, we're not talking about some 24-hour shopping network or a discounter's Web site.
We're thinking about the government.
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| 1997 Lamborghini Diablo seized when illegally imported. Sold for $84,000. |
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| Lyme, CT home from anti-smuggling bust. Sold for $3.4 million. |
Uncle Sam auctions off $3.6 billion worth of goods each year, according to Pew Research Center. Many of these items come from public agencies - local police departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service - which seized the merchandise from drug dealers, tax cheats and other criminals.
In fact, in the coming year, the government will host dozens of auctions at various locations from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Sparks, NV. And if you don't get a great deal, you may get something better: an item that makes for an interesting conversation piece, be it a car seized in a drug raid, art illegally smuggled into the country or boats owned by fugitive insurance cheats.
Those looking for more unique items might want to start shopping at the auctions being held Nationwide.
As usual, there will be plenty of boats, cars, computer equipment, clothing and jewelry on the block, too.
In other words, it's going to be a year of typical auctions, which means nothing is ever typical.
Golf Courses, race horses and 82 crates of grave markers
In the past, the government has sold off such unusual items as a race horse for $264,000; the Indian Wells golf course, home of the Bob Hope Classic tournament ($25.5 million) and a Salvador Dali painting "Mao Marilyn" ($111,000) that was seized when Colombian drug traffickers tried to import the art into the country. Also sold were some 21 luxury cars owned by Martin Frankel the "fugitive financier" who bilked insurance companies out of a cool $200 million and 82 crates of cemetery headstones ($13,000 for the bunch).
Naturally, with such a range of items what's considered a deal is in the eyes, and wallets, of buyers who attend the sales.
Deals For Those In The Know
Just ask Eric Knight who flies to Fort Lauderdale four times a year to go to the many auctions run by the U.S. Treasury Department. Knight, an optometrist from Milwaukee, became an avowed auction-goer a few years ago when he bought 4,000 pair of high-end designer eyeglasses that Knight said typically sold for $300 to $500 a pair depending on where you got them. (He picked them up for about $100, the same amount he charges clients who now buy them.)
"Patients just love them," said Knight. "It's a win-win for everyone."
But his biggest coup to date were the two Cannondale bikes he bought earlier this year for $800 total. Together, they're worth more than 10 times that - about $8,500, said Knight, who regularly competes in men's triathlons in which contestants swim, bike and run.
Buyer Beware
That said, for every Cannondale picked up on the cheap, there are plenty of items that sell too high. In some cases, certain kinds of items, particularly cars and trucks, attract too many buyers.
"Sometimes the auctions are very competitive," said Britney Sheehan spokesperson, for the seized-property auctions for the U.S. Treasury Department, the FBI and U.S. Customs Service as well as several other federal agencies.
The best way to score a deal? Know the lay of the land.
The first step is knowing what to pay for, and what you can get for free.
If you're simply looking for information about auctions, you should never have to spend money to find out when and where they're being held. The U.S. Treasury Department alone, for example, hosts auctions in various parts of the country nine times a year, selling anywhere from $12 million to $20 million (which isn't part of that $3.6 billion in online sales) worth of seized goods a year. Go to the agency's Web site for a list of upcoming auctions. You can sign up for free e-mail updates about upcoming auctions, too.
No matter what you buy, you should try to do some homework before you start bidding to ensure you're really getting a good deal.
Auctions should provide vehicle identification numbers and mileage information and you can have someone inspect (but not drive) cars at live auction previews, which are typically held for two days before the sale.
According to Sheehan, jewelry tends to yield the best deals, selling at wholesale prices because shoppers are wary about buying something they think may be a fake. She notes shoppers should rest easy.
"We get third-party appraisals so buying it is the same as going to a trusted jeweler," she says. "The government has to have it appraised to know its worth."
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEB —The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proudly announced today that the U.S. Department of State, through its Narcotics Rewards Program, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Mexican drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada-Garcia.
Zambada-Garcia is responsible for bringing in at least 16 metric tons of cocaine into the United Sates during the past five years. He is designated as a major violator of the United States narcotics laws and was indicted for importing nearly 3,000 kilograms of cocaine, worth approximately $47.5 million, and charged with conspiracy to import and export under Title 21 U.S.C. 963 and, aiding and abetting under Title 18 USC 2. The indictment was unsealed by Attorney General John Ashcroft in July 2003, during the final stage of “Operation Trifecta”, a multi-agency, multi-nation initiative targeting the Zambada-Garcia drug trafficking organization’s command and control infrastructure.
Zambada is controlling one of the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, smuggling wholesale quantities of cocaine and marijuana through almost every port of entry in the state of Arizona and is expanding his influence along the 2,000 mile Southwest Border. DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge, Anthony Coulson stated, “Zambada-Garcia is an extremely dangerous criminal whose narcotic trafficking activities are legendary. For more than three decades, he has skillfully aligned with almost every known drug trafficking organization in Mexico. We are asking the assistance of Arizona residents to provide any information they may have on his whereabouts so that we can bring his criminal career to an end.”
Zambada-Garcia recently emerged as one of the top drug smugglers in Mexico after a bloody battle with the Arellano-Felix Organization, the once-powerful Tijuana cartel, and has consolidated his control over the smuggling routes from the Mexican state of Sonora into Arizona.
DEA spokesperson, Ramona Sanchez stated that the DEA is trying to dramatically increase the pressure on Zambada by soliciting the public’s help in finding him. Sanchez remarked that the DEA will pursue every possible lead until he is found and brought to justice. As part of a state-wide, aggressive media campaign, the DEA has posted two billboards along Interstate 10 in southern Arizona for information leading to Zambada-Garcia’s capture. “Wanted” posters and flyers of Zambada will also be posted at ports of entry along the Southwest Border as well as in federal, state and local government buildings.
Zambada-Garcia will be featured on “America’s Most Wanted” to be aired on the Fox Channel on Saturday, February 28, 2004.
Anyone with information about Zambada-Garcia’s whereabouts is urged to call the DEA Phoenix Tip Hotline 1-866-332-7469 from the United States or Mexico. All calls are Strictly Confidential.
If you have questions or need further information, please call Public Information Officer Ramona Sanchez at (602) 664-5725.
source: DEA USDOJ
Some of the more common auction items include:
used autos • marine vehicles • jet skis • aircrafts • homes • real estate • commercial property • farm equipment • industrial • business • electronics • computers • antiques • art • coins • stamps • appliances • guns • travel • collectibles • clothing • crafts • boats • bikes • motorcycles • mobile homes • jewelry • toys • cars • trucks • mopeds • bicycles • cameras • televisions • clocks • furniture • unclaimed property • abandoned property • personal property • office furniture • condominiums • town homes • commercial property • vacant land • single family homes • machinery • tools • hardware • building supplies
and much, much more...
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