Beware of eBay scams

Income possible; hard work needed

May 21, 2007

BY BILL RADFORD

THE GAZETTE OF COLORADO SPRINGS

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Strike it rich on eBay. Make money the eBay way. The secrets to proven eBay success!

Books and seminars abound touting easy riches from eBay, the online auction house that draws millions of buyers. But before you quit your day job, consider this old adage, says certified eBay instructor Terry Gehrke: "If it sounds too good to be true, it is."

That doesn't mean you can't make money -- and even a living -- selling on eBay.

"I have several clients who are stay-at-home moms with children and are building some nice little businesses," Gehrke said. And Gehrke himself makes what he calls a full-time income working part-time selling books on eBay.

But starting and operating an eBay or online business -- developing the site, finding a source of product, dealing with customers -- takes time and effort, he said. And even then, there's no guarantee of success.

"If you treat eBay as a hobby, it's going to generate hobby income," he said.

Henry Ehle is looking at eBay as a way to make some money selling computer parts from a previous business. "I may not get much out of it," he said, "but at least I can get rid of it." If sales merit it and he finds a source for more equipment at a low-enough price, it could lead to an online business, he said.

In March, he attended a seminar presented by Clickincome, which calls itself the pioneer in Internet educational products and services.

Speaker Michael Sheridan shared how he started an eBay business by selling some old tennis rackets.

Sheridan offered tips on selling on eBay, but much of the time was spent promoting a second, longer seminar a few days later, costing $99.

"I went there because I wanted to learn more about eBay," said Ehle, who signed up for the second seminar. "I did learn a few things," he acknowledged, but much of the second presentation was a sales pitch to sign up people for a program that involves selling Web sites to others.

For their $99, people also were offered software to set up a Web site -- though they would be charged a monthly hosting fee of $29.95, plus more if they wanted to arrange a merchant account through Clickincome allowing them to conduct credit-card transactions online.

They were given a year's free membership in Clickincome's Click Club, which promises a variety of products at wholesale prices and offers drop shipping -- sending products directly to a customer on behalf of the online entrepreneur.

"The allure of that is you can list anything that you think might be interesting and you don't have to stockpile it in your home," said Donna Austin, a Colorado Springs woman who as a certified eBay education specialist teaches classes about eBay basics.

But because you don't control the supply of product, it's your reputation that suffers if the drop shipper runs out of something a buyer was promised, Austin said. And some drop shippers are scams, offering poor-quality merchandise or prices that don't allow the seller to make a profit.