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How I Turned $1.05 Into a Growing Business
 by: Pete Egeler

I wanted to share this story, as an inspiration to others, and to show the power of eBay and a little creative thinking.

A few days ago I was talking with a friend of mine that lives, breathes, and eats fishing.

He told me he'd designed a new fishing lure, and was wanting to try and sell "a few," maybe on eBay. But, he said.. he wasn't that sure about how eBay worked, and wondered if I'd help him.

My friend brought me a couple of lures that afternoon, explained to me what made the so "unique", and off I went.

That evening I wrote up some copy, took a couple of pictures, and posted an auction on eBay for the "INSTIGATOR" buzz bait.

Knowing that he wanted at least $10 per lure, I'd started the auction off at $9.97, and he was tickled to death the next morning to see 15 hits on the auction, and one bid at $9.97.

Of course, he'd offered to pay me a small commission over costs if the unit sold.

Then, I got a "bright" idea.

When I got home the second evening, I literally "slapped together" a web page about his lure, and tagged it with a price of $19.97 each plus shipping.

Then, I went to eBay, logged into my "About Me" page, and re-wrote it so it pointed to this new web site.

I asked my friend if he'd be willing to make a deal. I'd get him $15 per lure (instead of $10 each,) if I could have everything OVER that. He said yes!

So, here we sit one week into the deal. From the web page sales, we'll do about 20 lures this week, and orders are still coming in.

Based on initial response, the fact that fishing season is about to get into high gear, and that the lure is a custom made by hand lure, we expect sales to reach our cut-off point of 35-40 lures a week by the end of the month.

For my efforts, I bring in about $150-$200 a week in commissions.

All of this from a single eBay ad that cost me $1.05 to post.

So you see, there IS power in eBay, and money to be had for those that look "outside" the box for opportunities.

You don't have to go dumping tons of money into buying product that you may, or may not sell. This is exactly what I teach my readers in my eBook.. "Dumpster Diving for eBay Profits."

Keep your ears & your eyes open. You just might have a gold mine sitting right across the street.

About The Author Pete Egeler is the author of "Dumpster Diving for eBay Profits," and the DDNews newsletter, as well as a number of other publications. Pete also freelances as a Press Release writer and online reasearch assistant. He can be reached via email at: pegeler@glorymountain.com Pete EgelerPete Egeler

February 29, 2004

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