[meteorite-list] eBay Likes and Dislikes

From: Adam Hupe <adamhupe_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:04 2004
Message-ID: <04bf01c3499d$fc254560$b4dbe60c_at_attbi.com>

Dear List Members,

Since there are collectors and dealers that both like and dislike eBay I
thought I would throw some of my thoughts in. My first exposure to eBay was
locating and purchasing rare engines for my collection, like stirlings,
steam and the like. I was able to complete my collection because of eBay.

My second exposure was when I partnered with gentlemen who was going to
college in Texas named Duane. I am sure some of you know who I am talking
about even though I have not heard from him in over six years. We purchased
large batches of unclassified Saharan meteorites (Long before NWA) from the
French who were working the desert consistently. I was content to hang onto
mine but he resold some material to help offset the enormous tuition costs
at TCU.

I had a girlfriend at that time that was also attending college to get a
degree in business. Like most college students she was always short of
money and did not have enough hours in the day to work full-time. I decided
to let her sell some of my excess meteorites on eBay and told her to keep
the profits. This prevented her from bumming money off of me all the time.
I know some of you remember her because I see some of the same collectors
still around, even after seven years. She went under the eBay handle
"Lunarisha" and sold every meteorite she listed saving me the hassle of
paying her way. There were only two other dealers selling meteorites on
eBay with about 20 to 30 auctions at any given time. As a matter of fact
she also sold on three other auction sites before eBay dominated the market,
mainly Yahoo.

I think auctions are great, I have seen eBay help put people through
college. It has helped my brother, Greg and I offset the enormous costs of
studying, classifying and to curate a large collection in which we always
make samples available to the public.

Wishing everybody the best,

Adam
Received on Sun 13 Jul 2003 08:22:18 PM PDT