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So when I first started working at eBay in the spring of 2002, I went through a month of training and then went out to the floor and started answering Kana emails on a regular Customer Support team.
I did that for about a month when I was told I was being put into Live Chat, where I stayed for about 8 months. I tell you what, Live Chat was a trial by fire, but it was a refiner's fire as well.
I learned soooo much about eBay in such a short time that by the winter of 2003, when I had been with eBay less than a year, I was asked to train 2 incoming new hire classes, all of whom were going into Live Chat as well. Some of my trainees are now supervisors and managers at eBay, and I like to take credit for that. :)
Anyway, if you ever want to experience the weirdness of human kind, try working in Live Chat. Any and every possible question, problem, concern, complaint, and emotion will be thrown at you.
In this post, I'm going to share an anecdote I like to call "inadvertent/ignorant identity theft." One day I was chatting with someone who was trying to register on eBay, but only had an anonymous email address (i.e. Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) which at that time didn't suffice to verify someone's identity sufficiently in eBay's eyes, so he was being asked to supply a credit card for identity verification.
He didn't have a credit card, so he asked me if he could use mine......He didn't understand why I was reluctant to give him my credit card number, nor why that would do absolutely nothing to verify HIS identity and comply with eBay's requirements to register on the site.
I wonder if he's sitting in a minimum-security prison somewhere right now, making license plates.......
Wow, there's so much I want to say, so much I want to share with everyone. I'm hoping this blog will not just provide some amazing, heretofore unknown secrets to obtaining success on eBay, but will also motivate me to organize my thoughts, knowledge and recollections of almost 7 years working at eBay into a book I've been wanting to write for a long time. And you all will get the first sneak peeks at what my book will ultimately contain! Along the way, I'm hoping to inspire a lot of response, feedback, input and shared knowledge and experience from those of you who read this blog.
Of course, I won't just be discussing eBay in this blog -- eBay wouldn't exist if it weren't for the multitude of other companies, programs, tools, and support out there for eBay users. So I'll be letting you know about some of these fantastic resources, highlighting the best of the best among them.
In college, I studied English and Music. If I had known I would end up in ecommerce, maybe I wouldn't have spent all those hours practicing the piano..... But as they say, life happens. In 2002, I found myself working at eBay, in their Seller Support department, and absolutely loving it!! I took to it so well, in fact, that I was asked to train two incoming classes of new hires after I'd been with eBay less than a year. Then they put me on the Support Helpline, so I could be a resource and human knowledgebase of sorts for other employees. My last 3 years at eBay I was a Top Seller Account Manager, responsible for managing the accounts of 218 of eBay's Top Sellers, those within the top 1% of eBay sellers, according to their sales volume. I was well-known for being an expert on the eBay site, and other employees were always coming to me with their questions. During my 6 1/2 years with eBay, I focused on helping my sellers make more and more money, and I did very well at it.
It was only after leaving eBay in October 2008 that I decided to take everything I had learned and put it to even better use, so I began my own eBay business, at the same time I started working as an internet coach and consultant for a new company. Shortly afterward, I became a Powerseller and then a Top-Rated Seller, when that new status was introduced. It was a wonderful way to round out my eBay education; as much as I already knew about eBay, I learned even more from being an active seller myself.
One of my main goals in life now is to help others learn about eBay and what a miraculous, beautiful thing it is for people who want to turn their lives around and take control of their own destinies. Nowhere else can someone with little to no business or sales experience, and even less internet expertise, quickly and easily build a thriving, profitable eBay business. You can even do it with practically no capital or financial assets of any kind. So buckle up, because you're in for an exciting journey along the eBay highway of dreams!
My eBay User ID is theauctionguru -- feel free to check me out!
