The Ever Changing World of eBay

With the worldwide collectibles market booming, many entrepreneurs are finding success buying and selling collectors’ items online, thanks to the electronic marketing phenomenon that is eBay.But local businesspeople caution against giving up your day job to invest full-time in Beanie Babies and rookie sports cards.”The market is constantly changing, and you can’t count on something selling for a decent price,” says Inma Services owner Petr Maly, one Ottawa entrepreneur who does make a decent living using eBay. “The biggest obstacle is figuring out what’s coming in (in popularity).”Mr. Maly has been selling consignments of antiques and collectibles on the auction site for eight years. However, despite his success as an online merchant, he warns that the collectibles market can be a tricky one to manoeuvre.”You have to have a lot of knowledge, and you have to think ahead,” he says, explaining that it’s often difficult to predict which collectors’ items will sell at any time with only a general knowledge of the market.

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