August 6th, 2006 by Skip McGrath

Too many would be eBay sellers procrastinate so long and never get their business off the ground

When I was younger I learned to fly gliders.  Gliders, or sailplanes, can stay aloft for hours and travel hundreds of miles flying on rising air currents called thermals or by following ridge lines where "lift" is created by wind blowing perpendicular to the ridge.  If you have ever driven over a bridge and seen a seagull hovering or cruising slowly along the bridge rail, it is soaring in ridge lift. (Stay with me, you will see the point in a moment).

When you first learn to fly a sailplane you are taught to always stay within gliding range of the airport.  This way if the thermals die out or the wind drops off, you can glide safely back to the runway.  This distance can actually be quite far.  Modern sailplanes have glide ratios of 40:1, with some super planes capable of 60:1.  If you are flying a sailplane with a glide ration of 40:1 and you are 1 mile high (5,286 feet above the ground) this means you can glide 40 miles.

After a substantial amount of training and gaining experience flying within gliding range of the airport, you are finally ready to make the leap of flying cross country.  You climb as high as you can in a thermal and head out.  This takes a great leap of faith –faith that you will find another thermal once you pass the point of no return.

Selling on eBay is much the same.  Some people have no trouble "leaving the airport." They make the leap of faith knowing that if they just work hard and stick to it, they can be successful.  While others just buy books and CDs about selling on eBay and never get started.  Oh, maybe they launch a few auctions and then when something doesn’t sell, or fails to bring a price where they can make a profit, they stop selling and spend weeks researching new products, looking for that magic drop ship source, or sometimes they just give up entirely. 

To run a successful eBay business you have to start an eBay business.  Starting an eBay business implies more than just selling a few items.  It means you are going to actively engage yourself in the endevor every day.  It means you’ve researched products and you have a plan and start to work.  It also means that you plan to stick to it. 

You will make mistakes –we all do.  You will have setbacks –as we all do.  But like the glider pilot who leaves the airport, there comes a moment when you pass the point of no return, then you better find that next thermal.  This will allow you to climb higher and go on searching for the next thermal –and if it’s a good day, you can fly hundreds of miles.  If you quit, however, you just find yourself landing in some farmer’s field and sitting there surrounded by smelly cows until your ground crew rescues you.

See Also

• eBay Information Products System
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