Mention in 'The Rich Life' Email Newsletter

[ToyCrazyUK]

I'm not sure how many people subscribe to this free newsletter, but here's a copy of the whole newsletter:

The Rich Life Letter

16th February 2008

In today's Rich Life Letter...

• Who'd be a bargain hunter in the 80s?
• Revealed: the "better than eBay" websites
• The single best way of setting up a business

We bargain hunters have it so much easier these
days!
Time was, if you wanted to pick up something on the
cheap, you'd have to trawl jumble sales, charity
shops, record fairs and car boots... and as you
rarely knew what was on offer before you arrived,
chances were you'd leave disappointed.
That's not to say that you wouldn't be thrilled if
you unearthed a real unexpected gem...
I remember back in the late 80s seeing the
'Cheshire Cat' grin on my mate's face as he picked
out a mint condition vintage safari-style leather
jacket from a rail at the back of a charity shop in
Shepherd's Bush... The price? £4!
He JUST beat me to it, the lucky so-and-so...
And that's my point - bargain hunting before the
Internet came along was pretty much all about being
in the right place at the right time.
Nowadays it's WAY easier - and we of the "why pay
more?" persuasion should rejoice!
**********************************
What the blazes did we do before eBay?
**********************************
If you've read this email since its humble
beginnings, you'll know all about my love affair
with eBay.
There's no better way of getting your unwanted
household "junk" in front of 233 MILLION potential
paying buyers... nearly 15 million in the UK alone!
Here's some more stuff about eBay you perhaps
didn't know:

• <LI class=style1>eBay is the UKs number 1 eCommerce website
• Every other Internet user (47%) visits
  eBay.co.uk at least once a month
• eBay visitors average two hours on the site
  and view 266 pages per month
• eBay users worldwide trade almost £1,000
  worth of goods on the site every SECOND
• eBay accounts for 11% of all the time UK
  users spend on the internet

No wonder eBay is providing 70,000 Brits with their
primary or secondary income... As a ready-made home
business, this is about as good as it gets!
It took me a while to get started on eBay - but
once I got the hang of it, even I - The High Priest
of Technophobia - was flying!
I must admit though; nowadays, I use eBay more to
SELL unwanted stuff than I do for bargain hunting.
And there's a good reason for this...
When eBay first started, you really COULD pick up
fantastic deals - on things like designer clothes
and shoes... computer equipment... mobile phones...
even cars - for pennies in the pound.
But the times, they are a-changin'...
Today, there's vastly more competition from other
high-volume, high profile Internet retailers
(Amazon / PC World / Play.com to name but three)...
And because there are SO many active eBayers, you
tend to get fierce price competition on the popular
items... which means that in the heat of the moment,
you can end up paying way over the odds for
something, just because you "gotta have it"!
And for me, that kind of defeats the object of eBay.
***********************************
Revealed: the "better than eBay" websites
***********************************
But fret ye not, fair Rich Lifer - for there are
other online bargain emporiums you can visit with
just a click of your mouse...
Places more secret than eBay... places where
there's less competition for the same items...
places where you really can pick up some quite
amazing deals on new and nearly new stuff...
If you're into online auctions... and love picking
up a bargain or two - especially around birthdays
and Christmas time - then you really ought to
bookmark a few of these websites:
(Removed Name) - this auction site says it
was the UK's first - it's been operating since
1997... I think it's really well organised - easy
to search and find your way around - and there are
bargains a-plenty to be had!
(Removed Name) - this auction website
specialises in computer and electronic equipment...
and, er, jewellery. Many of the starting prices on
laptops are just $1 - 50p to you and me!
(Removed Name) - more deals for jewellery
lovers here: this is the largest specialist online
site of its kind in the world - where auctions
start at 50p every 5 seconds!
http://uk.ebid.net - this is another UK-centric
auction website. The best thing about eBid is that
it's free to bid and free to list... oh - and they
have "happy hour" auctions between 6pm-10pm every
night where you can pick up some incredible deals!
(Removed Name) - there's a wide range of
categories on this auction site - which claims to
list more than 500,000 items a month. One of their
specialist areas is books, comics and magazines...
(Removed Name) - this is a fairly new
player in the market, but it seems friendly enough
and it's well designed. Most of their listings tend
to be in the "Art" and, bizarrely, the "Tools, DIY
and Building" categories. Strange but true...
(Removed Name) - this well laid-
out auction site deals solely with cars. Of course,
you need to be absolutely sure about buying a car
before you've driven it - but with some MOT'd
motors starting from £1 it'd be rude not to at
least take a look!
(Removed Name) - this is a fairly
established auction site - and apparently its fans
are fiercely loyal. It's got a real community feel
this - just like eBay in the old days!
(Removed Name) - some of the best
bargains are to be found on the quirkiest websites.
This deals only with second hand stuff... but some
of the things you'll find on there are fantastic!
On the home page for sale last time I checked were
an MGB GT, a roll-top bath with cast iron feet and
a pair of Kune Kune pigs!
(Removed Name) this brilliant site
deals with overstocks, shop and factory clearances
and closedowns... it's also great for militaria
collectibles - which is a fast growing hobby, I'm
told.
(Removed Name) - this is fairly American-
biased, but if you can get past its clunky layout
you'll find tons of bargains hidden beneath! And
with the pound/dollar exchange rate in your favour,
you're paying even less!
(Removed Name) - this is a clever
idea: reverse auctions... on this site it's the
LOWEST unique bid that wins the item. If no other
entrant places the same bid - you win, even if it's
only PENNIES!
*************************************
The single best way of setting up a business
*************************************
It's not a bad job this, "researching" online
auction sites
Though I'd better wrap it up in a sec: Caroline
will have forgotten what I look like!
I've had a ball - and there are plenty more of
these sites too, which I'll let you know about in
the weeks ahead...
Or here's a thing: I'll stick the details up on my
website, when I get around to building one! (Don't
worry - I've got some highly competent technical
types working on it!)
So yes - in a nutshell: I still think eBay provides
home entrepreneurs with the single best way of
setting up and running a profitable business.
And of course, it's the most established site out
there.
But in terms of hunting down bargains, you might be
able to pick up "better than eBay" deals if you
widen your search net a bit...
Back Wednesday!

Ciao for now,



Lewis Geary,
The Rich Life Letter

If you have any comments or feedback you can contact me at this
address: lewisgeary@hotmail.co.uk

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[HannaHolly]

Good article