Learning tricks of the eBay trade
'Professor Auction' teaches students how to profit online
Set fair prices. Offer reasonable shipping fees. And beware of cyber snipers.
Words of wisdom from ''Professor Auction," as he calls himself, a man who has been selling items on
''I get both entrepreneurs and hobbyists, everyone from stay-at-home moms who want to earn some extra money to recent widows who want to get rid of their late husband's collections and shop owners who have traditional retail stores and want to sell online," said Trudeau, 59, during a short break in his most recent teaching gig, a crash course on eBay, offered last month at the Enterprise Center at Salem State College.
The workshop attracted roughly 50 students with a mix of backgrounds and business ideas, from those who had nothing more than a sliver of a concept to a wealthy music mogul who says he makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each year peddling instruments online.
''I've tried newspaper ads; they didn't work. I did radio ads; they were very expensive and brought in minimal business. The Yellow Pages, they didn't work. If it weren't for eBay, I wouldn't be in business now," said Dominic Cucinotti, owner of Salem-based Dominic's Music, who took the class to learn new tricks of the trade.
Sivan Silverman Sergott and her husband, Nestar Sergott, owners of the online gift shop, Treasures Over Time, attended the class to get familiar with the language of the online auction site, while John Coonley of Rockport viewed the $15 registration fee as a small investment that he hopes will generate big dividends. He learned how to set up a seller's account on eBay and got several tips for launching his e-business.
''My wife and I are really struggling with some life choices right now," said Coonley, who runs a residential remodeling business but is considering a return to his retail roots -- he'd like to sell contemporary home furnishings and American crafts online.
''An eBay business is appealing to me because it's limitless as far as location, and it seems to me that I could establish a clientele online as easily as I could in a storefront," he said.
Classmate Kathy Cagiati would like to transform her passion for minerals and her husband's talent as a photographer into a lucrative eBay business.
Trudeau inspired Cagiati with tales of quirky items selling quickly and for big bucks. The first item Trudeau sold was a calculator that he had bought at a thrift shop for $1. He auctioned it on eBay for $88.
A fledgling seller, Cagiati attended the class in hopes of solving a complex mystery that has been vexing the couple. ''Why is it that other people are selling things for thousands of dollars on eBay, and everything we sell will only go for a few dollars?" asked Cagiati's husband, Alessandro.
The couple is debating whether to design a website for their business or set up an eBay store. They sold their first item on eBay on Tuesday morning, a piece of tourmaline from Mount Mica in Maine. The price: $17.80, which translates into a profit of about $2.
''We didn't get as much as I had hoped, but it's still very exciting," said Cagiati, who has eight other items up for auction and hopes to add a few more each day. ''Every business starts with a single sale."
Dubbed the world's first online marketplace, eBay celebrated its 10th anniversary in September. What started as a peculiar auction site where you could sell odd trinkets and Pez dispensers has grown into an economic goliath with 168 million users worldwide. About 724,000 Americans have a business on eBay, according to a survey conducted in July 2005 by ACNielsen International Research.
Cucinotti counts himself among them. In October 1998, Cucinotti had a basement retail store in Brookline. The rent was high and business was slow. He decided to close the store and began calling competitors in hopes of selling his inventory.
''I had $1 million worth of inventory, and the most anyone would offer me for it was about $100,000," Cucinotti recalled. ''Finally, one guy said to me, 'Why sell at a loss? Try putting your stuff on eBay.' I figured I'd give it a try."
In his first year on eBay, Cucinotti said he took in $500,000; the second year, he said, sales swelled to $750,000. In 2001, he raked in $1.3 million.
Cucinotti saw a drop in business in 2004, after President Bush pulled funding from school music and art programs that had generated business from students.
Despite the setback, Cucinotti said he is still boasting brisk sales. In the past 60 days, according to his business log, he's sold at least 107 items on eBay alone.
He also offers hundreds of items on his business website, including clarinets and saxophones made to his specifications.
To date, the most expensive item Cucinotti has sold on eBay was a Selma Mark VI tenor saxophone, for $7,500. But that was a few years ago, so Cucinotti attended Trudeau's class in hopes of picking up a few tips.
There he learned of the benefits of shorter online auction periods, and heard for the first time about a new auction-management system. After doing a bit more research on his own, Cucinotti decided to stick with 10-day auctions, rather than the recommended five, and to keep his current software.
''It works for me," Cucinotti said.
When the online auction site made its debut, the company had just four items listed for sale -- an authographed picture of Bob Hope, an 8-inch black-and-white television set, a Cessna airplane, and an aquarium lighting system.
In 1996, eBay's first full year in operation, 28,000 items were listed for sale. Last year, eBay offered more than 60 million items each day, according to eBay spokesman Hani Durzy.
The growth of the site has would-be sellers clamoring for support. Always eager to boost sales, eBay now provides a list of registered trading assistants who help those intimidated by technology too sell their goods in the virtual marketplace.
Cucinotti is one of 56 trading assistants in the Globe North circulation area. The company also trains education specialists who offer classes on the intricacies of selling products on eBay.
Trudeau, who lives on the Cape, is one of 700 eBay education specialists in the world. More than 100,000 people have taken classes on how to sell items on eBay since the online auction company began its own education program in 2000.
Last month's eBay class in Salem was one of the most popular programs offered by the Enterprise Center. A second eBay class may be offered this spring, according to Cathy Julien, operations manager at the center, which leases space to startup companies and offers educational programs to small-business owners.
The Sergotts, who specialize in decorative pieces crafted from minerals such as limestone, alabaster, and sandstone, hope the next class goes beyond Trudeau's typical PowerPoint presentation.
Last week, a month after the seminar, the couple had not yet tried to sell anything on eBay. They were still doing market research and trying to figure out the intricacies of eBay.
''We've been in business for about 18 months but we've only had a website for about six months," said Nestar Sergott. ''I guess you could say I'm technically challenged. A more hands-on seminar, where students have a chance to get on a computer and really see how it all works, would be great."
28,000 Number of items listed on eBay in 1996
2 billion Number of items listed on eBay in 2005
$7.2 million Value of items sold on eBay in 1996
$43 billion Value of items sold on eBay in 2005
Source: eBay Inc.
Brenda J. Buote may be reached at bbuote@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
