I made my first eBay sale on April 21, 1999 and since I had a full time job, as well as a business to run, it was more of a fun little hobby to do in my "spare" time. In the beginning, I found a niche that needed to be filled (vintage gun books) and started perusing every used book store I could find, as well as different resources on the net. I'd buy low and sell high ... like any business. Participation was sporadic ... I'd bust ass for a while, then I'd slow down for a while ... it became a cycle. The best part of it was, it was fun and I figured if it ever became a burden and wasn't fun anymore, I'd bail. Well, it's always been fun and when my health issues kicked in, I had much more time to dedicate to the cause.

This month, in just under 20 years, I broke $150,000 in sales! ($150,123.32 to be exact) Sure, that's gross, but near as I can tell, my CODB is at about 30% - 35% ... which is a heck of a lot better profit margin than any other business I've dealt with! Of course, the yearly average is only about $7500.00, so it's not like making a legitimate living, but it's fun and puts a bit of travel money in my pocket.

We're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate! Well, not for my personal milestone really. My birthday is Friday and Lynn is taking me someplace nice for dinner tonight. Problem is, she won't tell me where. I'm not "allowed" to wear my usual ... jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes ... so it must be some hoity-toity joint. I hope she doesn't expect ME to pay the tab .... I'm broke!