My Wife Is Addicted To Ebay

[Bobsyouruncle]

In Thailand my wife was forever buying and selling things on Sanook.

When we lived in Dubai she found a similar site called sook (or something like that) and she did the same thing.

But when we moved back to Australia last year she found EBay and she has since become completely obsessed with it.

She spends about 80% of her waking day online or packing and sending products she has sold.

Now don't get me wrong, I am happy she has found a business that keeps her busy but I feel she is going too far with it. It has completely taken over her life!

She has found a market for a particular product and it has gone through the roof. She has opened an EBay shop and she is making a lot of money. It's a booming success!

The problem is it is taking far too much of her time and I can see that a lot of this time is taken up just surfing the site looking for that "bargain" that Thais just can't seem to resist. It really has become an obsession.

I don't mind if it was only about her business but honestly, the junk she buys I would't even pick up off the street. But she loves it!

I am waiting for the novilty to ware off but her obsession just seems to be getting worst.

In 2 mths we will be moving back to Thailand and she is allready making plans to run her business from home.

I have heard about people being addicted to EBay and now I am married to one

Am I over reacting or is this EBay thing a real problem?

[JohnGotti]

tell her to hire employees to pack and ship stuff... buy her a book on the subject of micromanaging or something.

[bikerman]

In Thailand my wife was forever buying and selling things on Sanook.

When we lived in Dubai she found a similar site called sook (or something like that) and she did the same thing.

But when we moved back to Australia last year she found EBay and she has since become completely obsessed with it.

She spends about 80% of her waking day online or packing and sending products she has sold.

Now don't get me wrong, I am happy she has found a business that keeps her busy but I feel she is going too far with it. It has completely taken over her life!

She has found a market for a particular product and it has gone through the roof. She has opened an EBay shop and she is making a lot of money. It's a booming success!

The problem is it is taking far too much of her time and I can see that a lot of this time is taken up just surfing the site looking for that "bargain" that Thais just can't seem to resist. It really has become an obsession.

I don't mind if it was only about her business but honestly, the junk she buys I would't even pick up off the street. But she loves it!

I am waiting for the novilty to ware off but her obsession just seems to be getting worst.

In 2 mths we will be moving back to Thailand and she is allready making plans to run her business from home.

I have heard about people being addicted to EBay and now I am married to one

Am I over reacting or is this EBay thing a real problem?

Well that’s your financial problem solved when you move back to LOS, so now you can sit back and enjoy life, let your wife do what she is good at…..but buy her motorbike saves her poor feet.

[imaneggspurt]

I have a friend that is an ebay "zombie ", he does make money on ebay, a year ago he was on 8000 pounds a month profit, he now tells me its down 65 per cent, he does about 16 hours a day on the pc !,.i really beleive it has taken his life over,he furnished his house off ebay !,,BUT its driven him mad,he told me that in the morning prior to switching on the pc he gets the shakes as he knows of the 100 or so emails he wil have 10 per cent will be "screamers "..people complaining or asking " wheres me goods, " ,. good money but not for me,. !

[neverdie]

I have been told that some people get addicted to the internet, but I doubt that could ever happen to me .

Anyway, young bobsuruncle, this might be a way of increasing ur booty from 3.5 million to 35 million, with minimal capital outlay.

I hope you are declaring all of this on your annual tax payment to Mr Krudd , he's spending money quicker than your wife can type www.

[slapout]

Look around once back in Thailand for a clone of your wife and set her up also. Twice the profit, insist both take a couple nights off, each week, for your benefit, and your good to go.

[getgoin]

Once the sweet women we married get past a certain point they become fixated on money and doing something for themselves. Most guys are a bit older than their wives and as we start to think about taking it easy, they become psychotic and driven. We also, because of our experience, can understand some things that we see happening and they can not. Am I being sexist? Perhaps or perhaps I am being wise. Will it burn out? I doubt it. It will probably only get worse. In fact, she will probably have a hard time doing the EBay gig here and will complain about going back to Australia. See if it will run its course. Hopefully it will work out.

Get her help if you can but that sounds like an ever expanding business. Expanding businesses do not make for more free time.

Edited June 30, 2009 by getgoin

[Datsun240Z]

Once the sweet women we married get past a certain point they become fixated on money and doing something for themselves. Most guys are a bit older than their wives and as we start to think about taking it easy, they become psychotic and driven.

You took the words right out of my mouth

[Maizefarmer]

She'll have no problem - in fact out of all the places she has been selling from, selling local goods from Thailand (with the low labour and production costs that exist here) will offer her a bunch of oppurtunities that are far better than those she has had to date.

I know 2 expats in Thailand - living off ebay. Okay , they're selling counterfiet goods (mostly brandnamed clothing - shipping all over the world), but thats not the point - the point is I undertaand one guy is earning $8 - 10K a month, and the other fellow is earning around $5k a month.

So - can she do it? You bet she can.

[jackdanielsesq]

When the flames awake, beware the barrage

BR>Jack

[Misplaced]

I have a friend that is an ebay "zombie ", he does make money on ebay, a year ago he was on 8000 pounds a month profit, he now tells me its down 65 per cent, he does about 16 hours a day on the pc !,.i really beleive it has taken his life over,he furnished his house off ebay !,,BUT its driven him mad,he told me that in the morning prior to switching on the pc he gets the shakes as he knows of the 100 or so emails he wil have 10 per cent will be "screamers "..people complaining or asking " wheres me goods, " ,. good money but not for me,. !

A good friend of mine packaged multiple matchbox die cast vehicle together and sell as sets. He actually made enough to completely furnished his new house with the profits. Not a bad hobby I guess. If you have the time and the right product, money could be made by anyone.

OP, if I was you I'd support your wife with whatever she needs. This might be your meal ticket to financial freedom in LOS.

[sunny747]

i want a wife like yours.

[bkkjames]

i want a wife like yours.

I agree, my wife is addicted to smoked salmon and brie, and it's costing me a fortune.

[IanForbes]

Once the sweet women we married get past a certain point they become fixated on money and doing something for themselves. Most guys are a bit older than their wives and as we start to think about taking it easy, they become psychotic and driven. We also, because of our experience, can understand some things that we see happening and they can not. Am I being sexist? Perhaps or perhaps I am being wise. Will it burn out? I doubt it. It will probably only get worse. In fact, she will probably have a hard time doing the EBay gig here and will complain about going back to Australia. See if it will run its course. Hopefully it will work out.

Get her help if you can but that sounds like an ever expanding business. Expanding businesses do not make for more free time.

Good post, getgoin. From what I can understand in the OP's topic is his wife's business is taking quality time away from him. It's sort of the classic role reversal where the husband goes off to work and the wife stays home to do the cleaning and cooking. When he gets home he just wants to flake out in front of the TV while the little lady wants some stimulation.

[MrHammer]

tell her to hire employees to pack and ship stuff... buy her a book on the subject of micromanaging or something.

Correct.. Or tell her to get someone to ghostwrite an ebook for her, she'd make a fortune.

[Oberkommando]

She'll have no problem - in fact out of all the places she has been selling from, selling local goods from Thailand (with the low labour and production costs that exist here) will offer her a bunch of oppurtunities that are far better than those she has had to date.

I know 2 expats in Thailand - living off ebay. Okay , they're selling counterfiet goods (mostly brandnamed clothing - shipping all over the world), but thats not the point - the point is I undertaand one guy is earning $8 - 10K a month, and the other fellow is earning around $5k a month.

So - can she do it? You bet she can.

I think you'll find feepay don't allow counterfeits to be sold any more and those profits are pure pie in the sky these days anyway (especially for counterfeits if you can even get away with it).

My g/f moved her products off feepay and she's making more than she was before and with no fees. Feepay take listing fees and 10% from the sale costs then Painpal (which you must offer now and it is the most common payment method) take another 3-5% + flat fee! A total gouge. The last month she was using them the fees were around 38,000thb IIRC which was the straw that broke the camel's back (and that doesn't include Painpal's fees either).

She pays $9.99 a month for her site and 3% on credit card transactions, she can put up as many items as she wants, anything she wants doesn't matter if it is counterfeit and doesn't have to comply with feepay's increasingly difficult and irritating policies.

If you are a novice then by all means learn the trade on ebay but serious sellers thinking about running a proper business should be looking to sever the umbilicle with ebay as quickly as possible.

Ebay is also targetting high volume retailers that have high-street businesses (floundering in the current recession) and have alienated the small sellers that built and were the core of their business in the search for profits. Smaller sellers are now suffering and having to comply with increased pressure from feepay.

My g/f now finds running her own site infinitely more satisfying, cheaper and ultimitely more profitable. It was a struggle to setup and took about 6 months to take off but the effort has all been worth it.

[Bobsyouruncle]

She'll have no problem - in fact out of all the places she has been selling from, selling local goods from Thailand (with the low labour and production costs that exist here) will offer her a bunch of oppurtunities that are far better than those she has had to date.

I know 2 expats in Thailand - living off ebay. Okay , they're selling counterfiet goods (mostly brandnamed clothing - shipping all over the world), but thats not the point - the point is I undertaand one guy is earning $8 - 10K a month, and the other fellow is earning around $5k a month.

So - can she do it? You bet she can.

I think you'll find feepay don't allow counterfeits to be sold any more and those profits are pure pie in the sky these days anyway (especially for counterfeits if you can even get away with it).

My g/f moved her products off feepay and she's making more than she was before and with no fees. Feepay take listing fees and 10% from the sale costs then Painpal (which you must offer now and it is the most common payment method) take another 3-5% + flat fee! A total gouge. The last month she was using them the fees were around 38,000thb IIRC which was the straw that broke the camel's back (and that doesn't include Painpal's fees either).

She pays $9.99 a month for her site and 3% on credit card transactions, she can put up as many items as she wants, anything she wants doesn't matter if it is counterfeit and doesn't have to comply with feepay's increasingly difficult and irritating policies.

If you are a novice then by all means learn the trade on ebay but serious sellers thinking about running a proper business should be looking to sever the umbilicle with ebay as quickly as possible.

Ebay is also targetting high volume retailers that have high-street businesses (floundering in the current recession) and have alienated the small sellers that built and were the core of their business in the search for profits. Smaller sellers are now suffering and having to comply with increased pressure from feepay.

My g/f now finds running her own site infinitely more satisfying, cheaper and ultimitely more profitable. It was a struggle to setup and took about 6 months to take off but the effort has all been worth it.

Thanks for that advice, my wife read your post and completely agrees with you. Ebay and paypal take a large chunk of her profits and it is starting to hurt. She has allready completed a web design course and she knows the basics so when we get to Thailand we will start work on her own site.

Thanks again

[anonymouse]

I recommend a book called the 4hr work week by Tim Ferris, forget the sensationalist title but the author does give some great ideas for automating business's and spending less time trying to micro-manage.

[The Philosopher]

In Thailand my wife was forever buying and selling things on Sanook.

When we lived in Dubai she found a similar site called sook (or something like that) and she did the same thing.

But when we moved back to Australia last year she found EBay and she has since become completely obsessed with it.

She spends about 80% of her waking day online or packing and sending products she has sold.

Now don't get me wrong, I am happy she has found a business that keeps her busy but I feel she is going too far with it. It has completely taken over her life!

She has found a market for a particular product and it has gone through the roof. She has opened an EBay shop and she is making a lot of money. It's a booming success!

The problem is it is taking far too much of her time and I can see that a lot of this time is taken up just surfing the site looking for that "bargain" that Thais just can't seem to resist. It really has become an obsession.

I don't mind if it was only about her business but honestly, the junk she buys I would't even pick up off the street. But she loves it!

I am waiting for the novilty to ware off but her obsession just seems to be getting worst.

In 2 mths we will be moving back to Thailand and she is allready making plans to run her business from home.

I have heard about people being addicted to EBay and now I am married to one

Am I over reacting or is this EBay thing a real problem?

Many people get addicted to busniess:

Steve Jobs, Richard Branston, Sir Alan Sugar, Mukesh Ambani, Bill Gates not to mention Thaksin.

[Garry9999]

Mate, you're luck, my wife is addicted to internet chatting and blogging and doesn't make any money at all.

Think I might have to encourage her to start using eBay, sanook etc?

[Datsun240Z]

i want a wife like yours.

www.iwantawifelikeyours.com

?

[Loz]

Without fleabay I wouldn't have moved out here. When I decided to make the move I was in Italy. I was so into fleabay I nearly put all my sh7t on there, there and then. Houses, Cars the lot!

In fact I did move alot of my stuff on Ebay when I got home. Since I came to Los, I have not gone near it though...

Maybe its time...