So while I was gone on vacation, I missed an important little anniversary. I put my very first item up for sale on eBay on March 2nd, 1997 which means that I have been selling online for just over 13 years. Though I’ve sold on many many platforms over the years that was my very first attempt at selling online so it holds the distinction of being the official start of it all. Many platforms came and went so it’s funny that I still sell on eBay when it was also my first.

What was the first item I sold? I really don’t remember. I didn’t realize I would still be at this gig 13 years later or I would have taken notice. I kinda wish I knew what it was but I really don’t remember. It’s a safe bet it was some kind of My Little Pony. 😉

For those of you curious and who also want to feel old (or perhaps young, depending on who is reading this) when I listed that very first eBay item I was 17 years old and a junior in high school. An entrepreneur before a high school graduate. Not bad, eh?

I was only newly legally able to drive but I was not actually old enough to have an account on eBay (had to be 18) so I was selling under my father’s name. I would answer customer emails after I finished my homework and go to flea markets on the weekends to find stuff to sell. I didn’t have a credit card so I used my dad’s and then paid him back for the fees as we were billed. I used to list items on our family computer in our television room (the only computer we owned). I would have to list items in bulk because we didn’t own a digital camera at the time so my dad would borrow one from work on the weekends, I would photo items like crazy so he could return it each Monday. When a phone call cut off the modem while I was in the middle of listing an item and I would lose all the work I just did, I would scream like anything. 🙂 Dial-up, man, I do NOT miss it.

I told my mom to buy eBay stock before they went public. She didn’t. We could have been rich. We bust her about this to this day.

It’s a little crazy to think that signing up for eBay all those years ago and putting something up for sale would still have such an effect on my life 13 years later but here we are.

So here’s to lucky 13! 😉