As of today RICARMIC has survived 20 years on eBay!

[ricarmic]

Wow time has sure flown by, another sign of getting older I guess!

Boy hasn't the eBay world changed a lot in the last 20 years!

However, having said this, the older you get, the more you've seen things before. I can't count the number of times I've seen the "latest changes will be the end of eBay" concerns in the last 20 years. (as an interesting side note as you know I'm a stamp guy and Femme and others will also recall that for the last 40 years we've been hearing the same thing about the stamp hobby, it is dying, no new collectors etc etc).

Certainly eBay seller evolution has been required over the last 20 years, however I was having to evolve in the 20 years before the internet/eBay too! (I'm into my 42nd year selling stamps, so eBay's only been part of the mix for the last half). So far I continue adapt and remain functional here.

I certainly do enjoy the sense of community we have here on the boards, folks on the home front usually don't understand the trials and tribulations of selling in the online world. I wish I had more time to contribute - but alas that would also mean I would have less sales, so I guess I hope you'll only hear from me a bit!

Hey tyler@ebay , do I get a gold pin or something for a 20 year anniversary??

Anyway, enough celebration time, I guess its back to work time now - here's to another 20 years on eBay!!!

Ron

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@ricarmic 

Way to go and congrats Rick!!!   Maybe for 20 years you should get a matching discount? Hey, it's worth a shot. So did you know grey hair was directly tied to eBay, as a seller!! I realized that at 10 years. I'm only at 16 years. My story and sticking to it. Again, congrats!! Here's to another 20 successful selling years going forward. So will you be setting up a self-help group for eBay sellers shortly? You could be president! My name is Rick....I'm an eBay longtime seller.  🙂

-Lotz

So do you think you're still selling to collectors who just never stopped collecting or there are a few new collectors in the mix?

[msmaggie060]

Congrats on 20 years of hard work! I’m not sure if eBay gives out gold pins after 20 years but at least you deserve an eBay ball cap! Sorry, but no, you can’t have mine! 😀

[pjcdn2005]

Congratulations!  EBay has been lucky to have experienced and knowledgeable sellers like you here!

[reallynicestamps]

Congratulations. I hope you are finding time to enjoy the vast riches eBay has brought you!

[tyler@ebay]

20 years!? That's amazing @ricarmic!

I don't have a gold pin, but I'll see what I can do. 🙂

[lucitabby]

Congratulations!

Dedication and integrity helped you arrive at this milestone.

Gold pin?   Unlikely but maybe an extra coupon for shipping supplies

[ricarmic]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

@ricarmic 

Way to go and congrats Rick!!!   Maybe for 20 years you should get a matching discount? Hey, it's worth a shot. So did you know grey hair was directly tied to eBay, as a seller!! I realized that at 10 years. I'm only at 16 years. My story and sticking to it. Again, congrats!! Here's to another 20 successful selling years going forward. So will you be setting up a self-help group for eBay sellers shortly? You could be president! My name is Rick....I'm an eBay longtime seller.  🙂

-Lotz

So do you think you're still selling to collectors who just never stopped collecting or there are a few new collectors in the mix?

---

As with everything, in my world the "where's the collectors" is changing/evolving.

Over time, I'm acquiring more international buyers (finding international buyers was exceptionally difficult/expensive for me prior to the internet era). My personal belief is that the collector base in North America is holding steady at best, most likely it is declining some. However it has/is increasing significantly in the emerging economies like Russia, Asia,Latin America. One thing I've noticed is a significant increase in the number of ladies collecting now, much higher % than was the case 30 years ago!

Even what counts as a collector is probably changing, I've had customers buying old stamps to put on wedding invitations, for specialized art, because they like anything with horses on it etc.

My longest customer I am sure of is 35 years with me, however they haven't been active in a while. My longest customers are of course all ones I've acquired before the internet, so I have several more than 20 years. Many of that group don't have/use computers and still receive a printed price list. Sadly we lose a few more of them each year, a sad reality of an aging customer base.

Interestingly I've seen a lot of customers in the last few months that haven't purchased from me for several years here. Not sure what I've done differently to reacquire them but happy to have them back again!

Anyway, time to get back to work again....  Ron

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

You could say @ricarmic has left his stamp on eBay!!

Now don't ya wish you had a few of these to list? You could have retired 20 years ago!

-Lotz

[cumos55]

Selling on eBay  is a unique experience.....  Years and Years of learning and adjusting.

and then establish a protocol  for dealing with each sale.... each buyer.

Think back to the year 1975... and then ask the question....

A computer.... Why do I need a computer?...  These last 20 years are the answer....

There will be more years...... and always making it happen.... 

and now it will be each successive year,  one after another... that is how you got here  and will continue to sell on eBay.

[triber]

Congratulations, well done! You are just a few months behind me, so I know how much work has gone into the last 20 years.

I agree, many changes, some better, some not.

[reallynicestamps]

Any time there is an exhibition with a Junior Division, most of the exhibitors are girls.

We also saw that in our now-closed shop, little girls bringing in their parents. Boys were usually brought in by their fathers or grandfathers.

One upsurge we've seen is in Postal History. When we opened in 1978 there was almost no postal history dealers outside of Alan Steinhart. Now every dealer has an active section and most shows have at least one specialist dealer.

DH also says that younger/newer collectors are much more knowledgeable and sophisticated than the older guys. Most have at least read pages 13-14 of their Scott. (And are likely to have a Scott Vol 2 or a Unitrade.)

[amcdc79]

Wow 20 years, most of us were not even born yet,........just kidding. Way to go, congratulations, and wishing you the mental and physical health to last another 20.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Congrats!

One of my colleague at work just retired this month and she has been working for a whooping 38 years! Considering the relatively high injury rate for my work, 38 years is very impressive. I wasn't even born yet.

12 years and counting on eBay for me. I do think the change to GTC will end my selling life here, and it'll probably be in the form of "I FORGOT TO END MY LISTINGS AT DAY 29. GOT CHARGED $50+ INSERTION FEE, TIME TO RAGE QUIT."

A couple years back I told myself, if I get 5 INR a year, I'll quit. I got 4 that year (~$100 CAD), and after I stopped selling certain books and blocked a few European countries I stopped getting INRs lol...

[recped]

Hey tyler@ebay , do I get a gold pin or something for a 20 year anniversary??

All I got for my 20th was a surprise Seller Update!

Different product line, one of the other tried and tested categories that has been proven for mail order over many many decades prior to the web.

Also the same 42 years in the retail game. I doubt I have another 20 in me, maybe 15.