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Selling Their Business Through eBay

Posted on: Monday, 6 February 2006, 09:00 CST

By Michelle E. Shaw, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Feb. 6--WILLIAMSBURG -- When Jack Hamilton posted the inventory of his closed rare-book store on eBay, he didn't really expect to get any bids.

The listing, asking for $495,000 for the collection of more than 75,000 items, is more of a classified ad than a real item up for auction.

"This isn't something you would buy without seeing," Hamilton said of the collection of rare and historical books and other memorabilia he's amassed over 30 years. "This would really have to sing to somebody in order for them to be truly interested. I've had several inquiries, but no one has come to see it, which is a tell-tale sign for me when it comes to genuine interest."

Hamilton is not alone in trying to market his business through the popular online auction site. A search of eBay listings priced from $100,000 to $9 million that include the word "business" returned more than 70 hits -- including Hamilton's offering. Businesses for sale on eBay range from the relatively inexpensive -- a Collierville, Tenn., vending machine business for $10,500 -- to the pricey, such as $525,000 for a pawn shop in Central City, Ky.

Several of the listings include pictures of properties and everything else that comes with the sale, down to office furniture and inventory. Many also include phone numbers and e-mail addresses, encouraging potential buyers to contact sellers and visit the property.

Rosalee Folz , who listed the Kentucky pawn shop for sale on eBay, also didn't expect many bids. Instead, she was looking for people to call and possibly visit the store. While she's gotten several inquiries -- even from as far away as California -- she hasn't found the right buyer.

Still, Folz said she didn't consider advertising anywhere else.

"Everybody around here knows I'm selling," she said. "It's people who aren't from around here that I'm trying to reach, and eBay has quite a reach."

EBay Inc. doesn't keep statistics on the sale of businesses on its site, said Hani Durzy, spokesman for San Jose, Calif.-based company.

Real estate is a popular category on the site, Durzy said, but there is no category for selling a business. However, the company is aware of the growing number of businesses listed for sale, he said.

What Hamilton is really doing, selling a collection of items in bulk, is also popular, Durzy said.

"That could be of great interest to a person who sells books on eBay for a living, for instance," he said of Hamilton's listing. "If there's someone who is willing to buy in bulk and then break it down and parcel it off piece by piece, that type of sale could be very attractive."

Hamilton's collection includes items valued from as little as a dollar or two to thousands of dollars. At the high-end, a set of seven hand-colored French maps of the Americas, dating from the late 1700s, is appraised at $6,000. A 1677 edition of Sir Walter Raleigh's five-volume "The History of the World" is valued at $2,000.

Hamilton's collection, from a bookstore he closed in 2000 and stored in a building behind his home, includes more than just books, however. There's antique furniture, stuffed animal heads, wood carvings and filing cabinets, drawers and boxes full of documents, pictures and memorabilia that haven't been sorted through, he said.

"I'm not a collector, I'm an accumulator," he said. "I mean, if I took the time to go through all of this and put a value on these things the asking price would be much higher."

However, sifting through all of it to appraise the thousands of documents, pictures and historic memorabilia is not something he's interested in doing at this point.

"Selling it all is just what works best for me right now," he said. "I'm going to stay in the business. I'm just going to scale back a bit."

As for the eBay listing, he's not sure how long he will keep it posted. However, he doesn't think the asking price is a deterrent for those serious about books.

"There are truly some interesting things in here that people would just have to come and see," he said. "I mean, when you sell something for half a million dollars there had better be something interesting in there."

Reach Michelle E. Shaw at (757) 446-2667 or michelle.shaw@pilotonline.com.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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