Fw: [meteorite-list] eBay Likes and Dislikes

From: Adam Hupe <adamhupe_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:04 2004
Message-ID: <00bd01c349d4$e7f6a020$b4dbe60c_at_attbi.com>

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Hupe" <adamhupe_at_comcast.net>
To: "Steve Schoner" <steve_schoner_at_yahoo.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 11:35 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] eBay Likes and Dislikes


> Hello Steve and List,
>
> You are correct when you say those who are in it just for the money won't
be
> around very long. My post was not directed at you, it was a general
> audience post. I know meteorites are an avocation for you and money is
not
> your priority. You have made great contributions and your love for
> meteoritics goes way beyond the monetary aspect as everybody knows. I
just
> cannot see any problem that eBay presents to meteoritics as a whole. We
are
> the same as we have yet to show a profit. We spend far more building our
> collection than what we sell on eBay. If we were in it just for the cash
we
> would create a super web-site to supplement our eBay sales. Our web-site
is
> an informational site not a sales site. The sales we have made on eBay
pays
> thousands a dollars a month in laboratory fees. This prevents us and
> anybody else interesting in what we sell from having to wait years for
> classifications.
>
> All the Best,
>
> Adam
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Schoner" <steve_schoner_at_yahoo.com>
> To: "Adam Hupe" <adamhupe_at_comcast.net>;
> <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 11:30 PM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] eBay Likes and Dislikes
>
>
> > --- Adam Hupe <adamhupe_at_comcast.net> wrote:
> > > Dear List Members,
> > >
> > > Since eBay is here to stay as far as meteorites and
> > > every other type of collecting goes I will offer an
> > > analogy.
> > >
> > > When Wal-Mart moved into town about half of the
> > > small business owners complained saying they would
> > > have to close down because they could not compete
> > > with Wal-Mart's prices. The more informed shop
> > > owners looked at more than just pricing and did not
> > > worry much realizing that Wal-Mart could not
> > > possibly give the one-to-one service a small
> > > business that specializes can. Only the storefronts
> > > that were in it for a quick buck, no real customer
> > > support and a lack of product knowledge died off.
> > > Wal-Mart did the town a favor by weeding out all of
> > > the cheesy dealers with no long term business plan
> > > or solid customer support. I am not calling anybody
> > > in meteorites cheesy so do not take offense,
> > > thankfully Wal-Mart does not sell meteorites!
> > >
> > > Business is survival of the fittest and eBay
> > > represents a part of every successful dealer's
> > > portfolio whether it be coins or cars. Dealers who
> > > do not embrace technology will be left in the dust
> > > complaining about it. The days of huge profit
> > > making in meteorites for dealers is over for good.
> > > Several auction houses like eBay serve to regulate
> > > and keep profits in check. If a product is priced
> > > too high it simply will not sell. The days of a
> > > captive market are thankfully over. If it were not
> > > for the help of eBay in clearing out 2000 Kilos of
> > > ordinary chondrites that came out of Northwest
> > > Africa to a huge audience there would be no sense in
> > > looking for them in the first place, there would
> > > simply be too much material to move any other way.
> > >
> > > We recieved a few emails from two dealers
> > > complaining to us about our auctions on eBay telling
> > > us to get married or something becuase we had too
> > > much time on our hands and we are helping to destroy
> > > a lucrative market. Lucrative is a realtive term.
> > > When we were manufacturing thousands of interent
> > > appliances and servers, 11% was considered an
> > > awesome gross profit margin.
> > >
> > > There are dust makers and dust eaters. We certainly
> > > do not want to be left in the dust!
> > >
> > >
> > > Wishing everybody well,
> > >
> > > Adam
> > >
> >
> >
> > Adam,
> >
> > Meteorites have never been a "lucrative market" for
> > me. When I first started almost 45 years ago, it was
> > a hobby, albeit a very strange hobby, and until well
> > after a man went to the moon, there was very little
> > interest in meteorites, other than those interested in
> > academic institutions, and or positions.
> >
> > There are times I make money at it, and there are
> > times I don't.
> >
> > But I keep it up because it is still and always be a
> > hobby for me.
> >
> > I do not, nor have I ever considered it a true
> > business, nor will it ever be, so my interest in
> > meteorites will remain regardless of whether dealers
> > new or old catch on to modern (Ebay) technology, or as
> > you say "bite the dust."
> >
> > I almost "bit the dust" recently, for physical reasons
> > other than Ebay's impact on the meteorite business,
> > and what I went through has impressed me with the fact
> > that meteorites are not as important as I once
> > thought.
> >
> > But they are and always will be my main hobby, in
> > addition to whatever job I do for a living, which is
> > up in the air for now.
> >
> > And you know what?
> >
> > Lord willing, and if he so allows, I will still be
> > around collecting meteorites or thin sections of such
> > long after all those dealers, who feel Ebay's pinch to
> > their so called "lucrative meteorite market," bite the
> > dust.
> >
> > If one is really in it for money, then they might as
> > well find another thing to make money with (if they
> > feel the pinch and perceive that their "profits" are
> > down).
> >
> > It is the collectors, the hobbyists that keep it
> > alive.
> > And if Ebay does not perpetuate the trend to reduce
> > samples to ever smaller samples and ever greater
> > prices for these samples... down to dust, then
> > collector-hobbyists stand to really enhance their
> > collections with fine pieces when the "meteorite
> > market" really falls hard, and those dealers that are
> > in it for money alone, do as you say, "bite the dust."
> >
> >
> > Steve Schoner/ams
> >
> > __________________________________
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>
Received on Mon 14 Jul 2003 02:55:26 AM PDT