59Well here we are after such a long time. I started on eBay in 1999 as a buyer and occasional seller. As a 49 year old man, I sort of grew older with the internet. In 1993 my father’s coin laundry business was chosen as the first General Electric distributor to test market the new digital Coin washer and dryer. That minor event changed my life in ways I could never imagine. In order to utilize this revolutionary new technology, we had to drop $1,500 on a computer. I remember when the salesman tried to stick me with another $40 for a power cord! I chewed him out good. I unloaded on his stupid ass until he gave in and agreed not to charge me for the plug. I remember setting up that first computer in my office. It ran DOS and Window’s 95. Once we got it hooked up and running we signed up for our internet service with Prodigy. This is where I first started following the discussion groups and a whole new world of possibility was in front of my eyes. Well as it often does, life got in the way a few times and I ended up getting side tracked into other more pressing ventures like paying bills, staying married, raising kids and so on. Not to mention a few health and financial/career crisis along the way just to keep it interesting.
Flash forward 22 years and I am now a divorced and remarried insurance agent of the most mediocre variety. So last January I decided to get serious about selling on eBay! and finally owning my online record store that specialized in blogging about, reviewing and selling classic rock vinyl records.
My journey began buy opening my eBay store and pouring my heart, soul and all my extra time into making it work. I was on track as a Top Rated Seller with almost 2,000 positive feedback rating of 99.2%. The store inventory and sales were on a steady climb. Sure it was tough. I had to build the store brick by brick from the ground up on garage sale treasures and donations from my family who surely must have been convinced that I had really lost it this time. Undeterred by the usual bullshit, I plowed ahead and I began to feel a real sense of personal accomplishment for the first time in my life. Then one morning last week I woke up to realize the dream had died. It was such a shock to my system. I went to bed the night before well on my way to my goals and dreams and I awoke to a nightmare where eBay’s new deceptively titled “defect rating” kicked me square in the nuts. All my items had been moved from active to unsold and my eBay store account was closed with no possibility of ever getting it opened again. My head was spinning; I couldn’t go to work and sell insurance today. Today I had to bury my creation. I have always heard that a parent should never have to bury a child. I thought I knew what that meant but it wasn’t until this day that I actually felt a little of the pain that must create. When you create something and pour your mind, heart and soul into it, burying it can be a sad and heart breaking experience.
I did the only thing I knew to do; roll up my sleeves and pick myself up by my bootstraps and get busy on a new and better creation. I had tasted victory and I liked it enough to never quit until I achieve it.
I found a two hour plus length video on YouTube about how to build an e-commerce web site. So here I go. It took me that entire day to watch that video and build this website.
I now have three challenges:
Create quality fresh content on a weekly basis (and eventually a daily basis)
Manually re-list each and every one of my eBay! Store items into my new e-commerce website.
Continue my treasure hunt for the best condition classic vinyl rock albums to sell to my customers.
I think this is also therapeutic for me. If I don’t find another project to pour my heart and soul into then I will forever mourn the dream I just buried. So here I go again.
My new site is called Laguna LP Store. I am going to keep a narrow laser beam focus on providing you the follower with fresh, entertaining and interesting content and locating the best of classic rock vinyl albums to sell online in my record store.
Please visit and shop. Every little sale goes such a long way. I know you will be satisfied and if you are ever not satisfied just send me the album back and I will refund your money as soon as the item arrives.
I hope that my 99.2% positive feedback rating on eBay over a period of 15 years will help me earn you confidence.
http://lagunalps.com
Jody