eBay

Another review of an established site (I promise I'll go back to the obscure sites soon).

I like eBay. I use them instead of Amazon because their vendors are fast, inexpensive, courteous (super-courteous, in fact, you can get into trouble if you don't take the time to give your thumbs up or down) and the merchandise is good.

I know, you're waiting for me to say something bad.

Well, they could probably increase their business tenfold if they had an interface that dummies could use. I'm computer literate enough that I can blog about tech, write a little html, yada yada yada. What I can't do is deal with auctions, PayPal, and shipping options. If you've seen all the "Dummies for Dummies" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Idiocy" books out there, then you might be thinking that these books are way too long and are written for engineers. [Is this guy stupid or what?]

I have actually paid a little more for some products by having a friend or a bricks & mortar store merchant go to eBay for me so that I wouldn't have to. Somebody local could do a healthy business with people and for people who don't feel like doing this or that online. And isn't a lot of business based on laziness? Most of us don't raise chickens. We go to the supermarket for eggs and chicken meat. Most of us don't raise cows. We buy milk and beef at the store.

Anyway, this is not criticism of eBay. (More like criticism of PayPal) And a suggestion to anyone sharp enough to see a business opportunity and maybe do some market research.