UNDER THE HAMMER
Shop delivers the goods
EZ Auction helps don't-do-it-yourselfers put items on the block with no fuss, no muss

When Eleanor Andree became a widow three years ago, her husband left her with hundreds of items in their home.

"He was a collector of everything: electronics, books," says Andree. "He was a camera person. He had all kinds of lenses and stuff. I wasn't sure what some of the items were."

So Andree took some camera equipment to EZ Auction Stop, Houston's first drop-off eBay storefront. Owner Tod Knight looked at her equipment, researched the market value on eBay, took digital photographs and wrote a description, listing her items for sale.

Since that April visit, Andree has made $1,600 by selling excess things through EZ Auction Stop on the Katy Freeway at Voss.

"Tod and his brother were very knowledgeable about what the equipment was, how much it would sell for," says Andree. "They are so easy to deal with, and I get this off my hands."

Customers like Andree are just what Knight is looking for.

In business since January, the 39-year-old entrepreneur says he got the idea to be an eBay broker last Thanksgiving. As the owner of Canadian Prescriptions Direct, which helped elders fill their prescriptions from Canadian pharmacies where prices were cheaper, Knight was feeling pressure from the federal government, which had been closing similar operations.

Knight opted for a low-profile approach, closing his storefront but continuing to do business through a partner in California.

"Now we help people make money," says Knight.

Risk-free proposition
Here's how it works. Customers drop off items weighing 150 pounds or less. Knight and his brother Daryl do online research to find the market value. If it has an estimated sales price of at least $50 on eBay and measures less than 130 inches in combined length and girth, Knight will list the item.

That involves taking digital pictures of the item from different angles and writing an appealing listing. Once the item is sold, EZ Auction Stop ships the item to the buyer and sends a check to the seller.

The seller pays a commission — all eBay fees plus 35 percent of the first $200, 30 percent of the next $300 and 20 percent of the remaining amount over $500. The seller is obligated to accept the highest bid offered in seven days. If it doesn't sell, the customer picks up the item, or it's donated to charity, and doesn't owe Knight any money.

"It's a service," says Knight. "A lot of people, myself included, no longer change their own oil or iron their own shirts. People can do it but don't necessarily have the time or facilities or wherewithal to see the process through."


Diverse clients, common thread
Clients range from a customer in his mid-70s, who gets online with his daughter's help to check out his auction items, to a computer-savvy 20-something-year-old who had used eBay in the past but was going to Saudi Arabia and didn't have time to sell on his own.

Mostly, customers use it for the convenience.

Take, for example, Tina Jackson, who considers herself very computer literate and works with a computer daily.

"I do not literally have the time. EBay is cumbersome. EBay is really the basic free market. When you step into the market, if you are not completely prepared about what you are offering, you shouldn't get into it. It will eat you alive," she says.

Instead, Jackson took her collectibles to EZ Auction Stop, such items as Lladro figurines and Waterford crystal commemoratives for the Rockets championships and Dallas Cowboys.

"He's very friendly, extremely professional, very on top of his game," says Jackson of Knight. "I get an e-mail, 'Here's how much it sold for.' He e-mails me an invoice, well detailed. It does not get any easier than that."


'Leveraging the eBay marketplace'
EZ Auction Stop is the beginning of a trend of brokers helping the public sell their unwanted items on eBay, an Internet company that became profitable from the day it opened for business and sells $1,000 worth of merchandise every second on its site.

In addition to EZ Auction Stop, Houston has Easy Payor and Easy Sellers. And now all the UPS Stores have a partnership with AuctionDrop, based in California. Sellers bring their item into any UPS Store, which packs and sends it to AuctionDrop, where the item is listed and sold for a commission. If the item is unsold, it's sent back to the seller at no cost.

"They are doing what individuals have done. They are leveraging the eBay marketplace as a channel for running their own business," says Hani Durzy, a spokesman at eBay in San Jose, Calif. "We are looking for ways to support this trend without getting in the way."

At any given time, there are 29 million items for sale worldwide on eBay. And although eBay is known for its auctions, about 27 percent of the dollar value of items sold through eBay in the second quarter, which ended June 30 this year, came from fixed-price purchases rather than auctions. EBay's revenues for the second quarter of 2004 totaled $8 billion, a 42 percent growth over the same period a year ago, says Durzy.

"Ebay's created a secondary marketplace and a primary marketplace in some places for all that stuff out there. There was no efficient marketplace for people to sell their stuff in the past," explains Durzy of the Internet company's rapid growth.


Experience adds value
While Knight acknowledges that anyone with access to a computer and digital camera can do what he does, he says his online auction experience can obtain better results. So far, he's completed some 1,400 auctions for customers.

"Because of the way we present it, the pictures we take, the write-up we do, our presentation, the feedback we've gotten; we've monitored a few of our high-dollar items. Quite often, we're at the top of that list," says Knight.

For example, Knight recently sold an expensive digital video camera for a customer. Based on his research, he was expecting around $1,800 for it, but it sold for almost $2,600.

There's a science to selling on eBay. The site says sellers will get 20 percent higher sales price if they display at least three photos. Knight does that for his customers.

"If there's a flaw, take a picture and show it," advises Knight, adding that by selling through his store, "We also add a third-party objectivity to the process."

And then there's the psychology of buying at auction. Knight will list most items starting at $1, knowing that the low starting price will attract buyers, and the more bids there are on an item, the more interest in the item, and ultimately, the higher the price.


'I look on eBay first'
Consider the case of one gentleman who walked into EZ Auction Stop with two golf clubs. One Callaway Big Bertha driver was better than the other, recalls Knight. The client prepaid $19.99 for the store's special service, which allowed him to set an opening bid higher than $1, and listed it for $49.99. The other club started at $1. At the end of one week, the club listed for $1 sold for $100. The one listed for $49.99 had no bids.

The client tried again, this time dropping the opening bid to $29.99 on that unsold club, and sold it for $63.

"If you put it out for $1, and it's worth $50, I don't necessarily want it, but I'll pay $5. What quite often happens is people get invested in that item they're bidding on. They want to win," says Knight.

Items that sell well are those that have measurable, known quantities. They include electronic items — vintage cameras, newer digital cameras, scuba diving equipment, some sports memorabilia, designer fashion jewelry (but not fine jewelry) and designer watches.

Although the broker business for eBay is growing more competitive, Knight says there's room for all of them for now, but he predicts a shake-up eventually. At his location in Hedwig Village, he is able to attract affluent, educated customers who live in an area that restricts garage sales.

"It's less a garage sale than it is a bazaar," says Knight, who grew up helping his mother run her consignment store in Plano. "EBay has its own market. Almost anything I need to buy, I look on eBay first, unless I need it now."
HoustonChronicle.com - EZ Auction helps customers put items on the block