Finding a Local Group of eBayers

Okay, as I've said previously, I am an eBay addict. Some eBay addicts are buyers. They never sell anything, they just buy, buy, buy. To them it's like the Home Shopping Network without the TV. It's even better since it's not on TV, because their non-computing friends envy them for their techie status.

Others are sellers. (Actually, I've never met a seller who isn't also a buyer on eBay.) They want to make some money. How much money depends on the person. For some it's a hobby and others a business. I think the last statistic I read was that there are over 12 million sellers on eBay running a full time or part time business. With the exception of this last group, it's not about the money...well, not just about the money. If you are an eBay addict, you eat, sleep, and play eBay as much as you can get away with. For some it even borders on OCD, we... 'er they feel drawn to the computer all the time. Did I sell anything in the last 5 minutes?; Did anyone send me a question about one of my listings?; Are their any new sellers in my niche? etc., etc., etc.

So, one of the things that eBay addicts enjoy, is talking to other eBay addicts. Well, since this whole thing revolves around the computer and the Internet, how does one do that? Let me count the ways.... There are discussion Forums on eBay's website. There are Groups on eBay. There are even Blogs on eBay. You can also send email to other users through My Messages of eBay. I have a baseball cap with the eBay logo on it that sometimes gets another eBayer to say hello. With the possible exception of the last one, these methods are not really 'talking' to other eBayers.

What's the answer? You attend a local eBay networking group meeting. If you can't find one, you start your own local group. A couple of years ago I found a group in the neighboring state. It was an hour and fifteen minutes each way for a two hour meeting once a month. But I went, month after month...for awhile. It was great! Then one day I was reading some of the discussion topics in an online eBay Group meant for eBayers from my state. One discussion was titled, "Meeting other eBayers in Person." That got my attention. There was a lot of posting on the topic back and forth for months, but nothing ever came of it.

So I just went ahead and started a group. It's called the eBayers of Northern NJ. We meet one a month at a local Panera Bread restaurant which has free WIFI. It's not a big group , but we put notices in some of the local newspapers and we regularly get new visitors. It's so enjoyable to talk to others face-to-face and share what we buy or sell on eBay. We trade tips and techniques and stories about the products we buy or sell.

You can do this too. Go to eBay Groups and search for any groups with the name of your state as part of their name. Then join some of them and ask if there are any face-to-face networking groups in your area. If not, consider starting one. You can then go back and tell the people in those groups you visited, about the new group you started. Another way to find eBay meetings is to go to the website: Meetup.com. There you can browse groups by city or search for a meetup group with the word 'eBay' in the name.

Now, I'm looking forward to the big daddy of eBay meetups in a few weeks, the eBay Live convention in Chicago. This is eBay's annual education, networking, and exhibition gathering. I'll tell you all about it, in a month from now when I return.

Ken