As a seller, if eBay closed down tomorrow, what would you do?

[*crikey*mate*]

I know it is unlikely, but it's not impossible. Bigger companies than eBay have fallen, dissolved or just stopped operating.

or even on a smaller scale, if eBay stopped you (as an individual) trading tomorrow.

Some sellers rely on the income derived from their eBay Selling accounts, perhaps not realizing, that they have no lease or guaranteed length of future tenure and no guarantee that they will even be trading next week.

I doubt that a bank would lend money based on income derived from eBay unless it was atatched to a B&M store, but even then, could not see them giving too much credence to those sales.

And the reality is, that you have very little to sell, just the cost price of existing stock, no lease, no fixed assets such as a building, no intangible assets, no transferable goodwill and no transferable reputation.

When you look at it like that, it's not really a very stable or reliable source of income, is it?

[digital*ghost]

I don't use credit, so the bank loan issue is not relevant to my business. I'm kind of a slow n' steady person / business at the moment in terms of everything but eBay, because eBay currently affords me that luxury, but if I woke up tomorrow and I couldn't trade here for one reason or another?

Well, first I'd do this

Then I'd make a more concentrated effort on all the other stuff I've been doing - most of my best work is done under those kinds of circumstances.

[amber-eyed-girl]

Crikey, the fact the business was run on eBay is meaningless to a bank, they will lend on:

Sound business strategy to someone with only an idea (start-up business loans on a smaller scale)

Not just the value of your stock, but goodwill and track record

Any business with tangible assets can run up debt too and be unable to repay a loan.

A bank decides a loan on more factors than the value of current assets and debts. It also takes into account who you are, in terms of prior success with a business.

There is also the personal connection between a long standing customer and the bank manager. An assessment of risk.

Credit history, repayment of other loans in the past.


Most loans are done in a matter of minutes by banging in some numbers into software. It will then spit out the max. The bank is willing to lend on the spot, these include current income, current debt, possible near term debt (credit card limits), value of all assets, and a valuation of goodwill.

A long term lease in a good area where you have grown a business does matter too, but web sites are the new real estate for business. A domain name has value too.

[*crikey*mate*]

wow, so glad that you survived the cyber attack. Was that the catalyst that caused you to create the set up you have? (Not meaning to be personal, so I undrstand if you can't answer) (plus, this is just a curiosity thing, have wound down my eBay selling now)

with the commercial property, did you buy it outright, so that you can rent it out and create income etc? was that a factor? that the actual purchase would create an income?

I lease a commercial property. I needed an industrial premises for my business plan, but needed it for an estimated 6 months to maybe a year (took 4 months *proud lookin*) before it would produce any revenue (if it ever did), so I stuck an icecream shop out the front to generate an income to pay the rent until the real business got off the ground, until I had a product to sell and market.

Then I took that business and business plan, projections, secured contracts etc to the bank and they were the security for the site I operate my business from (we call it headquarters LOL) and the capital we needed to expand the real business. meet the secured contracts and operate it.

[*crikey*mate*]

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@amber-eyed-girl wrote:
Crikey, the fact the business was run on eBay is meaningless to a bank, they will lend on:

Sound business strategy to someone with only an idea (start-up business loans on a smaller scale)

Not just the value of your stock, but goodwill and track record

Any business with tangible assets can run up debt too and be unable to repay a loan.

A bank decides a loan on more factors than the value of current assets and debts. It also takes into account who you are, in terms of prior success with a business.

There is also the personal connection between a long standing customer and the bank manager. An assessment of risk.

Credit history, repayment of other loans in the past.


Most loans are done in a matter of minutes by banging in some numbers into software. It will then spit out the max. The bank is willing to lend on the spot, these include current income, current debt, possible near term debt (credit card limits), value of all assets, and a valuation of goodwill.

A long term lease in a good area where you have grown a business does matter too, but web sites are the new real estate for business. A domain name has value too.

---

again, I am not talking about just any business/website, I am talking about eBay account. and as an eBay account holder, you do not have a Domain name.

[*crikey*mate*]

yeah, i know i am missing something.....

Spoiler

now there's an opening...

[*crikey*mate*]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

I don't use credit, so the bank loan issue is not relevant to my business. I'm kind of a slow n' steady person / business at the moment in terms of everything but eBay, because eBay currently affords me that luxury, but if I woke up tomorrow and I couldn't trade here for one reason or another?

Well, first I'd do this

Then I'd make a more concentrated effort on all the other stuff I've been doing - most of my best work is done under those kinds of circumstances.

---

I was more thinking if a person whose sole income was eBay, and they wanted to buy a house or something like that. (with respect to the bank loan)

loving your happy dance smiley.

[digital*ghost]

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@crikey*mate wrote:

---

@digital*ghost wrote:

I don't use credit, so the bank loan issue is not relevant to my business. I'm kind of a slow n' steady person / business at the moment in terms of everything but eBay, because eBay currently affords me that luxury, but if I woke up tomorrow and I couldn't trade here for one reason or another?

Well, first I'd do this

Then I'd make a more concentrated effort on all the other stuff I've been doing - most of my best work is done under those kinds of circumstances.

---

I was more thinking if a person whose sole income was eBay, and they wanted to buy a house or something like that. (with respect to the bank loan)

loving your happy dance smiley.

---

It's a panicking smiley LOL. Or, it's supposed to be. 😄 (mouse-over text.... 🙂 ).

In terms of banks n' loans n' stuff I know very little about because, as I said, I don't use credit for anything...

Other businesses / websites are still reliant on uncontrollable factors - websites in particular, whether you own your own domain name or not. There's no guarantee your webhost is secure and/or that your site will remain accessable, just like a worker at an every day job can not guarantee with any degree of certainty (unless they have a contract, but even then the business they work for could fold any day) that they will be employed and earning income 1 year, 2 years or 10 years from the date of the loan, so I don't really know why a bank would consider eBay income to be more of a risk to loan against than any other income. 

[amber-eyed-girl]

Crikey,

I am answering the question as it was put, where eBay is meaningless for the loan. It does not exist, it has closed down.

All that matters is what you had done, what you have and your future prospects. Any domain name you would own (refer to my first answer, as in sellers who have other trading mechanisms) is part of that.

A bank will lend money based on any verifiable income regardless of source. It is a number. Any income could cease tomorrow.

Your leased building could collapse in an earthquake.

The main income earner could be run over.

Your stock could disappear overnight in a sinkhole.

Banks operate on risk assessment. A balance of expectation based on prior earnings. Shifting from eBay to another website or shopfront with a clearly defined continuation of the same business is what they would want.

If you are applying for the loan while eBay still exists, then the value of eBay lies in:

International exposure

Known brand

The first you have with your own website. The second you keep to a large degree, as you have the goodwill of your eBay store and the reputation you have built, and just shift your clients if you want to become independent.

A bank will give full credence to eBay sales as they would the sales of any other business type.

It comes down to the same thing. Turnover. Reliability. Success.

[chameleon54]

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@crikey*mate wrote:

wow, so glad that you survived the cyber attack. Was that the catalyst that caused you to create the set up you have? (Not meaning to be personal, so I undrstand if you can't answer) (plus, this is just a curiosity thing, have wound down my eBay selling now)

with the commercial property, did you buy it outright, so that you can rent it out and create income etc? was that a factor? that the actual purchase would create an income?

I lease a commercial property. I needed an industrial premises for my business plan, but needed it for an estimated 6 months to maybe a year (took 4 months *proud lookin*) before it would produce any revenue (if it ever did), so I stuck an icecream shop out the front to generate an income to pay the rent until the real business got off the ground, until I had a product to sell and market.

Then I took that business and business plan, projections, secured contracts etc to the bank and they were the security for the site I operate my business from (we call it headquarters LOL) and the capital we needed to expand the real business. meet the secured contracts and operate it.

---

In answer to your first question, I had two accounts when the interferance with my main account ocurred. My wife and I had already discussed setting up a third account for tax purposes and had consulted the accountant about it, but yes the cyber attack was definatly the catylyst to make it happen. We where dreading starting another business from zero feedback, but got to admit it was a piece of cake.  

As for your second question - Commercial property was actually a hobby farm. ( I was just trying not to give too much information away ) The propery is 100 acres in high rainfall hills country. The kids ride motor bikes there on the weekends and I go for a drive out there in the evenings when I have finished ebaying. Its a beautifull drive, maybe with a quiet beverage,  and this helps clear my head after being on the computer all day. I run a couple of hundred sheep out there so gain some income from them, but the property is only 30 minutes drive from a major city so the income from 200 sheep does not touch the sides of the loan.

As already stated it is mainly the ebay income I rely on to meet the loan commitments and it was the accountants ATO records of previous ebay income the bank used to asses the loan. They asked a couple of questions about ebay, but that was really it. They just studied the figures and assesed the loan on these. As Amber has mentioned previous loan and business history would have played an important part .

[*crikey*mate*]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

---

@crikey*mate wrote:

---

@digital*ghost wrote:

I don't use credit, so the bank loan issue is not relevant to my business. I'm kind of a slow n' steady person / business at the moment in terms of everything but eBay, because eBay currently affords me that luxury, but if I woke up tomorrow and I couldn't trade here for one reason or another?

Well, first I'd do this

Then I'd make a more concentrated effort on all the other stuff I've been doing - most of my best work is done under those kinds of circumstances.

---

I was more thinking if a person whose sole income was eBay, and they wanted to buy a house or something like that. (with respect to the bank loan)

loving your happy dance smiley.

---

It's a panicking smiley LOL. Or, it's supposed to be. 😄 (mouse-over text.... 🙂 ).

In terms of banks n' loans n' stuff I know very little about because, as I said, I don't use credit for anything...

Other businesses / websites are still reliant on uncontrollable factors - websites in particular, whether you own your own domain name or not. There's no guarantee your webhost is secure and/or that your site will remain accessable, just like a worker at an every day job can not guarantee with any degree of certainty (unless they have a contract, but even then the business they work for could fold any day) that they will be employed and earning income 1 year, 2 years or 10 years from the date of the loan, so I don't really know why a bank would consider eBay income to be more of a risk to loan against than any other income. 

---

you're a cracker! Do all your stored smileys have a little message on them?

not arguing, trying to understand the principles.,.,.

On another webhost for an individual website business.

If it closed, don't I own everything? have them in my posession, the listings, the page set ups/hotmail code etc, with eBay, all that is not ours, it's just kind of a template where we tick boxes etc. all the links are thwere and established etc.

I've set up 2 websites in my entire life from scratch, both as uni assignments. One was on Dreamweaver uploaded to the uni server, the other in HTML, again uploaded to the uni server. So that's the entire extent of my website creation knowledge, ok?

Lets think about Mestige (I ordered those earrings you found me BTW, they're on the way ). A totally separate website. They "own" all the stuff that goes into making their website, and thus their business, so if their current host **bleep** down, isn't it just a case of them finding another host and uploading their info? Sure, they may go temporarliy offline, but it's not all over red rover.

Their name is the same and established, so it's the same for google search etc, to find them

I have a website for my business, but I also had/have a way to direct people to it as well as B&M POSs

Now, with an eBay account. I have none of that. Maybe my listings if I use turbo lister.(and will that work on other websites?) But no established name to transfer from eBay to the www, no framework or platform to create it all iykwim. No links from other businesses etc, No place to advertize my existence for people to find me it's all just their tick the box templates. I lose everything.

even if I managed to get an entire website set up, it's this little uinknown entity floating around in space, hoping someone remembers my user name to try and find me.

Plus really, eBay handles most of the business aspects for us. We're using their business model.They attract the customers ultimately, determine how and when we get paid, legalities etc

That's why I am struggling to understand that an eBay account is the same as an individual website that I own and have control over.

.......................................................................................

and it's going to take me some convincing or time to get around the job where I am employed by someone else compared to me being self employed on eBay

If I am a plumber and I lose my job cos the company closes down, then I find another employer, if I am an eBay seller and they close down, there is no similar......

or is there?

is it that simple?

everyone just pops over to QS?

inconvenience of starting again from scratch re listings etc, and may take the general public a bit of time to know that's where everyone went, but that's really like Mestige or me finding another host server, isn't it?