Starting an eBay Business for Dummies by Marsha Collier (2001, Paperback, Illustrated)

With wit and charm, Marsha Collier guides the reader from a fledgling "newbie" to a potential power seller. The book is a no-holds-barred, pull-no-punches approach to starting your own business on eBay. It takes the reader through the various steps needed to achieve this goal: from opening your store and office; to stocking your merchandise; to budgeting and marketing; to customer service; to shipping; to record keeping and, of course, to your tax liability.

"Starting an eBay Business" delivers on it's promise that each Chapter stands alone. The reader may peruse the book from front to back or back to front and any combination in between. There are a few eye crossing Chapters, most notably Chapters 8 and 9, where the book bogs down in the technical aspects of a computer based e-business and, for those of us who are not very computer literate (yes, we're still out there), they are difficult Chapters to wade through. Mercifully, the Chapters that don't appeal to you may be skipped over until such time as you are mentally prepared to deal with them.

Ms. Collier succeeds on a number of levels. Although I would stop short of calling this book a "page turner" (given the nature of the material), it is very readable and I found myself wanting more. It succeeds in educating while entertaining. It succeeds in providing a how-to-guide which actually tells you "how to". It succeeds in handing out little nuggets of practical advice and wisdom from people who have been there. It succeeded in convincing me that this is not a time in my life to open my own business. To that end, the book was invaluable.

The book fails, however, to answer my all consuming question: "Just why in the world doesn't anyone want to buy my pink flamingo flotation device drink holder, complete with it's own plastic glass?"

A "must read" for anyone even thinking of opening an e-business!