Matia Bryson

The Spiritual Side of Selling on eBay

Lately I have been selling things on eBay to try to reduce clutter in my house and in my life.

I have mixed feelings about that. In many cases the things I am selling were given to me. Although my head says there is nothing wrong with getting rid of stuff, even if it was a gift, my heart is concerned.

Basically, there are four ways to get rid of stuff.

1. Throw it away. Not at all spiritually gratifying.
2. Give it to someone you know.
3. Give it to someone you do not know through Good Will, the Salvation Army or whatever local charity thrift shop you have.
4. Sell it by garage sale or eBay. Garage sales must have drastically reduced prices to appeal to the untargeted and poor traffic you receive, to make an internet marketing comparison. EBay, on the other hand, is a traffic machine.

There are some pros and cons to all of the above. I consider eBay to be a special case. At first while I was listing some things for sale on eBay, my heart said I was betraying the people who gave me those things. My head said nobody can be expected to keep every object given to them in life, and if it is truly “given” one should be free to do with it whatever one desires.

Many of the things I have listed on eBay in the past month have sold. One of the items was a small marble replica of the Taj Mahal. The buyer said that as a child he lived in India and his family had one of these hand-carved replicas. It had broken. He asked me to be especially careful when I packed it for shipping. I did. He left me feedback that said it was the best packing job he had seen in years.

Another object I sold was a “Bear Forces of America” teddy bear dressed in an Army Special Forces uniform complete with beret and parachute. The buyer, whom I noticed buys many military bears, was not collecting for herself. She was buying up all the bears she could find to take to a veteran’s hospital in her area. There are many military men there healing from wounds they have recently received in Iraq. Needless to say, I shipped the bear before waiting for her check to clear.

The last thing I will mention is a small porcelain figurine of an American goldfinch bird. The buyer is sending me her money order, and I am watching my mail for it carefully. This gold finch is to be a Christmas gift for an elderly gentleman she takes care of. He loves to watch the finches that come to his bird feeder.

So now my heart can rest. Not every thing I sell has a story, but it is enough to realize that the things I sell are going where they will be loved and appreciated.

Many thanks to Steven Lohrenz, who let me know it is o.k. to write about Why We Fight (not what you think), even on a make-money blog.  I also recommend his post about How The Stuff You Own Ends Up Owning You.