Developing eBay Business Tools For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

386 Pages·2005·6.85 MB·English

by  John Kaufeld, Tim Harvey

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®
Developing eBay
Business Tools
FOR
‰
DUMmIES
by John Kaufeld and Tim Harvey
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01_579061 ffirs.qxd 12/15/04 7:32 PM Page i
®
Developing eBay
Business Tools
FOR
‰
DUMmIES
01_579061 ffirs.qxd 12/15/04 7:32 PM Page ii
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®
Developing eBay
Business Tools
FOR
‰
DUMmIES
by John Kaufeld and Tim Harvey
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® ®
Developing eBay Business Tools For Dummies
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit-
ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written
permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the
Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone].
Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing,
Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, [phone], fax [phone], e-mail:
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About the Authors
John Kaufeld is a nerdy business geek, but at least he has fun.
John discovered computers in high school instead of girls, and amused him-
self by laboriously typing BASIC programs into a TRS-80 Model 1 in his high
school math lab. During college, he accidentally discovered the profitable
world of consulting when he set his hourly tutoring fee at four times the
going rate, yet received more clients than all of the other tutors put together.
Tying the two fields together made some kind of perverse sense in his mind,
so he spent much of his career helping people understand computers (and
sometimes helping computers deal with their people).
In addition to writing a bunch of books in the For Dummies line, John started
several fun businesses with his co-author, Tim Harvey. He spends lots of time
at their board game store, More Than Games (www.morethangames.com),
particularly during the holiday season. If you look hard enough, you can fre-
quently find him at either Origins or GenCon Indy (www.originsgames.com
and www.gencon.com, two of the big summer game conventions). In his copi-
ous free time, he enjoys photography, music, and every moment spent with
his wonderful wife Jenny and their three children, Joe, Becky, and baby Isaac.
You can find John’s auctions on eBay under user ID linguaplay, and can reach
him via e-mail at
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Dedication
John’s Dedication:
To Jenny, because I loved you the first moment we met, and every day is like
meeting again.
To Critter, Pooz, and The Mighty S-PAL (Sir Poops-a-Lot), for the smiles, the
hugs, and the loving way you say “Daddy, is the book done yet?”
To my friends and compatriots at John Wiley and Sons, for the opportunity of
a lifetime.
Thank you, one and all.
Tim’s Dedication:
To Sara, my lovely wife and constant source of joy. Your dedication, sacrifice,
and endless enthusiasm made this book a reality. Thanks for challenging me
to reach for the sky.
Props to all the friends, family, and customers that endured long hours, fre-
quent schedule changes, and endless talk of eBay. We’ve got some lost time
to make up for!
Special thanks to the folks at John Wiley & Sons, particularly Mark and Kim
for their incredible patience and encouragement. You made this project fun.
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Authors’ Acknowledgments
John’s acknowledgements:
First, congrats to you, Tim, on your first-ever book. You survived, but your
hair didn’t. (Don’t worry — we’ll have the memorial service soon.)
At John Wiley and Sons, my humble and sincere thanks go to Acquisitions
Editors Katie Feltman and Steve Hayes (and Andy Cummings, “the boss”), for
giving me a new book when they probably should have run screaming from
the building. Major kudos also go to Mark Enochs, our Project Editor, for
enduring the task set before him (namely, working with us).
Thank-you’s also go out to Kim Darosett and Kyle Holder, our Copy Editor and
Technical Editor, respectively. Without them, this book would look like... well...
never mind what it would’ve looked like. Some things are better left unknown.
A special tip o’ the hat goes to my wonderful friend Marsha Collier. Marsha is
the kind of person that everybody hopes they meet in their life, because she’s
an energetic dynamo of knowledge and delight. I can’t wait to see you again!
Finally, my deepest, most enduring thanks go to Diane Steele. Many years ago,
Diane took a chance on an untried geek, carefully watered and cultivated him,
and patiently watched me grow into something that kinda-sorta looks like an
author, provided you tilt your head at the right angle. Diane, you’re awesome.
Tim’s acknowledgements:
First and foremost, thanks go out to my coauthor, John Kaufeld. An amazing
author, wonderful friend, and talented business partner, John continues to
amaze me. Your continual encouragement throughout this book project kept
me moving. You guided and coached me along many bumpy roads, always
keeping an eye towards growing a stronger Author in me. You rock (verb)!
Mark Enochs, our project editor, made this book happen in a very special
way. While we didn’t have much phone time, your kind e-mails and thought-
provoking questions ensured that my inner-author stayed sane and our read-
ers benefited from a solid title.
Reminding me that I should have paid a bit more attention in English years
ago, Kim Darosett turned sometimes bumpy ideas into clear, concise explana-
tions. I thank you, and our readers thank you (trust me, you saved them from
a few good ones).