In early 1999, I started checking out the eBay^tm on-line auction web site http://www.ebay.com. I was mainly looking for one type of hobby item for myself (slot cars) and a certain type of collectible for my wife. I was amazed to find so many desirable items that I would never have had access to if restricted to shopping only in the surrounding geographic area. Of course you also find a bunch of junk. As I was driving home from the February MAS auction, I realized that I hadn't taken a look to see if there is stuff available to the aquarium hobbyist on eBay^tm. Prices at our auction had been so good that day (good for the sellers) that I kind of had selling stuff (i.e. greed) on my mind.

It didn't take me long to find a long list of fish-related items for sale. From the ebay^tm home page, click on the "Miscellaneous" link, then on the "Pet Supplies" link under the "Household" category. Although the number of items listed changes by the minute, there is usually about 3500 to 5000 items listed in the Pet Supplies category. The number of listings is probably growing steadily, as eBay^tm continues to become a larger and larger "community" (as they like to say). Once you've arrived at the Pet Supplies pages, you need to do a "search" in order to filter out all of the dog, cat, bird, and other kinds of pet stuff (Furbies are listed in a different section; guess they don't qualify as a pet yet.)

I've found the most productive searches to be "aquarium", "fish", "filter", and "pump". Each of these brings back a list of items that contains the word in the item description. If you were specifically looking for something like a heater, a skimmer or flake food, then you would want to search accordingly. On February 28, 1999, I found the following number of listings for various search categories:

• "aquarium" brought back 2l0 items, all of which had the word "aquarium" somewhere in the title,
• "fish" brought back 110 items (including a ceramic "fish couch"),
• "filter" brought back 35 items,
• "fish tank" brought back 22 items,
• "pump" brought back 13 items (including both water pumps and air pumps),
• "food" brought back 27 items (including dog and cat foods and food dishes),
• "flake food" brought back 5 items (and "flakes" found two additional items),
• "heater" brought back 8 items,
• "marine" brought back 21 items (mostly books),
• "saltwater" brought back 8 items,
• "tropical" brought back 23 items (including tropical fish shaped catnip toys).

Who's selling this stuff, you ask? Anybody and everybody. Some of the sellers are clearly retail establishments. If you have some stuff that's been setting on the back shelf of your pet store a little too long, sell it on eBay^tm There are also plenty of hobbyists (or would-be hobbyists) that are selling their stuff. They're selling everything from a single issue of Aquarium Fish Magazine to a 150 gallon fish tank. (Try shipping one of those things!).

Just like any auction, sometimes you can find great deals and sometimes you see used stuff selling for more than what a brand new one costs. Here are a few examples of sales made on eBay^tm during February of '99. These are deals that you would have wanted to be the seller, not the buyer.

• A new Triad 2000 power filter for $22 plus shipping. Another seller got $25.50 for the same thing. You can buy it from a mail order pet supply company for less than $20 plus shipping.
• A new VisiTherm 300w heater for $29.00 plus shipping. Mail order is $15.95. Thirteen bids on this item.
• A new Aquarium Pharm Tap Water Purifier for $32 plus shipping. Mail order is $25.79 + s/h.
• A used Aquarium Plants book by Rataj for $23 plus shipping. Mail order is $21.77 new. There's lots of books for sale on eBay^tm.
• A new Hagen Elite 800 air pump (very small, single outlet) for $10.50 plus shipping. Mail order you will pay $4.95.
• A used Magnum 330 canister filter (at least 6-8 years old, these were replaced by the 350s about then) for $46 plus shipping. I'd rather have a brand new H.O.T. Magnum for less money.
• A used Magnum 350 Deluxe (with quick valves and a box of carbon, but with NO TUBING) for $90 plus shipping. Mail order is $79.99 (new, of course).
• A new Hagen 802 powerhead sold for $30.07 plus $8.00 shipping. This is a very powerful, reversible flow powerhead, but you can get it at a mail order price of s 19.89.
• A used Magnum 350 for $65 plus shipping. Mail order is $59.99. A new Magnum 350 sold for $71.01. It was viewed 214 times and had 15 bids.
• A 4-year old used H.O.T. Magnum. There were a total of 21 bids. It sold for $43 plus $5 shipping. Mail order is $39.50.
• A new H.O.T. was sold by a different seller for $46 (10 bids). The best one was a new H.O.T. that sold for $71.00. Seller said it retails for $110. (Have you ever seen that price in a store?!). It was viewed over 172 times and had 17 bids.

Why do I compare eBay^tm prices with the price to buy it mail order? Maybe I should compare eBay^tm prices with the price to buy in a store instead. I don't think so. Since these people are obviously on-line to make these purchases on eBay^tm, they could just as easily buy these items from the on-line mail order pet suppliers. Either way they have to pay a shipping charge. In fact the mail order shipping charge would usually be lower for the person who wants to buy two or more things.

There are some good opportunities for the buyers as well (not as many, but there are some). Occasionally you'll find a good deal that no one else seems to want or notice (with almost two million items for sale, some items do get overlooked). The best strategy is to list those that are about ready to close (Going, going, gone!) and see if there any good last-second deals. Here's a few examples:

• A used Ocean Clear canister filter with pleated micron cartridge in shape, and with the pressure valve. It sold for $39 plus Mail order is around $139 for these.
• A new Rio2500 powerhead/pump sold for $20.50 plus shipping. Mail order is $37.99.
• A 1966 copy of Innes' Exotic Aquarium Fishes (a classic) for $5.50 plus $2.50 shipping.
• A used Marine Atlas by Dr. Burgess for $20.51 plus $5.00 shipping.
• Someone in Houston was selling a complete fish room for $1,000 (might be worth the drive to get this stuff). 140 - 20-gallon tanks, 6 - 400-gallon blue poly vats, 1/3 hp air blower, sponge filters, treated wood shelving, and other pieces of equipment. Many tanks drilled in bottom for central filtration. There were no bids on this item.

You also see a few sellers that are either insane or extremely greedy. If they set their minimum bid too high, they can expect to get no activity on their items, even though many items do sell for too much money. Here are a few examples of how NOT to sell something on eBay^tm:

• Put a minimum bid of $80 on a used Fluval 303 canister filter. You can buy them brand new for the same price. No bids in seven days; gee, maybe the price was too high.
• Put a minimum bid of $30 on a new Triad 1000 filter. Mail order they sell for $18.95. Even in most retaid stores they sell for less than $30.
• Put a minimum bid of $20 on a new Aqua-Clear 301 powerhead. These are nice little powerheads, but you can buy them for $14.95.
• Put a minimum bid of $9.99 on 3.5 ounces of TetraMin flake food. That's about twice as much as it's worth.

The last thing that has intrigued me about eBay^tm is the sale of aquariums. I find it amazing that people are buying and selling tanks of all shapes and sizes and shipping them around the country. I'm thinking about selling a few of my own tanks after seeing some of these deals:

• A Michigan seller offered a 10 gallon tank with one of those new "economy" equipment set-ups. There were 21 bids with the high bidder paying $35.
• A different Michigan seller offered a 20 gallon high with lighted top, stand, and air pump. The final price was $52.11.
• A seller in Butler, PA offered a 60 gallon with lighted top, Whisper 3 filter, and air pump (all used). It sold for $152.50 to the 16th bidder.
• Someone in New York state sold a 55 gallon tank with lighted top, Magnum 330 (old model), and air pump for $125. The buyer also paid $40 for shipping. Fourteen bids were made.
• Another 55 gallon tank was sold in Stamford, CT for $137.,50. A metal stand and lighted top were included. There were 29 bids on this tank.
• Big tanks seem to draw a lot of attention unless the price is sky high. Someone from Brooklyn offered a custom built 100 gallon tank with lighted hood, 2 air pumps, filter (not specified), and various coral pieces. This auction was viewed 642 times (that's a lot!) and received 26 bids. The high bid was $855.
• A 125 gallon tank with a hometown of Chicago was sold for $150. It included a H.O.T. Magnum and a Magnum 220, along with a hood and stand.

If you're thinking about selling some of your stuff, there's one thing you are probably wondering, how much does it cost? There is an insertion fee ranging from 25 cents to two dollars, depending on the size of your minimum or opening required bid. For example, if you list an item with an opening price of $9.99 or less, you only pay a quarter to list the item for up to seven days. If your item sells, you will pay a commission of 5% or less. The higher the winning bid, the smaller the percentage that you pay, but never more than 5%. You pay nothing except the insertion fee if your item doesn't sell.

Before you become your own personal auctioneer, one word of warning. This web site can be addictive, very addictive. Proceed with caution.