How I started on eBay and created the Collectible Magazine Online Price Guide

Published in 2002, Adam Cohen's book, The Perfect Store was hailed as the first look inside eBay. I was interviewed by Cohen over the phone and eventually, three pages of the book were devoted to how I got started on eBay and how I created the Collectible Magazine Online Price Guide.
My notes on what Cohen wrote are in this margin next to the text.

It was actually February of 1999 that I got started on eBay. Downtown, the Unbound Magazine was the actual title of my newspaper, and I was never respected.
How Gannett actually disposed of me is a very long story, but Cohen got the gist of it right.
The person who suggested I try eBay to sell the Barbie dolls was a local used toy dealer.
Art's Used Furniture is not in downtown Rochester. It is in the Northwest quadrant of the city on Dewey Avenue, near Ridgeway. As of February, 2004, Art's is still in business.
The wall of magazines was not in a dark corner of the shop. It was actually near the front of the store. I could sense that the propietors didn't like the appearance of the magazines, mostly porn, so plain in view - to say nothing of the kind of customer traffic it was producing - and wanted to clear the space.

There were roughly 1100, not 1200 magazines, and the name of the magazine is Gent not Gents. I paid $125 for the entire wall of magazines.
I was listing 40 to 60 magazines on eBay per week not per month. Actually, it got to be more in the range of 50 to 80 per week.
Yes, Big Tits #1 sold for $86!
The first issue of Playboy appeared in December 1953 (the same month in which I was born), not November.

What Cohen describes as the contents of Playboy's January 1975 issue is probably inaccurate and not what I told him. I said that I would mention things like the Rat Pack, Joe Namath, Ralph Nader, Bardot, etc., but I never said they were in that specific issue. The idea is correct, though. I made more money on my auctions with solid descriptions. I was also able to purchase magazines I knew would fetch a good dollar, such as the March 1964 issue of Playboy. Most sellers would get $5-10 for it in excellent condition. I could buy it from them at that price, turn around and get upwards of $25 just by adding seven letters to the title: AYN RAND. She was the interview subject in that issue, and an important author and thinker for the 60s. While everyone else was concentrating on boobs and butts, I focused on the brainier aspects of Playboy and scored heavy gains.
See, Cohen says the Price Guide is a bargain! He's right about that, and it actually covers more and costs less now than when this book was published in 2002.
What really struck me about eBay's Mature Audiences section was that it segregated Playboy into two distinct parts, pre-1980 and post-1979. I have been told that they did this as a compromise to the Bible-thumping Pollyannas who don't like naked bodies or even the suggestion of sex. They used 1980 as the breaking point, rationalizing that pre-1980 magazines could be considered collectible. Maybe someday they will include Playboy magazines from the 1980s on the main site. As time wears on, they actually will be collectible. Possibly by 2020, eBay will wake up.

Cohen is incorrect in his assessment of how I felt and still fell about eBay's handling of adult material. I was always scorched by their breakup of Playboy and still am. Porn is porn, and Playboy never was and probably never will be porn. All Playboy magazines, regardless of when they were published, should be allowed to be listed on the main site. The rule is stupid and arbitrary.
What Cohen says about a search engine in the adult section is correct. I believe eBay finally added search to the adult section early in 2002. And I NEVER said, "They treat us like the crazy aunt in the attic." Cohen completely made that up.

Published in 2002, Adam Cohen's book, The Perfect Store was hailed as the first look inside eBay. I was interviewed by Cohen over the phone and eventually, three pages of the book were devoted to how I got started on eBay and how I created the Collectible Magazine Online Price Guide. My notes on what Cohen wrote are in this margin next to the text.
It was actually February of 1999 that I got started on eBay. Downtown, the Unbound Magazine was the actual title of my newspaper, and I was never respected. How Gannett actually disposed of me is a very long story, but Cohen got the gist of it right. The person who suggested I try eBay to sell the Barbie dolls was a local used toy dealer. Art's Used Furniture is not in downtown Rochester. It is in the Northwest quadrant of the city on Dewey Avenue, near Ridgeway. As of February, 2004, Art's is still in business. The wall of magazines was not in a dark corner of the shop. It was actually near the front of the store. I could sense that the propietors didn't like the appearance of the magazines, mostly porn, so plain in view - to say nothing of the kind of customer traffic it was producing - and wanted to clear the space.
There were roughly 1100, not 1200 magazines, and the name of the magazine is Gent not Gents. I paid $125 for the entire wall of magazines. I was listing 40 to 60 magazines on eBay per week not per month. Actually, it got to be more in the range of 50 to 80 per week. Yes, Big Tits #1 sold for $86! The first issue of Playboy appeared in December 1953 (the same month in which I was born), not November.
What Cohen describes as the contents of Playboy's January 1975 issue is probably inaccurate and not what I told him. I said that I would mention things like the Rat Pack, Joe Namath, Ralph Nader, Bardot, etc., but I never said they were in that specific issue. The idea is correct, though. I made more money on my auctions with solid descriptions. I was also able to purchase magazines I knew would fetch a good dollar, such as the March 1964 issue of Playboy. Most sellers would get $5-10 for it in excellent condition. I could buy it from them at that price, turn around and get upwards of $25 just by adding seven letters to the title: AYN RAND. She was the interview subject in that issue, and an important author and thinker for the 60s. While everyone else was concentrating on boobs and butts, I focused on the brainier aspects of Playboy and scored heavy gains. See, Cohen says the Price Guide is a bargain! He's right about that, and it actually covers more and costs less now than when this book was published in 2002. What really struck me about eBay's Mature Audiences section was that it segregated Playboy into two distinct parts, pre-1980 and post-1979. I have been told that they did this as a compromise to the Bible-thumping Pollyannas who don't like naked bodies or even the suggestion of sex. They used 1980 as the breaking point, rationalizing that pre-1980 magazines could be considered collectible. Maybe someday they will include Playboy magazines from the 1980s on the main site. As time wears on, they actually will be collectible. Possibly by 2020, eBay will wake up.
Cohen is incorrect in his assessment of how I felt and still fell about eBay's handling of adult material. I was always scorched by their breakup of Playboy and still am. Porn is porn, and Playboy never was and probably never will be porn. All Playboy magazines, regardless of when they were published, should be allowed to be listed on the main site. The rule is stupid and arbitrary. What Cohen says about a search engine in the adult section is correct. I believe eBay finally added search to the adult section early in 2002. And I NEVER said, "They treat us like the crazy aunt in the attic." Cohen completely made that up.