Ebay

Recently, I have just started to use ebay to get rid of all stuff I do not need.
You see I have all this stuff that is just taking up room in the flat, and it is too expensive and precious to just chuck into the landfill.

I realize that ebay is a perfect proof that 'one guy's trash is another guy's treasure'.

I also use this as a way to practice how to do business with integrity. It is so hard to resist glancing at the bidding right at the final crucial end of the bid to see if my Tony Robbins CD's have gone up in price.

Things that I thought were not very valuable turned out to be far more valuable than I thought!

Nevertheless, as beautiful a tool ebay is, it has major pitfalls. For starters, you have to say the truth and mention all the scratches, dings, and blemishes in the object you're trying to sell. This can come back to haunt you later if your ebay ratings plummet! More serious is that you fail the crucial test of 'Did you do your business deals with integrity?'

Finally, when all is said and done, the stark fact that our stipends are decreed on Rosh Hashannah hold true even with ebay. That means that all our money, whether it comes from the job paycheck, ebay, multi level marketing (NOT RECOMMENDED), rental property, stocks and other financial instruments - ALL THAT is determined on Rosh Hashanah!

So it's exciting to see how the bids turned out, YET we have to remember that Hashem decreed that money for us anyway, and if we wont get it on ebay, then we'll get it in a birthday present, a tax break, or a holiday bonus - or finding the same amount of money on the street (and there's no return address or clues to return the money to)

Chag sameach!