Selling Yourself on eBay? It Might Not Be As Crazy As You Think!

With a huge international audience, eBay might be just the ticket for job hunting and selling your services... if you can get noticed.

Almost everyone these days is familar with eBay, the online auction site where you can find almost anything for sale. Within the last couple of years some enterprising job seekers have found a new product to advertise, namely themselves. It might sound like a strange idea to some, but given the spirit of free enterprise behind the eBay concept (it has grown from a simple auction site to a one that includes online stores and its own online banking subsidiary, PayPal) it makes perfect sense.

In 2000, laid off dot com employee Karen DiGesu famously got the ball rolling with her "Dot Com Employee For Sale" auction. While the auction was cancelled by eBay due to its rather humorless view of the situation (for some reason they considered it a slave labor auction), this publicity stunt opened the doors for other creative ads and to Ms. DiGesu opening her own publicity company.

In January 2003, writer Steve Young listed his entire family for sale for a mere $5 million. Although obviously a tongue-in-cheek ad, his auction was also cancelled for similar reasons. However, a search of the current auctions finds him selling his writing services for a cool $4.5 million.

Other eBay patrons are taking a more conservative and safer approach. One current job seeker, a self-described "writer and web guy", is selling for $1 each the right to offer him a job that matches his requirements. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2911487920&category=317

When asked why he would try this he responded (via email), "I have a good job now, but who knows what might be out there and who might stumble on your eBay ad. Most people I know who have tried the job search sites have been disappointed."

Given the current economy and frustrations of many job seekers, expect to see more and more workers advertise their services on eBay. And don't be surprised if eBay ends up adding an employment site to its portfolio of web properties.