An outlet for your eBay obsession
MILFORD One of Milford’s most unique stores reopened its doors recently. The business is the only one of its kind in the area: open 24 hours a day/365 days a year, it literally has enough registered customers to form the world’s third largest country, and gives out rather than takes in cash from those who walk in. What is it, you ask? TrueLife Finds - the area’s first eBay drop-off store. Having fully recovered from an Oct. 30 incident in which a car drove through the façade of the building, the store is back doing business across the nation and around the world. Owner Maggie Potenza discovered the power and potential of eBay several years ago after listing inventory from her husband’s old store on the Internet-based global marketplace. Though very hesitant and intimidated at first, she developed a knack with the site and soon became obsessed with selling things around the house. “I instantly became hooked,” she said, describing how items that were collecting dust could be sold and begin collecting interest. When the inventory was gone, she said, the joke around her house soon became, “Don’t stand still too long, or mommy will sell you on eBay.” When her young children grew up, Potenza had extra time on her hands and extra room in her PayPal account to move forward with an ambition to open a drop-off store. So with some luck and good timing, TrueLife Finds opened three years ago at Route 6 and 209 on Robert’s Lane. The concept behind the store is simple: people bring in unwanted items of $50 value or more, Potenza takes care of all of the work to list them on eBay, and once the items are sold in an online auction, both the store, through a 35% commission, and customer walk away with the profits. This all typically occurs within two to four weeks. Potenza also joined the eBay education specialist program, where she was taught how to teach others about the site. She now offers two classes: “the basics of buying on eBay” and “the basics of selling on eBay.” Come February, she will be certified to teach more advanced courses. Potenza offers both monthly and private classes within her store. Over the course of the business venture, everything one could imagine has traveled through, she said. From a tooth belonging to the largest great white shark ever caught (which the movie Jaws was based on) to a pen that brought it over $1,200, Potenza has seen it all. A 1911 Louis Vuitton suitcase and a 1957 Chevy were also among more interesting items Potenza sold. Matchbox cars, comics, and vintage fishing equipment are popular items brought in, she said. As a result, Potenza has became a sort of “Jill of all Trades” because research and subsequent price listing are very important. Three years into the business, the excitement of the auction still hasn’t worn away for Potenza and her family. “We’re like animals around the time the auction ends at night we’re huddled around our home computer pressing the refresh button over and over again.” Experienced bidders on eBay will wait until the last few minutes, even seconds, of an auction to start placing their bids. Sometimes, Potenza explained, this can mean that an item will jump up in value several hundred dollars, even as much as $1,800, in the last minute. TrueLife Finds is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and can be reached at 570-296-2545. Its virtual doors, however, will remain open - something not even a runaway car can change. Although items around the house may be hidden treasures, Potenza reminds potential customers that husbands, wives, and children may not be placed on eBay.