My Kiva-oriented eBay listing

[Guest]

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[Ramón]

Hey all,

I got a nice phone as a gift; a new, current, unlocked phone that I actually have no use for (since I'm getting all the phones I could ever wish for already through my work). So... I'm selling it through eBay, while also pushing Kiva: I stated my intention to use the proceeds for Kiva loans. And then the quarter dropped! What about asking the buyer to pay me with Kiva Gift Certificates?

See this eBay listing.

Basically, I am offering a huge discount if the winner pays me with Kiva Gift Certs:
- I will round down the price to the next lowest multiple of $25
- I will waive S&H fees
- I will also give the buyer a $25 Kiva Gift Certificate!

As a result, with a little bit of luck, I sell the phone (and can invest more into Kiva), the buyer gets familiarized with Kiva and gets a $25 stake in this, and an additional $18 to $42.99 discount, for a total price that is $43 to $67.99 cheaper than just paying me with Paypal. A huge incentive to go through the trouble and get yourself familiarized with Kiva...

By the way, since I had decided that the proceeds would go to Kiva loans anyways, the "actual" cost for me is auction fees (about $15-- eBay has gotten expensive!) and shipping costs (about $12 including insurance). The upside is that about 10 entrepreneurs will share in the proceeds, and maybe more if the buyer gets convinced of Kiva's value!

What do you think? Will it work??? I guess I will let you know in 7 days from now, when the auction ends...

--Ramón

[chris]

I like your plan!  Do keep us posted.

[NumboJumbo]

Well, that's a different take on things and hats off to you Ramon for thinking outside the box. It took me a while to figure out the full deal you were offering here, but once the penny dropped i can see how marvellous an idea it is which benefits everybody.

However, that being said. Will it work? I'm not sure, coz for somebody not familiar with the Kiva concept, I'm just wondering whether they would have the confidence to buy the Kiva certificates in the first place to pay you. We know Kiva is a darned good organisation. I just hope the potential buyer does as well.

Still, I'm impressed with the idea and I hope it leads to other people doing the same thing.

Mike

[Ramón]

I admit that it's a little complicated, and the Kiva gift certificate buying process doesn't really make it easier. For one, it forces someone to "sign up" with Kiva, which may be an additional entrance barrier.

Having said that, the phone was actually bought using "Buy It Now" by someone this evening. In an email to the buyer, I carefully explained how the purchase price would be $272.99 when paying me straight through Paypal ($249.99 + $18 S&H + $4.60 optional insurance), or $225 with Kiva Gift Certificates-- actually $200 because I'd give the buyer another $25 back in the form of a Kiva Gift Certificate.

Let's see what we get... either way is fine for me I will invest all the proceeds into Kiva loans...

--Ramón

[NumboJumbo]

Hurrah. That's great news that it sold. Even if the person pays you in real money, I noticed yuo still had quite a few visitors to yuor actual auction. How many were non Kivans is anybody guess, but hey one more pair of new eyes is one more potential convert.

And I'm still impressed by the idea. I thought it was quite an exciting adventure to go on - not knowing whether it would work or not. I'm so glad it did. I really do hope other people will follow your lead on this one and use the Kiva certificate in lieu of real money.

It makes me wonder, how many other transactions there are out there that could use the Kiva certificate as a monetary currency.

Let us know whether the phone was paid for in Kiva currency or real money.

Mike

[vilaura]

I love your plan to spread the word Ramon! I hope the buyer will take the time to learn about Kiva and take your most excellent deal.

[stubear1012]

I agree with everyone else.  This is definitely thinking out side the box!!!  I am looking foward to see how it works out.

[Ramón]

Hi all,

a quick update on my little eBay adventure.  Turns out, that someone with a hacked eBay account placed a "buy it now" bid. After complaining to eBay, the listing was canceled.  Since the listing was completely removed from the site, I have to re-create it.  I will do this as soon as I have a few minutes time, tomorrow.

--Ramón

[NumboJumbo]

Well, that's a shame. A real shame. Still, you got visitors to your auction listing and to me that's the positive side of it. Kiva still got some publicity and that was one of the reasons why you did the auction in the first place. Bravo for your tenacity to redo it again.

Mike

[Ramón]

OK, the auction is going to go back up, scheduled to start tonight at 7 PM PDT / 10 PM EDT. I decided to change things around a bit, to offer more shipping services and to also sell to Canada. I also added a Kiva "blip" to the subtitle of the loan that shows up in the listing table.

Here is the new auction URL for those that are interested: (NOTE THAT YOU CANNOT SEE THE ITEM UNTIL THE LISTING STARTS!!)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250138473807

Jul 1, 9 AM EDT update: I had another fraudulent Buy It Now. Jeee... my confidence in selling through eBay is sinking rapidly. Maybe I need to remove the Buy It Now...
I had to relist again, and this time the auction will start TONIGHT (July 1st) at 7 PM PDT / 10 PM EDT. The link above has been updated; note that the link won't work until tonight when the auction starts.

Jul 2, 8 AM EDT update: I'm getting good in this. Another Nigerian Buy It Now buyer hijacked my auction. I relisted the auction, and it will go *life* again at 7 PM PDT / 10 PM EDT tonight. It's a 5-days auction ending Saturday night. Let's hope that this will give me the opportunity to evaluate bidders before the auction is over... I will update the listing number tonight when it goes life!
One of the things that I had to do was to enable an option to leave the auction life until payment is received. This will stifle my attempts to get Kiva gift certificates a bit, but I guess that's the price we have to pay.

Jul 2, 11 PM EDT update: I just updated this link above to the latest auction... Let's cross fingers!

--Ramón