Or, you can buy it direct from me for ten dollars and I will sign it for you.

As to the rest of it…whatever, dude.

But, seriously, thank you. Your errors as to what I wrote mixed in with your spirited defense of the book have generated quite a lot of comment offlist to me and not just from two PowerSeller cranks. It includes some job offers. I probably need to figure out a way to reward you as well as a certain garden book author whose publisher ended up apologizing for her some time ago.

Best of luck to you as well.

Brad

Good luck to you both.

As far as our “quibbling” with your criticisms, I don’t view it that way at all. I view it as correcting misconceptions. Those misconceptions were so striking that I couldn’t just let them stand.

First, we are “qualified” to ask PowerSellers questions not because we are PowerSellers ourselves (no where do we state that we are), but because we have covered the online industry as journalists since the 1980s. We know what questions to ask. And as a former director for AOL, I also bring a deep understanding of e-commerce to my writing. So with this background we can incorporate the viewpoints and strategies from many different PowerSellers, not just one. If “two heads are better than one” certainly two dozen are better yet.

Again, I’m sorry you found the book lacking in objectivity. Yes, we’ve sold and bought on eBay for 10 years, and we still are basically positive about its promise as a selling venue. Basically positive. But no, we don’t think it’s a perfect venue. And by including Amazon and sellers’ own websites as alternatives to eBay selling we’ve proven that. How many other “eBay” books even bother to go beyond eBay and explore alternatives?

Let’s get this straight also: we do not agree that the interviews with PowerSellers are nothing more than ads! That’s because they are not, and again you are the first reviewer, anywhere, to suggest that. The interviews cover a variety of businesses, and (did you miss this part?) some of the strategies those businesses use for doing everything from product sourcing to order fulfillment. Yes, we also include background on the sellers that’s designed to showcase their personalities. Most astute readers realize that by including those details we humanize the subjects and keep the profiles interesting.

Should we write a third edition of this book we will consider your criticisms just as we consider all reviews, both positive and negative. No author is perfect. That’s one reason why new editions can be so helpful.

Thanks again for your thoughts, although I’m still baffled by some of your conclusions.

Brad

As a professional reviewer with over six hundred reviews in print and online in ten years of doing this, I’m more than willing to address your concerns regarding my review of your book.

First, despite what you have stated in your response, at no time was it ever implied that the authors were contractors, employees, or indebted to eBay. (Though if you were highly critical of the site they might just kick you off so in a sense you would be indebted to them from that angle)While I would personally disagree with your stated notion that becuase you are PowerSellers that makes you qualified to ask other PowerSellers questions, I did not pursue that issue in the review. It was clear from the introduction and opening pages that journalistic objectivity had no meaning in this book and as such it was reviewed for exactly what it is–a guide promoting a wealth building strategy.

Second, it is clear that you are basically admitting that the interviews with the PowerSellers are nothing more than ads as stated in the review. While you promised inside info and secrets, which implies depth obviously, what readers actually see are glorified ads to promote certain people. That is certainly your right and privilege as you are the authors as much as it is my right and privilege to note the glaring contradiction. Most of the reviews elsewhere, which amazingly happen to be written by other PowerSellers, never mention much of anything about the ads, or anything else in the book other than how great the book is. In fact, most reviews don’t mention the interviews/ads at all and those that do are almost always “reviews” consisting of a couple of sentences written by other PowerSellers.

I don’t have any vested interest in you, eBay or any of the many competitors. I simply take the published book, read it, review it and occasionally defend a review from unnecessary and inaccurate criticism. Am I perfect? No.

But, regarding the issues you have raised, the review is fully and completely accurate in all aspects.

Again, thank you for reading and commenting. If and when you do the third edition of this book, I hope the issues I have addressed in this review might make you reconsider a few things with that edition.

Kevin R. Tipple

First, we are not employees, independent contractors, or in any other way indebted to eBay. We worked hard to make the book as objective as possible. If this were merely a valentine to eBay, it would not have included information about how to sell on Amazon as well as on your own website. Would the book be more critical of eBay were we to write it now? Of course! eBay has changed in the last 18 months, and there’s plenty to be critical of.

Second, I was surprised that the reviewer missed the point entirely of the Meet a PowerSeller sketches that end most chapters. These are meant merely to introduce readers to some of eBay’s prominent sellers, describe their businesses a bit, and provide a few nuggets of advice. That’s it. They were never meant to be in-depth interviews. To suggest that they function merely as ads for the sellers is inaccurate. For what it’s worth, out of scores of reviews, this is the first one that criticized the profiles. People generally find them enjoyable and educational.

Again, thanks for taking the time to review our book.

Brad Schepp