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Hi, I am Donald also known as AntiquePurveyor in the eBay community. I grew up on Long Island, New York and now live in a charming historical town called Hoboken.
I spent my first six years out of college working in the finance industry trading equity in the OTC market. After the stock market dive of 2000 and in the midst of a new recession there was no money to be made in the finance industry. It was time for a change. The job market had become dismal and starting a new career in this environment seemed impossible.
One year, during Hoboken's annual spring festival, my wife and I set up an estate sale. Flag-size plywood signs were used to attract traffic from every corner of the busy town. My wife and I sold three thousand dollars worth of older furniture that weekend. Saddened there was no more furniture to sell after the sale I began shopping at garage sales to get more product. I was trading again; buying anything I thought was cheap and could be sold higher. ' Garage sailing' was my main source of product and holding estate sales once a month was my main outlet for selling. It was a great time until the traffic and volume got to be too much in my living space. It was time for a small warehouse and a new advertising campaign.
My first warehouse space was 800 square feet and I remember the overhead scared me to death. I needed more product and cleaner product as time went on to cover my new overhead. I shopped at auctions to find product faster and rather than posting garage sale signs on each corner, I began listing my items on eBay. I did the auction gig for years. It was hard work and very long hours. Then, I received an email from a former Drexel plant manager who found one of my eBay table listings. He recognized the table from a 1990 factory that he once managed. This gentleman helped me network in a way I never imagined. This short email was the start of what AntiquePurveyor.com is today, a dining room furniture specialist. Today, we operate in a cost effective 4000 square foot warehouse space in West New York, NJ.
My eBay feedback record is 99.4% customer satisfaction and reflects my comitment to my customer. I have learned from past experiences, both buying and selling, what is expected and what is certainly not deserved. I try to be available 24/7 to answer questions and provide exceptional customer service. I have many repeat buyers and I enjoy serving everyone.
They say, '"The only ones who go to work happy are those who have the right tools for the job." I am equipped for the job. I have a local delivery truck, clean warehouse space, furniture dollies, racking and plenty of packing materials. We have steel racking for our entire product line so everything is in order and furniture is not double handled. In actuality, we look like Amazon.com but we sell very BIG books. We have a cost effective warehouse which will always keep our prices below our competitors.
The biggest challenge my business faced during the first year was shipping. I believe that shipping furniture successfully is the biggest barrier of entry to my line of business. If shipping furniture was easy, everyone would do it. It has been years since any damage happened here.
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