Yup, I was a 43 year old virgin. I know…. nothing to brag about. In fact it’s almost embarrassing to say. What makes it even more embarrassing is that I’m in charge of an Internet Software company. However, I’ve come to realize that the majority of people over the age of 40 are in fact eBay virgins. My first time was not only fearful, but also exhilarating.

EBay was started in the living room of Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and has become one of the highest revenue generating websites in the world (roughly $60 billion of Gross Merchandise Volume). It requires that strangers trust each other in the exchange of buying and selling. Now there is the issue…..TRUST. And that is the very issue that has kept me away from this site.

Now it wasn’t the technology that I didn’t trust. I’ve come to understand that the Internet is far more secure and reliable than dealing with paper based processes. What got me was dealing with someone I had never met, who goes by a concocted name and whom I had never seen face to face.

Now I’m usually a risk taker and never one to shy away from trying new things, however when it came to giving my money to someone I can’t locate on a map, I get a bit nervous. This week, I decided it was time. I took the plunge! I had a few drinks, just to calm my nerves, shed my cloak of trepidation and exposed myself to the world of eBay!

I was very nervous at first. Questions kept going through my mind like ‘what if I do it wrong?’, or ‘when it’s over, will I still have self respect?’, or worse ‘what if I’m just being used for my good looks and my money?’ (ok, that one’s a stretch, I know). Regardless, I was nervous.

The ‘apple’ of my eye was a tasty little number called the Bose Sounddock for an Apple IPod (see I’m not really a ludite, I do have new fandangled gizmos). It was actually for my wife. We had gone to the customary places. You know, those old fashioned places called ‘stores’. They’ve usually been very good to ‘exchange’ with, but this time I wanted something more. I wanted…..A DEAL! At $399 from the store, I suspected I could do better.

Here was my chance. In a rare moment of quiet, I entered the URL www.ebay.com. Palms sweating, heart racing and a bead running from my folically challenged head, I began to search. 109 entries, all from people I had never heard of. I didn’t know what to do! Who were these people? What do these descriptions mean? What do I do next? Every action from setting up a PayPal account (that’s for another article) to tracking my bid was an exercise in anxiety.

I settled on one entry. My first relationship was with a faceless entity called eldirect. Now eldirect is a very popular entity. With a feedback score of 54554 and 98.6% positive, eldirect has earned their reputation. I’d be pretty ecstatic if I were able to satisfy that many times and that positively!

The current bid for this entry was going for…get this….$36! What a deal. Now I had to figure out how to beat all the other potential suitors for this prize. I set my max bid at $150, and for the next 24 hours watched as others slowly entered their bids. As they entered a bid, mine would automatically bid $1 more than theirs. I was winning! Well, at least until the bid got to$151. The excitement was building. How far would this go?

I raised my max to $200. Again, the bids started surpassing my max. I waited until there was one minute to go in the auction and then raised my limit to $250. The culmination of this interaction was intense! I won! My competition bid it up to $227 and I ended up the victor at $228. Now that’s a deal!

We then had to consummate the transaction. I wasn’t as nervous, now that I mastered the ritual. The payment processing was simple and fast, and knowing that I had protection (through the insurance of paypal and visa) the rest was extremely satisfying.

Do I feel like I’m cheating? Not in the least! In fact, this whole experience has opened my eyes. I’m thinking eldirect and I will become good friends. And you know what? I’m willing to share eldirect with you….but please, if you see connectorguy123, please don’t compete for our affection! You can find eldirect at http://stores.ebay.com/ELDIRECT