This will be a little different than most of my posts here. Just a few days ago I had an idea for people to help out other people on eBay that were having a hard time , either with their sales or with finances etc. I started a Pay it Forward thread based on the idea that I saw in the movie of the same name. An outpouring of help occured that has left many people in shock at the generosity of the eBay community. Some people had families making gift baskets for them, others helped out with money or links to sites to help with fuel assistance. Others bought things from the stores of the sellers that were having a tough time. Many people were helped a lot of new friends were made, and many people are still helping as this has taken on a life of its own.
While growing sales is important, there are also times when giving back is what we should focus on. Working with this project led me back to the times when in private school we did community service projects that just gave you a warm feeling inside.
People that receive help often turn around and help others and remember the kindness showed to them. This is the concept behind Pay it Forward and I am glad we were able to work with this idea on eBay!
3 comments:
Marty's idea was so inspired! As soon as I could, I checked out the discussion where eBay members told about the help they needed. So many people struggling, but so many people jumping right in to help. Last night I put together a package for a mom struggling with the basics (like shoes for a child, never mind toys). Sent it out today. The woman and I have had some great correspondence, and it's been a delight to help out someone I don't know and will probably never know. As Marty mentioned in his blog, the ebay community is incredibly generous - what I did was dwarfed by some of what I've seen, but we each do what we can. The whole experience just confirms once again that the vast majority of eBayers are great folks! Happy holidays to everyone.
Sallie
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Hi Marty,
I just started working for Prosper (www.prosper.com) – an online, people-to-people lending marketplace. Since there are so many similarities with the eBay marketplace, I wanted to introduce myself and our website.
BTW, I like your people trying to help others on finances. Prosper provides an avenue to do just that.
The Prosper site just launched (we got some play in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/13/technology/13ecom.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1140212018-urjbgqL3mfTL9Drsu2/lww) and I'm contacting a few topically relevant websites/people in the field asking for feedback on the site – good and bad.
If you have a few minutes, shoot me an email and let me know your impressions. If the site interests you or you have any questions or comments, I can help get you in touch with anyone internally here (e.g. our Product Manager, Marketing Department, CTO, CEO, etc.) and generally get questions answered.
Anyway, please check Prosper out. If you have any questions, please email me anytime.
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