Is the eBay Trading Assistant business model dead?

That is the question many Trading Assistants are asking themselves after attending the eBay Live 2007. Even though I wasn't able to attend this year, other TA's who did attend stated that eBay had no TA booth as they did in the past. Also, there was a noticeable lack of eBay Drop shop franchise presence that dominated many of the vendors booths of past years.

This may be a sign that the TA business model has matured to the point that many of the snake oil salesmen have disappeared. Most have seen the retail only franchise "Drop Shops" come and go. Most of these shops have never seen a month in the black and corporate franchisees are re-evaluating their operations or just closing down.

So where does that leave us fellow TAs? No different then when we first started. For as long as people have items to sell and no time or knowledge of eBay, our services will always be needed. It has and always will be up to the individual to determine the direction of his/her TA business. TA's relying on eBay & retail stores to make their TA business successful will be painfully disappointed. While the definition of success is different for each person, the bottom line is to make a profit, help others and enjoy what we do.