The Daily News

Vacant offices of unprofitable eBay trading and drop-off businesses in Bowling Green symbolize the rise and fall of such ventures despite what eBay Inc. sees as a rising demand for service.

There are more people registered as users on eBay.com than people who live in Brazil – if eBay users were a country, they would be the fifth largest in the world, according to eBay Inc. spokesperson Catherine England.

With 203 million registered users worldwide, the Internet auction site pushed second quarter sales of $12.9 billion, England said.

But eBay.com’s growth will continue without Bowling Green’s QuikDrop and E-Sell, since both trading assistant businesses have closed.

One locale, Cynthia’s Sell-R, flourishes as a hybrid of a trading assistant and consignment store.

QuikDrop franchisee and co-owner Darren Greenwalt said his business was the first eBay drop-off store in the city when it opened on Campbell Lane.

But Greenwalt closed its doors last week after operating since June 2004.

Greenwalt said any dropped off items that have not yet gone online will still be sold for customers.

&#8220If you have dropped items off to us but they have not yet gone online, we will happily honor our agreement and sell them for you,” Greenwalt’s note on the former business addressed to customers, said.

Greenwalt declined to discuss details about the closing.

&#8220I can’t give you specifics right now,” he said. &#8220There’s just some things that we’re working on right now.”

The sign also said &#8220although there might be a slight delay in getting your items up on auction we will put them up on eBay just as soon as possible.”

&#8220I’m honoring my agreement to the customers,” Greenwalt said Friday.

Jack Reynolds, co-founder and spokesperson for QuikDrop, was unaware the business had closed and said Greenwalt had listed items on eBay as recently as Friday.

Early Friday afternoon Reynolds said he was surprised Greenwalt was closed since Greenwalt &#8220was in good standing” with the company, had good &#8220auction volume,” and said the company had recently signed off on several new warehouse areas for Greenwalt.

Reynolds also said he spoke with Greenwalt last week, noting Greenwalt said he was only looking for a larger location and made no mention of QuikDrop’s closure.

Greenwalt had originally planned 21 other QuikDrop locations in Kentucky, Tennessee and the Cincinnati area.

Despite closing, Greenwalt said eBay is still growing and was a &#8220great medium for buying and selling merchandise.”

&#8220When dealing with consignment, it’s just harder because it’s labor intensive,” he said. &#8220The number of people that are selling on eBay for consignment is a fairly new idea.”

It’s been a year since E-Sell – another eBay drop-off store – closed its doors.

E-Sell owner Jason Besemann is now back to selling pharmaceuticals and the sign announcing E-Sell’s demise remains at 2910 Scottsville Road.

Besemann opened E-Sell in July 2004. He had a ribbon cutting for the business in February 2005, but by September, he was closed.

Besemann wasn’t surprised to hear QuikDrop had closed.

&#8220I figured it would be a matter of time,” Besemann said.

There is high demand for the service, but having an upfront profit margin is key, according to Besemann.

&#8220The biggest thing that kills the success rate is the overhead that people are having to pay to stay in business,” Besemann said. &#8220The commission is really not enough to support the overhead you have to pay to make a profit.”

Besemann still has former customers who call wanting services.

&#8220I purchase the majority of my electronics and personal items on eBay,” he said. &#8220It is definitely a buyer’s market for 80 percent of the items on there. For rare items, the seller is going to get top dollar for that and the buyers will have to pay up.”

Besemann now looks back at his former venture as a &#8220fad” slowly growing out of fashion.

&#8220Nationally, it was – and still is – a kind of a fad industry. There been locations in Louisville that have opened up and closed,” Besemann said.

Besemann suspects it may be better for eBay businesses to be run out of the home or in places with low overhead costs.

England said all trading assistants are unaffiliated with eBay and that no hard data exists to track how many are doing business.

&#8220All of the trading assistants are independent,” she said. &#8220We don’t have any influence on their plans for expansion or closure.”

But England said eBay is seeing an increasing interest in trading assistants, which range from people with formal storefronts to those who are selling casually for others.

&#8220We’re definitely seeing an increase in popularity,” she said.

Cynthia DuVall, owner of Cynthia’s Sell-R at 855 Broadway Ave., said the reasons her business is going strong is because she’s not limited to just one way to sell.

&#8220It’s tough. If I just limited myself to just the eBay sales, I think I would be closed up, too,” she said. &#8220The average customer who walks in off the street doesn’t realize all the overhead you have to cover to keep the doors open.”

DuVall has operated her consignment store and eBay drop-off spot since February 2005.

For those who choose to use eBay trading assistants, England advises people to check a seller’s feedback on eBay before deciding to do business with them.

&#8220Evaluate them like anyone else they would do business with on the site,” England said. &#8220You can go in and look at individual comments on sellers and buyers.”