It's a case of life imitating art, though in this case, the timing was purely coincidental. In the hit comedy "The 40 Year-Old Virgin," Catherine Keener's character Trish runs a store called, quite simply, "Sell Your Stuff on eBay" - a brick-and-mortar establishment in a strip mall where customers can drop off their goods on consignment for her to sell on the popular online auction site.
The film was released in theaters in August 2005 — the same month that PinkPackage.com went live, offering essentially the same service with greater ease and service, but no retail outlet.
Many moviegoers chuckled at the idea of Trish's store (this writer included). But according to PinkPackage.com co-founder Mike Moran, such businesses not only exist — they can be cash cows.
Still, Moran and co-founder Doug Feirstein figured "there had to be a better mousetrap, a more fun, easier way to bring the service of eBay consignment to lots and lots of people," says Moran, a self-described "serial entrepreneur."
"The amount of buyers on eBay far outnumbers the sellers," points out Moran. "I think today it's about a 20-to-1 ratio."
The problem is that eBay remains daunting to those with little Web savvy, a larger percentage of the population than many realize. "It takes the more experienced end-user four hours to learn how to list" for the first time, estimates Moran. "[eBay] is probably not going to be a mainstream service that those people are going to do themselves."
So, laugh all you want at Trish's foibles (and the sequin disco shoes a walk-in teenage boy tries to buy in the film), but PinkPackage.com is growing 20 percent every month. Moran is not surprised, citing a recent study showing an average of $22 billion worth of merchandise posted or earmarked for eBay auction.
Online Networking, Offline Transactions PinkPackage.com is clearly an unusual e-business, as no transactions take place on their Web site. Here's how the process works: Let's say a woman wants to sell some of her used handbags on eBay. She visits the simple Pink Package Web site, where she quickly finds the closest independent "consultant" in her geographic area. They then decide on a theme for a party that the seller will host — in this case, handbags or fashion accessories. The newly-minted party host invites 10 to 20 of her friends, as well as the consultant. The friends all bring appropriate items (e.g. their own handbags) they want to sell on eBay, which the consultant collects, giving them all receipts.
The consultant sends all the items to Pink Package headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, where items are authenticated, described, photographed and posted on eBay. The sellers receive 50 percent of whatever is made in the auction, in the form of a pink check in the mail; the party host gets 75 percent for her items that sell; the consultant keeps a commission; and PinkPackage.com gets the rest.
Company president Linnette Reindel thinks of it as a play on the classic Tupperware party. The idea is "instead of them going to a party to spend money, why don't we have them come to a party and make money?" says Reindel. "It really exposes a lot of people to the opportunity to sell goods."
The idea is catching on. Less than two years since launching, Pink Package will have 100 consultants around the country by this March, and the consultants organizes 4 to 5 parties per month. On average, 40 to 50 items are collected per party to be sold online.
Viral Marketing There's no need for an online marketing budget, either, as all the growth is word-of-mouth, both now and in the future. After all, who wouldn't want to start hosting their own parties to get the 25 percent extra return? In keeping with eBay, nearly all transactions are handled via PayPal, though sellers/party attendees are still sent a pink check in the mail to cash. This has been appealing to women, of all ages, who make up essentially their entire demographic — "they gave us a tangible good, we gave them back a tangible currency," says Feirstein - but soon more sellers will be paid via PayPal.
For the time being, the company has stuck mostly to collecting and selling female-oriented products in the fashion and beauty realm. Moran says this is because these products traditionally sell easily and at high prices, though the company hopes to expand into other realms, especially guy-friendly categories like electronics. Speaking of which, nary a man is to be found at Pink Package parties these days (and they may need to re-brand to change that; what guy is going to visit a Web site with "pink" in the name?). Does all this mean women are less willing to tackle eBay on their own than men?
"Definitely," says Reindel without hesitation. "I would never sell on eBay, there's just no way. I may years from now, as it becomes more mainstream, but what we're providing is an opportunity to collect these goods that are sitting there, by making it easy and safe."
Chimes in Fierstein: "My wife absolutely, definitely wouldn't do it herself." After a pause, he adds, "We'll leave it at that."
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