I started my own business in 2000. My construction business was busy in the Spring & Summer, but slowed in the Fall and Winter. In the slow months, I started to sell on eBay. Rugs were the main product, at that point. Shipping was cheap through DHL. Every day I would pack rugs, and take them to the DHL office at the airport. Rug sales started to drop after a while, and DHL shut down domestic shipping, so I had to switch gears. I put together a matrix of things that I might want to sell. Small versus large, heavy versus light, fragile versus not, etc.. Someone asked me to sell some china that they had. Ten years old and well used, I didn't think that it would be worth much. But I took it and told her that I would see what I could do. WOW!! That china was rare and valuable. Suddenly, I was in the china business on eBay!! With some very rare and valuable pieces and lots of fairly common items, here I am...25 years later. Some miscellaneous items jump in here and there.