More specifically, Ebay, Trademe or whatever auction site, are really the ones that own your business. The lifeblood of your business are your customers and your auction site owns your customer base.

The idea of selling via an online auction is a brilliant concept, and indisputably many small and home businesses are making tens of thousands, some even hundreds of thousands in sales because of the huge amount of traffic that auction sites attract.

Undeniably you would have not been able to access such a ready made and vast market of eager buyers almost instantly any other way. Why not use an auction site?... Any smart business person would grab this opportunity to expose their products to thousands of potential customers.

But... on the other hand your online auction is using you and millions of others to do the hard work of building their business and for free... you're helping to build their customer base... their equity and you don't get to own it.

It's a fair deal you might think, because you're making an income you never could have made otherwise and your auction site only asks a small price... which now adds up to millions of dollars per year.

A "small price"... until you realize that you are not building a real business of your own, one with true value (i.e. one that can be sold or used to acquire a loan). However, you are building your online auctions equity... its shareholders are very grateful.

A "small price"... until you realize that if you don't own your customer base, you can't own your own business. And you're stuck (you could'nt sell your business if you wanted to)... because your online auction owns your customer base.

Which means that the future of your business is solely dependent on them.

Your customer list and your business marketing tools make up a very valuable "off-balance-sheet" asset, perhaps your biggest single business asset - tangible or intangible.

This is probably the most overlooked investment asset your business possesses. How many businesses that trade through online auctions have overlooked it?

Have you?

Well... what is the solution?

Should you stop using online auctions or is there a better way?

Read more on this topic - http://webezy.co.nz/businesses_using_online_auctions.php