I see e-Bay and Amazon Auctions are on the cover of Business Week this week. This is gratifying to me, because while I make my living writing about the big trends governing global corporate strategies, I also maintain a shabby little business of my own, auctioning odds and ends through both eBay and Amazon.

The contrast could not be greater. In my big business life I have consulted with Royal Dutch Petroleum and IBM, and spoken to corporate groups in London and Sao Paulo on molecular marketing and digital reintermediation. In my little business life, I hawk wares for as little as 75 cents.

Sometimes you benefit from an auction battle, and fretful customers bid your item way beyond what you expected. Other times, only one person is interested, and you sell for less. But you live to sell another day.

And I like the lessons my little business teaches. My associates on the corporate end of the spectrum could benefit from some of them lessons. Like:

• Focus on the big picture. Too many sellers online are terrified of getting screwed by a bad check, and erect all sorts of barriers to buying. This arises out of personality -- these people can't stand the thought of being ripped off. But if they accepted some loss, and tear down those barriers, they might build their business so that the loss becomes irrelevant. by
• Don't ignore the small picture altogether. If you are selling an LP that you bought for two bucks 30 years ago, you may not need to recoup those costs. But there are present day costs you shouldn't ignore: the cost of postage, shipping materials (significant when you are shipping record albums), trips to the post office. Don't forget that the auctions themselves charge you -- a quarter or so to be listed at the beginning, plus a fraction of the final bid. And you had better consider that you will be asked to pay income tax on your earnings.
• Invest for profit. It's cheaper to buy bubble-wrap mailers that are slightly more expensive per unit than padded paper mailers, because they're lighter and require less postage. It's cheaper to spend $15 on a postal scale than drive to the post office very day. It may be cheaper, if your volume and unit price allow, to acquire a merchant credit card account (paying a monthly per-check transaction fees).
• Build your brand. In the case of an auction, the brand is you. So you concentrate not just on selling your item, but on creating a coherent array of merchandise. Some vendors create logos and trademarks. I include two "brand" items in every sale notice -- a picture of myself and a hotlink taking customers to a list of other items I have for sale. I even invite them to visit my website. The idea is that having a face, name, and address makes the transaction look safer. (If you look mean and untrustworthy, use someone else's picture.)
• Be picky about your customers. Winners who demand that their $2.00 purchase be insured for $0.89 -- requiring you to stand in line for five minutes at the post office -- need to be educated or killed. Another nice thing about auctions is that you are free to sell to a lower bidder if the winning bid doesn't look right to you.

Why do I do it? It's fun, because you sell things you are interested in -- in my case, books, software, and music CDs, which I have been collecting, to the point of gridlock, for 30 years. You meet people who like the same things as you, and you get to chat about where the Grateful Dead got their name, and why a Tim Buckley cutout LP you couldn't give away 30 years ago now sells for $131.

Beyond fun, it's addictive. I find myself peeking at my auctions every couple of hours to see if an item has gone up $0.25, and celebrating inside when it does. ("Yes!")

Finally, it's money. Every day brings a handful of orders and checks in the mail, and that many packages to tape up and mail back. It's like playing store as a kid.

It's a bottom-feeding world, and those who dwell there move goods that other people turn their nose up at. But it's a useful function, and money is being made, and there is the cozy satisfaction of knowing that someone else is going to be having an experience -- a picture, a garment, a read, or a listen -- that you found pleasant, once upon a time.

Mike does business on eBay under the name "charlie-mensan" and on Amazon as "loveless."

(Pic: http://mfinley.com/mike.jpg )