Ibuy, located next to the Legislative Infor-mation Office on the Sterling Highway, offers another service as well — a way for people to clear the junk from their garage or attic via online auctions, such as the popular Ebay.
Ebay claims to have 35 million registered users, and goods are listed with photographs and traded on the company's Web site daily. Many people, however, are wary of placing personal financial information on the Internet, said Gary Williams, who opened Ibuy.
"They feel like they're putting themselves out there. They just don't want to mess with it," Williams said.
Williams offers to take items over the counter and act as an online auctioneer, taking pictures, researching information about, say, a chainsaw or a classic fishing rod, and posting it on online auction sites. Ibuy absorbs all the costs involved, including the packaging if the item is sold, for a fraction of the sale price, he said.
Online auctions, he said, are changing the market for out-of-date or specialty items that might be sitting unused around the house.
"You never know what something's going to be worth," Williams said. The nice thing about online auctions is that "you get the worldwide fair market price," he said.
Ibuy also will purchase some items over the counter if a seller wants some quick cash, he said. The company currently is selling 92 percent of the items placed on an auction site and is a great way to hold a garage sale for 25 million shoppers, he said.
"That's my motto: 'Turn your clutter into cash.'"
A new business is offering an option for those hesitant to offer their credit card information online in order to auction goods.
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