Meet Sam Morgan.
Back in 1999, Sam decided to drop out of school and start an internet auction site, called trademe.co.nz.
Not long after it started, I signed up along with my best friend Marty. Back in those early days we were wheeling and dealing all sorts of stuff, and would bid on each other's stuff to get the price higher and all that. At that time, trademe was so small that I remember the team was just 1 or 2 people and I'd get emails from Sam himself from time to time. We were like pioneer traders in NZ, ha.
When I left NZ, Marty continued to buy and sell lots of stuff on trademe (and still does), but for me things went a bit quiet for me there for a while.
When we were living in Singapore, I found a music shop that sold all the good gear, like Gibson, Fender, and Epiphone Guitars.
As it was, the retail price of stuff at that shop was about 50% what it was in NZ, so I spied an opportunity with trademe.
I talked to the shop and got a trade account, which bumped the low price even lower, and I started to buy Guitars in 2s and 3s. What I would do is take them out of the box and photograph them at all angles and close up etc. Then I'd pack them into a proper guitar hardshell case, and cover it all with cardboard.
I went to the post office down the road and airfreighted them individually back to NZ, and listed them on Trademe. They were hot selling items.
Along with the auctions and a few word of mouth spinoffs and special orders, I sold about 11 or 12 guitars before a few things put the brakes on it: Tax & Import customs, Traders who bought but changed their mind and then tried to claim the guitars were fakes etc (what a hassle to sort out), and then the move away from Singapore to Taiwan.
I was approached by a couple of guys that wanted to start a parallel import business, but to be honest, I don't think making a business out of pure undercutting will ever work long term unless it is on a massive scale.
It was fun, and I learned a lot...and actually made a respectable amount of cash...But look at Sam. In 1999 at 23, he started with a borrowed laptop and an idea. It wasn't a new idea. The site wasn't really that complex or flashy. Just a no bullshit, simple site that was reliable.
Today he sold it for 700 million dollars. 700 MILLION dollars.
And he gets another 50 millon if some targets are met in the next 2 years. And he gets to keep his job - and I bet he's not just getting 5 bucks an hour.Man, 700 million at the age of 30.....what am I doing?
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