A Good Name is Better than Great Riches

When I was a child I had a bookmark with my name on it.  It also said "A good name is better than great riches."  I spent hours looking at that bookmark thinking how I disliked my name, but over the years I came to realize it didn't mean a good GIVEN name, but the name we earn for ourselves.  That verse in the New Living Translation reads:

Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.

I've been an eBay seller for eleven years now.  I quit my job yesterday.  I've had one too many people call me a liar.  It's interesting how I have a good, honest reputation in this area, but on eBay people are quick to call me a cheat when I've done nothing wrong.

In fact, my grandfather's name was so strong in this area that I needed to get gas about 4 years ago and didn't have any cash on me.  Even though my grandfather has been dead since before I was born, I told the elderly man working at the gas station who my grandfather was, and that was as good as any ID I could have shown.

I've been taught you are honest, and being called a theif, liar, cheat, etc. is something I can't tolerate, so I decided to quit eBay.

I was writing in my journal last night musing over the fact of WHO quits their job four days before Christmas without other ideas in mind?

One of my hopes yesterday was to find what eBay calls a "Trading Assistant".  That is someone who sells stuff for you on eBay and takes part of the profit.

I contacted one yesterday, and we talked for about an hour today.  It sounds like not only is he willing to sell the stuff I have collected from yardsales and auction that is in my current possession, but he may be willing to sell stuff that I collect in the future, so I have a new job title as of today.  I'm now a picker.

This feels like the second best Christmas gift I could have received.  (I was baptized earlier this month, and that was by far the best Christmas gift I could have received.)  What being a picker means for me is I will still get to do the part of eBay that I LOVE -- the going out and hunting for stuff to sell.  But it also means I can give up the parts I hate -- the taking photos, writing descriptions, dealing with customers, some of whom are unreasonable, and the packing.

So I will still be using the knowledge I have gleaned from 11 years of eBay selling, but now I will be able to pass the work that I hate on to someone else.

Obviously I haven't taken any items to this man yet, so it's still not set in stone this business relationship will work out but I feel very good about this.  And if this one doesn't work, I'm going to try to find someone else who is interested in doing the same thing.