How to Sell Your Possessions Online and Master Teen Marketing

For Sale: Turning Clutter Into Cash

You have a lot of junk, but you don't like throwing anything away. So, what should you do? Try selling it on eBay, the most popular auction site on the internet! Whatever you are selling, someone will buy it, and people do not mind paying for the strangest things.

The John Freyer Story

John Freyer wanted to move apartments, but he had too many possessions. So, he decided to sell them. John put photographs of his items on eBay and sold each one to the highest bidder. He sold everything from spoons, a tin-opener, and a lunchbox (including the lunch) to a pair of socks.

He wrote a background story for each item. For example, for a bag of sugar, he wrote: "I guess I don't use sugar that much. I have a really tiny oven, so I can't really make cookies, and I don't take sugar in my coffee." The woman who bought the sugar said, "I didn't really want the sugar, but I wanted to be part of the project."

People loved competing for John's possessions. Soon, the items were flying all over the world. John posted a T-shirt to England and even sent a bag of salty snacks to Japan! Later, John decided to visit some of his old possessions in their new homes and wrote about his travels in his book, All My Life For Sale.

Advertising to the Teenage Market

Do you think adults aren't interested enough in the opinions of teenagers? In the world of advertising, they certainly are. Teenagers are the focus of some of today's most powerful advertising campaigns. Why? It's simple: today's 13-19-year-olds are the biggest spenders in the history of youth, and advertisers are too clever to ignore this enormous market.

The challenge is that teenagers decide what to buy based on what their friends have. So, how do advertisers persuade teenagers, and how convincing are these techniques?

Case Studies in Modern Advertising

• Sprite: When people weren't excited enough about Sprite, the Coca-Cola Company started paying hip-hop artists to talk about the drink during their concerts. The hidden message was clear: drink Sprite because that is what cool and successful people do.
• Dolce & Gabbana: People all over the world complained about a controversial Dolce & Gabbana advertising campaign, calling it sexist and offensive to women. The response was strong enough in Spain to make the brand stop advertising there, at least for a while. However, the ads definitely got people's attention, and they won't forget the brand name for a long time.
• The Messengers: To promote the thriller film The Messengers, which features paranormal forces only children can see, Sony Pictures developed ultra-sonic ringtones for mobile phones. Adults cannot hear the ringtones, which makes them highly appealing to teenagers.