From Star Wars gear to turkey beards, you can find it for sale on eBay.

Tadhg Bird of Casper sells simple "chance cubes" via the Internet auction colossus. The cubes - similar to dice with three side painted red and three side blue - are a detail most people probably wouldn't recall from the first installment of the Star Wars epic.

Bird makes the cubes of polymer clay, bakes them, paints them and sells them for a "Buy It Now" price of five bucks apiece. The original idea was to save up the proceeds and purchase a suit of Star Wars storm trooper armor. "My wife really likes that," he says. "She thinks it's hot."

Bird has ideas for other inexpensive stuff. And he says Star Wars creator George Lucas is tolerant of such fan activities.

"There's a lot of fan-made things out there" and no officially licensed chance cubic, he says. "And it's such a rare, nerdy thing, only hardcore Star Wars fans recognize it immediately."

Matt Hoobler of Cheyenne has carved out a niche of another sort. He roams the backroads of Wyoming looking for old International Harvester Scouts. He'll title those that run, salvage what he can from those that don't, and sell the whole lot on eBay.

Hoobler has tried other forums for selling, but eBay is by far the best. A Scout he advertised in a non-eBay forum got 72 viewings; in seven days on eBay, the same vehicle was seen nearly 3,000 times.

For Hoobler, eBay supplements his income as a state employee. Recently, he sold a Scout gas tank and associated straps so he could buy a pair of hunting boots. He also has built a shop and remodeled his basement with eBay profits.

But there are downsides as well, chief of which is people who bid but don't pay.

Since transactions are completed without the buyer ever handling an item, Hoobler, who has been an eBay member since 1996, has learned the importance of comprehensive descriptions right down to the last ding and dent.

"You name it, I list it," he says. "And I think folks appreciate that."

Carla Edwards of Casper, who sells antiques and collectibles on eBay, once sold a turkey beard.

"I was sitting with my husband and we were discussing who bought more frivolous things on the Internet, men or women, because you can buy anything," she says. "I was looking around the room and I saw one of his mounts and I said, 'Well, I can sell a turkey beard.' "

She did, for about $30.

Edwards say there's lots of hype about making oodles of money on eBay, but since starting in 1997, she has seen many sellers come and go.

"The general rule of thumb is you make your money on the buy," she says. A seller must know what an item is really worth and what it will bring on the wholesale market.

Edwards, who is retired, loves to do research and has a strong background in marketing and photography. Because of the time she takes with her presentations, Edwards says her collectibles and antiques typically sell for 30 percent more than comparable items listed on eBay.

Despite eBay and Paypal fees that can take a 20 percent bite out of her profits, Edwards says eBay is hard to beat.

"There's nothing anymore that's rare or unusual," she says. "There are 50 billion page hits every month of eBay, and there's basically nothing you cannot find on the Internet."

Hughes Products in Saratoga has been selling hardwood floor medallion inlays on eBay since the first of the year. Arlen Hughes likes the market presence; about half his business now results from eBay sales.

"The downfall is that you pay through the gill for it," he says.

When an item is listed, sellers pay an insertion fee that ranges in cost up to $4.80. A final value fee also is charged which is determined by the final sales price of an item. For an article that sells for between $22.01 and $1,000, for example, the fee would be 5.25 percent of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 2.75 percent of the remaining closing value balance between $25.01 to $1,000.00.

A variety of fees for optional eBay services also might be assessed. In addition, Paypal charges for online payments if that service is used.

eBay is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. In 2004, eBay reported total revenues of $3.27 billion, with a gross profit of $2.65 billion.

Business editor Tom Mast can be reached at tom.mast@casperstartribune.net or call 307-266-0574.

Learn how to sell on eBay

By TOM MAST

Star-Tribune staff writer

It's easy to sell on eBay, but it's difficult to become good at it.

So says Bill Ellis, regional director of the Wyoming Small Business Development Center in Rock Springs, who travels the state teaching people how to make eBay work for them.

Ellis says perhaps the most frequently voiced concern is related to sources of supply. Once the garage is cleaned out, how can sellers find consistent sources of supply at a good price?

Ellis estimates several dozen people in Wyoming make a living selling on eBay, offering a variety of products. Some retail firms also use eBay as a means of selling excess inventory.

"In any of our communities, retail in Wyoming's tough because we don't have the population base," he says. So when a business buys a gross but can only sell a dozen out of a local storefront, the rest might end up being offered on eBay.

While interest in eBay is growing, Ellis says there is a deep chasm between offering a few items for sale and making it a full-time business.

Ellis has trained about 300 people in Wyoming. He is certified by eBay University.

A number of all-day workshops are scheduled this fall for persons interested in learning more about the sales potential of eBay.

The following communities are slated for workshops, which will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

Sept. 28 Rock Springs

Oct. 5 Cheyenne

Oct. 6 Laramie

Oct. 12 Evanston

Oct. 22 Casper

Oct. 26 Afton

Nov. 2 Pinedale

Nov. 10 Cody

For location and registration information, contact the Small Business Development Center regional office nearest to you. Offices are located in Casper, Cheyenne, Gillette, Laramie, Powell and Rock Springs.

eBay fast facts

- eBay Motors had $11.1 billion in automotive-related sales in 1994.

- Every hour over 2,000 bids are placed on artwork and antiques.

- Over 30,000 clothing, footwear and accessory items are sold every day.

- Over 100 Barbie dolls are sold every hour.

- A craft item is sold every 9 seconds.

Source: auctions institute.com