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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2004)
Duck s Village Now Leasing for Fall! 1) N IVK KSIT V OF ()R FGO N. look no Further o “Our Mistake, YOUR PRICE BREAK! ” WE ARE -..JIL FIRM SUPPORT TWIN SET $199°° FULL SET $269°° QUEEN SET $299°° 10-Year Warranty KING KOIL SUPER PLUSH TWIN SET $259°° FULL SET $299°° QUEEN SET *359°° KING SET $459°° 10-Year Warranty TWIN SET $299°° FULL SET $359°° QUEEN SET $399°° KING SET $599°° 10-Year Warranty AMERICAN MATTRESS MANUFACTURING 4075 w. 1 nh • 343-2690 Monday - Saturday 9-6 • Sunday 11-5 Isold it on eBay! Internet sales are an increasingly popular way to make money By Sheldon Traver • Freelance Reporter "Divorce Forces Sale" was the listing for a wedding dress on eBay. The seller ac knowledged he thought it "looks like a $1,200 shower curtain." That shower curtain earned the seller five marriage proposals, a guest appearance on NBC's "Today Show," more than eight million hits to the auction site and a winning bid of $3,850. Larry Star had no idea when he donned the pure white wed ding gown and modeled it, tat toos and all, that he would be come an international celebrity. He said he only hoped to receive enough mon ey for "a couple of Mariners tickets and a beer," according to his eBay listing. Star is a model of how to successfully list on eBay. As on line auctions become an in creasingly popular way to buy and sell, University students can make some money with out setting up a yard sale. Junior Jared Bellum regular ly sells his textbooks online. "A friend turned me on to sell ing," he said. "He sold clothes and has done fairly well." Bellum said he is usually able to sell the books for al most as much as he paid for them. He also buys many of his textbooks online at sub stantial savings. Bellum said students hoping to sell their books should start early. "You want to list before the term starts," he said. He also said to make sure not to list them before the term ends. The book must be sent immedi ately upon receiving payment, which can hurt during finals week, according to Bellum. Http://www.ebay.com offers tips for how to be a successful seller. The site states that the most successful listings are those with photographs and good descriptions of what is being sold. TIPS continued from page 2B help renters out. For instance, if a renter is unable to pay rent one month, Breen said the best thing to do is call the landlord. "Most of them are nice and will work it out within rea son," Breen said. However, if the renter fails to pay rent and doesn't commu nicate with the landlord, after seven days, the landlord can serve the tenant with a 72-hour notice under the Oregon Resi dential Landlord and Tenant Act. The notice gives the tenant three days to either pay the rent or vacate the premises. If nei ther happens, the landlord can then file the claim in court. Breen said the most com mon problem he encounters with his clients is when ten ants don't give a 30-day writ ten notice of termination. "In the summer, we have a two-week „ period where Courtesy Sheldon Traver University graduate Mike Rademacher has had 366 successful eBay sales. An avid model train collector, he buys and sells the components to his sets online. Auction sites such as eBay are also good for selling textbooks. Almost anything can be put up for auction, so students should not be afraid to sell. On any given day, buyers can scour the site for items such as glass Snoopy banks, pocket recorders, ukuleles or Velvet Elvis tapestries. To become a seller, bank account informa tion must be given to eBay. This is to ensure payment for services provided. Fees de pend on what is being listed and what the initial asking price is. University graduate Mike Rademacher is an eBay Pow erSeller with 366 successful sales. "It's the garage sale of the world," Rademacher said. "Anything you want to sell can be sold on eBay." He said the easiest items to sell are small enough to be eas ily packaged and mailed. Rademacher is an avid model railroader and buys and sells rare trains. "I started buying specialty railroad cars that would take three to four years to find at swap meets," he said. However, Rademacher ex- * pressed caution about buying high-value items on eBay. "You should stick to sellers that have good feedback," Rademacher said. "If they have feedback in the high 90s and have sold lots of stuff, you should be OK." He said any high-value items be bought using eBay's escrow services to avoid losing money to a crooked seller. Ebay has had some bad feed back regarding customer service "Ebay's system of com plaints is very bad," Rademach er said. "You must go through eBay procedures that make it very difficult to make com plaints about sellers." While few students will get rich selling used twin com forters or unopened math books, a little creativity will make a listing more attractive — just think of Star at a Mariners game with a beer in one hand and $3,850 in the other. Sheldon Traver is a freelance reporter for the Emerald. around 300 or 400 students move out," Breen said. By writing a letter to the landlord, the renters ensures they won't pay for extra days. Even if the renter's lease will expire, a written notice is needed. The letter should in dicate where the keys will be left and remind the landlord of broken items mentioned in the checklist at the beginning of the lease. Most importantly, tenants should provide their forward ing address to receive their se curity deposit back. Under the Oregon Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the landlord is required to return the security deposit or a letter stating why the deposit is not returned within 31 days of the termina tion of the lease. If the land lord fails to do so, he or she has to pay up to twice the amount owed to the former tenant, the law states. "We get a lot of calls on day 32," Breen said. He added that getting the money back is a very common problem, especially with mul tiple roommates. If room mates want the security de posit split, Breen said they must write a letter with all the names and forwarding ad dresses provided. Communication goes both ways in a tenant-landlord rela tionship. The Oregon Residen tial Landlord and Tenant Art states: "Rent may not be in creased without a 30-day writ ten notice thereof in the case of a month-to-month tenancy or a seven-day written notice thereof in the case of a week to-week tenancy." The law also states that landlords must also give a 24-hour written notice to the tenant before entering the dwelling. "So many of your rights de pend on giving written no tices," Miani said. "Landlords know that writing a letter is getting legal gears in motion and take it more seriously." Emily LoVende is a freelance reporter forthe Emerald. ... .
