The eBay Millionaire: Titanium PowerSeller Secrets for Building a Big Online Business

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A City Discount

As he’s giving driving directions, John Stack warns that his office isn’t in the best part of town. And it’s true. His company, A City Discount, is headquartered in one of Atlanta’s grittier neighborhoods, far from the skyscrapers of downtown and the shiny tourist spots. His dad moved the family business into this building in 1975 and, at least in appearance, it seems as though nothing has changed since then.

The 20,000-square-foot building is just another warehouse in a row of other nondescript warehouses and burned-out factories. The gravel parking lot out front is just big enough for a few cars. The lobby is a tiny rectangle, decorated with a white vinyl couch and a coffee table strewn with Fortune, Money, and other business magazines. A few framed advertisements and magazine articles hang on the dingy walls. The carpet is water stained and the window above the front door has a jagged hole in it.

This setting belies the company’s success.

A City Discount is one of the top sellers of business and industrial products on eBay. In fact, the Atlanta company is the largest provider of used restaurant equipment on the site, though the lion’s share of its revenue comes from selling new goods.

In five years of online selling, A City Discount has completed more than 25,000 eBay auctions, scoring some 20,000 positive feedback postings from buyers. The company’s revenues were $400,000 in 1999, and they’ve grown every year since: $1.4 million in 2002, $4 million ...