e-BAY and PAYPAL IN THE CLASSROOM
Students Learn On-Line Marketing Skills
by Teresa Hansmire
On-line retailing is a booming business. Many kids and adults have bought or sold items on e-Bay. It requires time and research to sell an item, and students in Computer Applications II learned what it takes through a special e-Bay/PayPal unit.
The unit started with the history of e-Bay and PayPal. Detailed information was then provided for writing a thorough description, taking quality pictures, and calculating costs and fees. Students researched products of interest for sale on e-Bay and critiqued both good listings and poor ones. A scavenger hunt took students to various links of the e-Bay website to learn even more.
The class then divided into teams of two or three students. Each team was responsible for donating two small auction items from home. A writer, a photographer, and a financial adviser were needed for each team. Students picked one role to play for the first listing and team members worked together to produce a quality listing. The first auction listings went live the week of March 3. Team members then monitored the listings and followed through on customer questions. The listing ended with shipping the items that sold and providing buyer feedback.
The process was repeated with a second listing the week of March 10 and students were required to select a different role. The unit ended with an evaluation describing their favorite role, the best part of the unit, and the least desirable section. The class listed 16 items between the two auctions, with 10 of them selling. The class voted to make a donation to the Fairbury Athletic Complex with a portion of the net profits. The remainder was used to hold a pizza party in celebration of this new venture.
Jason Miner, a PayPal employee, developed the unit for Nebraska teachers. The program was piloted during the 2006-07 school year at six Nebraska schools. Fairbury is one of eight participating schools during the 2007-08 school year. PayPal plans to take the program to the national level in the 2008-09 year. "I feel this is a wonderful opportunity for students. It really caught their attention when I announced the unit at the start of the semester. Since a full marketing course is not offered at Fairbury High School, this unit gives kids a sample of some of the skills necessary for selling a product. The kids were very excited to participate in the program. I learned at our training session to expect only half of the items selling, so I was pleased the class surpassed that average."
Many of the students felt the e-Bay unit was the best part of class because it was a totally new learning experience. Sophomore Allie Skidmore stated "It was a great opportunity. It was cool to learn marketing and pricing skills and use them in an on-line auction." Junior Kevin Snyder said "It was fun and I'm sure I will use what I learned later in life." Senior Caleb Staupales remembers when e-Bay was blocked on the school network. "I think it's kind of funny that a couple years ago we could not even get on e-Bay at school and now you are teaching it!" Senior Bin Bin Chen enjoyed the unit. "I think it's a great learning experience and it makes me want to get my own account."
