Owner of Failed iSold It eBay Drop-off Franchise Leaves Apology
Sean Kelly has a fascinating story about franchise failure,
Owner of Failed iSold It eBay Drop-off Franchise Leaves Apology
According to a report at DailyProgress.com, all that’s left of the iSold It ebay-drop off store franchise in Charlottesville, VA is the iSold It sign, an empty storefront and, until recently, an apologetic note to customers from the store’s former owner.“To all iSold It customers, thank you for patience on waiting on your checks,” read a recently removed note on the door of the deserted iSold It in Rio Hill Shopping Center, off U.S. 29 in Albemarle County.
“This was never my intent. I am so sorry all this came about. I have invested my lifesavings into this business and now I have to close it,” the typed note continued.
“I know many of you are upset; I do understand this. My goal is to send everyone a check, this is going to take longer then I had hoped for.”
The eBay member profile for the store indicates that the Charlottesville iSold It, which was opened in November, 2004 by a father & son team, was the franchise chain’s first franchise location and the 18th iSold It store overall. The store had earned a 99.6% positive comment rating on eBay, with 5505 positive comments made about the store’s service. In a bit of sad irony, the member profile still includes a cheery pitch for the iSold It franchise opportunity.
The iSold It franchise was a typical oversold concept.
The eBay business is a difficult auction to consistently win at. And the franchise concept for this business is at best curious.
There was a long discussion about this concept at franchise-chat last year. The general view was that there was no proven business model.
My own view, as a lawyer, was the the business model was competing with a number of businesses that were highly regulated - pawnbrokers, consignment shops, second hand shops, and the like.
All of these business are regulated to prevent fencing - what did iSoldit have to offer as business model?
Nothing, if a franchisee did become successful, they would have likely attracted the attention of the local police enforcing the local by-law aimed at eradicating fencing.
None of iSoldit's marketing materials or UFCO ever discussed this material risk.
