The students embark on this project as a means of increasing their wealth. Profit motivation may be more of an incentive than class marks. We added a "citizenship and community-life" aspect to our project: giving the money to a charity. The advantage of setting up a charity is that your students all look at the total amount of money collected as their own. The students bought toys for children at Christmas and made donations to the Canadian Red Cross after the tsunami disaster.
	Start all of the auctions at $0.99 US. Let the market decide what the final price will be. Your students will be more inclined to watch the increases than if you sell at a fixed price. Trust the market. If a customer feels he or she has overpaid, they only have themselves to blame. You started the auction at one dollar, and they chose to increase the price. We had a second hand tie sell for $51! Remember, the more unique an item is, the higher the demand will be for the item. This will also push up the price.
	We usually use the American dollar. Americans tend to deal in their own currency, Canadians have no trouble with the American dollar and your students will gain an understanding of fluctuation rates. They may even begin to appreciate a lower valued Canadian dollar.
	Target market: Your students will learn whom they are selling to. Advertising: Your students will have to write product descriptions to target their audience.
	You may consider giving the students a contract to borrow a small some of money to get started. I made loans of $20 that had to be secured by collateral. If the loan was defaulted then the student’s item could be sold. (We did not have any defaults.) Your students will gain some knowledge about risk. It is true that it takes money to make money. But more importantly, one has to be willing to part with money to make money.
	The students were encouraged to sell their product by any means other than eBay. This gave them some direct contact with buyers at Christmas craft fairs. Only a few did well in face-to-face sales with a stranger. Your students will learn how difficult it can be to make a sale to a stranger.