I’d like to suggest that Amazon and Ebay manifest a doctrine, and it’s a variation on the Protestant doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. I call this Amazon- and Ebay-based doctrine the “priesthood of all consumers.”
There was a day when bookstore dealers sold books,
Clothing stores sold clothes,
Jewelers sold jewelry,
and sports stores sold sporting goods.
But not now. Everyone can sell everything with a little ingenuity, a little work, and sometimes with little more than no risk. You can sell books through Amazon, you can find good prices on jewelry at the local box store and sell it at a profit on Ebay, you can buy something, use it, and then turn around and sell it used on the internet … and it doesn’t cost as much.
There used to be two options: buy from the specialist store or go to a garage sale. The “virtual shopping store” has made all of us consumer and all of us salespersons, and we’ve got less need for the “priest” of consumer goods.
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