Eric, proprietor of a magic school in the Taoyuan County township of Guishan, decided to make the most of the trend, going onto the "one-stop shop" of Yahoo! Auctions to offer tailored magic shows and classes. He never imagined he would so quickly draw in so many curious customers, nor that he would so successfully raise brand awareness for his school. People like Eric in all kinds of different fields are finding the crossroads of real world and online in online auctions to be an excellent source of business.

"Look closely-in my hand I hold four cards, each of which I press down on a NT$10 coin. And now's the moment of truth, as I flip the cards over...."

Huang Shengyi, an aspiring magician in the sixth grade, has memorized his lines from the performances of famous magician Lu Chen on a popular variety show, reciting them as he performs a trick.

He quickly flips up a card that has been placed down over a coin, revealing nothing beneath; where could the coin be, wonders the audience. Then, in a flash, he flips up another card, showing three coins underneath.

Seeing the astonishment on his audience's faces, Huang can help but let his glee show; "Doing magic's so cool! If you can do magic, your classmates all love you and you feel like you're really doing something awesome!"

Riding the magic wave online

Huang is a student of Taiwan Magic Performance School, near Chang Gung Hospital in Linkou, Taoyuan, where he has learned a whole range of tricks. This school has promoted its courses in a seemingly magical way itself-rather than the traditional way, using flyers and the like, they've gone straight to the customers by offering courses and shows through online auctions.

"Online auctions are huge right now, and we quickly figured out you could do more than just sell physical products, but also things like magic, housecleaning services, and beautician services for weddings, more unique and unusual things. And when someone searches the auction site for our keywords, they're essentially a targeted customer. This makes it much easier for us to get seen and find buyers," says Huang's teacher and school principal, Eric. Eric began using Yahoo! Auctions to sell his services in March 2008, and since then his business has increased by between 30 and 40%.

Eric, 33 this year, was formerly an after-school childcare teacher. Having had an interest in magic since senior high, Eric has spent over a decade honing his skills, and had intended to just make it a hobby. After seeing the raft of card tricks on television, though, he decided to strike while the iron was hot and start teaching magic classes.

He explains that good magic works by fooling the eye, misdirecting the audience while performing some simple skills; for example, with young Huang's card trick, the trick is to first hide the coins in your palm, swiping them up quickly as you fold the cards up, then stashing them at the bottom of the card pile.

"It sounds simple, but it takes a lot of time and practice to do the moves smoothly and calmly and give the impression to the audience that something's 'off.'"

Eric explains that magic can stimulate creativity and mental agility in children, and many parents are happy to have their children study with him.

Tailor-made performances

When Eric advertises his performances on the auction site, he emphasizes that his shows are tailor-made to fit each customer's requirements. For big events like weddings and year-end banquets, where the atmosphere is loud and vibrant, he'll more often choose tricks with pigeons or fire tricks, tricks which are big on effect. If it's just a small private gathering of a handful of friends, more sedate close-up magic like card tricks is the order of the day. Customers can also make special requests, such as a birthday party for a kindergartener, where he was asked to do tricks involving Spongebob Squarepants, the child's favorite cartoon character.

Eric's wedding, New Year's, and end-of-year shows have been rapturously received, and for a show of only 10-plus minutes, he charges NT$2000. During the peak season at the end of the year, he's occasionally had days where he's been all over the place, teaching classes and doing shows everywhere. The pay is better than most office jobs, though, with his average monthly income being NT$50-60,000.

"Magic's something that's suitable for all ages. It can easily create a positive atmosphere, and there's something timeless about it" says Eric. Smiling, he adds, "and in this horrible economy, being able to make my own dream come true through these online auctions is something I feel really lucky for."