Taiwan seniors learns the secrets of internet auctions

By Jens Kastner May 13, 2010, 15:14 GMT

Taipei - In computer room 302 a young teacher announces the end of class and 40 hands clap in appreciation as a modern projector screen rolls itself up automatically.

The students switch off their brand-new Apple computers and make their way to the elevator outside the classroom. It takes them a little while to get there, but that's understandable because the average age of the class is 65. They are there for a course titled Strategies for Internet Auctions.

Live long, learn long is one of thousands of common Taiwanese proverbs. The population in Taiwan, as in many industrialised countries, is ageing. More than one-tenth of the population is 65 or older. It is common in Taiwan for three generations to live under one roof. When pensions are low and when retirees have a lot of free time, they are expected to help provide for the family. The internet offers them a chance.

'My students have an enormous feeling of success when they earn more money in one day selling items on eBay or Yahoo than their sons who work in offices,' said Chen Chao-chun, the internet auction course instructor. She also has noticed the willingness of her students to get involved in a complex subject.

'Many think that they might become a burden to their children,' said Chen. 'That gnaws at their self-confidence.'

Chen teaches the open-minded elderly students everything they need to know in order to earn money from home in a 24-hour course. 'We don't start at zero,' she said. 'These students already know how to surf the internet before they sign up for the class.'

The first and also one of the most important steps is taking a proper photograph of an item being put up for auction, said Chen. Usually it is a garment, a toy or something handmade. The pictures then must be sized and enhanced, which is not an easy task for the students. Chen said she gave up on using the programme Photoshop because it was too complicated. But the programme Photoimpact works.

After uploading the photos to the auction site students are instructed on the strategy of setting a price. 'Taiwanese love to calculate, negotiate and to bet,' said Chen. 'In this area the seniors are entirely in their element.'

According to Taiwanese tradition, elderly parents live with their eldest son, and all adult sons are expected to financially support their parents. Placing a parent in a home for elderly people is still considered shameful. Even in the age of the internet the teachings of Chinese philosophers such as Confucius, Mencius and Laozi still determine how generations work and live together.

The importance of people in the life of a person is symbolized by concentric circles: First are ancestors, including parents and grandparents, then the rest of the family, then come the people in one's community or village and finally the greater society and state.

Normally, the 73 per cent of the Taiwanese population who belong to the 16- to 65-year-old age group manage the responsibility of taking care of their elderly relatives without a great deal of grumbling. But Chen believes that elderly Taiwanese who live with their children until the end of their lives feel shame over their dependence.

Research appears to support her suspicions. Taiwan has an extraordinarily high suicide rate among senior citizens, for example. Chen is sure that her work can somewhat counter this cruel phenomenon.

'Elderly people who master the strategy of internet auctions do not have to ask their children for money. People who don't have to ask for money have one less reason to feel depressed,' Chen said.