Traders’ Dreams

Germany 2007 / 83min. German, Spanish, Chinese with English subtitles.
Directors Marcus Vetter, Stefan Tolz / Producer Stefan Tolz

Go onto anyone’s list of favourites on their web browser and 9 out of 10 times, it has TradeMe and eBay listed. Everyone is looking to sell or buy something for a bargain.

Traders’ Dreams is an entertaining exploration of the global appeal of the get-rich-quick phenomenon that is eBay. Over 200 million people use eBay, the largest internet auction house in the world.

Directors Vetter and Tolz spent more than a year observing people in their attempts to fulfil their eBay dreams: the Thrum family in Saxony, who attempt to set up an internet sales business in the face of unemployment; Spike, a wheeler-dealer on the Isle of Skye, who needn’t leave his front room to clinch the deal; and Mexican potters who are being swindled by a salesman doubling his profits on eBay.

The film also examines whether a Chinese entrepreneur, the creator of rival internet sales company Alibaba is able to overtake eBay and win in the battle for global dominance? The deeper the film delves into eBay mania, the more surreal it becomes. The annual world conference, eBay Live, reveals hundreds of drones
chanting ‘The power of all of us’.

This is an enjoyable and surprising look at those hoping to change their lives and find happiness through the world of virtual commerce.

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