What I love about e bay
Aug. 15th, 2005 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annwfynI think I've decided that one of the reasons I'm so bad for spending money on ebay is because the entire process is just so FUN.
It's all full of excitement, of unexpected things, and of total seredipity.
You sit in front of your computer, and it's a dull and slow day. You poke about on the internet - there's gossip on LJ, nothing on e mail, but what is there on ebay? A book you remembered the other day that you loved when you were a kid but has been out of print for years? Those books you've been hunting for that every shop tells you will take weeks to order in? A bit of clothing that you'd never have thought of for yourself, but it's only £1 to try and entire new look out of the blue?
You sit, and you ponder and then you hit the 'make a bid' button. You don't even know then if you're buying or if you're not. At what point do you give up on the item if the bidding goes up? What if it's an impulse bid and you're stuck with that £1 top in purple tie dye? The experience gets strung out if you bid close to the beginning of an auction. I spent days recently watching my 7th Sea books, watching them creep up in price, wondering and waiting.
The auction closes! You have new stuff! It's yours! Huzzah!
And finally, it all comes to a close with that most wonderous of things - the brown paper parcel. There are very few ways one gets parcels these days, I've found. Mostly with me it comes down to ebay, andmelsner who is a small pile of wonder all on his own. But the day comes when the postman knocks on the door (always a good thing) and then you have a parcel, all wrapped up and waiting to be torn apart like a minature birthday or minature Christmas.
And this is what happened to me this morning. Two packages of books from e bay, and a wedding invite fromcristobel which is exciting all by itself. That's a nice way to start the morning.
It's all full of excitement, of unexpected things, and of total seredipity.
You sit in front of your computer, and it's a dull and slow day. You poke about on the internet - there's gossip on LJ, nothing on e mail, but what is there on ebay? A book you remembered the other day that you loved when you were a kid but has been out of print for years? Those books you've been hunting for that every shop tells you will take weeks to order in? A bit of clothing that you'd never have thought of for yourself, but it's only £1 to try and entire new look out of the blue?
You sit, and you ponder and then you hit the 'make a bid' button. You don't even know then if you're buying or if you're not. At what point do you give up on the item if the bidding goes up? What if it's an impulse bid and you're stuck with that £1 top in purple tie dye? The experience gets strung out if you bid close to the beginning of an auction. I spent days recently watching my 7th Sea books, watching them creep up in price, wondering and waiting.
The auction closes! You have new stuff! It's yours! Huzzah!
And finally, it all comes to a close with that most wonderous of things - the brown paper parcel. There are very few ways one gets parcels these days, I've found. Mostly with me it comes down to ebay, and
melsner who is a small pile of wonder all on his own. But the day comes when the postman knocks on the door (always a good thing) and then you have a parcel, all wrapped up and waiting to be torn apart like a minature birthday or minature Christmas.And this is what happened to me this morning. Two packages of books from e bay, and a wedding invite from
cristobel which is exciting all by itself. That's a nice way to start the morning.
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 09:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 09:27 am (UTC)*twitch*
You mean, Christabelle9.
Evil, evil woman.
And no, we are getting married. I am still holding out for you. You have to come to your senses one of these days.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 09:28 am (UTC)Damn these Freudian slips.
I didnt even know he wore a dress.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 09:30 am (UTC)Tied up with string
Date: 2005-08-15 09:31 am (UTC)It's people like you who make it possible for people like me to buy food.
I'm a small pile!
Oh, something I learned about "bidding psychology" from my eBay class... For most people, once you bid on something you feel it's "yours." You have bid, promising to pay for it, so you already have a sense of ownership. It's why some bidding wars can get quite silly and end up waaaay above retail price.
Although the weak American Dollar and shipping overseas helps, too. Thank god George W. Bush completely wrecked our economy!
no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 09:33 am (UTC)She's still holding out for Orlando Bloom. Or possibly Sean Bean, but only if he dresses up like Sharpe.
I think she should shoot for Christian Bale, though. I figure the Welsh are fairly interchangable, but he has a Batman suit.
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Date: 2005-08-15 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 10:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 10:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 10:03 am (UTC)If the former, I will file in things-I-never-bloody-knew :)
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Date: 2005-08-15 10:06 am (UTC)One conversation with Susan's mother later we discovered we were actually related.
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Date: 2005-08-15 10:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 10:36 am (UTC)Ebay is a horrendously powerful addiction. It's so easy. Me and a mate were taking the piss out of a film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071276/) his friend's dad had directed, and on a whim we decided to try and get hold of a copy, and we found it on ebay for about a fiver. Unfortunately, having been the only bidders, the Floridian seller suddenly turned into a complete arse about payment, and it became a mini nightmare to just give this person money for a cheap and crappy film we bought for a bit of a giggle.
I think the ultimate problem I have with ebay is that it takes the ease and convenience of the internet, and combines it with the quazi-retarded population of the internet, allowing you to partake in money disputes with amateur sales-folk at your leisure, without even leaving your desk! It fools you into thinking it's not just another annoying virtual field full of idiots by including measurable success, fabulous prizes and some sort of pretense of customer satisfaction.
Nontheless, I still want these (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-LED-glow-juggling-clubs-like-fire-poi-and-staff_W0QQitemZ5993279322QQcategoryZ1039QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem).
That said, I wanted these (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5989828743&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDW%3AIT&rd=1) and these (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5989231021&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDW%3AIT&rd=1) as well, but didn't get them. Damn them, and their 99p starting bids.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 11:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 12:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-17 08:13 pm (UTC)