I took my first plunge into e-bay world recently. I have been pricing 2-man backpacking tents for a hike on the Appalachian trail I am taking this spring. I was getting discouraged looking at what I consider ridiculously high-priced tents. I'm sure I have driven cars that are not worth as much as the tents I was looking at. So, I took a tour around e-bay and there was my tent...a Eureka 2-man barely- used tent that was half the price of the new model. I put the tent on my "watching" list and waited. The minimum bid was $60. I would gladly have paid $75. The days ticked by. I checked my tent each day, heck, to be honest each hour and I was driving my family nuts. I was clearly obsessed. I dreamed of the father-son bonding this new tent would allow. I daydreamed and night-dreamed of being in the tent. This MUST BE MY TENT! I must have it! Sunday afternoon I watched the auction as it ticked from 10 minutes down. The $60 bid quickly changed to $80. This was more than I wanted to pay, but now I had the fever. With five minutes to go. I began bidding $1 more than the other mysterious bidder who did not need this tent as bad as me! With 30 seconds to go I got the winning bid! I was elated. Sam jumped on the couch and hooted and yelped. Then with 5 seconds to go the mysterious bidder bought the tent for $1 more than me. AAAAARRGGGG. My adrenaline was pumping and my heart was pounding. Then reality set in. The mysterious bidder had done me a huge favor. The winning bid...
$92
Plus shipping and handling
$122
You know...I can walk in the store and buy a tent cheaper than that...
For now, I am off of e-bay.
3 comments:
I feel like there should be a "You'll shoot your eye out" with the tent reference somewhere.
I have been saved many a time the same way. I only hope that is not the case with my customers.:)
You can get some good deals though. Look for the stores.
I love the jumping up and down scene.
I have several friends that are sellers (on e-bay- not street drugs) that say that people get so caught up in the hype *ahem, Tony* that they pay WAY more than the item is worth.
Glad that's not you today, my friend.
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