The Ebay Racket....

Well, lets think about this for a second...... This racket thing that Ebay has....
You list an item, at which time, they take a "small listing fee" and depending on how you list it, it can be anywhere from fifty cents to a couple of bucks... EVERY TIME YOU LIST IT.

So, say you have an item and the listing fee cost you sixty five cents. You put the item up for $10 and it doesn't sell in the time period you have it listed for whether it be a week or ten days or whatever. EVERY time the item is relisted, BAM you get banged out for the same listing fee. THEN once the item sells, they take their "cut" of the final selling price right off the top which is extortion rates of like 10% or more depending on some formula that they have and the type of item it is and how much it sold for.

So this $10 item gets listed and they take their sixty five cents. It doesn't sell... you relist it a few times.... Say three times. $1.95 off the top. Add to that, your final selling fee thingy at say 11%. Another $2.20. You're left with $5.85. As long as you have calculated your shipping correctly, (sometimes yes, sometimes no....), which the buyer pays, you come out on top or you don't..... and you walk away with some pocket change.... :s Damn! I wish I'd thought of doing this.....

sigh......

Yuppers! After witnessing a very intense bidding war and having had a fierce private negotiation on Ebay, I am happy to announce that someone else is now the proud owner of a penis candle once purchased at the *penis festival, at the *penis shrine, because penises! Penis. *Brought to you by the people who gave the world ecchi, sketchy, panda-chan, hentai anime tentacle porn and used panties vending machines. Oh, Japan..... You so funny!

The World Opens Up......

Ebay is a great place to get rid of your unwanted shit. Don't expect to do it to make a whole buttload of money unless you are going to be devoting most of your life to it, but it's still a great little doojie on the internet. It is a yard sale extravaganza that brings the world at your garage sale. People from all over the place checking out your shit and buying up your unwanted shit and it still blows my mind. Now that we have this internet thing, everything is right there. You're looking to sell something, BLAM! Internet. You're looking to buy something, FLABAMMO! Internet. Looking for info, posting info, finding people, places, things, SHAZAM! Internet.

If you've ever cruised around Ebay, you know that you can find just about anything on there. (Well.... Other than firearms, illegal substances of all sorts, slaves, anything frowned upon by the establishment.....) Anything from designer clothes and accessories to a potato chip with an image of the Virgin Mary on it to "pre-owned" sex dolls... It's absolutely amazing what you can find! And the people on Ebay come in all sorts of flavors too. Everything from stay at home mom to some kook out west who thinks he's Princess Poofy Pants from the planet Sparklonia.

And communicating with these people is a hoot too! These are all people whom, without the internet and sources like Ebay, I never would have "met" and "spoken to". What a hoot! It's still rather amazing to me and brings me much amusement, this internet thing.... :) But this Ebay thing? It's kinda priceless.....

Ebay time of the year!

We're coming around to that time of year when people start scouring the internet for bargains and whatnot for things to give to others for the holidays. I guess that means I have to get a move on and start posting stuff on Ebay again and come up with clever and/ or sarcastic write ups for all the items I post. Sigh.... I get tons of emails about the write ups that I post with the items. A good portion of the time, it's the write ups that eventually sell the items. I guess that's my thing.
My goal IS STILL to sell at least one item in EVERY category... I still have a long way to go. In the meantime, if you're looking for the most random items or strange things, I'll have things posted shortly! Happy shopping!

They've got quite the racket!

Think about it... First they charge you a listing fee... Every time you list or re-list an item. Yup, they charge you a listing fee... THEN on the back end, when the item sells, they take a percentage of what you sold the item for... In some cases, you end up giving money to Ebay... Might as well have just sent the item to Ebay for them to do what they want with it along with an envelope with cash in it. I did the math... Turns out I'm really not making all that much money from Ebay... I'm doing a little better than breaking even. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not like it's going to stop me from hawking mom's stuff on Ebay! It's like online crack! I love it! But I'm not really making a profit or anything... Oh well...

Ebay...

Sure listing things can be a pain in the ass... Especially if you're making up new listings. You have to take the picture, post it, slap it all together, figure out how much you're selling it for and come up with some wiseass comment about why you're getting rid of it... Oh... That last one is just me? Sorry...
There are so many things listed on Ebay, it's not even funny. If you've ever checked the sight under the weird and unusual category, there are some strange things out there... What's scarier is, there are bids on some of those items...
Deformed lightbulbs, used sex dolls (I'm serious) and all sorts of fetish type adult toys, studded chastity belts, haunted items, pictures of biologic anomalies, weird gag items...
Seriously! You can find just about anything on Ebay. It's pretty cool. My goal is to list at least one thing in EVERY category... I'll probably have to stray away from mom's storage spaces to find items to list... This ought to be fun!

An Ebay thing...

Mom's Maze of Terror, a.k.a. the basement, has yielded some pretty amazing finds... Otherwise I probably wouldn't be down there... Who am I kidding? Yes, I would. The expeditions down to the dungeons are perilous and I am risking my safety and well being by traversing the corridors of that dark and evil place... There are dangers and booby traps, pitfalls and evil creatures summoned from the very bowels of hell itself tromping around down there! (They don't want to be there! It's just that they can't find their way out!)
I've met some pretty amazing people through Ebay too. Kinda like mom's torture chamber for trinkets, treasures and knickknacks... Sure there are dangers and pitfalls, but you can find some real gems out there too. Alright, maybe I do obsess a little too much about Ebay, but considering what I got "awarded" for child support... Hell! If I can earn some money and still be home for the kids and be the one to raise them instead of hiring someone else to do it for me, than I consider Ebay to be a healthy obsession.
Klawed9 is an amazing woman. Who helped to restore my faith in people. Her "obi story" is one that will be told to my daughter and her daughter and her daughter's daughter for many generations down the line...
Hemi_cuda911 and Pussanova have swooped in and lent a helping hand and some sound advice about things Ebay...
Then there is Shoparoundsue56. This woman is an unbelievable example of humanity, kindness, compassion and humility. Her life had taken more than a bunch of zigs and zags, but her demeanor is still one of sincerity, calm and is truly inspirational. One of those people who you come across and feel cheated because you hadn't known them all along...
Ebay is like "Life-Lite".  With people and with the things that you purchase or sell. Skate through most of it without a fuss, nameless, faceless, whatever.  You run into some bumps, trip, fall and get all bloodied up... But you also come across things that are worthwhile... Significant and it ain't all bad if you stop a bit, take a breath and look around...