Saturday, April 10, 2010

Deco-demon and other Monsters

Some ebay purchases






I was in a collecting frenzy from the mid 80's until about 2002, my sister and I would haunt flea markets, Rose Bowl, Long Beach, Santa Monica, you name it we were there, We visited every antique store from Santa Barbara down to San Diego. The thrill of the hunt and all that.... Then one day, around 1998, a neighbor came with her sister to photograph my yard, this was at the height of garden collectibles and that was one of my passions at the moment. As we were talking she casually mentioned you must love Ebay, I didn't know what she was referring to, and nodded dumbly, not wanting to admit my computer skills at that point were zero, so I set out to find what it was all about. Asking around at the antique stores and some geeks, I found out what I was missing. From that moment on I was hooked, you could find almost any collectible you wanted online , and for a price it was yours ! Well that would certainly save a lot of gas, plus I could shop at midnight in my pajama's, now this was a dream come true! What I didn't take into account was that I was not the only one doing this. I started bidding wildly on everything, my daughter would often comment I looked like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, plunking away on the keyboard thinking I was controlling something. I kept losing out at the last moment, I was what they refered to on Ebay, a newbie. You don't bid immediately you lurk in the background, pretending you don't want this item you have desired for the last 5 year, then you pounce at the last minute, or snipe as they call it. I started to notice everything I coveted was won by someone called "Deco-demon", so I started watching her bids, her buys, and realized this was my foe, I got to beat her price no matter what, I stayed up until the wee hours sniping like a mad woman, if she bought old ashtrays, I bought old ash trays, no matter that I hadn't smoked since 1978 ! Packages were arriving daily and the feeling of triumph when I outbid my adversary was exhilarating, setting alarms to wake at east coast time, caused me to lose a lot of sleep, but I was the proud owner of a flower pot salt and pepper shaker, it was worth it !! Well I finally came to my senses, it was actually a moment when I realized I might end up like the Collyer Brothers, buried alive in my greed, but as they say "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Last Christmas when my sister and I were doing are annual vintage reindeer sweater hunt on ebay, I noticed they were no longer using names, just stars and a numbers thing, gosh, that takes the fun out of it, you can't get personal, you can't get addicted,you can't let the monsters take hold, they would do wise to rethink that move...

6 comments:

  1. oh, it is sooo true. Everyone got caught up in Ebay. The stuff you could find was unreal. And one just had to have it. Though now, I have to admit that I do most of my shopping on-line. I guess bad habits are hard to kill....

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  2. ps.- I also have to admit that we bought stuff that was really necessary. Not what Weird Al found :)

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  3. that's the funniest blog and the BEST video. i love you!

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  4. Maria, that story is sooo true! Remember I used to see you and Melissa at those very same places! I knew of ebay, and that was when boxes actually arrived at my office, as to hide these goodies from hubby! LOL! How you didn't know of ebay, I have no idea! I guess I was working too much and not visiting you as much as I did before...but you know it is still fun to go to Country Roads and the various local places just to find some treasure was still fun! Especially the stuff we that would cost hundreds just to ship to CA! LOL! Though when I moved to the Bay Area, I had a local seller save me things so when we visited Disneyland, or wherever, I would pick up the stuff then! LOL! Crazy! I guess that is why my feedback is like over 2000! Sheesh!

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  5. Hi Maria!!

    I found your photostream via pinterest and am in LOVE. You take such gorgeous photos! I would love to share your birthday photos on my blog. I know my readers would go nuts!! Please let me know if that is something you are interested in!

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  6. Just discovered you flickr page. Truly blown away! Couldn't help but share you flickr page link on my blog FB page.
    Vidya @ Whats Ur Home Story

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