My Adventures on Ebay

So I discovered EBay... and I love it... I knew it was there, but I never knew they had so many supplies for cards and scrapbooking...

 Yeah.... I spent way more than I wanted, but i got amazing stuff. Now i am going to put myself on a monthly allowance. Twice a month, i am allowing my self to bid on whatever I want, otherwise, i would buy all day... and I am pretty sure my kids will think i have lost my mind, not to mention I am limited in space.

The best and the worse thing is that you can find amazing deals on new, great quality items, that are hard to find, are not carried in your local stores and with free shipping or bundled shipping.

 The worse part is, the photos can be confusing, and somewhat deceiving, because it will list something as a lot, show 20-30 items and of course I bid, only to find out it is only 6 items and i don't get to pick what is sent to me.  Of course, it will say that somewhere in the middle of the huge paragraph that is under all the shipping info... That is when i pray some one will bid higher than me... LOL... I know that is awful, but if the text matched exactly what they're offering for sale, then it wouldn't be so confusing. So look, and read every line (which can be a huge pain, some of them write stories instead of basic descriptions) because in the end you are contracting to buy it once you bid.

One of my biggest frustrations for eBay are the one i call drive buys... that's when i have 15 minutes or less left on the bidding, and i am the highest bidder, then the minute i look away or do something else, some one swoops in and out bids me by .50 cents... UGH! that drives me crazy. So I have learned, even thought I don't think I want to bid $20 on a item, if I don't max bid my full amount the first time, I will end up being out bid or worse end up in a bidding war, with some one who may or may not really want it, but I feel is just pushing the price.

The way I calculate the max bid i place, is I say to myself, what would i pay for it on sale? then if it is under or around that price then I go for it. Of course if it is something i know is rare, or not made anymore, then I take that into account.

Now, when it is a lot (here comes my crazy math...LOL) I say what would i really want to pay for each of the lets say 20 items... I usually say $1-$3 dollars a piece... so if i have a lot of inks or re inkers : 20 re inkers or ink pads x $1 each, I know i will not go higher than $20 dollars, but if it seems too low then i add another $5 to make it fair. The I end up with my max bid at $25 and that is a great price for 20 ink pads or re inkers.

When it comes to Tim Holtz dies, i say would i pay $5 -$10 dollars each and there are 4 in the lot with several other items, i would max bid $40 -$45, because I am pretty sure the shipping is around $12. So that is my crazy math, it works, and when I buy, i feel as if i get a great deal.

 And, in case you are wondering what I do with any duplicates or items I don't want when I purchase them in lots, simple, I save them for gifts (since my family loves to craft, scrapbook, and make cards) or I donate them to my kids schools, or if all else fails, resell them, but I have yet to resell any of my duplicates or unwanted items... there are always takers... LOL...

Well, i hope you found my adventures on EBay, helpful. I will be posting photos of my creations soon.