Saturday, July 12, 2008

My love/hate relationship with eBay

eBay is just not what it used to be. I remember way back when (circa 2001) a gal could bid, say, $10 on a Barbie doll lot of 25 and end up winning the auction, no problem. Nowadays, it's like a major combat mission. I have to fight tooth and nail to win, and usually end up paying waaaay more money than I intended to.

Competition is the culprit in over-budget spending on an ebay lot. A nasty, addictive, little habit born of rage. I can totally set my limit and decide how much I want to spend on a particular item and then the second my bid is topped by another buyer, all that budgeting and rationale goes out the window and the anger of getting outbid compels me to bid again! …and again, and again.

And so it's true, the cost of discarded Barbie dolls has risen, quite dramatically. What is the world coming to? And why are so many other people buying used, out of the box, ratty-haired Barbie dolls far from vintage collector items? We all know why I am… but why are they damnit?!

Sorry, just a little frustrated at the moment.

I miss living in a town where my Saturday routine involved garage sale-ing all morning and coming home with huge loads of Barbie dolls - often at less than 50 cents a doll! Alas, life is just all around more expensive when you live in nyc.

I love this commercial so much:

4 comments:

alisa said...

i know that feeling too well. ebay gives me a lot of anxiety, so i've stopped shopping there. and i miss smaller town thrift shops, too. there's not much in chicago. i'll keep my eyes out, though.

Nicole said...

I use Barbies in my art as well and I totally feel your pain. I hate the competition on ebay too. I used to make rounds of thrift stores to find dolls but this whole year I rarely ever find any.

Margaux Lange said...

alisa,
Anxiety is exactly the word! Thanks for keeping an eye out for me in Chi-town :-)

nicole,
your Barbie art is totally awesome… very sinister and unique. Yeah, thrift stores are so hit and miss, that's the beauty of ebay because you can always find them there, it's just a matter of $$$ and competition. ugh.

Anonymous said...

I have been slowly getting rid of my dolls on ebay, it's been hard to let some go...

So, I have extra dolls hanging around my house that I bought for clothes. Now they are waiting for ebay, but I think you are a better cause.

Send me an email if you're interested in them! I probably have, oh, 8-15 right now.

miss_skittlekitty@yahoo.com

:)