Ebay, you're the one for me

So, I've re-rediscovered Ebay. Since finding it yesterday, I've already purchased some beautiful Waterford Crystal, and I'm currently watching auctions for a Tiffany sterling bowl, a few vintage wedding dresses, and a whaling harpoon. Mike said that he doesn't want a harpoon unless it actually killed actual whales. I think he might have to settle for a tuna killing harpoon. But on a slightly more practical note, I'm starting to get a little obsessed with searching for over-sized sweaters with glittery tigers on them.  Like this one:

I know I'm a little young to be giving up on trying to be taken seriously. But you know, why start now?

For Sale

I'm giving Ebay a second chance. And here's why:

The short answer is I need money, but nobody likes the short answer. Although, if you happened to like the short answer, you can stop reading now.

As it stands, its fair to equate my current financial situation to the point in BeJeweled2 where you're down to the end and you're about to lose, and the screen is flashing and you're feverishly clicking on the little jewels before time runs out, but it feels like no matter how many jewels you get rid of, you never get any more time. (In continuation of the how to waste time at work topic, Yahoo! Games has some great time wasters) So, that's part of the reason. Secondly, I remembered that story about the guy a few years back who sold all his worldly possessions, right down to his underwear, on Ebay. And I got inspired. I'm prone to being inspired by stories that end in underwear.

So, it just made sense. I'm going to sell as much of my worldly possessions as I can bare to part with, but I'm stopping at underwear. More of this later...

Ebay is Hard

So, Yahoo Finance convinced me that the key to making a little extra money on the fly is to sell my valuables on EBay. I didn't look into whether or not that article was sponsored by EBay, but I decided it was a good idea to jump right in anyway.

I figured I'd start with a dress that cost me like 150 bucks, and I never wear it. That's like, the scenario of every commercial EBay has, so I thought it was perfect. If I get forty dollars for this thing, I'll be stoked. Now, going into this, I considered myself mildly prepared. I've done the craigslist thing, I figure this is just a giant craigslist. A craigslist where you can't solicit sex from strangers. At least I don't think you can. Maybe you can. Let's leave that for another time.

The listing portion of EBay's website is a nightmare. It's like they make it cryptic on purpose, I felt like I was trying to learn HTML. Every line has a subtext. And next to every bit of HTML-ish subtext is a small bracketed price, and I can't figure out if any of it is actually necessary. I mean, I want my stuff to sell. And then after you fill out all the categories, you have to write a description of the item, but you're not left with a whole hell of a lot of write about. Which confused me more, because I had already described the important stuff in the set-up portion, and now I'm being asked to write all that stuff over again? So, I'm left trying to write something cute, or pully with some cool (read: Lame) catch. How is EBay so popular? It took me over a half hour to list one stupid dress. For all that trouble I could have been, I don't know-- working.

Verdict? I'm not cut out for EBay. I think it would be wise for me to explore low-tech venues. Like yard sales, or bake sales.