I recently tried my hand at selling on E-bay. I've bought many things over the years. You would be surprised what you can find there for MUCH cheaper than retail. This is going to gross some people out, but I actually bought "slightly used" shoes on E-bay.
They are Chinese Laundry, a brand I really like and I ended up winning them for $.99 and paying $9.80 shipping. They appear to have been worn once or twice with nary a scuff on the bottom of the shoes. So, you truly can get anything on E-bay.
Since selling is a much different process than buying, my friend Tony has been serving as my E-bay consultant. He's a "Power Seller," a position I can't even aspire to. So, last week when I was selling a Nike+iPod Sport Kit (I really thought someone in my family would use it!) and I got a question from a bidder asking if I would ship to Israel, I immediately turned to Tony. Here is the exchange that ensued:
***Please note that the following exchange takes no position on the issues in the Gaza strip and as is fairly obvious, makes no indication that either participant really has a clue of what is going on there.***
Tony:
I would discourage all international shipments period. It turns into a huge mess. Israel? That just seems odd that there is a war going on there practically, and a guy wants a nike ipod thingy. Guess he's tired of the bombs exploding around him all day and wants to stay in shape? While jamming? Got it. Or wait...somehow this thing CAN MAKE A BOMB!! Way to go Di, way to go.
Di:
OK...I sent him a message on e-bay that said:
My friend Tony said that you are going to make a bomb with this item and that you should probably be more worried about the war in your country instead of staying in shape...while jamming. Due to my pacifist mentality, I cannot, in good conscience, send this to you as I would feel responsible every time I read in the paper that someone got killed by a bomb in Israel. Unless it's a bad guy who gets killed. I'm not really sure who the bad guys are. Or is it like Dave Mason said, "There ain't no good guys, there ain't no bad guys, there's only you and me and we just disagree." Please respond as soon as possible to clear this matter up.
Tony:
That sounds good. I'd let him know that earbuds have also been the cause of hearing damage, and he may want to look into the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones (you know, the ones that they advertise on planes). That way, while he is on his morning jog, he can listen to Peter, Paul, and Mary in peace while at the same time monitoring his heart rate, etc. Seems logical. Your response to him seems condescending though. I would at least let him know that everyone's idea of a bad guy is different and in no way is it meant to discourage him from getting in shape. He could be an honest guy who likes jogging in Israel. But on another note, turbans and bose headphones may not work either, so he may be screwed unless he runs with like a docking station up to his ear. I wish I had all the answers for you Di, but even I get stumped sometimes.
E-bay, provider of endless hours of entertainment!
Di
Your comments and Tony's are toooo funny! So did the item ever sell?
My husband has shipped many E-Bay items overseas as long as he has either a PayPay payment or gets a money order in advance. He shipped a camera to China (go figure), golf clubs to England (after he told the buyer that, no, he was not willing to bring them to Scotland when he played at St. Andrews and ship them from there!) and a Jeep roof carrier for skis to Italy.
Posted by: joAnn | January 28, 2009 at 09:06 AM