Number 10,000

One by one, over the past 10 years, (Norb always says 11 years, because he counts the calendar years) we have listed, photographed, packaged and shipped well over 30,000 items on eBay, and yesterday, one of our buyers left a landmark feedback that gave us a positive feedback rating of 10,000!

You might see other sellers with higher ratings, but I can promise you that very few have done it the same way that we have, with unique items, each requiring a new description and photographs. It has been a lot of work, and from time to time, we have sent things to people who made a better deal than we did, meaning that we paid more than we sold it for.

It is fun to see that shooting star go with our user name, but that doesn't pay the bills by itself. Norb will be back at the computer, researching, writing listings, I will take pictures, and take care of the shipping. It would be nice to rest on our shooting star laurels, but we still have to pay the bills. I don't know if we have heard from eBay, but the last time we got a new star, they sent us an email with a PDF for a congratulatory certificate that we could print ourselves, and frame it, if we wanted. We just laughed. Can you tell that we don't feel especially appreciated?

Off to work we go! On to the next star! (That might take another 10 years or longer.)

"QUIRKY - ECLECTIC "99 Cents" ESTATE SALE ON EBAY"

A Nice Find at an Auction

Norb has brought home several classroom maps that are now listed in our ebay auctions but this one pictured was one that I asked to hang on to.

Isn't this a beauty? I couldn't get over how colorful and how well this illustrates different geographical terms for young scholars. You can click on the picture to see a larger version of it. I wish that you could see it in its full sized glory instead of the miniature you see on a computer screen.

I need to find a good sized chunk of wall where I can put this up, but I think I know a spot. After our boys learn these terms then it will have its turn as an ebay item, maybe to go to another homeschooling family.

If you would like to see out auctions, please check out this link:

"QUIRKY - ECLECTIC "99 Cents" ESTATE SALE ON EBAY"

Controversial eBay Fun

Most weeks seem to go by with a normal routine of schoolwork and eBay work and all of the regular tasks of regular folk. However, there are a couple of extraordinary items in the line up that have had our attention this past week.

Norb spent much of this past week, not to mention several weeks before, on a very unusual bit of paper. Blueprints for Three Mile Island. They have been consigned to him to sell on eBay, but you must admit that they fall outside of the normal collectibles or antique piece.

He has spent hours on the phone with the NRC, TMI, and with eBay trying to do the due diligence ahead of time and get clearance before offering them up for auction.

Well, you will never guess where the roadblock is! It is eBay! Gotta love those California types, don'tcha? The NRC gave its permission, but eBay won't. Argh!

Another thing that has been in the works is a chance for someone to get their hands on something that will have a DNA sample and fingerprints from that great guy who was running for first lady, the former President Bill Clinton! Consigned to us was the bottle of water that he drank from at his podium at a speaking engagement a few weeks back. The person in charge of the event carefully removed the water bottle to preserve the fingerprints, and had included a newspaper which had an article covering the event, with a picture of the bottle sitting next to him. He also sent along a letter attesting to the events and what it is.

Maybe we are about 10 years too late, but it seems that there was a time when lots of people were interested in a DNA sample from this man. Who knows, maybe there are one or two people out there who would love to compare with their own privately collected samples.

Even with all of these dramatic consignments, there are still some fun, although less controversial, things that Norb could list without loads of red tape.

"QUIRKY - ECLECTIC "99 Cents" ESTATE SALE ON EBAY"

ULine Day!

My dear husband will bring home almost anything to list on ebay, and that has left me often wondering, "Where on earth am I going to find a box for THAT?!?"
Somewhere along the line, ULine began to send catalogs to me, and I can't help but be thankful. They have the largest selection of box sizes to choose from that I have ever encountered.
DH likes art, so finding boxes for framed pictures before discovering ULine was a challenge that would occupy me for days, trying to spot good boxes in the back of retail stores, also known as dumpster diving. UGH!!! When I found their picture boxes, it was a glorious day for me.

Wednesday was the day that I got to empty the trusty mini van of all of those things left in it after telling the boys to clean it out, remove the seats, and hit the road. It was Uline day! Of course, it makes sense to bring back a full load, so I ask the guy who packs some stuff for us if he wants any boxes too, and between us, we make the most of the trip.

Actually this is probably my favorite job in our ebay business. Got the car to myself, AC that I can adjust according to the hot flashes, the radio on my favorite programs, a mug of coffee, it's all good! Too bad it only happens a few times a year.

Arriving at the customer pick up area, it at first appeared that it was going to be an easy trip. One forklift with several bundles of boxes. That will fit just fine. But where are those small boxes I had ordered? Oh, there they are on the OTHER forklift, along with lots of other bundles.
ULine is so great. Their employees will load up my vehicle! And trust me, it is a challenge.







Tomorrow morning, I will lament the fact that a ULine employee isn't here to unload all of this stuff. But that's OK. For the next few weeks, I will be able to choose the box that fits almost anything that finds its way into our ebay auctions.
"QUIRKY - ECLECTIC "99 Cents" ESTATE SALE ON EBAY"

The Auction Life Continues

As professional ebay sellers, we are constantly on the prowl for the next great item to list. Norb has come to prefer auctions as his favorite venue for getting the most stuff the fastest. Each auction has its own atmosphere and ways of doing things.

The auction we went to the other day is a fun one, but grueling. There is no seating and very little is set aside as if to stand out. It is up to the auction goers to dig through tables and tables to sniff out treasure from mountains of junk, and at some points will have 4 or 5 auctioneers calling out the goods at the same time. Norb has become really adept at spotting good stuff amoungst the yard sale leftovers, while I have to look a little more closely.
I have seen tables full of glassware go for $2. I guess those flea market merchants are buying at the same auction.

There exists in the world heaps of homeless stuff that goes from yard sale to auction to flea market back to auction, maybe on to another yard sale and on and on. Norb recently bought at our favorite auction in St. Marys, GA, a painting that rang a familiar bell in his head. He knew that he had seen it before, and thought that indicated a well known piece with value. He paid $77 for it and listed it on ebay, even though he could find nothing about it in his research. Sometime during the run of the auction, he realized that the reason it triggered a memory was that he had owned it years before, determined that it had no value, and sold it, putting it into the auction circuit of homeless items. It sold for 99 cents, and I personally hope that I never see it again.

What's it all about?

I think I have the answer to all of life's questions.

Its all about TRANSPORTATION!!!

Isn't it obvious? We all need to get things from Point A to Point B.
Food has to get from the field to the store, to your home, onto your plate and transported into your mouth! Of course, then the utensils have to be transported into the clean up area and back into storage.

If you buy something from me on ebay, it has to be TRANSPORTED to you in a safe and secure manner. The packages have to be TRANSPORTED to the shipping company, whether it is the postal service or a package carrier.

We have to TRANSPORT children to school and people to work.

As the primary season closes, I cannot even imagine the criss crossing of the country the candidates have done to make their cases to voters all over the US.

Yup, it is all about transportation. Of course, with a tip of the hat to Cliff from the old Cheers program, comfortable shoes go hand in hand with transportation. I am all for them, too.

He is really grown up now!

My oldest son was married two days ago on a beach at St. Augustine. We have always been big fans of the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" and the song from the wedding of the first daughter is poignant on several levels.
The line from 'Sunrise, Sunset' that goes
"I don't remember growing older,
When did they?" strikes a strong chord in my heart today.
If you would like to see a picture of Andy and Sara, here it is:


Dr. & Mrs. Andrew Paul N*


Last week I opened a box of photos that had been sealed up since 1997, and there was Andy's childhood in front of me. Those years were a lot of fun with just the three of us when Andy was an only child. However, there were also times when all we could do was to get through one day at a time; when it seemed as if the task of parenthood was long and difficult. Then suddenly, we see that he is ready to begin his adult life.

Was it really as long a time as it seemed durng the battles over food? Or chores? Or bedtime?
Once he went off to college, the parental tension fell away like a heavy backback of schoolbooks. That was a an unexpected development, and a good feeling.

We are thrilled to see him committing to his bride, and his dad and I are tickled to embrace her as a daughter. (Our first daughter.)

We listed some of the items that we picked up at the Amish auction we mentioned in an earlier post. Click here to see them.
"QUIRKY - ECLECTIC "99 Cents" ESTATE SALE ON EBAY"

Auction Day!

We are back from the Amish country estate auction.
Driving to it was food for the soul, even though we had to get up at an hour is normally the middle of the night for us. It was a day of coffee and energy drinks!

The country roads curve up and down and sideways, with well kept yards lined with flowers. You could catch glimpses of family members at work, either in the fields or the barns and yards. Each home seemed to have well laid out kitchen gardens without a weed in sight. There are many closelines stretching from a porch to a post or out building, fluttering with clothes put out to dry. Many driveways had small signs indicating the specialty of the house. Vinyl window wells. Home made root beer. Plants and baked goods. Quilts and Crafts. I wished I could stop at each one.

The location was a home at the top of a hill, with a tent staked outside on the paved courtyard. We parked and walked past many things laid outside to be sold later. A wringer washing machine, old fashioned plows, a bread box, boxes of glass jars and bottles. Furniture and plants.

A thunderstorm rolled in from the north. It was amazing to watch the men working as a team to first cover and then move the furniture, locate a hose to divert the runoff from the rain gutter, place buckets around the perimeter of the tent, and move the stand where the auctioneer and clerk were trying to carry on while rain landed on their backs. No one had to give orders, it all played out as a well trained team did what they saw needed to be done.

We came home with two quilts, three old street lamps, a cuckoo clock, a small box of golfballs, for the boys, and some old Viewmaster items and a number of vintage and old John Deere toys, among other things..

They will be going up on ebay this week. You can see what is there now with this link, and watch as the week goes on as our treasures show up there.

"QUIRKY - ECLECTIC "99 Cents" ESTATE SALE ON EBAY"