Friday
Jul162004
eBay Frenzy
Friday, July 16, 2004 at 06:52AM
As the proud, and still somewhat dazed, new owner of a "classic" 1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (metallic wood siding and everything!) purchased on eBay; "won" with the bid of $3850, I can tell you--eBay is a strange and wonderful experience.
Milliseconds after pushing the key on my computer to submit that fateful bid in the last minutes of the auction, I wondered out loud: "Oh My God? WHAT have I done?!?"
EBay frenzy? I was too new, too innocent to understand this phenomenon--how it completely takes over, forcing you to bid on things you probably (definitely?) don't need, and didn't realize you even wanted. Is it an addiction? Am I an eBay junkie? I'm not sure, but the four thousand dollar Jeep parked out on our driveway (for all the world to see) seems to speak volumes about my abilities of self-control and forethought.
"How did this happen?!"
The first question my husband asked after I had to tell him what I did. Then I had to explain how we were going to go pick this car up in Pennsylvania, 750 miles from our home in Atlanta. As my friend said when I called in a panic for first-level reassurance (before facing my husband with the news): "How are you going to hide THAT in the closet?" (A wry reference to my well-used strategy of "This old thing?! It's been in the closet FOREVER." (Forever being a highly relative term.)) (I'm fairly sure my husband of 14 years really has figured the strategy out, but we still play the game--keeps the excitement and spontaneity in our marriage.)
Is this the time to digress and tell you what a wonderful, kind, loving husband I have? He has a great sense of humor, a sincere tolerance of, and even appreciation for, my neurotic behavior. And he is devastatingly handsome--
So, "How did this happen?!"
Also the first question from Vicki, my best friend and Rebel Housewife partner-in-crime, when she returned home from a week in Minnesota with her family. (We are neighbors in Atlanta.) Indirectly, this is all her fault anyway.
Animal hooks, that's what started it. And the fact she left me on my own for a week at the end of the summer with the kids home from school for two more weeks. It's easy to see how something like this could happen.
Sometime in the middle of the long summer, I decided to redecorate a small bathroom. I had found a really cute toothbrush holder in a snow leopard pattern (white with black spots) on clearance at Home Depot Expo. I decided to use the toothbrush holder as the basis for a whole new theme: jungle animals in the kid's bathroom. Vicki had bought a set of animal hooks for her son's bedroom that would be perfect towel-holders in the new jungle bathroom--an elephant, cheetah and giraffe face made out of metal and hand painted. When I asked her where she had found them, she said (drum roll, please): "EBay. The seller has them up for auction all the time." When I said I wanted to find "animal" hand towels to match the hooks, she also recommended eBay--"just do a search."
And that's where it started. I had been on eBay months before, briefly. I toured around a bit, made a few bids, lost every one to insane bidders who bid the prices up further than I was willing to go. At that time, my eBay experience was nothing more than an experiment during an afternoon's web surfing while I was searching for something else.
From the animal hooks ($20) and coordinating set of embroidered hand towels ($17) for the bathroom, I got sucked in deeper. We had a new baby nephew soon-to-arrive, and I started thinking about putting a package together for him. My brother-in-law and his wife live in Seattle, and they conveniently planned (light sarcasm intended) this second baby for September--the month of both of their birthdays AND their anniversary, too. So to cover all bases, and get birthday packages out to them early enough to be on time, it takes some planning and an early start.
I entered "unique baby gifts" in the eBay search, and eventually came across an adorable set of new baby boy clothes--from Baby Gap! NWT!! (New With Tags, for those of you unfamiliar with the eBay lingo.) I ended up winning the Baby Gap set ($14) and then a couple of that Seller?s other items, which matched the Baby Gap set ($20). I combined the auctions to save on shipping. (The more you buy, the more you save, right?) My next search, "big sister gift", netted a personalized "I'm the Big Sister!" t-shirt ($10) and a book ($3) for our niece, the soon-to-be big sister. From there, I went on an eBay spree for brand-name (NWT) back-to-school clothes at bargain prices for my three kids, each "lot" (set of clothes) $20 or less, to...a 1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I don't even know what happened. I'm not sure I can explain.
The decision was made at 2am, although I did my homework: I checked used car values; owner satisfaction and repair history surveys; Jeep Grand Wagoneer (GW) enthusiast websites (there are actually quite a few); the eBay Seller's feedback history. I even searched and compared other GW?s up for auction and for sale in online classified advertising. I decided, at 2am, that black was my color, and the Seller of this particular GW was who I wanted to work with--he had an excellent rating and many good comments from other very satisfied car buyers. I even checked MapQuest.com to find out how far Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania is from Atlanta. I was nothing if not thorough in my research.
My interest in the Grand Wagoneer wasn't completely out of the blue. I had seen one on the busy main thoroughfare through Buckhead, an affluent Atlanta neighborhood. It was easy to spot among the Land Rovers, BMW's and Lexus SUV's. I told my husband I thought they were very cool--neither he nor I anticipated that meant I would go online and buy one at auction on eBay, sight unseen (except for pictures), without a test-drive or even an independent inspection.
My justification in all of this? I was driving a Land Rover, purchased in 2000, when we were considerably more affluent before the market crashed. And I hated it. I was so over the Land Rover--the "image", the vehicle itself (no decent cup holders, impossibly cramped and uncomfortable interior, no room for dogs or strollers or ANYTHING extra when carrying seven passengers), and I was definitely over the car payments of nearly $1000 a month, and on top of that, the highest annual registration fees and auto insurance I had ever paid. I rationalized by planning to sell the Land Rover and have my GW "free and clear" in four months. (It's going to take a little longer than that, with repairs to the GW, but still--)
We had talked about replacing my husband's car earlier in the year with a classic Mustang, but those were running $10K to $15K for cars much older than 1988 with a lot more mileage than the GW. We didn't hate his car as much as we had come to HATE the Land Rover. It's one thing to make reasonable car payments on a car you love (he LOVES his 2001 Chrysler 300M). It's quite another thing to burn $1000 a month on a car you have grown to despise--with good reason--and can no longer afford anyway. (Times are much tougher now than they were in the pre-IPO heyday, that's for sure.)
So I bought a 1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer for $3850 in the final minutes of bidding. (EBay Tip: Don't bid early if you can wait until just before the close of the auction and jump in at the last minute.) I explained all of this to my loving husband, trying to get him excited about the adventure of owning a "classic" 1988 Jeep GW (which is a whole 'nother article)--and then I had to tell him, "By the way, AND we're going to Pennsylvania to pick it up!?
Even with the GW sitting out on the driveway, I think we are all still in shock over how quickly I went from $20 animal hooks and towels and kid clothes to a $4000 car. From eagerly awaiting a package in the mail or from UPS or FedEx, to planning a weekend adventure 1500 miles round trip to drive back a car I had no idea would get us safely home or not. (That adventure is yet a whole 'nother article.)
So far, so good. Once we have the GW fixed up and sell the Land Rover, I will confidently be able to say this whole thing turned out great--and I think my husband will agree. At that point. Maybe. One word of advice or caution: PURCHASING AN AUTOMOBILE AT AUCTION ON EBAY IS NOT RECOMMENDED IN THE FIRST DECADE OF MARRIAGE! (Give yourself a few more years to help him learn how to expect the unexpected!)
Okay, a second word of advice, if you do consider buying a car like this: GET AN INDEPENDENT INSPECTION BEFORE YOU DRIVE HOME! Know what you are getting into, that's all I'm saying. For now--
© 2002 Sherri L. Caldwell. All rights reserved.
Milliseconds after pushing the
EBay frenzy? I was too new, too innocent to understand this phenomenon--how it completely takes over, forcing you to bid on things you probably (definitely?) don't need, and didn't realize you even wanted. Is it an addiction? Am I an eBay junkie? I'm not sure, but the four thousand dollar Jeep parked out on our driveway (for all the world to see) seems to speak volumes about my abilities of self-control and forethought.
"How did this happen?!"
The first question my husband asked after I had to tell him what I did. Then I had to explain how we were going to go pick this car up in Pennsylvania, 750 miles from our home in Atlanta. As my friend said when I called in a panic for first-level reassurance (before facing my husband with the news): "How are you going to hide THAT in the closet?" (A wry reference to my well-used strategy of "This old thing?! It's been in the closet FOREVER." (Forever being a highly relative term.)) (I'm fairly sure my husband of 14 years really has figured the strategy out, but we still play the game--keeps the excitement and spontaneity in our marriage.)
Is this the time to digress and tell you what a wonderful, kind, loving husband I have? He has a great sense of humor, a sincere tolerance of, and even appreciation for, my neurotic behavior. And he is devastatingly handsome--
So, "How did this happen?!"
Also the first question from Vicki, my best friend and Rebel Housewife partner-in-crime, when she returned home from a week in Minnesota with her family. (We are neighbors in Atlanta.) Indirectly, this is all her fault anyway.
Animal hooks, that's what started it. And the fact she left me on my own for a week at the end of the summer with the kids home from school for two more weeks. It's easy to see how something like this could happen.
Sometime in the middle of the long summer, I decided to redecorate a small bathroom. I had found a really cute toothbrush holder in a snow leopard pattern (white with black spots) on clearance at Home Depot Expo. I decided to use the toothbrush holder as the basis for a whole new theme: jungle animals in the kid's bathroom. Vicki had bought a set of animal hooks for her son's bedroom that would be perfect towel-holders in the new jungle bathroom--an elephant, cheetah and giraffe face made out of metal and hand painted. When I asked her where she had found them, she said (drum roll, please): "EBay. The seller has them up for auction all the time." When I said I wanted to find "animal" hand towels to match the hooks, she also recommended eBay--"just do a search."
And that's where it started. I had been on eBay months before, briefly. I toured around a bit, made a few bids, lost every one to insane bidders who bid the prices up further than I was willing to go. At that time, my eBay experience was nothing more than an experiment during an afternoon's web surfing while I was searching for something else.
From the animal hooks ($20) and coordinating set of embroidered hand towels ($17) for the bathroom, I got sucked in deeper. We had a new baby nephew soon-to-arrive, and I started thinking about putting a package together for him. My brother-in-law and his wife live in Seattle, and they conveniently planned (light sarcasm intended) this second baby for September--the month of both of their birthdays AND their anniversary, too. So to cover all bases, and get birthday packages out to them early enough to be on time, it takes some planning and an early start.
I entered "unique baby gifts" in the eBay search, and eventually came across an adorable set of new baby boy clothes--from Baby Gap! NWT!! (New With Tags, for those of you unfamiliar with the eBay lingo.) I ended up winning the Baby Gap set ($14) and then a couple of that Seller?s other items, which matched the Baby Gap set ($20). I combined the auctions to save on shipping. (The more you buy, the more you save, right?) My next search, "big sister gift", netted a personalized "I'm the Big Sister!" t-shirt ($10) and a book ($3) for our niece, the soon-to-be big sister. From there, I went on an eBay spree for brand-name (NWT) back-to-school clothes at bargain prices for my three kids, each "lot" (set of clothes) $20 or less, to...a 1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I don't even know what happened. I'm not sure I can explain.
The decision was made at 2am, although I did my homework: I checked used car values; owner satisfaction and repair history surveys; Jeep Grand Wagoneer (GW) enthusiast websites (there are actually quite a few); the eBay Seller's feedback history. I even searched and compared other GW?s up for auction and for sale in online classified advertising. I decided, at 2am, that black was my color, and the Seller of this particular GW was who I wanted to work with--he had an excellent rating and many good comments from other very satisfied car buyers. I even checked MapQuest.com to find out how far Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania is from Atlanta. I was nothing if not thorough in my research.
My interest in the Grand Wagoneer wasn't completely out of the blue. I had seen one on the busy main thoroughfare through Buckhead, an affluent Atlanta neighborhood. It was easy to spot among the Land Rovers, BMW's and Lexus SUV's. I told my husband I thought they were very cool--neither he nor I anticipated that meant I would go online and buy one at auction on eBay, sight unseen (except for pictures), without a test-drive or even an independent inspection.
My justification in all of this? I was driving a Land Rover, purchased in 2000, when we were considerably more affluent before the market crashed. And I hated it. I was so over the Land Rover--the "image", the vehicle itself (no decent cup holders, impossibly cramped and uncomfortable interior, no room for dogs or strollers or ANYTHING extra when carrying seven passengers), and I was definitely over the car payments of nearly $1000 a month, and on top of that, the highest annual registration fees and auto insurance I had ever paid. I rationalized by planning to sell the Land Rover and have my GW "free and clear" in four months. (It's going to take a little longer than that, with repairs to the GW, but still--)
We had talked about replacing my husband's car earlier in the year with a classic Mustang, but those were running $10K to $15K for cars much older than 1988 with a lot more mileage than the GW. We didn't hate his car as much as we had come to HATE the Land Rover. It's one thing to make reasonable car payments on a car you love (he LOVES his 2001 Chrysler 300M). It's quite another thing to burn $1000 a month on a car you have grown to despise--with good reason--and can no longer afford anyway. (Times are much tougher now than they were in the pre-IPO heyday, that's for sure.)
So I bought a 1988 Jeep Grand Wagoneer for $3850 in the final minutes of bidding. (EBay Tip: Don't bid early if you can wait until just before the close of the auction and jump in at the last minute.) I explained all of this to my loving husband, trying to get him excited about the adventure of owning a "classic" 1988 Jeep GW (which is a whole 'nother article)--and then I had to tell him, "By the way, AND we're going to Pennsylvania to pick it up!?
Even with the GW sitting out on the driveway, I think we are all still in shock over how quickly I went from $20 animal hooks and towels and kid clothes to a $4000 car. From eagerly awaiting a package in the mail or from UPS or FedEx, to planning a weekend adventure 1500 miles round trip to drive back a car I had no idea would get us safely home or not. (That adventure is yet a whole 'nother article.)
So far, so good. Once we have the GW fixed up and sell the Land Rover, I will confidently be able to say this whole thing turned out great--and I think my husband will agree. At that point. Maybe. One word of advice or caution: PURCHASING AN AUTOMOBILE AT AUCTION ON EBAY IS NOT RECOMMENDED IN THE FIRST DECADE OF MARRIAGE! (Give yourself a few more years to help him learn how to expect the unexpected!)
Okay, a second word of advice, if you do consider buying a car like this: GET AN INDEPENDENT INSPECTION BEFORE YOU DRIVE HOME! Know what you are getting into, that's all I'm saying. For now--