So I just finished watching TV3 talk about TradeMe and thought it was the perfect opportunity to relate a wee story to you all about the hazards of trading online.
A while back a friend in Melbourne was thinking of trying to sell some stuff, old CDs from when he was a DJ on community radio, at least some of his too many books, etc. You know the junk, the type that seems to build up in the back of wardrobes, in the corner of garages, or hidden under beds to stop the legs giving way.
As I had recently had some great experiences selling some collectable items on Ebay, the now-famous American website (Aussies love using American things, no matter how much they deny it), I recommended he check it out. Soon the CDs and assorted junk was flying out the door like a dodgy first date.
In no time this little sales virus had spread to other friends, who also had the inevitable quota of crap blocking hallways and shed doorways, and the Ebay revolution was becoming something of a harmless addiction for all concerned.
And that's where it started to get weird.
The initial friends wife used to have a habit of buying all kinds of clothes from recycled clothing stores, you know, the Sallies, St. Vincent de Paul and the like, and she had also caught the bug. They used to joke that a Post Office should set up next store to save them the walk down to the corner.
Noting how the clothing was going, the initial friend decided to also get in on this action, and auctioned a part of his wardrobe. Excited by the success, he branched out into more and more items, until he was dedicating a significant part of his non-part-time-jobbing life to the interweb.
But, when you're making money, tax and GST free, who's complaining, right?
Some of initial friends' successes were noteworthy, an old volume of a very important book I can't remember the title of for $200+, collectable CDs and old vinyl routinely walking out the door for $40+, and the list goes on, with all the while that clothing range ticking over in the background.
I should note of course that Ebay has a uniquely Australian arm, before I left Aussie I sold an old Ikea shelf I nicked off an ex-housemate for $60, and the ugliest-damn-salmon-coloured-fake-walnut-veneer-chest-of-drawers-you've-ever-seen for $10. As I paid $50 for the walnut veneer, it was a win-win situation. Online auctions, saints be praised.
Of course, since Paul canonised almost every dead Catholic since Jesus' brother Doubting Thomas, that's a lot of saints.
Back to initial friend though. Initial friends' most memorable sale has to be a particularly sharp pair of trousers he bought who-knows-where and whacked up online for a quick sale. I believe they were grey, tight in the ass, plastic, and big in the ankles. Put them under a big moustache and a not quite cut stomach and you've got the picture.
The sale started slowly, but soon two guys were bidding for those elusive pants they'd always wanted. Apparently. Or it could just be they were two addicts up late and on too much red bull, but hey, any sales' a sale yeah?
Eventually, the pants, which had started at a dollar, closed at $40!! Initial friend couldn't believe his luck, his words were quote, what a couple of nuffins, unquote. But he dutifully prepared the package for the old Aussie post.
And then the special request from buyer came in.
Can you 'sweat' in them for awhile first?