Don't Trust The Box and Auctions

3/15/2018

A long time ago, when Jeff and I were both you and a "bit" foolish, we went to an unclaimed storage unit sale.  We have subsequently, gotten older and are now more mature.

At the time, we bid on a box marked electronics, and needless to say the box had faulty advertising.  Electronics were not in the box.  If memory serves me right, the box had inside the grossest bring orange curtains I had and have every seen.

I like to watch the television show "Storage Wars".  Some of the units being bid on, contain mostly boxes, and some of those boxes are marked "crystal", etc.  A few of the regular bidders, are occasionally, taken in by the writing on boxes.  Almost all of the bidders have stores, or sell things on Ebay.  Clearly, at times, the buyers try and bid up the price, and then unceremoniously dump the unit on someone else.  It doesn't happen every episode, but occasionally a buyer will find expensive works of art, crystal, and other high end things, perfect for selling.

What I have noticed is that the buyers on a regular basis, are sucked into bidding, if they see anything that resembles a jewelry box and/or a locked box (cash inside perhaps?).  The locked boxes are, for the most part, empty as are the jewelry boxes.  I can't believe that someone would leave small valuables in a unit, and then simply walk away.  That just doesn't make sense.

The show has a few buyers, who throw boxes out of the unit, without any regard to what maybe inside.  Most of the time, the boxes do hold clothes, but a buyer can't really be sure until they open those boxes up.

In the past, also a long time ago, Jeff would go to a local auction house and bid on pieces of furniture. At least, with an auction, you can see and feel the items being sold.  So no pig in a poke kind of buying.

I have in the past, been a regular Ebay shopper, particularly when it comes to Murano glass pieces.  I've also found slightly used Birkenstocks, and I know some of you are turning up your noses at this kind of purchase.  New Birkenstocks are expensive, and to me, it makes sense to buy nearly new ones for a much discounted price.

When Benjamin was a baby, I found a woman somewhere in Texas, who was selling baby clothes.  Instead, of selling each piece of clothing one at a time, she was selling, a lot (term used for bulk selling and buying), and more times than not, I was the buyer. Benjamin wore Ralph Lauren outfits, as well as other high end clothing.  

If you are buying anything on Ebay, then you need to be a savvy buyer.  When I'm interested in something, I not only look at the price, cost of shipping, 30 day returns and probably most important, the seller's feedback.  As a buyer, my feedback score is 100, and I want sellers to also have high scores.

I, no longer, buy any Murano glass.  Would I if I was still working?  Definitely.  But today, I have to pick and choose what, if anything, to buy on Ebay.  I recently bought a Ralph Lauren sweater for myself for less than $10.00.  You certainly can't beat that price.

My suggestion to you is, if you have spare income, and love mystery boxes, then get out there and bid and/or buy.

P