The
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EBay - Blessing or Bane to the Bot Builder?
Once again I am considering my Love/Hate relationship with the online auction
site eBay.com.
I never knew about eBay until I decided to become one of the ranks of Bot
Builders and found a reference on somebodies' that you find Floraliers there.
I went there, looked for floralier, found a few, and bought one for $26.
That was my first online purchase. A couple of weeks later I found another
floralier in a thriftstore and paid $3. When I picked up my first floralier
(the seller lived close to me) she confided to me that she only paid 17 cents
for it. When I bid the 26 bucks for it I felt it was worth it, and was happy
to pay it and I don't regret the purchase at all, but now I realize that
I could have done much better just by keeping my eyes open and my wits about
me and done a little more research before juming on the eBay bandwagon. Since
then I have bought another floralier there for $9 which I feel is reasonable
and a couple of other trinkets. I have also sold a few items, with a
very tidy profit. Some items were extra bot parts, others were other kind
of movie and restaurant memorabilia. By far the most profitable has been
the MST3K items, which leads me to ask "What's up with you people?". Why
are you willing to pay ridiculous prices for bot parts? Keep in mind my sources
page, those guys offer reproduction parts at very reasonable prices. BBI
used the very same kind of reproduction parts for thier own bots! To date
the only items I have not found a copy of are the original Empire Toys e-pin,
and the Tupperware Floralier. The Executive Snack dispenser is still being
made and can be found at most malls in the candy stores or online at Sweeties.com
(under $10). Also currently made Crown pins are the exact same dimensions
as e-pin (same manufacturer) you only need to replace the bottom for a great
Crow. As I mentioned earlier Floraliers are cheap.
You really have to ask yourself if spending upwards of $100 for a genuine
soapdish is worth it considering that the original is much harder to work
with than the vacuform copy (like is used by BBI) or if a real XL7 is impossible
to find in you area (think "Play it Again Sports" stores).
I hate to slam eBay because I have used it to defray my costs, and to date
my net cost for building my Servo comes to about a $60 profit (that's right
so far I have made money doing this). But I still have Crow and Gypsy parts
to get.
I guess when it comes down to it if anyone feels like they got ripped off
by paying too much on eBay they should not be bidding before they go shopping.
The other day I saw a billboard that said "Theres an e-sucker born every
second". Keep that in mind when reading those descriptions that start with
MST3K and check around, or ask me about it. I check around alot and I'll
tell you the truth!
~Gregg~
