Tuesday, July 29

Ebay Gaga-ness

I've always been curious about bidding on Ebay.  My husband likes to browse through this website, but that's usually as far as he goes.  I have made a couple of Ebay purchases as far as I can remember (yarn and SU inkpads), but that's about it.  I have never bid on Ebay. 

So to satisfy my curiosity, I decided to give bidding a shot.  I have been wanting to have Prisma Color Pencils, and they are just expensive to buy from online stores.  The cheapest I found is about $99 for the 120-piece set.  So I searched for "Prisma Color Pencils", then I modified my search to "ending soonest".  I browsed then I started to bid. 



The price was at around $35 when I chanced upon this set.  I bid higher, then someone outbids me, then I bid back.  This went on several times, and I got surprised at how exciting the bidding war was.  Now I understand what the Ebay commercials were trying to say.  I have been to live auctions and I love to bid, and I honestly don't mind paying a bit more for something that I really like.  But bidding on Ebay kinda scared me because of the fact that it's online and you don't see the people you're bidding against, and you're not actually seeing and feeling the item your are bidding on.  However, during my first Ebay bidding experience, I actually enjoyed it, especially as the bidding time gets shorter and shorter to the deadline.  My heartbeat went faster as I kept refreshing and refreshing the darn page.  I ended up winning the Prisma Color Pencils for $52, and it's brand new.

I ended up searching for "stamps" and ended up bidding for more items.  It made me mad when somebody outbids me.... for a set of stamps!  I was surprised at how an item's price can go so high just because people kept outbidding each other.  There was a clear stamp set that went up to almost $15, which I'll never pay for for a brand new one.  You just have to know your limit and when to stop. 

I won this stamp on my right for $1.04.   When I got it in the mail, there's a price tag on it for $8. 


I got this cake stamp on the left for $4.50, which is still a decent price.  I've been wanting to have a good size cake stamp, and I finally have one. 


These three clear stamp sets below are from the same seller.  I learned that if you win 2 or more items from the same seller, you can save shipping costs.  You can always contact the seller to ask for a shipping discount, and they usually give it to you. 


I ended up paying $13.83 for the butterfly set.  I admit I was mad at myself for paying more than I should, but I got "challenged" by this other bidder who obviously wants the set.  I honestly have not seen this set in any brick and mortar or online store, so I know it's a rare find.  And I guess the other bidder knows it too.  The flower set I got for $4.76 and the last one I got for $3.80, which I say is cheap.  The third one though is kinda yellowish, which made me a little disappointed.  Summing it all up, the flower and bracket stamp sets balanced with what I paid for the butterfly one.

Last but not the least is this Dated and Noted Stamp Set by Autumn Leaves (designed by Katie Pertiet, one of my favorite designers).  I got this for only $3.99.  That is a good buy.


I still bid for more items on Ebay, but I haven't received them yet.  I just wanted to share with you my first Ebay bidding experience.  I guess, Ebay is going to be in my list of websites to avoid, and should visit only once a month or even lesser.  It is addicting and it doesn't have any difference with shopping in a craft store because you might end up paying for stuff that you don't need or already have.  I have accidentally bid for 2 items that are exactly the same, and ended up winning both, for different prices.  That drove me totally nuts!

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