Are you now, or have you ever been, addicted to ebay?

Damn well glad that I’m a guy that detests shopping. Did make the mistake though of bidding to lose and ended up winning, won’t be doing that again even if I saved roughly $100.

@King_Pariah, my old postie, who used to talk to all the people in the street, said he knew exactly who had an ebay addition and there were a lot of people he said. This was after I was over mine. I never spent more than I could afford but it was so easy to shop!

It kind of reminds me of Costco, so many good deals and suddenly your wallet got so much lighter.

lol We get Costco next year I believe! I will have to save up. :D They have them in Melbourne and Sydney I think.

Not really addicted but I do like it.

I never had this sort of addiction but it can pop out at any time. When you have money [more than what you need], well… you never know what can happen.

I am using the word addicted quite loosely here. I do think shopping online can get quite out of hand though.

Because its so effortless you will be ringing things up before you realize it. It’s like Christmas.

In one stage I was, now not so much.

I never addicted to e-bay. because i don’t do internet.

I would rather be addicted to duct tape than E-bay!

I was addicted big time for a little while – was really into collecting rare books and the like, but I got over it soon. It feels like what I imagine a wildlife safari hunt would be like i.e. skulking around searching in the bush and stalking likely prey – I rather enjoy it although I’m careful not to get too carried away

During the late 90’s I bought most of my music off Ebay. It was not uncommon to find new-ish cd’s for a buck or two plus shipping. I bought hundreds of CD’s, mostly used, and not one was ever damaged to the point of being unplayable.

I also sold mix tapes (VHS) of old underground punk bands performing live. This was before YouTube existed. I got a kick out of talking to members of the some of the bands I was selling – they would always bid very high ;)

A friend of mine told me years ago that you can get viruses from the Ebay site. Not sure if that is still true, but remembering her saying that made me avoid it. I also can get addicted to shopping but not from Ebay. I guess what I didn’t like about the thought of Ebay was random sellers and the possibility that they might not be trustworthy. Even if the site has safeguards in place, it just seemed like potential for hassle. Also, I don’t like paying shipping and I figure people might want something for shipping the item. As far as older “collectible” stuff goes, I used to collect different categories of things, but no longer as I don’t really have display space. When my daughter was born, I went on a mini-kick of buying baby blankets, which are now in containers in the attic. Having a small house really helps make me think twice about shopping!

If I really need something, I check Costco or other local stores, or Amazon. Even from Amazon, I buy stuff that I can get free shipping on.

Yes, there was a time where I was hooked. A few of the purchases are regretted, but not most. For example, our grandmother came from a family that owned a beer brewery in Pennsylvania, US, and several of the purchases are from when it still existed, like bottles, coasters, matchbooks, etc. A few have been nicely framed. The soda bottles are a personal favorite. They represent a time when the brewery attempted to keep running during the alcoholic prohibition era.

I used to like it and spend quite a bit of time looking. I love looking in antique stores! It’s like a treasure hunt. So looking on Ebay was like a treasure hunt to me. And I would put in all sorts of odd search terms, like, for instance hillbilly, to see what shit would come up. I mostly use it now for something that is discontinued, collectible or difficult to find. The last thing I bought was a Wizard jar wrench like my Mom used to have. I couldn’t find one anywhere and Ebay had one in perfect condition for $10. It’s the best! Works every time.

For a while two falls ago, I bought a ton of stuff on ebay over the course of two weeks:

A violin
A violin bow
30 60’s era triangular handguards for an AR15
A Soviet Air Force officer’s hat from the 60’s
A gas mask
A Teddy Roosevelt Avon container
A bunch of vintage books

I’m currently looking for good deals on banjos on there.

I get many of my model kits from Ebay sellers. Only from people in the US though. I don’t have the nerve to buy from some guy in Honk Kong and the shipping will eat your lunch. That reminds me, I need to eat something….

Not an addiction but I buy quite a bit from ebay and have done so for the past decade. I don’t collect any specific gizmo or doo dads.

There are specific brands of clothes we like because of fit and quality so I keep a file with the latest pieces we like and then go look for them on ebay.

Yes, from 2004 to 2005 I bought and bid for movie collectible items, resin kits, statues and toys from EBay. I would wait till the the last second to send my higher bid in order to get the item I really wanted. I even kept printed records of my bid victories and got a lot of thank you emails from sellers in the US, China and the UK. Boxes would be piling up in front of my door. One day I just stopped. That was the day I realized I already spent 8 to 10 thousand in collecting, most of them from EBay.

@mazingerz88 Holy crap, I’m so jealous, I think

@woodcutter Does that mean you like collecting movie collectibles too?

I had an addiction to antiquarian postcards of specific types of buildings and locales for about 3 months. Sheesh… I think I spent way over $1000 on old paper—I have some amazing and beautiful old postcards now but I’m not sure what to do with them now.

@mazingerz88 Not so much movie collectables but it’s the excitement of buying the stuff, any stuff. Using the card and in a few days you get your stuff. It’s cool, cooler if I could afford to do it as often as you were. I can see where a problem would crop up by over doing it though.

During this past year out of any in the past, I’ve bought a lot of stuff, mostly for our upcoming wedding. It feels strange to have a week go by without any boxes to open up and then break down. I might be experiencing some withdrawal.