EBAY – You across it? If the answer is no the next question is WHAT ROCK TO LIVE UNDER?

I first stumbled across eBay many years ago, on a particularly late night at work, when I had nothing much to do other than scour the Internet for shit. And I hit the shit jackpot. But the reality is, eBay is not shit, it is a veritable haven to compulsive shoppers like myself. This particular night I came across Fred Bare overalls for my son for the bargain price of $8.00. They were only situated up the road and after such an easy transaction I was instantly hooked. eBay became my drug. Like Bobby and Whitney to a crack pipe, I was drawn to its endless possibilities.

Why yes, I do need 7 nights in a luxury apartment in Penang for $137.98. What a bargain. Oh and the kids CANNOT live without that gigantic pool slippery dip we have no pool for. But it’s only $120 and that is just too good to go past. However the most addictive part of EBAY is not so much the bargain price, but the thrill of the chase and securing the win. Basically ego takes over and it becomes more about winning than the price you are paying. By any other name, it’s gambling. And like any good gambler, there is post play regret. You win something you know you don’t need, that you now have to make arrangements to pay for and it all starts to feel dirty. And if winning was dirty, I was basically caked in dirt after lounging in a mud bath for weeks on end.

Time for a self-imposed EBAY ban. I was banned from opening the page, even to browse. Because browsing leads to gaining interest and interest leads to bidding and bidding, well, often in my case, usually lead to winning. i.e. buying. With real dollars. Dollars we were fast running out of.

So how better to get dollars than to sell stuff? Where better place to sell stuff than EBAY? Ban lifted!

I started with my daughters clothes and after selling off everything that wasn’t nailed down, I started to study the site like a wall street trader.

Guess what was making the big bucks? Surfboards. Guess what we had in spades in the garage? Surfboards. Guess who would rather his balls run over by a tilt train than give up even one surfboard? Yep, that’s right, the surfboards rightful owners - my husband. But seriously, how many surfboards could he ride at any one time? His comeback? How many shoes can you wear at any one time? Touche’ my friend, touche’.

New plan of action, buy clothes from the Op shops and car boot sales and sell them on eBay for a humongous profits. Mambo loud shirts were a MASSIVE seller. I would pay max $5 and sell them for $80 plus. Apparently the shirts were what all the big blokes liked to wear, drinking beer, shooting shit at summer BBQ’s. Whatever dudes, just show me the cashola. This continued to work for just over a year at which point the Salvos cottoned on to what I, and a lot of other *cough* entrepreneurs were up to. Hence they started structuring their prices aimed more at your James Packers (pre-flushing good money down Las Vegas Casino venture JP) than the average Joe on the street. That coupled with the momentous effort in uploading photos and listing of items made me lose my eBay selling mojo.

So now I'm considered a casual user. In control. Mostly.

Currently I am bidding on some mini breaks and DS games from Hong Kong, hoping to score a bargain. I feel now I know my limits and know (mostly) when to walk away. I guess the relationship eBay and I have now is similar to the one Warwick Capper has with old gold meter maid undies. I can get through most of my weeks without having to take a look, but there will always be those certain times, I can’t resist a peek.