Sel sell sell

Well I am now in the process of selling my key. I have done a little research into how much keys can sell for and have been quite surprised. Know the date that the key was made, and if it's handmade, then you're really in the money - with the grand total of $200 not being unheard of.

Well, for fear of getting into serious trouble with trade description I thought that claiming I know anything about this item could throw me into the cheeky seller pot. What I could see though is that it is clearly the same shape as all the other keys listed as Victorian - so a Victorian key it is.

I still have a day to go and unfortunately it appears that I have no views or bids. Maybe mad key fanatics (such as people who frame hang keys in their sitting rooms!) only come out to play at the weekends. If so a late bidding war could be on the cards.

My item number is : 160101353212 (In case you you are one such fanatic and fancy you chances...)

What kind of Ebayer are you?

A must have - can have.
For some, buying on ebay makes the unobtainable 'must have' obtainable. The very fact that 'Luis Vuitton' is the most common ebay search term shows that it's a ticket to that ipod/handbag/glad rag you are just dying to possess.


Or, perhaps your homesick. Well, not to worry, because for if you cant get hold of those crisps your mum always used to buy back home in Ireland, you can now. Buy a 24 pack on ebay for $1.50 - perfect.


A one off flogger.
Maybe your a sporadic seller - needing to embark on the highly secret operation of flogging Auntie Pat's ridiculous Christmas present. A yearly business venture during which you quite enjoy seeing the back of your new nasal hair remover.


A money hunting penny pincher.
Could you have suddenly realised that a Wednesday night booze up in the student union isn't on the cards unless you can come up with that all important $20 note. Then it comes to you. Someone somewhere would just love your old rugby boots, wouldn't they.


A Scrooge
And then my favourite. Are you at the end of your tether. Desperate to find a way to discipline your children.. Well, maybe you are like the dad that, in what can only be described as pure desperation, decided to flog his children's Xmas presents on ebay. Cant find the original auction because it has expired but you can see it on this guys blog - hilarious. http://stupidevilbastard.com/index/seb/comments/dad_auctions_off_christmas_presents_on_ebay_after_kids_are_naughty/

Ebay entrepreneur
For some people ebay is their livelihood. 70000 people in the UK earn 25% of their income on ebay - the percentage needed to qualify as an 'ebay entrepreneur'. See this article on ebay and income http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:X3aCqP-e8tIJ:www.thisismoney.co.uk/money-savers/article.html%3Fin_article_id%3D406867%26in_page_id%3D5+ebay+make+a+living&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=uk

Cheeky bidder
I love the cheeky element of the ebay world. It's amazing. The cheek of what people get away with selling, and the cheek of what people get away with buying. And why do they do it. Because they can!

Want to be a 'cheeky' ebay bidder? In my view the cheekiest way to buy on ebay is through http://www.fatfingers.co.uk/. This website is fantastic. As it's strap line says, 'other people's typos save you money'. When some grammatically challenged person misstypes/fatfingers there ebay lot they should beware. As, waiting in the cyberspace wings are the fatfinger buyers. They rely on the fact that no one will find your entry, and therefore not bid on your entry - and therefore get themselves a bit of a bargain. If your not a cheeky bidder yet then this site might change that.

Cheeky flogger
Well last, and by no means least, we have the cheeky flogger. The bottom line is that you sell something utterly useless to anyone else - just to see if someone will buy. Like the guy who sold his rubbish bin and its contents. You can find his blog here http://www.magicgoat.com/ebay/ebay.htm

Or even the guy who made himself an easy $5 out of flogging an air guitar.

However while looking for my ebay item over the last two weeks I have found my favourite members of this group. These members sell worthless items and pretend that they have some kind of value through 'magical powers' and the like. I found a guy whose name was not unlike something out of Harry Potter. He was selling what he himself described as a 'a twig broken off a tree', for the sum total of nine pounds.

He declared that this was a magic wand. He had blessed it with his magic powers. Powers unrivaled by other ebay wands. Well you cant knock him for trying and I bid for his wand. (Sorry Phil, probably not the best way to spend 9 pounds but I could resist). Unfortunately the moment that I bid he blocked me so it wont be my useless item. Maybe he was just shocked someone had bid. I am now in the process of looking for something equally useless.

Maybe it's for the best - perhaps I underestimated the power of the twig and could have got more than I bargained for.

In the end I settled for another item which has completely no use to me. An item that my seller has sold to me knowing that it will be completely useless to me. Winging its way to me I have a huge cast iron key. I have no idea what it opens - where its from. Great - or not. It intreagued me because in the house I rent in London there is a safe. The safe is a big old style thing that we have no key for. Our landlord says if we can open it we can have whatever is in it.

Well it appears I now have a lock without a key and a key without a lock. Brilliant.