 |
Archive - January 2009 A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO EBAYANA (EBAY-ANA): Just For Starters, An eBayana PrimerPosted Jan-26-09 00:36:15 PST Updated Jan-26-09 21:37:50 PST What red-, blue-, yellow- and green-blooded eBayer has never collected some choice items of eBayana, also known @ ebay.com as eBay-ana? Even if you've only picked up the freebies at eBay Live! -- including that year's haul of pins, trading cards, coins,
and/or other commemorative goodies -- swearing that they are for
resale, let's face it: You've got your very own collection of eBayana. The best and most efficient way to display your pins from eBay Live! is on each year's lanyard. (If you weren't there, you can win one on eBay afterward.) You can also display that year's ribbons, and feel free to add to them if you like. After all, this is YOUR collection. But what about T-shirts and other apparel; hats; pens, notebooks and other office accessories; mugs, thermoses, and coolers; mouse pads and mice; Pez dispensers, Beanie Babies, and assorted other chotchkes? And just what kind of other items might those be?? Hold onto your shelf space, because the range of available eBayana (eBay-ana) is amazing. Trust me, I know this to be true! Let's start at the top with eBay-branded apparel: Hats (baseball, winter, and fisherman's). Scarves in all four primary eBay colors from eBay UK (ebay.co.uk); navy from eBay Taiwan; black from eBay Europe 2002 and eBay Austria (ebay.at); and striped, given as a holiday gift to employees of ebay.com ). Jackets galore. Polo and T-shirts from international sites as well as from ebay.com. Gloves (black from eBay Europe, grey from eBay Germany (ebay.de)), each in their own zippered pouch). Wristwatches (several styles). Rubber wristbands (regular and employees-only sets). Belts (Guatemalan embroidered blue, red, white or black and woven black/multicolor). Pants (pajama, yoga, and track, all from The eBay Shop and VHTF -- Very Hard To Find). Socks (white socklets given out @ the first eBay Live! in 2002, eBay Sports anklets in both black and white, and co-branded eBay /PayPal crew style from eBay UK). For footwear, there's eBay slipper socks (in all four primary eBay colors) from The eBay Shop or white terrycloth slippers (if you can find a pair) and the even more rare eBay Nikes. Only one pair of these was officially made, and it sold for $30,000 -- which included a video documenting the destruction of the sample pair photographed for the auction. There are two different T-shirts commemorating this listing, but they almost never show up for sale anywhere on eBay, let alone in the eBay-ana category. However, I do have several hand-painted pairs of eBay Chuck Taylors plus an unofficial pair of eBay Nikes hand-painted with the eBay primary colors and logo, which I found using the keywords "ebay custom" (no quotes). We'll talk more about the incredible array of available eBayana items, but first let's talk about where and how to find them. The obvious place, of course, is in the eBay-ana category @ http://collectibles.shop.ebay.com/items/eBay-ana__W0QQ_sacatZ18789 which is small enough — under 200 items, except immediately before, during and after eBay Live! — to be easily browsed all by itself. Don't forget to browse the Store pages, too, for approximately 800 fixed-price treasures. It also pays to check out eBay UK's eBayana category @ http://collectables.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/eBayana__W0QQ_sacatZ18789 as well as the eBayana category for eBay Germany (ebay.de) @ http://sammeln.shop.ebay.de/items/eBayana__W0QQ_sacatZ30726 You don't need to speak German to be able to look at the pictures and recognize the PayPal logo in a listing. If it says "Versand Nach: Weltweit" under the Startpreis (Starting Price), then it means that the Seller ships worldwide. If it doesn't -- but you really want the item -- then write to the Seller and ask for permission to bid. It is not necessary for them to change anything in the listing; you just have to have their explicit permission. I used Babelfish to translate my request but send it also in English, and I have been able to acquire some fabulous items of International eBayana that would otherwise not have been available to me, including a bottle of eBay Sparkling Wine (eBay police, please note: It was purchased for the collectible bottle, not the contents thereof, and the transaction took place @ ebay.de, not ebay.com). The eBay Shop @ ebay.com (http://www.theebayshop.com/) and the eBay FanShop @ ebay.de (http://www.merchandising-partner.de/) also are good sources of fun eBay collectibles, including apparel, office supplies, accessories, toys, and even wrapping paper. My personal favorite purchases from the eBay Fanshop @ eBay Germany are the eBay-branded keyboard (complete with its own PayPal button); the eBay Badekappe (Bathing Cap) in bright yellow with octopus eyes up front (after a character from the current ebay.de advertising campaign); and the eBay Windlights (tea-candle lights in all four primary eBay colors). In my next blog post, I'll tell you about the Favorite Searches (a.k.a. Saved Searches, but they're saved because they're my favorites) and secret keywords that I use to score some of my most fabulous, offbeat, rare, and unusual eBayana. Until then, happy hunting — and don't forget that the thrill of the chase can be as much fun as the acquisition itself. Because collecting something you love is the very best way to Shop Victoriously!] You can read all of my eBayana Guides @ http://www.reviews.ebay.com under keyword: ebetsy. Thank you for reading my blog post! Please feel free to comment. AN EBAYANA FAN'S GUIDE TO EBAY LEGOS: Official and UnofficialPosted Jan-18-09 21:50:58 PST Updated Jan-26-09 13:50:04 PST I'm supposedly not shopping for eBayana these days — not until we sell off at least some of the duplicates and superfluities of our existing eBayana collection — but that doesn't mean I can't still browse the eBay-ana category regularly and cherry-pick certain irresistible and/or incredibly rare items. Which I do, and have. However, I have been admirably restrained in not recently running any of my Favorite Searches, which basically consist of the word "ebay" in combination with another word (or words) and which have yielded some of my very most special and favorite eBayana, both official and unofficial. (Let's not use the word "unauthorized"; it has such pejorative connotations, whereas I consider such items to be an homage to eBay.) But something made me run a quickie search today using the keywords "ebay custom"…and am I ever glad I did! Because I scored one of the coolest and most fun items of eBayana ever: a brand-new Favorite Thing. In fact, acquiring it has made one of my eBayana collection's subcategories reach critical mass — i.e., it now deserves a blog entry and guide all its own: eBay Lego items. I'm going to tell you about those now, but I'm saving the best for last. The first eBay Lego item I ever collected is an official eBay collectible, but it wasn't made with official Legos. Instead, it is a soft-sculptured oversized rubber version that was given out to eBay employees only. It consists of four blocks in the four eBay primary colors, and each one bears a different management principal. I wish I could remember what they are, but I can't, and I can't find the item itself right now either. But as soon as it turns up in one of our eBayana boxes, I'll come back and fill you in. Meanwhile, you get the basic idea. I'm not sure how deeply all of the employees took these principals to heart, since some of them were willing to part with theirs (the Legos, I mean, not the principals — I think). But let's be charitable and assume it was just because they'd already memorized them (the principals, that is). The next two eBay Lego items I collected are unofficial, but made from genuine Legos — and logos. The first one is an eBay logo made from red, blue, yellow, and green Legos on a basic black base; the letters don't overlap, but the typeface is as close to perfect as it could be given the inherent limitations of the medium. (In real life, you might say it was a tiny bit pixillated.) I found this item in the eBayana category @ eBay Germany (ebay.de), and the original version was huge to the point of being ridiculously expensive to ship. (It was photographed sitting in a Radio Flyer-type red wagon, if that gives you any idea.) I also didn't see it in time to get the Seller's permission to bid, because the original auction only specified shipping within Europe. But figuring that if the Seller could ship it around Europe, they might be willing to ship it to America too — and besides, nothing ventured, nothing gained — I wrote and asked. Sure enough, the Seller did agree to ship it to the USA, mostly I think because he (it turned out to be a he) was so amused that a U.S. eBayer wanted it that badly. And since the original auction had ended by then, he even went to the trouble of making a slightly smaller version and posting another auction. I had to fight it out with a couple of other bidders, but eventually the eBay Lego Logo was mine, mine, mine! And shipping wasn't nearly as expensive as I'd feared. It even arrived in one piece, which was a real tribute to its packing. The third eBay Lego it-em (there's a hint) that I collected was the eBay "it" logo in Legos in the appropriate shades of yellow, green, and orange on an "eBay blue" base. It's quite small, and quite adorable. And perfectly replicates "it", I might add. "it" didn't quite arrive in one piece, but "it" was easily reconstructed. The One That Got Away was a cute little eBay store, built from all four eBay colors (natch) with an "eBay Store" sign over its door in the proper "ebay stores" logo style. I don't know what possessed me to miss out on this item, but now I'm sorry I did. But my favorite eBay Lego item — and newest Favorite Thing — is the custom Weary eBay Seller by dadventuredan @ http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110337998428 It measures just 2-1/2 inches square and about that high, and it consists of an overwhelmed eBayer sitting at his laptop (which shows an eBay screen) surrounded by a camera, a clock showing 12:01, a coffee mug, and a stack of boxes as tall as he is. Let me now quote from the auction description, because it's hilarious: "This poor guy has spent too many late nights watching his auctions. He can hardly get to his computer because of all the stacked up boxes. He winces when he hears the words First Class International. And when the mail comes he's more excited about the reusable peanuts and bubble wrap than whatever came packed in them... "Yep, he's definitely been at this for too many hours... so make his day, would ya, and at least 'watch this item.'" Can you relate, or what? The Seller, dadventuredan, is offering free shipping WORLDWIDE on this item. He specifies that it will arrive via USPS First Class mail "assembled, with no instructions, carefully packed and ready to clean out all the yard sales in your LEGO town..." For a mere $23.50, now that is a real steal of a deal. And dadventuredan will even customize your Lego mini-figure (gender and hairstyle) upon request. For $2 extra, he gave us both male and female minifigs, since my husband and I eBay together. You know what they say: The couple that eBays together, stays together!" At least that's what I say. Since I originally wrote this blog post on January 18th, my Weary eBay Seller has arrived, and the surprise that came with it definitely makes it worthy of further commentary. Not only did it come with customized minifigs (the female figure even has short brown hair, just like I do), it came with a tiny custom-made Lego version of the Traveling Lab Coat — complete with tiny "signatures" on the front, orange Kompolt logos on the sleeves, and PowerSellingMom's logo on the back! I was totally blown away!! It is the cutest thing you ever saw. And however did dadventuredan know I was one of the Sellers who resold the Traveling Lab Coat? Maybe it was the video on my About Me page that gave it away. In any case, it was definitely the nicest, coolest, and most thoughtful bonus I've ever received with any item I've ever won — and since we've won over 10,000 items (as ebetsy and monjott), that's saying a lot! This concludes our tour of the Lego portion of my eBayana collection. I tried to keep it short, but I also wanted to make it complete. By the way, dadventuredan also gave me permission to use his auction photos, so check out the eBay Guide version of this blog post to see pictures and links — including a photo showing the custom-made miniature Lego Traveling Lab Coat in all its tiny glory. It should be posted within the next few days. You can find all of my eBayana Guides @ www.reviews.ebay.com under keyword "ebetsy". Thank you for reading my blog post! Please feel free to comment. AN EBAYANA FAN'S GUIDE TO EBAY TAPE: Stick Around, Collectors, For A Surprising Take On This Sticky Subject!Posted Jan-12-09 17:43:17 PST Updated Jan-18-09 21:54:00 PST You might not recognize eBay tape as being a particularly hot eBayana collector's item. But at eBay Live! 2005 in San José, co-branded eBay-USPS Priority Mail tape was the most coveted freebie at the USPS Booth. In fact, they would only hand it out at the stingy rate of one roll per eBayer. When the Postmaster General — who appeared at the keynote address because USPS was the title sponsor for the event — said he wanted to do whatever he could to give us what we wanted and needed, he was quite startled by the instant response of 10,000 crazed eBayers shouting, "Tape! Tape! Tape!" and stomping their feet in unison with their chant. There are six kinds of eBay tape and one kind of PayPal tape that I know of, five of which plus the PayPal tape I have collected (and even occasionally use). This is not including the packing tape that I bought in all four eBay colors. I've also included my one eBay VHS tape because I couldn't think what other eBayana guide it might fit into. The eBay logo is always assumed to be in full color unless otherwise specified. eBay Tape won from the eBayana category @ eBay Germany (ebay.de) in 2006-2007 — I needed an ongoing supply — but it doesn't say ebay.de, just bears the eBay logo in black ebay.co.uk Tape won from atlantisworldtraders @ eBay UK in 2005 and and bearing the ebay.co.uk logo; at "only" £2.99 ($5.30) per roll and $7.50 for shipping three rolls, it was quite the bargain — sort of ebay.co.uk Urgent Order/Handle With Care Tape from eBay UK bearing the ebay.co.uk logo alternating with the words URGENT ORDER and HANDLE WITH CARE; I don't know where or how the Seller obtained this, but after winning some, I know why they wanted to get rid of it; it sticks to itself and frays when you try to use it eBay Official PowerSeller Tape complete with the eBay and PowerSeller logos; evidently another PowerSeller freebie or PowerSeller's eBay Shop item; we've only seen it on a few of the packages that have come to us over the years, and we don't have any :( eBay PowerSeller Tape that says **Power Seller **/~~~Thanks You~~~; won in 2006 and 2007 from two different Sellers. We have attained PowerSeller status (under my husband's and my joint User ID of monjott) so I feel like we've finally earned the right to use it eBay-USPS Co-Branded Priority Mail Tape from eBay Live! 2005 that has the eBay and Priority Mail logos along with the words "a preferred shipping service on ebay"; you pretty much had to get this at the event or not at all, because I never saw any for sale on eBay so evidently nobody was willing to part with theirs. (After reading the anecdote above, I'm sure you're not surprised.) I myself have one full and two partial rolls left, and I am definitely hoarding it PayPal Tape won from syzzlyn @ eBay Singapore (ebay.com.sg); issued in honor of PayPal's 10th anniversary in 2008 and obtained at an anniversary party held at a club in Singapore, headquarters of PayPal Asia Pacific. Griff says that eBayers in Singapore are especially enthusiastic — and I would have to agree, since my eBayana guides get more votes there than anywhere else, even with less views per guide — and it would appear that this extends to PayPal as well. I never saw any PayPal 10th anniversary celebration chotchkes offered by U.S. sellers, whereas syzzlyn had a whole bagful VHS Tape Featuring 1999 eBay Media Highlights: No, it's not the same kind of tape, but in what other eBayana Guide would this item fit so well? And it's definitely worth mentioning. Very cool and rare! Thank you for reading my blog post! Please feel free to comment. AN EBAYANA FAN'S GUIDE TO EBAY CALENDARS: Happy New Year, Y'all!Posted Jan-10-09 20:06:05 PST Updated Jan-18-09 22:29:35 PST As we leap into a brave new year, it's only fitting that we take a look at how eBay helps us mark the days. My New Year's Resolution was to start blogging, so this seems like a good place to start. Here is the scoop on eBay calendars from 2001 through 2009. If I've missed any, please let me know! eBay 2001 Trivia Calendar: with "Stories, Tips, and Secrets about the Internet Site that Revolutionized the Collecting World"; my favorite quote is the one wherein a collector compares herself to "a child. A very greedy child." eBay Silver Picture Frame Calendar (200?-2008): a very nice silver-plated collectible bearing an engraved eBay logo with a space on the left for your photo of choice and a month-by-month calendar on the right; mine is from 2003 or 2004, and I won it in 2006 from Seller tfenrich (a source of much fabulous eBayana) for only $2.50. but one recently was offered on eBay by northwestbiz that came from eBay Live! 2008 in Chicago. eBay Taiwan 2005 Calendar featuring children's drawings; won in 2005 from yueh90 @ eBay Taiwan (ebay.com.tw) for 99¢ and also in 2005 from polianglin (who I think was a Taiwanese Seller but who had a French email address) eBay Voices 2005 Calendar: in metal with a thank-you card from the Voices Of The Community program. I want to be a Voice Of The Community! Recently offered for sale on eBay by candances eBay China Stand-Up Calendar 2006 in bright, vivid colors with festive images; won from Seller half1hour @ eBay China (ebay.cn) in 2006 for 87¢ + $10.62 shipping; it was our first transaction in RMBs, and it's a good thing there was a nice clear picture because the title read like this: ebay??????2006??? ??????? ???? 1??????????; also won from Seller cnscc @ eBay China in 2007 (cnscc was the source of most of our coolest eBay China and PayPal China memorabilia) eBay "it" 2007 Limited Edition Desk Calendar: Small, but mighty cute! I won "it" in 2007 from close_shave, a now-former eBay employee who was the source of some our most fabulous and rare eBayana and who continues to be a close friend PayPal Asia Pacific 2009 Calendar won from Seller syzzlyn @ eBay Singapore (ebay.com.sg), who got it at a party held at a club in Singapore (headquarters of PayPal Asia Pacific) in honor of PayPal's 10th anniversary PowerSellingMom's 2009 Calendar by Danna Crawford (User ID danna): Let this eBay 2008 Hall Of Fame Winner's proven tips and techniques for goal setting, prioritizing and productivity help you shine in 2009! You can buy PowerSellingMom's 2009 Calendar in danna's eBay store, ASK DANNA, @ http://stores.ebay.com/ASK-DANNA; it comes with a black pen plus a 33-minute DVD, "The Organized Road To PowerSelling", along with a newsletter subscription, 1 year of text-link advertising @ PowerSellingMom.com, and a $50 off coupon for Danna's private coaching package eBay Hong Kong Combination Calendar, Calculator & Alarm Clock: from ebay.com.hk, this nifty little gadget in gray plastic with the eBay logo in black fits in the palm of your hand, so it doesn't take up much room on your desktop, but it sure does work hard doing triple duty; won in 2007 from Seller erhanerdam, who was the source of some of our most fabulous international eBayana eBay Live! Picture Frame Perpetual Calendar in metal, with magnetic tags to mark the date; it doesn't show the days of the week, only the days of the month, so it can be used for any year; won in 2007 from Seller usakat, who was the source of a lot of my most fabulous and rare eBayana For the full scoop on eBay Calendars -- complete with pictures and links -- check out my eBayana Fan's Guide To eBay Calendars @ http://www.ebay.reviews.com under key word ebetsy. Thank you for reading my blog post! Please feel free to comment. |
) 
 About eBay | Announcements | Security Center | Resolution Center | eBay Toolbar | Policies | Government Relations | Site Map | Help | |
Copyright © 1995-2009 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.
| |