Monday, February 23, 2015

For sale, one slightly used but deeply loved shiny object

I sell on ebay. I should be doing it regularly but it seems like I went on a one year sabbatical.
I also collect stuff. The problem with the buying of shiny objects is it leading to collecting shiny objects which leads to clearing space so you can buy other shiny objects. It's a nasty nasty circle of life.
Sure I could keep my mountain of shiny doo-dads and gee-gaws but then my family would put me on an episode of 'Hoarders'. I'd be the woman snuggled up inside walls of books. I'd be lying on my couch made of books and looking at my shiny stuff arranged in tidy stacks around me. Just, my books and my little dog and of course, shiny objects out the wazoo. Before I start thinking that kinda sounds nice....it's  ebay time. I photograph and describe the items one by one. I use the 'Pickers' and Antique Roadshow-speak  ".."Vintage" "Rare Find" "Highly Collectible" "created in the 1800s, 1900s.".. " I carefully describe the item. I list any flaws and I praise it's values. But I don't put the whole story on there.
All about 1880s silver and crystal condiment set with holder I pulled out of a quarter box at a garage sale in Greece, NY. I could mention how I stood there and picked each piece out myself. Took a while but it's worth it.
I don't get to explain how I bought two full page comic strips from 1903. To be fair I bought the frame. I didn't care what was in it until I pulled it out of the closet to use it and was floored.

I never give the real story. Everything I buy has a story, every single thing I own has a story. I have a wide selection but what amuses me one summer has to be rehome so I can be amused next summer.

Except books. Books go free. I leave read books with friends and family with the promise that the new reader will pass it on when they finish it. I never want them back. I never expect them back.
Sometimes what I set free comes back to me. It must love me. Growing up I had a poster that said so and as you know, 1970s posters do not lie. When a book returns to me I put a post-it with 'free to a good home' on it and leave it at the drs office, hospital waiting room, restaurant, any place you can put it down.
Not the rest of my collections. Every year items must be eliminated from the herd. Tia's natural selection.  For me, the thrill is in the hunt. I guess I've taken my love of sports and winning to a different more middle aged woman friendly level. According to my math skills I am over middle aged since I will never see 102. Blame my NYS public education if I'm wrong. I like to see other people's crap and possibly buy it. I enjoy talking to strangers and bonding for the short amount of time I'm in their drive way. I've met people of all types. Retired school teachers with a deep interest in birding. A family that took in wrestlers from Germany in the 1980s. Couples married late, couples together 50 years. Most strangers but occasionally someone you know or should know. People from the old neighborhood, people you used to know in HS, even people you used to date. Familiar strangers. Socializing with a perk.

I just have to find a way to support my addiction. Tah Ebay dah! I like to go to flea markets and buy things I like, love or am amused by. Over time some specific groupings have appeared. Those I keep. My 1980s Basketball collection. Stockton to Malone baybee.. My Niagara Falls collection. That will end up donated as a whole  to some sort of museum. The rest is forming a straight line to hit the exit.

Sundays and Mondays are ebay days. I place my ads. Then it's the wait. 3, 5, or 7 days of checking to see if I have watchers. Maybe bidders. Possibly questions. For me like losing children. I listen to music (Julian Lennon) and get to work. Sad to be giving up beloved items, I know I am fickle enough to replace them as soon as Spring hits.

Goodbye Tootsie Toys,goodbye Coca-cola glasses, goodbye silver spoons and sewing kits. I'll miss you.
Goodbye baseball cards, goodbye purses and popcorn tins.It's been real.
I'll remember you all fondly. I'll relive the time I found you and how much I made from you when you left. I promise you that if we ever run into each other again. Me with money burning a hole in my pocket and you on a table, price tag slapped lazily on you. I won't stop or pick you up. I'll keep on going,  I won't look at you sadly. I'll move along to my next find. My eyes will keep searching for that item that makes my eyes glow a little.

Today is Monday. I've got a full mug of coffee. Switching to Tracy Chapman, working music. Time to do what I hate so I can continue to do what I love. Just looking out the window at Mother Nature's PMS fury and wondering how long it will take to melt this freakishly large amount of sow. Snow up well past my waist. That ain't right. I want Spring. I want Summer. So I'm selling my old stuff and counting down to Spring and shiny new stuff.

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