Up eBay Without a Paddle

I saw a movie, a comedy, when I was young that left an indelible impression on me. There was a scene where someone attending an auction accidentally bid on expensive artwork by a random gesture like rubbing his nose. Later I learned they assign paddles with numbers at those auctions. I don't think many people accidentally purchase $10,000. items.

I went to an estate auction with my parents when I was in my 20's. Mom advised deciding what you are willing to pay and sticking with that number. A good auctioneer can get the price up when he sees two or more interested parties. Bidding fever. You may pay more than something is worth. Only once have I bid at a live auction, when my son and his wife were newlyweds I went to an estate auction with her. They had little furniture and she spotted a china cabinet she liked which I bought for her birthday at a good price. That was before eBay.

My mom loved violets. She had African violet houseplants, wore (artificial) violets pinned to her dress, and bought a Lefton china coffee/tea service with chintz pattern violets which she treasured. When mom died my sister and I split the set between us. Last year she gave her half to me. I love it. It had the serving pieces but no tea cups. I found a similar Lefton pattern on eBay. I bid and "won" a set of three tea cup-cake plates. You need at least four, right? I have continued to try for the forth set but stopped when the bidding got too high. Last week my husband ventured into selling on eBay. He has his professional video camera up right now and I have been following the bidding. I also found four more tea cups in the identical chintz violets like the tea pot and put in a bid that held. I "won" these too. They don't match the first set of three I "won" on eBay. You could use them together, but.... there is another set on eBay now of 8 cups/plates. Maybe I will watch that too. Then I would have twelve that are identical and an additional three that blend.

Maybe I should have listened to my mother. How much stuff can I take with me "to the home"? If I "win" that set of an additional eight, I will have to make some new friends. I hope they all like tea. I hope those cups I just bought have handles. They do look like they might have handles, don't they? This is not a Lefton Saki set?

Next adventure; learning how to sell on eBay.