I left ebay a few years ago and haven't looked back. At the time there were like 60 million users. No wonder you could never get a fair price on anything! Then you have to add shipping. Ebay is nothing but capitalizim run amuck! So, go sift through your local thrift stores and enjoy the hunt for tiki treasure and the thrill of paying $3 for a cool tiki mug.

My ebay experience started when I searched for a bracelet my Mom had since her childhood. We were at Kono Hawaii (my families favorite restaurant when I was little) when I lost her bracelet. I had PROMISED not to loose it when I begged her to wear it that night. I think I was about 8 and it was my and her favorite piece of jewelery. She never trusted me with her "special" stuff again and I know it hurt her to loose this. It was a charm bracelet with little canned and bottled products with paper labels (1940's Duz soap, heintz products, crisco, pepsi, etc.)

When I was older I thought this would be the perfect gift for her so I went to EVERY antique mall, thrift store and flea market in So. CA and the East Coast in the summers! For over 5 years I searched, left my name on want lists and was tired of describing this item to deaf ears! You know those ladies who ONLY sell costume jewelery at flea markets like the Rose Bowl? Well they didn't even know what I was talking about! Finally after a couple weeks on ebay-there was one! It was mine! since that one, I have gotten her several, she even lets me wear one from time to time.

Without ebay, I know I would still be searching for that bracelet! I have also gotten some amazing bargains, I never would have found in thrift stores or antique malls. Witco pieces and my big beachcomber lamps come right to mind! Most of my lamps come from Canada (they must have had a plastic fetish there in the 60-70's) Sure I still look but am more disappointed after spending a day running around, a tank of gas, a bored and bitching kid, smelling some nasty thrift stores with plenty of wierd-o's, and nothing remotly tiki to show for it! So off to ebay I go to hunt in my home while drinking a beer! Yea!

[ Edited by: laney on 2003-07-02 12:35 ]

I would rather support some poor slob on Ebay than some big large corporate Walmart store paying their employees minimum wage. Have you seen that families income in Forbes magazine? Thrift stores here rarely have the prized tiki stuff. As for capitalism, what is the alternative? I am all for small business and that is exactly what those Ebay sellers are!

On 2003-07-02 11:38, BongoZombi wrote:
Ebay is nothing but capitalizim run amuck! So, go sift through your local thrift stores and enjoy the hunt for tiki treasure and the thrill of paying $3 for a cool tiki mug.

Well let's see, if we don't have capitalism, I guess the only other option would be socialism, and we saw how well that worked.

Hate to burst your bubble, but there are no cool tiki mugs for $3 at thrift stores. At least not when your collection is the size mine is.

Laney is exactly correct in that your scope of items is greatly increased through ebay. I bought a 1953 Rickenbacker double neck steel guitar a few months ago from a guy in Kansas. I guarantee you I wouldn't have found one in So Cal.

While it is true that some people abuse eBay, it is a fantastic resource for collectors. It's like many people have said here in many different threads: the value of a collectable is what a collector is willing to pay. Harsh perhaps, but reality nonetheless. And I will always prefer reality to its alternative :

:), emspace.

Gee thanks for the slam on Ebay. I am a married vintage freak that makes a full time living on Ebay so I can stay home and take care of a hard working hubby, and hopefully in the near future start a family. I make my paycheck finding treasures in thrift stores and selling it to people all around the world that would never have had a chance to get it otherwise, it would have just sat on a shelf in my little dinky town. I tend to think of it as a service that helps finance my passion for vintage, so all of us retro hounds gets a chance to decorate our homes in anything other than the norm!!!

And I agree with the other posts too, if it weren't for Ebay I would never have found some of my most prized treasures, so if that meant someone made a little dough off me, so be it. Tiki collecting is really hard for Floridians too without it, I have some of the mugs from FL restaurants, but because so many great ones are from the West Coast Ebay is essential!

[ Edited by: Tiki-troll on 2003-07-03 08:46 ]

On 2003-07-02 13:29, Tiki_Bong wrote:
Laney is exactly correct in that your scope of items is greatly increased through ebay. I bought a 1953 Rickenbacker double neck steel guitar a few months ago from a guy in Kansas. I guarantee you I wouldn't have found one in So Cal.

I totally agree. I just got myself Gary Usher's "Hot Rod and Surfing Guitar Book" (25 songs with lyrics and music) published in 1965 through eBay. I would have been very surprised finding it somewhere in Stockholm.

were it not for ebay, I would still be scanning junkyards or paying out the ass so I could assemble my last 2 motorcycles instead of riding them for the past 2 years!.

[ Edited by: twowheelin'tiki on 2003-07-04 15:01 ]

I've been collecting a certain item for about 15 years. I had a pretty good collection before I found Ebay but upon finding Ebay my collection has now become advanced and grown by leaps and bounds! Things that I didn't even know existed have surfaced thanks to Ebay. It's the best source for finding things from all over the world. Yes, it's frustrating when "newbies" come in for a couple of months and inflate the prices and then disappear, but if you're in it for the long haul you'll find some really fabulous things at great prices.

Don't knock Ebay. There are some interesting people on Ebay and for the most part I've met some wonderful people who I correspond with that share their wealth of information. I only wish I'd found Ebay in the early days...

Ebay is evil. I keep saying one day there will be a ebay anonomous and I will be first in line.

I can't forget all of the incredible deals that I've found and I probably will never stop. I managed to for 4 weeks then I needed some dresses for Hukilau so that plan was shot to hell.

I remember back when it first started when I could get a tiki mug for $1 just like the thrift stores. Those were the days......

I did just score a huge Coco Joes tiki for $6 just a couple of weeks ago.

I just had a thought (a rare occurrence for me)...

With Ebay opening up a huge collectors market, and everyone vastly expanding on their collections... imagine what estate sales will be like when we all pass retirement and start kicking off...

Now, every time I pass a baby in a stroller, I'll be thinking to myself "Vulture! You're all vultures! Can't wait for me to kick the bucket, can you?? I'll burn it all before you get your greedy paws on it!! HAAAHAAAHAAAAA!!!!"

I got my wife on ebay!!!