Ebay

"What if nothing was ever lost?" -- Ebay

I love Ebay. I am such a junkie, and that can be taken as either "addict" or "junk lover." There's more to my love of it than just the stuff though. The recent ad campaigns have been surprisingly touching to me, especially the one with the guy and his long-lost toy boat. The first time I saw it, I actually teared up. Granted, I was tired, it was late, and I was running a fever at the time, but....

There is such a sense of community on Ebay. It's like a huge garage sale that just goes on and on. With one exception, everyone I've dealt with has been so cordial and polite. They've answered questions, been as careful with their shipping as they might have been with a gift being sent to a far away relative, and sent personable, even chatty emails. Everyone has seemed to care tremendously about maintaining that Saturday garage sale feel, and most go to great extremes to make sure their items are described in painstaking detail to avoid any kind of disappointment on the part of the buyer.

It's funny that you can become connected in this way, even briefly, to people from all over the world in the name of commerce. I'm not sure if this kind of contact is a point for those who argue that technology connects us or serves to distance us from each other. I guess you could argue for both.

I also find it comforting that no matter what a person might like, be it salt shakers, Elvis memorabilia, porcelain dogs, or PEZ, there are about a jillion other people on Ebay who will be into the same thing and have cool stuff you've never seen to add to your collection. I, personally, love PEZ, vintage tablecloths, and old brooches.

Ebay brings up another interesting facet of humanity for me: collecting. It seems that almost every person I've ever met collects something. I wonder what makes us choose one item and then compulsively keep buying variations on the same theme. I wonder what the things we choose to surround ourselves with say about us as people? I guess there is probably some deep psychological reason why this person collects holsteins for the kitchen, Barbies, or clocks. Some psychologist should write a book about that, perhaps. There's probably already an annoying email forward about it. :)

Well, I guess I've probably exhaused this topic, but I just wanted to throw it out there.