i'm addicted to E.

ebay, that is. darn jack and his re-introducing me to the site... in the past 6 years i've received a total of 13 feedback scores, and i'm going to probably double that in just the next few weeks.

first it started with me cleaning out my jewelry box, and realizing i had a few pieces that people might like. (that girl has STILL not e-mailed me back about paying me for the tiffany ring... i'm SO reporting her to ebay.) then, i commented on these awesome aluminum tumblers of jack's that i love, and he told me they were vintage... turns out there were a bunch on ebay, as well as pitchers and bowls and all, so i snapped up several auction's worth to have a full set (they were only like $5 a set).

THEN, last night he sold an old camera. literally, he put it up there, and within 20 minutes someone had snapped it up for the "buy it now" price. well, darnit, *i* have an old camera at home too... so last night i took pictures of it, as well as a whole mess of loose beads and jewelry-making supplies, and some irish china i've never used.

i'm *really* tempted, though, to ebay something i've been holding on to for years: a 1960's wedding minidress with the tags still on it. it's outrageous -- bell sleeves with rhinestones going down them, a rhinestone belt buckle... i *heart* this thing. but literally, i bought it not because it fit me at the time, but because it was so beautiful i wanted to just have it to look at. but it's been sitting in a box for years, i think i need to let some lucky woman have it and make the most of it.

the $200 hula hoop

so, um. yeah. today i went to the local business help-y place to do my first shipment... since star's mom was such a doll about my wanting to do a hoop for star, i told her the first one would be hers.

estimated shipping cost, according to UPS: $90.00.

it was like something out of a comedy -- the business helpy people had no idea how to ship the thing, even though i'd bubble wrapped and taped it like crazy (which was the way my hoopnotica hoop had arrived back in april)... they insisted that it'd get ruined in transit. PLUS, UPS would charge me $15 for shipping it without a box. but the cost of a box to fit it? $10. *sigh*.

when we re-measured the diameter and discovered that the hoop was 42 inches across instead of 44, we plugged the new width in... shaving 2 inches brought the price down to $16.00. from $90. amazing. but still, with or without a box, there were another $10-15 in fees tacked on. they called the post office, fed ex... same rates, same issues with shipping something of that size and shape. so how the heck did hoopnotica ship mine, *in bubble wrap*, for only $10 or so? and how can philthyhoops afford to ship for a flat rate of $10? i'm so confused.