I was doing a search for Santas on eBay late last night. I like to search through "Ending Soon" auctions every now and then. Of those that were about to close, I found a three auctions with no bids and very low starting prices. One of the auctions had a small David Frykman Santa, and two of the auctions had a House of Hatten elf. Now, I don't collect elves, but I do have a few vintage and a couple of HofH. I do have a couple of Frykman reproductions, but now that he has retired, perhaps they will become more valuable.
Anyway, I noticed that the seller had a rather high shipping amount, but I felt at least the elves were worth $30, plus I would get all the other ornaments that were mostly mass produced resin Santas.
The good news, I won the auctions because no one else bid on them. I sent a note asking the seller if he would consider combining the items and reduce the shipping but he wouldn't. The shipping for 29 ornaments was $29, which in eBay terms is known as "padding the shipping". So I asked if the seller if he would please consider taking a smaller lot I won for .99 off the transaction bringing my shipping down to $20 (still high) but I did not hear back from him.
So, this morning I wake up and check my email so that I can read Lara's Blog and find that the seller has responded by canceling ALL of my purchases. I sent him a message and he replied (not is a pleasant way) that he refused to sell them to me and for me not to bid on the relisted items.
And no, sellers are NOT supposed to do that, but I guess he was miffed because he did not get want he wanted for items.
Of course, I contacted eBay's customer support and I filed a complaint. I also mentioned the "padded" shipping and the rep "Tom" added that to the report as well. When Tom read the emails (all correspondence through eBay is available for CS to read) he said that the seller's behavior was uncalled for and he put that in the report as well. Then Tom told me to bid on the items and if the seller blocked me or refused to sell me the items again, he would be suspended. So, there!
The seller did this to me and I responded appropriately. I was unable to leave negative feedback since the transactions had been cancelled which concerns me, because if gets away with this, what is to prevent him from doing it to someone else.
Just a word of warning, on an online auction, the item you won is not yours until it is in your hands.
So, according to my favorite quote, "If the Lord meant for me to have it...", I guess the Lord did not mean for me to have these. But in the nonBiblical quote, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window." He did give me something else.
Well, like I said, it is not mine until it is in my hands.
I was exhausted this evening and after dinner I slipped down in my chair and searched the "Ending Soon"...will I ever learn?
Nevertheless, I found this Santa!
Now, I know that there are those out there who think collecting and/or crafting Santas is a waste of time and money, but it is cheaper than therapy.
To me, Santa represents generosity and, like Saint Nicholas, not expecting something in return.
Santa is not the only thing I "collect" but it is the only thing I OVER-collect. I have no intentions to beat out Jean-Guy Laguerre, the Guinness Book of World's record holder of over 25,000 Santas.
Besides, I sell some to buy others every few years. I really don't spend THAT much because I mostly shop at garage sales, thrift stores, and place low bids on eBay.
I think it is much more fun to "hunt: and find the really good deals.
It all goes back to, "If the Lord meant for me to have something, I'd find it at..."
And if you come to my house, you'll see that the Lord is VERY generous.
