Ebay Hits and Misses

I buy and sell stuff on Ebay. I only bid if the price is low and reasonable.
We've all been there - a seller sends body tubes in a padded envelope. The tubes arrive bent. Their response: "Gee, it's never been a problem before!"
A few days back I received a Estes Mega Mosquito and Space Eagle. It was so well packaged it was hard  to get the box open!

Here's one that was the other extreme.
I put a $1.00 bid in a a Quest Pip Squeak.
I upped my maximum automatic bid to $3.50. I wouldn't pay more for one of these.
Shipping was free.

Over the next few days the seller added a note: "The nose cone is missing."
Then a day later: "The shock cord is missing."
I forgot about the item. Somebody else made a bid and my auto bid went to $3.50! I won the Pip Squeak!
The seller apologized and refunded $2.00 to my PayPal account. So in essence, I got a small opened bag of parts for a dollar-fifty.


Here's what arrived . . .
Three fins broken off the die-cut sheet,
a streamer, engine hook and engine block,
the yellow engine mount tube, stickers and instructions.
The 20mm main air frame tube is also missing!

He sold it to me for $1.50 but it cost $2.86 to mail it!

Then on the other hand, some Ebay purchases work out.
(This has nothing to do with rocketry, but it's my blog.
The Pip Squeak is purple, the boots and vest are too. )

I wear tacky exotic boots in my stage act.
Trying to find size 13 boots and matching vests is a challenge.
These boots and vest are a very close match and should raise some eyebrows when I walk on stage. Yep, purple lizard skin boots.
Years ago, Comedian David Brenner gave me some great advice at a comedy workshop.
He said: "You don't look funny, so you'd better do something funny."
This is my attempt at looking funny.