I had always looked at the posting of an EBay listing...
either by a member or otherwise -here on the forum- as a service to other members. Few people take the time to go through our profiles to see what our "dream machines" are. That is what I thought one of the functions of the forum was to help each other obtain our dream machines. As posted above, I too have watched an item just to see how it does. So too, I've seen a listing posted here, considered bidding, and have bid on listings. I also have a limit as to what I will spend. I don't get bummed out if I get outbid. I've also been clued in by private E-mail about EBay listings I have missed and have gotten some of my dream machines as a result. I've also seen what has happened to people here on the forum that have posted their EBay listings here. I've written to people I have never met, talked to, or E-mailed before to apologise for what I consider wrongful treatment here on the forum. I felt sorry for them I guess. I wanted them to know that not everyone felt the way one or two people did.
Then came the purchase of the now infamous NC57. It was posted here only four hours before the end of the listing. I had been watching it for days. Terry's and my main concern for these machines was that they not be lost forever. There were (and are still) some pretty rare birds in the lot. It was never our intention to "make a fortune". We had some early inquiries before anything was listed, and that kind of got us thinking that perhaps we might just do alright with this deal. More on that later.
Terry and I struggled for a long, long, time as to how to handle the situation. How do we let folks know that we obtained all these machines, some of which may be "dream machines", and NOT offend even one person when we list them? We decided that just announcing that listings would be begin on such a such day, no real specifics...blah, blah, blah - would do the trick. It worked. neither of us received via the forum or E-mail any communication complaining about the way we did it.
We also didn't sell a whole lot either!!! So little in fact that having to do it all over again after the holidays is something we have to do...but are sure not looking forward to it. EBay is one huge hassle! And the truth of the matter - only about one third of the stuff that DID sell went to collectors!!! Most of the stuff went to people that are going to USE the stuff. Daily drivers. Vintage, restorable, or rare vacuum cleaners being put to use by people because they are tired of $39.00 plastic from Wal-Mart etc. No collectors.
How disappointing! Two trips in one week to North Carolina, the BIG costs of transporting, the listing costs, shipping supplies, postage/shipping charges not being correct, (even after trying to figure in handling)....then not to mention the work of it all, sorting, cleaning, storing, taking pictures, writing listings, answering E-mails, etc., etc., all so that some lady who's Mother used to have a machine "just like that" can clean her kitty's litter box with a good 'ole -they don't make 'em like that anymore- vacuum cleaner.
