I have a fascination with Ebay. It started back in 2003 when I purchased my first item from Ebay, and I am so much of a cyber geek that I remember what that item was. I entered Ebay shopping in my polish pottery phase since I had been newly introduced to what seemed like a holy world from which I had thus far been shunned, from by a delightfully energetic Army wife. She explained that one cannot be a true Army wife, at least not an Officer's wife, without owning a few shelves/cabinets, display cases filled with Polish pottery, and that no, there was no prerequisite to visit Poland or even Germany in order to own such a collection. She showed me some of her smaller pieces and more common patterns which seemed somewhat affordable, and were indeed, pleasing to my artistic eye.
Pretty, yes?
At about $24.00 dollars per tea cup and saucer, plus shipping, this is not exactly cheap, but something that the Army wife, who often feels deprived of attention while her spouse is involved in one of his numerous deployments or field duty activities, manages to justify. Then the collection expands and soon enough I found my Christmas tree strung with little Polish pottery snowmen, and I was introduced the golden egg of Polish pottery; the Unikat piece. This is a one of a kind, hand painted piece made by artists who sign their work so that the piece you own is unlike any that any other lonely Army Wife, substituting for affection, owns. Now we are hitting over $100.00 Like this:
The problem was, that I was not the typical Officer's wife. I did not have money to spend on this delightful trinkets because my husband was mired in Medical school debt, and I had been "lonely wife spending" long before I discovered my love for polish pottery, and were already a couple in debt with two small children. Affording one piece was a stretch, but somehow, I ended up with a collection which made my enthusiastic, chummy, friend rather jealous, and me, swimming in guilt and credit debt.
Sure, I went to work in the Polish Pottery warehouse, unpacking new loads fresh from Poland in exchange for new pieces, but that hardly made up for my habit. I found it amazing and felt very proud of myself for my clever way of obtaining even more, but after about a year and a half, I began to look at my vast collection (which would have taken anyone else ten years to acquire) and felt sick. I began selling on Ebay. Selling some of the more expensive pieces, but also selling other things to make money. Clothes, purses, ornaments, the odd piece of jewelry. Thus, I became an Ebay seller and my relationship with Ebay grew. I can sing with gusto, "I found it on eeeeeeebay! woah ooh!" What fun!!
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