eBaying Experience: Buying a Typewriter (or Two)

By Michael H. on March 13, 2012

photo from flickr.com, uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/photos/lodefink/4317923430/in/photostream/

(I’m taking a brief break from writing my series of tips for bloggers – #1, #2, and #3 - to discuss my recent exploits into acquiring a typewriter.)

I decided to buy a typewriter. It took quite a bit of research to decide upon the specific model I wanted (IBM Correcting Selectric II), but after deciding upon the model it is a fairly simple experience. At least once per day, I would scroll through the new posts on Etsy, eBay and Craigslist in order to see if anything had been added. Occasionally I’d come upon an older entry that I hadn’t seen yet.

After about a week of research I had finally settled on the Selectric II. The only unfortunate part was that it was hard to find a cheap sale for a currently functioning Selectric. If you want to get into the do-it-yourself market, there are a ton of cheap sales for products that aren’t working, but provide parts that are no longer being manufactured.

Now, how I came to own two of these typewriters speaks depths of my idiocy, and I hope to provide a warning to others – or at least a few laughs.

I had decided to utilize eBay’s “Best Offer” system by providing an unnecessarily low bid to a seller, though it was what I was really hoping to pay. The seller had asked for about $175 for the “Buy It Now” option, and was charging $25 for shipping. I offered $75, because I plan on using the typewriter to work on my creative writing. (I get distracted by the Internet or other stupid computer applications when I try to sit down and write, so just plopping a typewriter on my desk and forcing myself to do nothing but write would be easier). I expected to be declined outright, so you can imagine my surprise when he counter-offered.

Well, he countered for $140 and argued that the item did need some minor cleaning, but was still fully functional. Finally, I attached a message with my counter offer of $90 that I couldn’t justify spending that much money on a product that will probably require relatively frequent maintenance over the years as I put more and more wear on it.

Enter the second machine…

A few hours later I was back on eBay looking at the newest uploads and  found a functioning typewriter on “Buy It Now” for $90 with shipping included. I decided that this opportunity was too good to pass up and, after an hour or so of struggling with myself, bought the item.

Now, I had believed that because I had only offered $90 for the first typewriter where  the seller had originally wanted nearly double that, he would decline the offer. I was wrong. Later in the evening of the next day, I got an email saying that I had won a typewriter. I found this strange, because I had already gotten the email for winning the other auction. After further investigation, I discovered it was the $90 typewriter.

I then paid for both of them (which, collectively, actually cost less than buying just ONE working version from other sellers.) eBay’s Bids/Offers/Buy-It-Now options are all binding agreements to pay for the item, so there was no way out of it. If you’ve made it this far, I hope this serves as a warning/reminder not to bid on more than one of an item if you aren’t sure that you’re willing to pay for it. Thanks for reading!

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