Prolonged exposure to EBAY can lead to serious addiction

It comes and goes like my quarterly craving for a Big Mac or a Santa Ana wind. Every several months I reintroduce myself to the great free-market experiment that is called E-Bay. And every time that casual infatuation turns into a full blown fever.

There was the baseball card rash of 2003 when I spent a boatload of cash on cards that featured actual game used jerseys of my favorite players. Those cards are currently in a shoebox in my office closet. Then there came the coin craze of 05'. It was a spectacular epiphany when I discovered that you could by artifacts from your favorite corner of antiquity. So I bought tons of coins both for myself and in an effort to teach my nieces and nephews about the coolness of history.

Fast forward to the present. I casually went online to see if I could find some good prices on jewelry for Jodi. But fifteen minutes into the exercise I was soon doing searches for things that interested me. I found an original Diego Rivera watercolor. I found authentic jerseys. And I found a multitude of items from Greek and Roman antiquity. While it was cool to see the stuff I was craving a more interactive experience. So I started to bid on these items. My primary reasons were A) a curiosity to see if I could actually get something like that at a cheap price and B) To make the other guys earn their keep by bidding up the price on those items.

Well the euphoria was soon doused by the cold water of reality when I realized that I was only a few hours away from having to own several hundreds of dollars of rare art. I almost ended up having to buy the Diego Rivera but it ended up settling for $630. I did however get stuck with a Greek Lekythos. What is that you ask? Well here is a textbook definition from Wesleyan University

"This vase was a flask used for toilet oils, perfume, or condiments, and also appears in funerary contexts, where it was used to pour libations for the dead or was left on the grave as an offering."

So I am now a proud owner of my very own Lekythos. I've actually looked at several sites of antiquities dealers and evidently I got a good price on the thing. I will just consider this to be an investment. With the stock market tanking I figure that this is just as good a place to put my retirement funds.

I have also learned my lesson. Unless I have gobs of discretionary income then I should probably avoid spending time on Ebay. I have sworn it off for now but you never know when the siren song of sweet deals and exotic goods will come calling again. Until then I will enjoy my little funerary vase from 5th Century BC Greece.