First Ebay sale
I sold my first item on Ebay by auction this week - the cardboard boxes from our recent move. It was exciting - there were 13 bids and they sold for $16.50 (we bought them for around $50). I reckon it’s a great way of supporting the principle of ‘reuse’ for conservation of the environment. Otherwise I would have recycled the boxes but it’s much better that someone else can use them instead.
I set the initial price for $5.99 so in the first couple of days I was a bit nervous as someone bid for that amount on the first day (which I didn’t know you could do) and there weren’t any more bids for a couple of days. Then they started coming. It was great seeing it gradually go up.
Also saw the film ‘Water‘ on Friday night which won an Oscar for best foreign film. It was wonderful but awfully tragic. I had recently seen a piece on Foreign Correspondent on the same topic about the ostracising of widows in India - the movie is set in 1938 but apparently the practice still continues in all castes of exiling widows from their homes to a life of deprivation, rarely seeing their families again with few possessions, little or no income, their heads shaved and denied participation in society as they are seen as cursed. One of the main characters in the film was a little girl widowed at the age of 8 and sent to this house for the rest of her life! Imagine. The practice is apparently based on ancient Hindu texts. The movie shows a range of complex issues and is really worth seeing as long as you don’t mind a good cry!
Hi Ruth! Thanks for the message. Have you seen the “freecycle” websites? I understand the one in Melbourne is pretty huge. It’s like Ebay but free. I got rid of my front fence that way… amazing how many people want a rusty old bit of fence! Stopped it going into landfill, anyway.
I didn’t know about that Gemma. I’ll check it out. Thanks! It is amazing what other people want isn’t it! I reckon it’s great.
So pleased to see you’re reading Alex McCall Smith’s books….I find them so amusing and fun.
I found “Water” to be very moving indeed. I so love the faces of the women from India, no matter what their circumstances are. There are some sad ones to be sure.
Well done re Ebay…I suppose it can be addictive seeing what’s for sale etc…everything from a needle to a haystack, perhaps!!
Must have a look at the freecycle websites. That is definately a good way of making the most out of products. We throw away too many things these days when they could easily be recycled or used again by someone. Haven’t got the Ebay itch yet - it can become like a disease
I have a friend whose whole life is E-bay! She is on there every other day buying or flogging her own stuff off! addictive or what?
On the Hindu women - I am reading Hirsi Ali’s book “Infidel”. She is a very strong and courageous woman despite the life she has endured thus far. Her discussion is very similar to what you describe from the movie you saw. She underwent a circumcision (cringe) at about 4 or 5 and was basically sold off in an arranged marriage to some old goat. When she was about 19 she escaped and her real story begins from there. She is a Somalian.
I reckon Ebay would be very addictive after a while.
That book sounds like a really interesting read - I’ll have to look out for it. It’s amazing what some people overcome.