LOT OF 4 GE CORDLESS PHONE BATTERIES TL26411

In honour of Earth Day, it's probably appropriate that I make a reference to someone who is probably making a difference to keeping crap out of our landfills that ultimately end up in our drinking water and polluting our environment.

Like this guy here (item #280106290517).

The auction comes from a group referring to themselves as Retail Recyclers, although in this case, it really feels like a dumping ground, or a way to unload stuff that they can't otherwise get rid of without putting in the trash or incurring a disposal fee.

Regardless of emerging technologies, cordless phone battery (NiCD, NiMH, LiON) typically has a
limited number of charges, after which it must be replaced, and the old one is tossed or sent to a recycling depot. As this particular item is "used" and shows signs of wear, it suggests that the product has been charged multiple times and as a result, probably won't hold much of a charge.

But hey, for $.99 (plus shipping), think it might be worth a shot?

Vintage Goldish Brown Northern Telecom Telephone Phone

You know you're old when something that looks familiar (item #150112476770) is considered "vintage" or "retro".

Probably not recommended expenditures if you happen to run a large business and you've made the use of telecom consulting services, but for the rest of us, this just feels odd, especially since this isn't something that would be completely out of place in a lot of households.

This actually sort of looks like a phone that I have in my apartment somewhere. In some ways, this is a bit of a relic of yesteryear, especially since a lot of people within my age bracket have elected to ditch the whole land line altogether (and considering my monthly phone bill, even WITHOUT long distance, it's a tempting consideration).

But, considering that I still remember phones looking like this, this really, really makes me feel old. My idea of a "vintage" phone doesn't include rotary dials, because I grew up with one of those in the household. My idea involves those ones that you only see in the movies where you have the ear piece separate from the mouth piece, and you have to crank the thing on the side to get it working.

$ PictureTel Video Conferencing Camera & Mount PTZ-2N

A little blind faith is sometimes necessary when purchasing items like this (item #140109634975).

Yes, when purchasing anything on eBay, it's a bit of a crapshoot, especially when you only have the feedback rating to go off of. Considering that feedback ratings are easily manipulated by purchasing a bunch of really low-cost items (ie: under $10 each), and then burning somebody on a very high-cost item, it's something that one should DEFINITELY be looking out for.

This product in particular is cameras for video conferencing, which has become incredibly important as of late, especially with the shrinking borders and international business. For a home-based business, this would probably be okay, although if you're the gopher for a Fortune500 company, it might look a little bit funny on the expense account if you decide to save a few bucks on the equipment, only to get stuff that may or may not work properly.

Business Cards (Essential Collection) ( Brand New) PC

People, PLEASE. If you're going to put stuff up, put it in the right category. In the video game category, this guy decided to put this item (#320103866548) in the video game section.

This guy put software for making business cards in the video game section.

Well, indeed, the auction seller just happens to sell mostly video games, so I guess he got a little bit careless when it came to putting the auction up. I mean, it happens, but the first thing that came to mind was that they don't usually make business and productivity software for video game platforms.

Last I checked, most video game platforms don't have a lot of productivity software for them, unless they happen to be actual computers.

"HAUNTED & POSSESSED" CELTIC CROSS USED IN HEALING

Items that are purported to have mystical properties always find their way into this blog...why? I guess because I don't understand them.

For example, take this item (#220104111204), a Celtic cross that has supposedly been haunted and possessed, and has supposedly been used in healing. Or, it could be.

As a person with a sort of religious upbringing, I have at least respect for other religious cultures and know enough not to attempt to force my beliefs on others. The way I see it, the path to enlightenment and salvation is irrelevant, provided that you live a good life according to certain moral tenets (ie: don't be a jerk).

But, trying to profit off of it? Mass-produced, items like these are generally inexpensive to produce and sell, although the $5 shipping charge is a little excessive. If they just told it for what it is, they probably might be able to move a few units. Surely, Wicca is a little bit beyond materialism?

"Business for Sale"

Creating your own business is a stressful endeavor. Many different services are available for everybody, whether it is including electronic check processing for methods of payment, dealing with benefits for employees, or how to brand your business.

But, if you punch in business for sale in eBay's search function, it will spit out hundreds of results, all of which seem to indicate that you can blindly enter a business venture with NO knowledge of the industry whatsoever and make thousands and thousands and thousands GUARANTEED!

This is actually sort of frightening, but as long as you keep your wits about you, you should be fine.

Grandfather Clock Chalk? Thermometer ~ Columbus, GA

It's interesting when items are referred to in abstract and subjective terms such as "nice," and then go onto describing the condition, which usually indicates that it's been bounced around a few times, and will likely be bounced around a few more times before it gets to you.

Like this item here.

Whoever made this just decided put out a bunch of thermometers and embed them into pieces of chalk shaped like grandfather clocks. Allegedly, the item is something you'd find in a souvenir shop from Columbus, Georgia, and happens to have a picture of a peach on the front. This makes some level of sense, considering that peaches are an export from Georgia, but I tend to associate peaches with California.

But, this somewhat defeats the purpose of souvenirs, especially if you haven't been to the place in question...

Lego Laptop Folding table

Okay people. Please, please, PLEASE accurately name your items up for bid when you sell stuff on eBay. Like, PLEASE.

There really isn't anything "wrong" with this product, actually. I used to play with Lego myself when I was younger and would always build things like robots and cars and houses and things like that. For the right kid, this would be a pretty cool thing to have, and considering that Lego tends to be pretty expensive, $10 (current bid) ain't actually that bad.

All the convenience that comes with folding tables and storage space for your blocks...but, the fact that the seller refers to this item (item #270108265261) as a "Laptop" table, is somewhat confusing. And that, and is it because the laptop itself is made out of Lego?

Migrane Relief Website for Sell + Adsense+Home Base

Migraines a fairly debilitating medical condition, but because of the number of people it affects, there are many different cures available, from remedies such as acupressure or self-hypnosis, or prescription methods such as fioricet.

And then there are resources such as the Internet. And there's this (item #160086346941).

Ignoring the fact that this auction originates from a country in which English is not the primary and official language, this auction feels like a dated remnant of the dot.com bubble of the late 1990s. This was when cybersquatting (purchasing URLs for the purpose of selling them back to legitimate organizations) was commonplace and that anybody could become a dot.com millionaire. Now...not so much.

But, you can't help but admire the efforts. I still don't, though.

1999 Nigel Burgess Yacht Charter Book Catalog Luxury

Next in my series of "why would anyone want this," someone is selling a catalogue with pictures of yachts (item #200047063403). Not necessarily crewed yacht charters, but luxury yachts. From a book released in 1999.

I'm a little curious as to how the seller obtained the item in the first place, as auction strongly indicates that the seller is not the intended target audience for the publication. As she says, "I didn't know how poor I was until I looked at these beautiful yachts!"

It's times like this that I'm reminded that eBay has largely become a dumping ground for people to try to make money off of stuff that has very little or no value.

PERSONAL BUDGET INCOME EXPENSES CALCULATOR SPREADSHEET

Having the right tools such as budgeting software can be ideal when it comes to maintaining a monthly basis and being able to evenly divide your money between the things you want, the things you need, and the things you want and need now.

But why is this guy selling an Excel spreadsheet (item #190097811246)? Especially when you can get about a dozen of them for free on the Microsoft website, I just gotta wonder what kind of business these guys do. I'm just wondering if an honor-system type business might be more suitable, where a person would up up their website and offer the software for free with donations being optional. That would be the business model for a lot of creators of open source software.

NC Coastal property/ land by waterfront/ oceanfront DVD

In an effort to boost sales of NC waterfront property, this group of enterprising individuals has made a DVD (item #120104755669). This will pretty much tell you everything you need to know about the community in question. Describing it as a small port town straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, it attempts to show off the charm of Cades Cove.

All you gotta do is buy the DVD.

Make no mistake about it - they are pushing real estate. Does it seem to be odd to you, on any level, that you have to PAY for advertising? Isn't it supposed to be advertising that pays for other things? Judging from the nice round number representing previous bids, I think it's safe to say that a lot of people agree.

Thanksgiving 2007 Timeshare Rental Orlando

After going through eBay to see what else they had in terms of Orlando rental homes, I quickly came to realize that just about all of them somehow mentioned Disneyland as a selling feature.

For the first time, I've actually found an eBay auction (item #260102075973) that DOESN'T mention Disney. Instead, they're using it to promote their own resort, which illustrates that eBay has long since gotten past the point where they are used by small-time computer users to move stuff, but also by larger scale companies.

VPX FiberTeq Rapid Fat Loss 540g Diet Fiber Supplement

When searching on eBay for good weight loss supplements, the one that seems to come up the most is hoodia gordonii, which is highly controversial, due to its questioned efficacy and the fact that many products claiming to contain actual hoodia actually do not.

So, I scrolled down the list, and what else did it come up with (item #200094556441)?

To put it slightly crudely, well, "No s@#%!."

It's pretty obvious...fiber is just plain good for you for a whole bunch of reasons, and it's a no-brainer that we should all be getting a lot more of it. Through various sources such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, by increasing our intake, we can easily get more out of life by crapping a whole lot more often.

This is probably the first time I've seen it marketed as an actual weight loss supplement, and as I haven't found an ingredient list yet, I have no idea what's in it that is specific to inducing weight loss. A trip to the company website does reveal that the product has a warning label on it (words to the effect of not using the product if you are under 18, happen to be pregnant or nursing, etc.).

Rivercrest SANITARIUM Drug Alcohol Rehab ASTORIA LI NY

This actually mildly disturbing, but for the right person, this would be...y'know, it's still disturbing.

This item up for bid (#270037964852) is a postcard promoting a turn-of-the century mental hospital, complete with separate buildings for drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

I guess we can be slightly grateful for the pains made by the patients who have taken treatment that we today would refer to as barbaric so we wouldn't have to. However, when the words "electro therapy" and "drug habituation" appear in the same context, it's a little bit frightening.

Today, the definition of drug abuse has been expanded to include prescription drug addiction, which is why I'm sorta grateful that today, ECT has largely been phased out, or at least is controversial enough that its use in treating drug addiction would seem as a bit ironic -- prescription drugs, provided by the state, intended to cure or treat illness. Using ECT, which may or may not harm patients (or at least induce memory loss), to treat a condition caused by medical care...

CUT FUNNERAL COSTS SAVE $1,000.00 ON EVERY FUNERAL

If anything bugs me, it's really awful spelling.

This guy iz selling a buk abut saiving alot of munney on funnerals (item #23011035282). I gess that means that hee'll be tokking about making shure tht yuew haff funeral insurance too.

Sumthing stryks me az a liddle funny, espeshully wen I reed the auxyun. I em looking at the cuver of the book and it looks lyk sumone just maid the buk on their own compooter.

But all things considered, I don't think that the seller can be held completely to blame, as the text written on the back of Cut Funeral Costs isn't that well-written either. Even though the writer, Vance Farrel, may be a decent writer, you wouldn't know that from the back of the book.

While this is no doubt that this could be a useful resources, it's probably not something that you'd want to keep on the bookshelf.

Brand New N.I.B. Ernest Telecom Payphone

While the seller suggests that this item would be suitable for a specific business, it might not be recommended for your business if you get a consultant performing a telecom audit.

This person is selling an actual payphone from the late 90s (item #150107117757), and the strange thing is that he actually has FOUR of them up for grabs.

I really don't want to know how or why this person has equipment that is usually not available to the general public, or why he had to wait almost ten years to get around to selling them.

Or, if there'd be any use for it these days. A modern relic of our times, payphones have largely been outmoded by cellphones, and in the absence of one of these, people will largely just make do with what they got.

Definitely not something to be used as an income generator.

Truck, SUV or wall gunrack gun rack shotgun rifle NR

Whether it's a truck rack or CD player, if you can install it in your vehicle, eBay has the right accessory for you. Of course, the various rules apply, such as making sure that you get the make and model of your vehicle right (especially if accessories are a little more specific for your vehicle).

This one, is not so specific though.

But, if you have this (item #190097555663), you might have to be a redneck.

This one is particularly amusing to me, because the seller suggests that it can be installed in an SUV. One would suspect that a gun rack would be more suitable in a rural environment, for which the driver would most likely be taking the vehicle on hunting trips. However, contrary to what the marketing will tell you, most SUVs are not actually equipped for 4x4ing, which would not make this an ideal accessory for your Jeep Cherokee.

It is appropriate that it happens to be in an effeminate colour bright turquoise. As it is, the seller quips, "Yes, its blue, but remember, when it has a gun in it, who will comment?" This seems like something Paris Hilton would purchase for The Simple Life, if only it were in pink.