But I need the thing
Maybe I can distract myself for another few minutes. Enough time to let the eBay “opportunity of a lifetime” pass me by. You see, there’s the main problem with online sales (from my point of view). You can remain an impulse buyer for days, rather than the few minutes most of us spend at the local mall.
I started “tracking” an object a few days ago. The price was low, so I put in a bid just to leave my mark around; I lost out on something else that I did need a few weeks back, when I forgot to indicate my desire to play hardball, and the “coach” left me on the bench. There, a sports analogy (rare for me).
Then, after reading descriptions of the item on other sites I decided to “up” my maximum bid by another few dollars. Just in case. Until about thirty minutes ago, the object was mine (almost), but now the late watchers are coming out. The price has risen by almost 100%, and although I could rebid and win (such self-assurance will be my downfall some day), I’m trying to show restraint. This afternoon I read a whole forum archive dealing with the risks of buying stuff down by the ‘bay. You don’t know the seller, you can’t touch and feel, the description is designed to convince you to go for the goal. And so on. The reality is that people do make poor decisions, and we do forget to show restraint (like I am doing RIGHT NOW.)
Only ten minutes left, and the price is still climbing. Am I missing out on something I really need? A bit of self-examination should be enough, but the site is perfectly designed to draw you back. Look, the picture makes the object look larger than life. Ignore that price (which doesn’t even mention the high shipping fees). Bid. Bid again.
No, tonight I’m going to show who is in charge here. Come on, dog; let’s check out the grape collection.
