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August Meeting:
Sold -- to the
Mac in the third row with the mustache!
August 19th, 2008 --
Auctions and flea markets. Some of the most classic crowd scenes
in fact and fiction, in books, movies and real life.
Picture a classic street
market -- tents, stalls, wheelbarrows... bare patches of earth
along the wall with the seller crouched on a blanket with his
wares spread out around. What might be offered in the next tent,
around that corner...?
Rare spices, loot of
questionable origin, diaphanous silk scarves, jewelry, exotic
slaves from some far, unknown land, pungent foreign foods. As
'Professor Emelius Brown' sang to Eglantine Price and the children
in the movie Bedknobs
and Broomsticks, "Anything and everything a chap can
unload, is sold off a barrow in Portobello Road."
Or picture the famed
Sotheby's Auction House in England. An elegantly paneled room
with a small stage at the front. The dignified and knowledgeable
auctioneer at the lectern saying "Come, ladies and gentlemen:
what am I bid for this excellent example of Etruscan funereal
pottery...?" and the quiet responses as the offers and counter-offers
escalate to obscene amounts of money....
How about yet a third
change rung on the theme: a tense and perhaps somewhat unruly
crowd gathered around a shirt-sleeved auctioneer as he rattles
off his solicitation of bids: "AND a dollah - a - dollah
- TWO dollahs, do I hear three dol--THREE and let's somebody
get real here,
this is chickenfeed - FIVE gimme-six-gimme-six...."
You've seen all of
this on TV or in the movies; heck, some of you (including me)
have seen parts of it in Real Life, right?
These days, of course,
our markets and auction houses aren't always made out of bricks,
mortar and pavement -- they're creations of cyberspace and only
Heaven may know what's for sale in some obscure corner of the
WWWeb.
Arguably the biggest,
best, most exotic market out there -- the Casbah, the Portobello
Road, the Bazaar of the Bizarre of the digital universe -- is
eBay.
All the hoopla and hyperbole
aside, and for those of us who have never delved into its byways
in any depth, what exactly IS eBay. What can we find there, how
do we shop its twisted alleys, and how do we make a little money
on this or that piece of junk out of the attic?
It's slightly short
notice, I know, but if you'll come to the meeting Tuesday night,
we'll take a stab at answering some of those questions and pointing
you in useful directions to learn more on your own -- as well
as pointing out a pitfall or two to avoid.
So be on the lookout
for a bargain, keep a hand on your wallet, and maintain a vigilant
watch for thuggee and dacoits straight out of Sax Rohmer's worst
nightmares, and we're off to seek adventure and our fortune...
on eBay....
See you at the meeting!!
--Ken Rodabaugh
II
OMUG President
P.S. -- Follow THIS link to look over and contribute
to our list of possible future meeting topics!!
Upcoming Meeting
Topics
August 19th -- eBay for the Beginner, or: How
I Didn't Lose My
Shirt With The Cufflinks Still Attached In The Digital Marketplace....
September 16th --
To Be Determined....
October 21st --
To Be Determined....
(Follow THIS link for greater details on the meeting
topics.)
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