EBAY HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING!

Going back to the "olden days" I could remember driving a few hundred miles to attend an antique or collectible show to search for those items we cherish. Entire Saturdays and Sundays could be eaten up by the driving time to and attendance at a show. In those younger years my wife and I could not find what we were collecting at just any antique shop or show, but at a show catering to our area of interest. For example, when I collected First Editions we needed to attend book shows. When I collected autographs, I needed to attend paper or autograph shows. Sometimes, we would drive to an area and stay overnight to attend a show and spend the next day antiquing in the local towns as we slowly made our way home. Pennsylvania is particularly set up for this type of activity. We would drive to Lancaster, spend the night, and work our way home via what is called the "antique mile." With the technological revolution of the internet Ebay arrived. I reasoned that I could easily sell some of the items around the house that we no longer wanted and would probably have brought to our local Salvation Army shop. First, I began to sell my old books on ebay. The amount the item sold for was irrelevant because we opinioned that it was found money for the effort of packing and going to the post office (across the street). At Ebay's beginning, many of us did not publish photos with our listings. Eventually, as we gained experience we did, however. Publishing photos was quite a chore because each photo url address needed to be hand typed into the listing. Once we acquired the technique and momentum we expanded our listings with other household items. More importantly, I also began buying on Ebay. It soon became apparent to me that I no longer needed to make long drives and spend much time searching the antique shops or centers to find my latest quest. We still attend shows on a regular basis because there is always that chance of finding a treasure at a price that can be nogotiated lower with the dealer. I must confess and admit that approximately 90% of all my purchases and sales of my hobby items are made over the internet. Yes, the internet and Ebay have changed everything.