E is for Everything Ebay
Nov 9th, 2007 by Marilyn
Our house project has many hands stirring the pot: ours, Dan the builder’s, the floor guys, the cabinet guys, the plumbers and the new neighbors and even – no, especially – the good people at La Prima Tazza, who fuel the whole caffeinated thing.
But there is a hand unseen, a silent partner, and this one makes us shiver with anticipation, yelp with glee and stay up all night. When our guard is down, she can slyly empty our pockets.
That partner is Ebay.
Is there nothing we can’t find on Ebay? Our thick 1920′s salvage door called for specially sized, heavy hinges. Ebay.
Josie’s bathroom vanity, still wrapped and just off the truck. We also snagged the guest bath vanity and granite tops, too – still crated, but perfect.
Our parents are always asking, “How can you know what you’re getting? How does this work again?” When it comes to hitting the send button, they have an endearingly high level of mistrust.
But we’ve been using loving Ebay for such a long time, I’m surprised no family member has staged an intervention, or hidden our keyboards, or taped our fingers together.
In one victorious moment, Ebay allowed me to indulge my English-hotel-bathroom dreams with this brilliant British faucet – for a lot less.
Greg’s even bigger score was the jacuzzi tub to go with it.
Ebay is open all night. To find the right old newel post, we might have driven aimlessly around Kansas, for a year. That handy Ebay!
Ebay turns up amazing things. We did a search for “copper hood” – we meant kitchen range hood - but wound up designing the whole fireplace around this 100-year old piece.
We found castle-worthy vintage light fixtures, and even…
…god help me, the stove itself. And if I trust my stove to Ebay, they are doing something right.
Ebay is an art you must practice to perfect. Searching for old vent grates and stair rails and faucets in the middle of the night, for instance, will make you bleary-eyed, but bargain-savvy.
She can be a cruel mistress, Ebay. Recently she demanded we buy a vintage cast iron furnace door from Iowa. For no reason. And then depression glass drawer pulls. Then that old mailbox…admittedly, it’s a hard habit to break. But why should we, when we’re doing so well? If Miss Ebay wishes to have a hand in your house project, I say let her in – and let the hunt begin.
You can ship that lighting fixture on over to me…