wtf is "popcorn bidding"? and of online auction memories

"discovered" this "new term" today, while sufing thru my comics-related online portals and chanced upon this ridiculous auction (tho i am a fan, i ain't that much of a fan) for Two tickets to the Red Carpet Premiere and After Party of X-Men 3 (scroll to bottom of page) ... which would be a pretty interesting opportunity for some photos and obviously a blog about the event (and fucked is i when i have naught to do but to think of stuff for blogs? wtf indeed, innit?) ... anways ...

and of coz, thoughts raced thru my mind of another era gone bust, an era of online auctions ... a period of time where i was buying and ultimately selling stuff off Ebay.

i seriously cannot remember the first time ever when i logged unto Ebay ... probably in early to mid 99? 2000? t'was to look for Michael Lau's designer vinyl figures; for which i had suddenly developed a serious liking for ... and was offered a taste of online shopping (and the start of my eventual financial ruin and downfall)

the only thing i needed to start my online binge buying online, was "credit". and the next thing i knew (or rather, "knew" only much much later) i defied my 30-year "ban" on credit cards and promptly secured 3 different VISA accounts (along with 3 different Ebay Seller idents *ahem*) and was thereby wholey embraced into the all-encompassing arms of Ebay ... *sigh*

in the begining, i was just threading cyberwater, with a small/bit purchases here and there, mostly from Hong Kong (toy capital siah!) and gradually, i suspended all personal sanity and bid on anything i fancied, most times; more than i could afford ... and as my bank account driedup, as much as my room space had filledup with purchases, my creditbills ballooned beyond redepmtion ... well, not really, for years on, i have managed to clear most of the bills, but not all ... altho i have since stopped buying/selling online totally ...

the feeling of buying, of sniping an item (that you really want) is unparalleled. the thrill and fear of the "chase", the multiple bidding windows minimized in screen, the heartpounding moments just seconds before the bidding ends, the truimphant final bid. the congratulatory-email on your successful bid and joyous feeling of receiving a box in the mail; the bigger the better! ... tho that wasn't always the case ... the wretched loss of an item to a bid as low as 50-cents, your computer hanging in mid-bid, being "sniped" by another experienced sniper ... the trials and tribulations of an online bidder ... was the life i "had" led ... and sometimes still miss, admittedly so ...

altho it hasn't always been about "buying", after a fashion, i started selling online as well, and did a pretty good gig while at it! anything from custom 1/6th clothes and accessories to cds and magazines, i was actually making out pretty okay (okay enuff to defray "a small portion" of my creditcard bills lar *PUI* hahahahaha) ... but of coz good things never last, and i made it out sooner then when i'd exhaust any and all of my online-earnings = by buying MORE online auctions, bids and indulging in online-shopping ... damn.

key danger / evil words:
~ paypal
~ place bid
~ add to cart

'nuff said. ... *sigh*

but all is different now. i is a changed online buying addict man.

*twitch~twitch*

heh :p

popcorn bidding ... hhhmmm ... i would imagine the term is paralleled to popcorn popping in the oven/toaster/microwave/etc, whereby one corn pops right after the other, innit? ... hhmmm ...

i must be gawddamned strapped for an entry to even consider writing this! ahahahahahaha - aiyah, tis a slow monday and me headache is giving new meaning to the word "tenacity" ... that, and the renewed sudden urge to go back online .. but this time to SELL instead of buy and mayhap get back a little of that feeling which i'd lost yonks ago ... the spirit of the sale, the thrill of the bid, but hopefully not the anguish of a failed-transaction ... heh :)

just gotta get me creditcard back on line, innit? ... nahbey.
._.