Sometimes Free Enterprise bites you

I sort of feel bad about this – but on the other hand, it’s just sort of how things worked out.

In an effort to find ways to acquire some of the more exotic woods in a budget conscious manner, I’ve taken to looking at auctions of pen blanks on eBay. They’re about the right size and since it’s an auction you can set the limit on what you’re willing to pay and then just stick with it.

Sometimes you get a deal, sometimes you have to wait until the next time.

This time I got a deal. 3 Jatoba and 3 mahogany pen blanks, 6″ long. That’s about 7 or 8 cubes for me for each stick. The auction started at $0.01 and only had a few hours to go. I put in my max bid and the initial bid was put in for $0.01. No one else bid. I won for a total of $2.96 with shipping.

Why do I feel bad? It’s to go toward her first lathe.

Should I feel bad? That’s a different question entirely. It’s not like I cheated her in some way. After all, she set the opening bid. I do find it interesting that another auction, the same offering, starts at a higher minimum bid. Maybe she’s running a test, I don’t know.

At any rate, I guess what I’d take from here is that it’s OK to depend on the marketplace, but make sure you can get a reasonable return on what you’re offering to start with.