eBay
eBay can be a great resource for things that are otherwise hard to find, aren't made anymore, aren't from around here, etc etc. Pretty much the majority of models that I have came from eBay as trying to find models in Saint John and Fredericton are quite difficult (whenever I do actually find models, they're of things I don't want to build). I'm a fairly successful eBayer, having made around 50 transactions or so in the time I've been active.One thing that always pisses me off to no end are snipers. Snipers are people who watch an auction that they want and when it comes down to the last minute, they bid like crazy to try and win the item. This causes me no end of frustration when I can't be around for the end of an auction and lose to a sniper. Once, I was refreshing the auction page on an item I was winning and in the last 5 seconds I was outbid. eBay actually encourages this action! There are special programs that you can download that will bid like 20 times a second so that you have no chance at winning. The designers of those programs should be sent to The Special Hell. I've had some discussions with Jonah about this, and he is of the school of thought that when it comes to eBay, you should put in the absolute maximum you're willing to pay for an item and, if you get outbid, don't sweat it as its more than you wanted to pay in the first place.
I finally followed his advice. There was an auction for an early '70s Chevy 4x4 pickup and a rare late '70s Dodge styleside pickup (the Dodge, in mint, unbuilt condition, goes for $60-80 alone). I put in my maximum bid for $45, the highest I was willing to pay for the auction. I've tried, unsuccessfully, four previous times to get one of these rare trucks. $45 was pretty much the maximum, but if I was outbid in the last few minutes I might have been persuaded to go to $47. Anyways, I was winning the auction at $13 and some change for the past few days. Within the last minute, as I continually refreshed the page, the price went to $21.50, then $22.50. Then within the last five seconds, the price went to $43.50. The auction ended before the bidder could go any higher. I checked the bid history of my newly won auction and discovered that the last bidder, the one that brought the price to $43.50, was a different bidder than the $21.50 and $22.50 bidder, and was in fact the bidder I outbid to win the auction in the first place! I successfully thwarted a sniper!!!
*happy dance*