I'm Chia Wald and this is my blog. Here is where I share my thoughts and my art. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it isn't. That's life... and that's me. 
All of my searches on ebay haven’t been fun and game trips down memory lane. I’ve spent years trying to find and buy two very special items. One of them is a Gravity Clock like the one shown above. The first time I saw a clock like this was in 1979. My parents had received a catalog from a company that marketed to businesses as a source for corporate gifts and rewards. On one of the back pages was a “Saw Tooth Clock” for $99.00. That was a lot of money for me, so much so that I didn’t even consider ordering the clock. I’ve regretted it ever since.
I’ve been crazy about clocks since my 4th grade class took a field trip to the Mystic Seaport, a living history museum of a 19th century New England whaling community. One of the buildings at Mystic Seaport is the Nautical Instruments Shop and I remember it as having its walls lined with more clocks than I had ever seen in my life. Most of the clocks had chimes and our teacher made sure we arrived at the tiny shop just in time to hear them all go off. It was a magical moment for me. Because of that experience I’ve been collecting clocks for years and my home is never without a background of tick-tocks and chimes.
I found the clock shown above listed on ebay this week. I tried to win it, placing my bid near the end of the auction to increase my chance of not being outbid. For a while it looked like I would come out a winner but in the last two seconds a new bidder came in and beat me out with an extra $2.50.
An hour later there was an auction for this clock. It is the same model as the first one but in need of cleaning, oiling, and a little TLC. I won this one at a fraction of what the first one went for. Even if I need to get some work done on it at the local clock shop I think I’ll come out ahead.
The other item I’ve been searching long and hard for is a mechanical Santa Claus bank like one my family owned when I was a child. My grandfather, whom I never considered to be particularly thoughtful or generous, sent us the bank one Christmas when we were young. When you dropped a coin into the bank Santa would come alive, ringing a bell, shaking his head, and flashing his eyes.
It also had a switch on the back that allowed you to turn it on for a non-stop session of bell ringing. This mode was not very popular with the parental units but was a big hit with us three girls! We loved this bank and unpacking it each December was always one of the season’s highlights. It gives me pause now to realize that the man I thought to be cold hearted and stingy is responsible for giving me one of my most treasured, enduring, and heart warming memories.
In all the years I’ve been searching for this bank I’d never even seen a photo of one. I can’t tell you how excited I was a few days ago when I came upon this one listed at ebay. I knew I wanted it badly and have agonized over how much I could allow myself to pay for it. Part of me was channeling my grandpa and demanding that I keep a firm grip on my purse strings. Another part of me wanted to throw common sense to the four winds and take out a home equity loan if needed to claim this prize. I finally settled on a figure that lie closer to the sensible end of the spectrum but was still high enough to startle Recliner Man, and give me hope of actually winning the bank. This time I was a bit more calculating and didn’t place my bid until the final 10 seconds of the auction. Then I sat and watched for an agonizing 5 seconds, during which time my heart skipped a couple beats and the screen showed activity from another last minute bidder. Another breathless moment and the screen congratulated me on my win!! The best part is I won with a price that would have made even dear old Grandpa happy! It never came close to my maximum bid. I may be too busy doing a happy dance tonight to get any sleep.
Stumble it!
11 responses so far ↓
1 Jolene // Jan 10, 2010 at 11:36 pm
I am Soooooo Happy for you on both your purchases… Great way to start the New Year!. I was wishing I could try to get the Santa for you, so am extra happy you did get it. I always wanted to collect toys, as I learned early that some can become very valuable. I tried to save the toy boxes of stuff, but seemed like every time we moved etc. something happened to them. I certainly never threw out any of them… and I did try to keep them for you girls… but wishes, are just that…. wishes…. Good for you!
2 Kim Johnson // Jan 11, 2010 at 7:25 am
Did you get any sleep? Happy dances like that are few and far between!
3 Wendy Gunderson // Jan 11, 2010 at 8:05 am
What a great Ebay week for you! Congratulations on winning both your heart’s desires! I always wondered what triggered your clock collection, it’s nice to know!
4 CeCe DuPriest // Jan 11, 2010 at 8:47 am
So now are you out of things to hunt for on ebay? The Santa bank is adorable. I stopped buying on ebay for awhile as it was so much fun getting packages in the mail that it became just too easy to shop from home! I never seemed to be able to be the last bidder either–never set my clock to bid–would be off probably at the local antique mall–smile- enjoy your treasures.
5 chia // Jan 11, 2010 at 9:07 am
CeCe, it would still be nice to find the Donald Duck lamp but I’m not as determined to find that as I was these two items. Now I can go back to the occasional window shopping mode.
6 Billie // Jan 11, 2010 at 10:22 am
I’m thrilled you got the Santa – went to the site today and it said it has sold so was hopeful it was now yours. You didn’t tell me about the clock but it is fabulous! Congratulations and are you still doing your happy dance??????????? Oh yeah!
7 Steve // Jan 11, 2010 at 1:41 pm
As far as ebay and deals go:
1. Something that might be worth trying is searching eBay for listings that have main key words misspelled in the title. Sites like ebuyersedge.com (typojoe.com, etc) will search ebay for common misspellings of keywords you enter.
Most searchers will never see these misspelled listings, reducing the competition and most likely ending price.
Ebuyersedge also gives you the option of saving your favorite searches, then sending you an email when an item is listed matching one your saved searches, giving you a jump on other potential buyers.
This works best with ‘Buy It Now’s, but is also effective with auctions.
Some people claim to make money by buying misspelled items on ebay and then relisting them for a profit. I’m not sure about it, but it’s at least worth a try to see if you can get yourself a deal.
2. Whenever you send a question to a seller, use the “Ask a question” link that is on a page of another item they’re selling that you’re not interested in.
Maybe send the seller an offer to end the auction early. All they can do is say no.
3. If you bid on an ebay auction, use a sniping service (bidball.com, etc.) to avoid bidding wars, and hopefully save some money by not drawing early attention, and not giving manual ‘nibbling’ snipers a chance to react.
8 Suzanne // Jan 12, 2010 at 12:34 pm
That is such a cool looking clock. I’m sure I’ve seen one before but I can’t remember them right off hand.
9 Judy B. // Jan 15, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I think I’m bad! You’re worse! However, I have made a bid on eBay in the last minute and lost — and won! Good job! I love that clock! Way cool! A word, tho, I have an old kitchen clock that belonged to my grandmother. As many times as I have paid big dollars to keep it running, I finally lost the battle. It sits on the chest and it tells the right time twice a day. Best I can hope for! Good luck!
10 chia // Jan 15, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Judy, I have a temperamental Cuckoo Clock. It runs perfectly at the shop but as soon as I bring it home it stops. Doesn’t matter where I hang it. I have my fingers crossed that this one will be fixable. If not with a good cleaning then maybe a few new parts. The listing said it worked if you applied a little pressure to it but not by gravity alone. Looking at the photo, “Dirty” looks like it could be the cause.
11 chia // Jan 15, 2010 at 8:56 pm
LOL, the Santa arrived. I quickly put in batteries and with great joy, showed it to Recliner Man. His response? “It’s spooooky.”
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