Originally posted by Frank S
The only continuing down-side to eBay (other than short-term, small losses that smart) in my experience is the investment of time, if browsing for serendipitous outcomes is the goal. There is no way to narrow the search if you don't know what you are after. If what you want is specific, there are techniques to get right down to it.
I think that I spend far too much of my life staring at computer screens as it is. I have successfully used eBay to obtain some long sought after magazines, but since then, the whole effort seems to demand far more of my time than I am willing to devote to it. One of my resolutions of this year -- indeed, my Only resolution this year! -- is to reduce my WWW time and devote more time to my writing. I don't think that eBay quite fits into that and, besides, I generally have an uneasy feeling about the whole deal -- and the eBay Lifestyle does not compute in my eyes.