I've always admired Dept 56 Christmas villages but never thought they were in my budget. So I've enjoyed other people's collections.
Last year a friend gave us a Dept 56 lighthouse. That's all it took.
I started small and ordered Mr. and Mrs. Clause drinking hot chocolate. That was it.
This year I decided the New England Village was going to be our village.
Here's where I got into trouble.......I went to eBay. I'd start bidding low. I had a price in mind that I'd never go over even when adding the shipping cost.
When somebody else outbids you they ask you to put in a new bid. Right away they can tell you if you're leading or not. If you're not the leader they suggest you HURRY and bid again before it gets away.
I've always known my kids were competitive, but now I know where they get it. If you're not careful you bid until you get the lead. It's kinda hypnotic.
One time I had to let the item go. Sigh. So I began a new search and found the same piece for less money with another seller. Lesson learned. Always check and see if another seller has the same item before getting carried away.
It's been fun adding a few more pieces. One problem though buying pieces this way is I don't really have a good theme going.
Some people are bigger than others, and I'm still trying to figure out why.
Hopefully by next year, I'll have learned how to bid and add onto my collection in a more systematic manner.
I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have.
Agreed.
ReplyDeleteTried to by my parent a gift and realized one seller was having me bid up a tree. Paused, it was one of those e-readers, mind you, and ended up getting a similar device at half the cost!
Your set-up looks great, keep it up!
(It's impossible to make a comment anymore. Looked up your profile while scouring for Pollia condensata images, go figure!)
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by.
I hope you have a great 2013!