The Girl with the Goalden Boot

Saturday, January 03, 2004

 

I feel a bit sick.

I don't know whether I should be happy or not.

I'm glad I'm not a stockbroker or in the finance sector. I can't do this on a regular basis. The nerves. The pressure. The anxiety.

It's like this. Kit's very first album, Don't Destroy the Harmony, is extinct. Those who own it are not willing to let go of it with ease, and those who want to own it will expect to pay a rather large sum. About a month ago, I had the chance to bid for it on Yahoo! Auctions, at a much lower price. However, Avi placed a bid for it and saw the auction earlier than I did. I asked her how much she was willing to pay for it, and she seemed quite desperate...she'd pay several hundred bucks for it. Something she had wanted for ages and ages (me too, but I'm sure she has been wanting it for longer than I have). A few days later, I saw Steph had placed a bid for it too, and I told her how I gave up bidding for it, since Avi (a good friend of both of us) wanted it so badly. I told Steph I gave up because:

1) I know of 2 other sellers who have the album.
2) Competing against friends is not good. Think about it, two friends fighting for the same item, trying to outbid each other. In the end, one friend will end up unhappy, the other friend probably won't be too happy either even if she had won the item. And obviously, the seller will profit tremendously.

However, Steph told me her principles too: as long as it is a bid fair and square, it doesn't matter. She'll bid for it anyway.

Then came my chance. Luckyno80 (I bought something from her before) placed Kit's first album on auctions, after my nagging emails (and perhaps other people too?).

I also knew Teacubie had Kit's first album too. But unfortunately, she replied to me yesterday, saying it's not for sale. Meaning Luckyno80's auction is My Only Chance.

Since I knew that Steph doesn't mind anyone bidding as long as it's fair and square, I continued to bid. And bid. And bid. And the auction kept extending and extending and extending. I was sweating and shaking and shivering. It was so scary...would this auction ever finish?!?!

The price reached $406. That was when I called Ting; I didn't know who else could help me out in these situations. (sorry, I didn't know you were still in Malaysia, thought you were back in Singapore already...) It didn't feel right. Paying 400 bucks for a 2nd-hand CD. Was I foolish in letting go of the previous opportunity (Avi won her CD for $50)?

And as soon as I told myself to give up, and my thoughts finished running through my head, the countdown ticker said, "auction closed". I had won the bid. $406. That's 2 weeks' income. Far out. That's the second most expensive item I have ever bought in my life (the first being my air ticket). This obviously isn't sensible. And it's not sane either.

Ting said that I really wanted it, and yes, that's true. But I never expected to have to pay so much. And Jo's right, I can't do much about it now, since the auction had closed and I can't do anything now except pay for it.

sigh.....

Lola Nadal 3:45 PM