"Woot ... Go me!" or words to that effect. I've been trying to fill a few holes in Daugther #1's Pokemon card collection (we just got the last thing missing from her Team Rocket set) and I've had some luck in getting DEALS on stuff like unopened packs of recent sets. Well, I was poking around on eBay tonight seeing what was available for how much (I won some 1¢ auctions!), and I stumbled onto an auction that was "mislabeled" ... i.e. the auction title was incorrect (somebody had obviously been cut-and-pasting for multiple listings and had neglected to change the title). Rather than listing the Base set holographic Charizard (as was featured in the actual auction copy), it just repeated the ho-hum cards of the lister's immediately previous auction. This explains why, even with just at $3.99 opening bid, this auction had had ZERO bids an hour or two out from its close!
Now, I know what you're (probably) thinking ... "$3.99 is a hell of a lot of money to pay for a little rectangle of cardboard!" ... yep, it is ... however, this particular little rectangle of cardboard is offered at my various "research sites" at $45.00 (on the "high site"), $29.99 (at the "middling site"), and $20.00 (at the "cheap site") ... and those are before shipping & handling charges! I ended up as the only bidder, and with shipping I spent less than six bucks on this card (along with a couple of others). Such a deal! Truth be known, Daughter #1 already has one of these, so it wasn't on her "needed" list, but I figure it would be great "trade bait" to let her get something that she does need (oh, like the Base2 set holo Charizard ...$35.00/$29.99/$10.00).
I just love it when OCD and some good research skills pay off!