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Friday, August 14, 2026

THE CREDIT CARD FIASCO AND EBAY

        In 1999 we were deep in debt.  Our credit card debts had grown to about $63,000 in signature loans alone, and all we could manage was to make minimum payments, which totaled over $1000 a month, and never would have lowered our debt.  EBay was becoming more and more popular - it was only an auction then, not a store - and so, out of desperation, we thought we'd try it.
       Within six months, using eBay, we made $2,187.44.  And we put it all on one of our several credit cards, which helped a little.  I've listed all our eBay auction sales below.  Some of the things I was glad to get rid of, but most of them I would have rather kept, and I'm sick having lost some things I sure wish I had now.  
       The sad thing is that soon after that we went through a very successful bankruptcy and all our debts were wiped out.  We could have kept all these things.  We haven't had a credit card since.
 
 April 1999:

One-of-a-Kind Pregnant Bottle     $150
Alfred Hitchcock’s Self-Portrait     $515.01
First Issue of “Mother Earth News”     $9.50
Walt Kelly Letter     $72
JBS Tapes by Robert Welch     $5
Sex Education from Cuba     $20.50
Gorham Silver Soldered Teapot     $31
Princess Diana’s Maternity Book     $27.79
Gold Leif Unicorn     $41.85

May 1999

Antique 7up Bottle     $3.75
Greek Art Book     $5
Quit Your Meanness by Jones & Small
Berkeley Bible     $17.50
The Green Book by Gaddafi     $2.76
Ivory Necklace from India     $7.50
Carved Ivory Bottle from Okinawa     $27.76
Carved Wooden Plate     $1.25
Wooden Box     $15.50
Batman Watch     $23.25
Silver Earrings from Norway     $26
Art Puzzle Book     $2
Pakistani Hat     $6.03
Russian Children’s Book     $5
Letter from Dr. Seuss     $100
Thank You Card from Eisenhower     $21
Jay North as Dennis the Menace Postcard     $5
Directory/Scheduler/Calculator     $5
2 Princess House Stemmed Glasses     $10.50
4 Princess House Brandy Snifters     $20
Cobra Skin     $20
Izzy     $1
Burger King’s “Land Before Time”     $9.99
Postal god     $3
Binney’s Christian Handbook     $8.30
Memoirs of the John Wesley Family     $21.50
Hunting, Camping & Fishing by L.L. Bean     $2.25
Jes’ Fine Says Bug by Walt Kelly, autographed     $124.27
The Real Book of Electronics     $10.49
Maxfield Parish Book     $14.01
20 Centuries of Jewish Life     $4.25
Songs from 1890 to 1920     $5.50
Children’s Book from Cuba     $5.50
NIV Greek-English New Testament     $12
Greek-English Lexicon of the N.T.     $12.50
Autograph of John Aston     $7.50
A Defective Santa Claus by Riley     $27.75
Roman Catholicism, by Boettner     $12.50
Buds in the Storm, from Iran     $11.15
A Jolly Christmas at the Patterprints     $4.80
Trojan War Book from Albania     $5.51
Ertl Farmall Cub Tractor     $33
1878 Hymnal of the Methodist-Episcopal Church     $9.99
The History of American Funeral Directing     $41
Russian Book on Mars, from Cuba     $6.50
Mister Rogers’ Song Book     $3
The Amazing Story of Measurement     $7.50
My Picture Album of Turkey     $4.25
Young People of Socialist Mongolia     $2.25
Bell System AT&T Telephone Ad     $1
1930 Reo Flying Clouds Ad     $1
Omni Voice Master Talking Watch     $10.50
15 Shrunken Heads     $26.60
Russian Fable and Russian Magazine     $9
Life of Christ Visualized     $5

June 1999

Vanity of the American Power     $5.50
The Tarantula, by William J. Baerg     $9.99
Children’s Encyclopedia from Albania     $4.26
Statue of St. Jude     $8.50
Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzsche     $4.25
12” Pickett Slide Rule with Case     $15.50
Giant Cockroach Breeder Button     $7.50
Cicero – Orations – Latin Classics     $3.50
Plans for Building a Yurt     $5
Seven 8x10 Glossy Photos from Mongolia     $3
2 Sasquatch Books by John Green     $21
Peace Symbol on Chain     $5.51
Pickett 6” Slide Rule with Case     $7.50
V-22 Osprey Helicopter Patch     $5.01
Rose Design Serving Platter     $4.63
Humo Cigar Box     $2.25
Northwest Sunbathing Assoc. Matchbook     $1.75
American Sunbathing Assoc. Patch     $5.50
“Ban the Bra” Button     $10

July 1999

Urticating Hairs of Tarantulas     $5.50
Ferndale Fire Brigade Belt Buckle     $10.50
New English Bible with Apocrypha     $10.50
High Crimes and Misdemeanors     $6.80
Teach Your Own     $4.81
Guns, Crime and Freedom     $4
Literary Works of Abraham Lincoln     $9.59
Nana     $5
Little Alfie     $3.40
Portrait of St. Pius X with Apostolic Blessing     $20
The Portable Curmudgeon     $10.99
Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation, by Reagan     $5.50
Confessions of Saint Augustine     $10.50

August 1999

Socrates Meets Jesus     $20.50
The Real Book of Electronics     $2
Right from the Beginning, by Pat Buchanan     $6
The Eddas     $75.56
The Blue Book     $1
Toward the Sunrise     $1.50
Who’s Who in Church History     $1
Just Bats     $3.25
The Real Book about Submarines     $1.50
The Pocket Book of Ogden Nash     $3.78
The Catholic Book of Bible Promises     $5.33
Sex Magnetism – 1928     $5
The Book of Massage     $10.50
Sex Magnetism – 1924     $5
Jesus the Messiah     $9.99
Jehovah of the Watchtower     $5.50
Days Go By – Amish reader     32.50
Apologia, by John Newman     $10.48
Thought Transference, by Shaftesbury     $8
Grow Your Own     $10.50
Instantaneous Personal Magnetism     $5
Instantaneous Personal Magnetism     $5
The Training of Children, by William Booth     $2
Universal Magnetism, by Shaftesbury     $8

September 1999

Physical Religion, by Shaftesbury     $5
Book of Ralston Life, by Shaftesbury     $5
Complete Life Building, by Shaftesbury     $5
Echinacea: Nature’s Immune Enhancer     $1
Advanced Magnetism, by Shaftesbury     $5
Conservative Votes, Liberal Victories     $2

 

 

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