I had been wanting to purchase a particular item for over a year. I had searched many Internet sites in my quest. Then I saw it listed on Ebay with the auction ending the same day.
This was a big purchase for us, so I had done plenty of research to determine a fair market value of around $3,000. Of course, I am a bargain shopper so I wanted to get it for less than fair market value. I also know people tend to bid in even dollar increments. (I was visualizing the contestants on the Price is Right when they bid $1.00 over the previous highest bidder to win the item.
So I entered my maximum bid of $2,751.58. I felt smug. It was set as the maximum so I didn't have to worry about getting caught up in the moment and bidding higher.
It just so happened I was on the computer at close of auction so watched the last few minutes of the auction. The banner of "congratulations you are the highest bidder" was at the top of the page as the bids were:
.$2,600..... $2,650...$2,725..$2,750...$,2800 what?
how could I still be the highest bidder. That was over the bid I submitted!
The auction ended and I get an email saying congratulations you just won item # with a winning bid of $2,800. How can that be?
I immediately went back to the page where I had entered my maximum bid. OMG, my heart starts pounding and I start sweating (I know, some women glow - I just sweat). The actual maximum bid I had entered was $20,751.58!! I am so thankful it did not go any higher!
One of the residuals from my stroke is my brain does not correctly encode what my eyes see -especially when I am tired. This results in pinpoint blind spots - usually on the left side. I have read real estate prices to Jim excitedly, "Look at the amazing deal; a wonderful house overlooking the ocean for only $500,000!" He would look and patiently point out that I had missed a digit and the house was listed at $2,500,000.
When told Jim what had happened happened on Ebay, he responded in his dry English humor,
"Hey, if you are going to miss seeing a digit in a price, could you make it on the right side?"
Posts
Chaos and Calm
15 years ago
Thankfully it ended well. And not too jacked up. My mom has that "interpretation" problem. Doesn't process anything on the right side unless it is moving. And even then, I have my doubts. Thankfully she is in a safe place (a fully skilled facility-thanks to Medi-Cal), but she complains that she wants out. Fully moblile, she still doesn't understand that she can't process, and that's why I leave her there.
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