We have enjoyed a real Indian summer over the last few weeks and long may it continue. However there is a distinct chill in the air in the early mornings and evenings and I tried to find my gorgeous fingerless mittens the other day. These were a purchase from online retailer ToastbyPost (expensive but they have good sales) and I have been wearing them for the last couple of years. Needless to say, now that I need them I can’t find them so I have resorted to eBay and have managed to track a pair down in navy merino wool from hash1002.  At the time of writing bidding was at £6.19 so way below the catalogue price but, judging by the price of other ToastbyPost items, I think they will go for much more by the end of the auction. 1001martine is selling an acrylic pair at a buy it now price of £1.99 and she has them in a variety of colourways so that may prove to be a more cost effective option. If you prefer a more conventional glove textilesandthings have a brand new brown leather pair for a buy it now price of £5.99 – and they’re lined too for extra warmth.

This is a good time to stock up on those other staples of the winter wardrobe – tights and socks. Ran1210 is selling four pairs of black opaque tights for a buy it now price of £4.95 plus postage and squeezemetights has some particularly good offers available including 8 pairs of Pretty Polly pop sock tights for £2.75 and £1.55 postage or 6 pairs of Marks & Spencer black mesh pop socks (an especial favourite of mine with black trousers) at a buy it now price of £1.99. 

I had lunch with a friend the other day who has had a bad eBay experience. He bought a PSP games console for his son, paid for it immediately by PayPal and then waited three whole weeks for it to arrive. When it did finally turn up it didn’t work. On taking this up with the buyer he was told not to worry, they would refund his money. He is still waiting to hear anything more several weeks later and has now asked PayPal to investigate the matter. As he paid through PayPal I think he will get his money back but it will be interesting to see how long it takes and how easy the procedure is – I will keep you posted. Thankfully I haven’t yet encountered this particular problem and his mistake may well have been purchasing from a buyer with less than 100 per cent feedback. I really can’t stress enough how important it is to examine a potential seller’s feedback rating before pressing the buy button! This is so easy to do, just click on the seller’s feedback, if they have any neutral or negative feedback you can read this by clicking on the number in the column and it immediately pops up.  Some buyers seem to give neutral feedback for no good reason but once you have read their comment, you can make your own judgement about the buyer.

If you are familiarising yourself with the eBay site, do check out eBay pulse (you can find this in the site map).  It shows you the 10 most watched items on the site (you can also check the most watched items in individual categories). Currently, one of the most watched items is being sold by piphel and it is a baby doll which has been viewed by more than 6,000 eBayers and 29 bids so far have bought the price to an unbelievable £1,100.  And colpopclo is selling a 32 ft motor boat with bids at £5,600 because his mortgage is in arrears and his wife says the boat must go.