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| Home Sweet Home |
Then, about two weeks ago, another crazy notion popped into my head: Somebody is going to give me a van.
In the grand scheme of my crazy notions, this one was no crazier than the others. I accepted it and kept on looking. Then a camper, a class C listed at 23', caught my eye on eBay. The starting bid was $100.00 and there was no reserve price. I could handle that. I decided what my top price would be (based on how much money I had managed to save by then) and started bidding in five dollar increments. I placed my first bid and immediately got notice that I had been outbid. Someone had set a higher maximum price. I placed a few more bids then stopped. It was still more than a day before the auction's end and I didn't want to set off a bidding war.
The auction was set to end in the afternoon on May 12. That morning I checked the auction. The price had gone up to over $200.00. I put in a bid and (gasp!) got notice that mine was currently the winning bid! I checked back an hour later and found that I had been outbid. Curses!
I was excited about the possibility of winning something that I could afford - even though it was the wrong thing! I had been looking for a van, a Class B camper. This was a significantly bigger Class C RV. Where would I park? Still, the chances of coming across a deal this good again . . . I couldn't rationally pass it up. I placed another bid and won again. A few minutes later another bid came in. Now I knew that my counterpart was also bidding in very small increments and that those amounts ended in zero. I waited.
Fifteen minutes before the auction ended I decided to set my maximum price at $300.00. No! $305.00. I sat and I waited, my eyes glued to the screen, watching the minutes tick by. At seven minutes before the deadline I placed my next bid and won. Again I waited, my heart pounding as though I were running a marathon. Nothing happened. My counterpart was waiting, too. At about three minutes before the auction ended I put in my maximum bid. $305.00. And I waited. The eBay clock counted down the seconds and I watched, my heart thundering, my eyes riveted to the numbers ticking by.
Suddenly I saw the number of bids change. Twenty-six bids, twenty-seven bids. The clock ticked down to 60 seconds and more bids came in: Twenty-eight bids, then twenty-nine. Bid thirty came in at 5 seconds before the deadline. Then the clock hit zero and a green bar appeared on my screen. "You are the winner!" it said. I sat stunned and bug-eyed and paralyzed for a moment. My ploy worked! I won! I had done it! What had I done? The price: $300.00. Not free, exactly, but, considering my purchase, it was pretty darn close.
After about a full minute of stunned gaping, I dashed off a note to the seller:
Hi Rick*, my name is Bathabile and it looks like I've just purchased your RV! I'm really excited. May I send the payment tomorrow? Also, I live in NYC and will need to arrange for a place to keep the RV - especially while I renovate it. How long can it stay with you?
"It looks like I've just purchased your RV". That was shock talking. I still wasn't entirely convinced. And what about the details? Would Rick expect me to take the van right away? I decided to put worry aside. I wouldn't have won the van if it wasn't meant to happen and if it was meant to happen, then the parking situation would also get solved.
I was ready to pay for my purchase but discovered that the Rick had not provided an electronic option. I had no idea how to pay for the van. The instructions said to contact the seller. I had done that so I waited. And waited. And waited.
By the next morning I started to fear that, perhaps, Rick couldn't believe the price either. Maybe he was suffering seller's remorse. I had felt a little doubtful about this purchase the day before but now I was fully committed. I started having fantasies about decorating it and all the places we would go. He was going to sell me the camper, dammit! So I called eBay.
It turns out that sales agreements on eBay are non-binding! Even though the auction was over and I was the winner, the seller was still free to back out of the deal (as was I). Who knew?! "But it's a contract," I wailed to the customer service representative on the phone. I was ready, willing and able to make good on the deal. "How would you feel," the representative asked, "if your camper only sold for $300.00?" I was stunned. Seriously? "That's easy, set a reserve price!" I replied. Thankfully, eBay has an option for sharing contact information with other members and so I sent a message to Rick with my phone number. And I waited. I felt my initial excitement begin to seep from my heart and I started preparing myself to start the van search all over again.
Later that evening I finally got the email I was waiting for. It was Rick congratulating me on my purchase! He was going to sell me the camper! I literally jumped up and down. We arranged to meet the next day (Tuesday) so that I could give him the money and he could give me the title. I still couldn't believe it! Neither could a dear friend of mine who insisted on driving out to see the camper for himself. Rick sounded a little amused but he agreed to meet my friend who ultimately confirmed that, yes, the camper did really exist, looked like the pictures, and yes it really did start.
Rick met me as we agreed. We ducked into a Starbucks where he wrote out a bill of sale and we both filled out the title document. I have ten days to register my new home. I'm looking for a place to park it. I would appreciate any suggestions for a location that is in New Jersey but close to New York City without being outrageously expensive.
I don't have pictures quite yet. Look for another breathless update all about meeting my camper for the first time. Would it be wrong to name her "Down by the River"?
*Rick isn't his real name. I don't (yet) have permission to reveal it.
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