Vintage Shopping and Bargain Hunting: The Online Auction

Shopping "Vintage" from the comfort of home is getting easier -- I swear! Let's talk about the ins-and-outs of my personal favorite form of bargain hunting, the online auction.

Perhaps one of the least understood ways of shopping is the online auction.

When someone says the word auction to me, I can not help but thinking of a courtroom like vibe with paddles and numbers. Or perhaps fancy people winking, pinching their noses (or some other form of communication I don't quite understand). I think of someone speaking/singing a fast and incoherent song full of numbers that I personally, have never hand in my bank account. Quite Frankly, the whole thing seems intimidating to me.

Thankfully, the online auction bears little resemblance to live, in-person auctions. In COVID times, they provide an exciting, safe alternative to shopping in malls and antique stores, they smell better, and you do it from the comfort of your home! Did I mention that the DEALS you get are AWESOME?

But, how do they work?

Easy Peasy. Think "eBay when it first started". eBay used to have an auction only format and then "Buy it Now" happened. By adding that button, it was transformed into a standard marketplace. eBay is great for instant gratification but the downside is that you can no longer get items at next-to-nothing.

Getting Started

Participating in an online auction will require you to sign into a buyers' account. You will need to enter your email & create a password (if you plan on bidding). If you would like to bid, they require you to add a payment method.

When you log in, scroll down the page, you will see all of the Auctions that are in your area (you set the radius - since most of the time you will be picking your items up). They will be listed according to closing time. On any given night there could be 2-10 auctions ending. An average Auction runs for 3-5 days but most of the activity happens in the last 30 minutes of the sale. Most sales average 150 -250 items. Many of them start at zero dollars and you may bid in one dollar increments. These are the general rules.

Warning, bidding is addictive! Browsing is so much fun and I have seen such a broad spectrum of things for sale I couldn't do it justice here. High-end furniture, clothing, yard equipment, jewelry, sports equipment, cars, tools, collectibles, etc...

Bidding Example: If you see something you like, you bid the top price you are willing to pay (the seller does not see this amount). Lets say you see a Snow blower and it is currently at $10. You may bid any amount over $11.00. You decide that you are willing to pay up to $25.00 for said snow blower. This is the amount you bid. Now, if no one bids against you, you may end up paying only $11! You remain the high bidder until someone decides to bid $26 dollars. If they outbid you, you will be notified and are free to enter a higher bid. It goes on and on until the clock runs out. When the auction ends, your credit card is automatically charged. You will then pick up your item at the time and date noted in the auction.

In short, its not only fun, you can save THOUSANDS of dollars, buy things you never thought you could afford and hey, look at you -- you are recycling! Giving an item a new life, keeping it local, using less of our natural resources, or simply reselling and making a profit -- even better.

Best Item I ever got

In addition to much of the great merchandise at Pip's, I won for myself (pictured above):

***Tan Leather Couch Set (3 pieces plus coffee table) $32 ***Sideboard table $1 ***Giant 4' x 4' stained glass pub window for $6.

You get the picture. GREAT DEALS. Now, if your still reading this, I will point you in the the direction of my latest auction. We have a selection not unlike what we carry at Pip's, only less expensive! Our current sale features Clothing, Pottery, Home Décor, Sewing and knitting supplies and quite a few Chairs! Please click below and browse to your hearts content.

CURIOUS AUCTIONS MARCH 25th CLOSING TIME

To view other Auctions ending tonight, click below:

www.auctionninja.com

Thank you for supporting local small businesses! Happy Bidding.

Sheri

Pip's Curiosity Shoppe

Orgonite: Personal Protection from the Boogeymen that surround you.

In one of our upcoming Advanced resin classes, we will be making one of the coolest and most useful things you can make out of resin: A personal Orgone Energy device. If you are a fan of Tesla (the scientist and inventor - not the car or the awesome 1980's hair metal band) you may be familiar with the quote “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” -- It's my favorite quote and it sums up so much of his mind blowing body of work.

I am now going to attempt to explain how all of this stuff works... (or how I understand it and mind you, I am no scientist)

If life was a radio station, your DNA code would be what we tune into to find the essence of "you". Theoretically, the place you would go to tune into this "station" would be the same exact place you tune in to listen to music or get the local weather report. We call this place "the Ether". The energy that powers all of this stuff in the Ether is also referred to as "Chi" or "Prahna".

It starts to make a little more sense then when you hear people saying that everything from MRNA vaccines | 5G technology | Air Pollution | Sound & Light Pollution and just plain ole negativity have an effect on their bodies or their minds. Much of this stuff - or at least the effects from it - are what is mucking up the Ether.

Science has taught us a few things about the energy that surrounds us. We know it can be manipulated....however ---possibly because it is invisible--- many of the ancient ways to move energy around or affect it positively have been reduced to "Quackery" or simply labeled "Alternative" - which we all know is the kiss of death. So where do you go when you finally decide that you need answers? When you realize that you have to protect the Ether for yourself if no one else is going to do it? We can buy products that protect the air, we can use EMF fabric to create areas that block some of the signals that bombard our space and when we want to change the energy or we just need a little extra positivity, we can use an orgonite or orgone energy device.

A quick background on Orgone Energy:

Orgone energy was discovered in 1922 by Dr. Wilhelm Reich, an MD from University of Vienna.During his study for his doctorate, Reich became a pupil of Sigmund Freud and later, a clinical assistant at his Psychoanalytical Clinic. In the 1930’s, Reich was performing experiments with airborne microorganisms. During these experiments, he discovered a special type of radiation particle. He termed this particle “Orgone.” Reich authored books about Biopathy, Cosmology, Bioelectricity, Orgone and Ether.

We will be making our own pyramids at Pips all summer so keep your eyes open for the class schedules! The first class is planned for June 24th at 7:00 and we still have spots left. Our SALE PRICE is $70 per person or 2 for $100 per class! Price includes all materials!!

For each person, the ingredients will be slightly different but will consist of a variety of minerals, semi precious stones, quartz crystals and metals. All classes are held outdoors on Thursday evenings and will be rescheduled in the event of bad weather. Please email me to book a spot in this class. pip@pipscuriosityshoppe.com

You can also order a custom Orgone Energy pyramid made by us. Email pip@pipscuriosityshoppe.com and after a brief chat, we will make one tailored to your needs/location.

Looking forward to creating together!

Sheri from Pips

Sources:

Orgone Energy https://herbsetc.org/blog/what-is-orgone-how-does-it-affect-your-body/

Pip's Holiday Surprise: LIVE SHOPPING!

With limited budgets and COVID restrictions in place, we have decided to try our hand at "LIVE SHOPPING"! While we are still ironing out the details, this is what we can offer: Starting on Friday, November 27, we will be using Facebook Live to showcase gift ideas. All of the products featured are for sale and if you want them, you send a message to us and BOOM, it's yours! Free local delivery within 24 hours. Please like our facebook page so that you are notified of daily broadcast times!