Every blog I've been reading lately has been saying how vintage Bertoia chairs are on everyone's holiday wish list. I mean, they are like, everywhere. These mid-century modern masterpieces are this year's Cabbage Patch Kid. Or Pong. Or something like that.
Oh - and what a coincidence! We have a set of six Bertoia chairs for sale on Craigslist.
These are the same damn chairs that we tried to sell on Ebay. TWICE. In the first auction, we offered three choices for shipping: Greyhound PackageXpress, pick-up or local delivery. We live in the Philadelphia area.
For those of you who don't live in North America, Greyhounds are buses. The winner of the first auction lived in Puerto Rico. I'm not so good at geography, so I checked the map to see if there was a bridge between Florida and Puerto Rico. I couldn't find one.
The winner was actually really nice, and I felt bad about the whole thing. I know...why did I feel like the bad guy? Typical Irish-Catholic. I tried to make it work for him. Chris and I brought a chair to the local UPS Store and we determined that it would cost $600 to ship the chairs. (The chairs are a little rusty, and we couldn't take them apart without stripping the screws that connect the seat and legs). We both agreed to cancel the transaction without any dings against either of our accounts.
I re-listed the chairs, and notified one of the previous bidders about the new auction. That guy (girl?) was in Delaware, which was perfect. He ended up winning the second auction. Yay! And then COMPLETELY IGNORED all of my correspondence. Mother*%@&)@#$!
I had to file a non-paying bidder complaint. Which means nothing, since I can't even leave him a negative feedback ($%*#@ Ebay!).
My hope is that he's not really that much of a douchebag, and that he is actually dead. Don't get me wrong - I don't wish him dead. It's just the only way that I can mentally process why someone would win an auction and then not pay. I really hope he's just stuck in a well somewhere.
Anyway, if you live in the Philadelphia area, and you want to buy the hottest holiday gift this season, take a nice long look at our Bertoia chairs. Way better than Tickle Me Elmo.
Read the whole list of fresh gifts.
$%*#@ Ebay........WORD!
Posted by: Maria (Magia Mia) | December 08, 2011 at 01:03 AM
OMG- you crack me up! Funny Funny Funny!
Posted by: Charlene Austin | December 08, 2011 at 02:33 AM
Sometimes even dying doesn't appease people. My brother bid for and won a Harley on ebay. Then he was killed in a car accident. The day of the funeral the man who was auctioning the Harley emailed my brother and wanted to know why he had not paid yet. My sister in law informed him that he had died in an accident and the guy wanted her to fax him a copy of his death certificate or else he was going to give him negative feedback. SIL told him to go ahead! While I understand some people might lie about it to get out of an auction, I thought he was a little callous. (But your blog still cracked me up!!)
Posted by: Sharon McDonald | December 10, 2011 at 04:06 PM
They great until you sit on them. Something I usually like to do in chiars. It's like sitting on a BBQ. Without the pads, it's no fun...
Posted by: Meghan | December 19, 2011 at 07:27 PM
I have 2 Bird Chairs...about 25 years old, no rust; all rubber mounts are perfect. The covers on both are near flawless. I see what newer versions are worth but have no idea what these are worth. I don't need near that much money and would sell them extremely cheaply to motivate a potential buyer to make some money on them. Can any one point me to a potential buyer?
Posted by: Ed Woodyear | April 17, 2012 at 05:34 AM