I have on more than one occasion had something of a moan regarding the Internet. There are several links to posts on that subject at the end of this one. I have a love – hate relationship with the World Wide Web, mainly hate I think. I recognise the practical nature of the phenomenon but equally, it could be improved if less people used it to advertise their stupidity.
One area of peculiarity and at times a downright cheek, is eBay. I frequently find myself amazed at what people do and sometimes even get away with, on that sales site. There appears to my untrained eye both stupidity and dishonesty, perhaps in near equal measure. An example of the dishonesty prevalent on eBay I have previously documented. A link to that post ‘Reflections on buying a fake pen’ can be found below:
Today I choose to address not the dishonesty but the stupidity of the hopefully untypical eBay user. I buy and sell on eBay, not so much for profit but making one is certainly desirable. As a collector of an assortment of interesting items, of books and pens mostly, any money made is generally recycled back into my collections. I sell to buy again and although my collections are not fully self financing, the investments are not generally onerous.
In recent times I have listed some of my more desirable pens, Mont Blanc writing instruments of high quality and craftsmanship. I had these pens listed at a very fair price of £200 each and with each one, I left open the ‘best offer’ option. On two of these pens and each one listed being at the price above remember, I received two offers. Was I offered £175, a £150 or £100? Oh no, I was offered the insulting figure of £20 for each pen.
I am sure my dear reader, you can imagine my surprise on the receipt of these offers. Usually when an offer is made, there is some back and forth, a degree of negotiation. In this case however, I did not waste my time with any such back and forth communication. I declined both offers outright but in declining one, I sent a single message. That message was the well known three letter acronym for laugh-out-loud (LOL). There was no further communication, as I do not engage with fools.
To me it seems rather peculiar and very out of place, to make a offer that is so ridiculously low. Indeed I will go further. If someone genuinely believes that £20 is a fair opening offer for a Mont Blanc writing instrument and one that is itself listed at £200, then that person is an ignoramus. They are clearly too damn stupid to be permitted access to the Internet.
Daniel Bran Griffith - The Chattering Magpie 
2 thoughts on “A web of idiocy”