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Crated by eBayMay 08, 2010 I don't consider shopping a sport, of either the spectator or the participatory variety, but I have to admit that shopping on eBay is fun. Last night I scored a Travvy-sized soft dog crate at an excellent price. This is the third crate I've bought on eBay in the last 10 days. Before you suggest consulting eBayers Anonymous, I assure you that it all makes perfect sense. The wire crate I've been using for Travvy is a long-term loaner, and the owner has been making noises about maybe wanting it back. So one of my purchases is a 42-inch wire crate of my (and Travvy's) own. It hasn't arrived yet. It's a little larger than the loaner, but it should fit into Malvina Forester's cargo hold. I hope. I also wanted a "soft" crate for traveling. Soft crates have a steel frame, but sides, floor, and ceiling are made of a combination of mesh and a washable, probably totally artificial fabric, and the doors -- they may have as many as three, one on either end and one on the side, plus an opening in the top for passing treats and toys through -- zip open and closed. They're lighter and more manageable than the wire variety, and they usually come with a carrying case. They aren't, however, recommended for dogs that aren't used to crates or for avid chewers. Travvy is crate-trained and (fingers crossed here) past the avid chewing stage. He's been riding around in Malvina Forester for nearly two months now, and the upholstery is still intact. So I checked out the offerings on eBay, did some online research, then bid on and "won" a 36-inch soft crate at a good price. You don't just buy things on eBay; you win them. When you enter a top bid, eBay says, "Congratulations! You're the high bidder!" When you're outbid by someone else, eBay looks momentarily sad then bucks up and says, "Don't let it get away! Make a higher bid!" If you're in the lead when time runs out, eBay congratulates you. If you emerge on top of a last-minute bidding war, it commends you for triumphing in the nick of time. If you lose out, it commiserates then encourages you to try again. Retail outlets, either virtual or real-world, rarely do this. This makes eBay considerably more fun than the local hardware store. So the crate arrived, in rich lilac purple, and was exactly as advertised. Travvy went into it easily, lay down -- and, I thought, looked just a little cramped. More looking turned up a slightly larger crate -- 39 x 26 x 26 instead of 36 x 24 x 24 -- being sold never-used by an individual who'd bought it and wound up using something else. I put in a bid, monitored it regularly, raised my maximum bid when someone else showed interest, and when the auction ended last night, I got the crate for an exceptionally good price. This morning I listed the smaller crate in the M.V. Times's Bargain Box -- free classifieds for stuff that costs less than $100. My earlier eBay purchases were all fountain pens. In addition to the Sailor Procolor and the Pilot/Namiki I bought earlier this year, I recently acquired another Sailor Procolor and a Sailor Somiko, all from "engeika," who lives in Japan and deals in excellent pens. For a while there, whenever I logged in, eBay tried to entice me with pens. Now it's using dog crates to catch my attention. Their seduction algorithms don't seem to accommodate someone who's demonstrated an avid interest in both dog crates and fountain pens. Just as well. My next purchase might be an iPod. I've familiarized myself with the various makes, models, and sizes, but I'm not in a big hurry. That's how I know I'm not eBayers Anonymous material. I can still say "no." Or at least "not yet."
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