Can handling old copper pennies damage your memory?

[badpenny]

I am very happy with e-bay; it has allowed me to greatly increase my understanding of the English language. When I first started collecting slots, I'd hunt through the local free ads then drive a few miles to see the potential bargain, before deciding for myself that it was actually a heap of "ooh nasty!" Thus allowing me to make a realistic offer.
However I now find myself playing a totally different game. I'm jostling along in a time race with an unknown number of competitors trying to glean as much as I can about the treasure that's tempting to loosen my purse strings. All based on what the owner is prepared to reveal by carefully chosen words and enhanced by a photo which often stops just short of confirming whether there is a jackpot bank or perhaps there is an escalator. I'm then left to ask the seller detailed questions to ensure that the Mills cabinet houses a Mills mech. instead of a Sega. Yes I know I could visit and view, but unlike before e-bay, I can't then purchase, only return to the race. Then if I win I have to repeat the journey to collect. I recently asked a vendor if the superb (looking) machine he was auctioning was totally original or had any reproduction bits in it, I was treated to a curt response shouting at me in capital letters THAT HE'D NOT HAVE NOWT TO DO WITH COPIES! Well, how super, actually neither would I, which is why I asked the question before committing gallons of pounds to the exercise.

What really worries me though is that the World Health Organisation hasn't yet picked up on the worrying increase in screaming amnesia that appears to have invaded these shores. I have identified three stalwart slot collectors of many years standing who appear to have contracted this malady. They openly write in their auctions "I haven't plugged it in to see if it works, but it looks complete!" the other one I enjoy is "I don't know very much about these machines, so can't say if it's all there!"
EH? The last time I was round your house you had two rooms heaving with them! Do you walk in there and think to yourselves "What the ding dang doodley is all this, and where did they come from?" You must be driving your wives right round the hat rack, it's bad enough that they have to suffer mountains of rusty chrome littering up the spare room without you regularly forgetting what it is and not even knowing if it's complete or original enough to keep!
More worrying is that this illness seems to progress to a further stage where they start forgetting who their closest friends and fellow collectors are. I've seen four auctions where the best buddy or business associate of the vendor has suddenly lost the plot completely and started bidding! Astonishing! Don't they talk to each other? Do they really see each other often and forget to mention over a pint "Oh, by the way, you know that dodgy German electro-mech I found five years ago, the one that made the lights dim when we plugged it in? Well if you're interested you can have it for £40". There are two collectors about half way up the M1 who really need the help of a medical professional. They spend a lot of their spare time together and can often be seen sharing the same stall at collectors' fairs, but appear to have lost the skill of face to face communication. One of them often asks his mate questions about his auctions (which then get placed on the auction page); last year he asked if a tatty looking Jubilee Riveria could be bought outright for £500 cash. His long time buddy in the true spirit of E-Bay declined the offer, saying that although he'd had numerous, similar requests he was prepared to let the auction run. Are they both mad???? If he wanted it that badly why didn't he just mention it the previous night when they were sharing a curry in his back room? And if he really wants to pay that much, I can let him have as many as he wants for that price! Anyway must go, there are numerous treasures I'm waiting to bid on that will get jerked off the auction at the last minute, because apparently they are for sale elsewhere! I don't think! Too bloody mean to pay a few pence for a reserve more likely! Happy days!

[pennymachines]

I plead guilty to using the "don't know much about these" line recently when selling a Jukebox and table top Space Invaders on eBay. But I wasn't fibbing as I proved by selling the Space Invaders for half what I paid for it. "Don't mess with what you don't understand" is the motto.

I've seen four auctions where the best buddy or business associate of the vendor has suddenly lost the plot completely and started bidding! Astonishing! Don't they talk to each other?

Yes this "Magic" process is common on eBay at the moment. And when these items "Magically Disappear" before the deadline it's no surprise either.

I had a little eBay forum discussion on this topic recently. It seems all too many sellers think that pulling their auctions early is a fair game.
See Premature Withdrawals Dissatisfy

[badpenny]

I refuse point blank to bid on those threatening to withdraw (wish their fathers had!) As for the "I don't know much about these machines" brigade. Of course you should stick to what you know, and that's exactly what I was referring to. The instances I was thinking of (without wishing to identify anyone) were individuals claiming they know nothing about a particular machine when I have seen them stacked shoulder high around their house. Merely claiming ignorance in order to off load a duff slot missing something critical, a lie is a lie. I recently auctioned a juke box, saying I know nothing about them (true!) I accurately described what I thought was missing, immediately got a mountain of mails from the usual crowd, all asking questions like "is the left hand do-hickory aligned to the back pedalling mud-guard with a plexi-flex or does it show signs of the later flange slide that was an integral blah blah blah?" None of which I knew. One guy came round my house, and helpfully identified that most of its internals were shot or missing. I advised everyone and those that had bid, it didn't sell. I re-listed it as a cabinet only and all the internal decorators came out the woodwork and it went to a bloke who turned it into an aquarium, and paid twice what I expected. So you never know do you? In short I enjoy a bargain when buying and a bit of a gamble when selling, that's how it used to be, but there's less around now.

[Guest]

I see I'm not the only one getting *** off with ebay:
'Integrity of eBay markeplace' at risk

EBay Charged With Shilling

[bandit_doctor]

Does anyone have a problem with the self crowned king of slot repairs
Come on dont hold back ...
Then again Fair Cop and Bandit_doctor , Chopper_slot_king may be one of the same ...
Fair cop can wish ..