My first eBay purchase

I have made my first ever eBay purchase!

Over the last several weeks I've become distraught at the amount of crystals that my 3G iPhone case is losing. Because seriously, a fuschia hot pink bedazzled iPhone case is only tacky if it's bling is missing. I've had it for over year, but I was still reluctant to go back to the boutique where I made my first purchase as it would be $40 hit to this week's Fun Money.

Fortunately, my favourite friend was visiting over the weekend and she introduced me to the wonders of eBay. With her help too, I found the perfect replacement case. Not only is it pink and bedazzled, but it's zebra print. My new case is bling and zazzy rolled all into one!

I could have waited 2 hours to win the bid at $0.25 USD for my new iPhone case, but I opted to buy it immediately as the excitement took hold of me. For $1.00 cost and $7.50 shipping fee (all paid on VISA via PayPal), my new case will arrive in a couple of days. The best part is that my ideal purchase for less than 25% the price of retail. Where has eBay been all my life?



Out with the old...



And in the with new!

*Rosie*

What's in your wallet?

While cleaning out my wallet to organize my receipts, I couldn’t help but realize the amount of gift certificates that I carry around with me: Lululemon, The Keg, Second Cup, Tim Hortons, Sears, Forever 21, and The Running Room. These are either wonderful gifts that I look forward to spending or store credits from purchases gone bad. But then I started thinking, what if I didn’t want to shop at any of these stores? Take for instance my $50 at Sears – I cannot remember the last time that I even entered a Sears store so for all intents and purposes, this card might be wasted.

And it wouldn’t be the only one.

A reported 75% of Americans gave cards valuing $145 as gifts last Christmas and with a reported redemption around 10% - 19%, buying a gift card for someone gives more to the retail store than it does to the recipient. Check out this 2007 New York Times article from Freakonomics authors Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt to read about Best Buy’s $16 milllion windfall.

I recalled reading about a Canadian company called CARDSWAP and decided to check it out. With Father’s Day approaching, I was hoping to swap my Sears card for a manly gift certificate like The Home Depot. My dad is difficult to buy presents for as he likes to spoil himself with elaborate additions for his at-home workshop. He is like Tim the Tool Man Taylor (but with fewer explosions) so a Home Depot card in his wallet would not go to waste.

It turns out that CARDSWAP is different than I expected, but I am going to try it anyways. Rather exchanging one gift certificate for another, the company writes you a cheque for up to 90% of the value of your card. All you have to do is register the card with them, pop it in the mail using a pre-paid shipping label, and wait by your mailbox for your money. While you do not get 100% of the funds, in a case like my Sears card I think it is worth it. I don’t have any intention to purchase something from the store and I’d rather have $41 to put in my Mad Money envelope.

On the flip side, if you are looking to buy a gift certificate, CARDSWAP will resell you someone else’s reject at a discount. They have taken the time to verify the value and guarantee it for 21-day. While there are no Home Depot gift certificates currently available, there are lots of good deals posted at the moment:

o       $50 at JackAstors for $39 (21% savings)

o       $100 at Cineplex for $75 (25% savings)

o       $100 at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts for $85 (15% savings)

o       $250 at H&M for $222 (11% savings)

o       $100 at The Brick for $89 (11% savings)

o       $106 at Danier Leather for $86 (19% savings)

I think this CARDSWAP is great idea if you are a regular at a particular retail store, saving up to make a bigger purchase, or planning a weekend away.

The only glitch at the moment is the postal strike by Canada Post so sending my Sears gift certificate in the mail seems a bit risky. I plan to wait until that is all settled and then, I’ll take my $41 to Home Depot (unless a Winners gift certificate happens to pop up on CARDSWAP first).

How many unused gift certificates do you have in your wallet? What do you think of the CARDSWAP concept? 

*Rosie*

Changing my mind like a girl changes clothes

After a few stressful weeks leading up to a grueling round of management meetings, I was thrilled when this Friday finally rolled around and I was able to treat myself to the day off. I also decided to treat myself to a light blue & white pin-stripe blazer as I’d like to recreate the look of Cameron Diaz for the upcoming spring & summer season. I thought the blazer is a smart but casual chic look to complement neutral shorts, skinny jeans and even white pants should I be so daring. (If anyone knows how I can get those legs, please advise immediately.)

Unfortunately, when I browsed through H&M, I could not find the blazer that I was looking for and left the store disappointed. This led me into a series of stores like Zara, Winners, Mango and Jacob where I browsed aimlessly in the hopes of finding a anything to cheer myself up. At Forever 21, I stumbled upon a cute beige crocodile side-strap mini-purse for only $11. I decided to treat myself to it.

But before I did so, I followed the rules of my great Auntie Shirley when it comes to purchasing accessories… always walk around the store for at least 5 minutes wearing said accessory. She shared this lesson with me 5 years ago when I almost bought a 60₤ embroidered floral wristlet clutch. Instead of encouraging me to make the purchase, she suggested I wear it around the boutique to make sure it was the ideal purse for me. After only 2 minutes of carrying it around Lady Green’s store, my wrist was bright red with deep impression marks and I knew that the purse was pretty and exceptionally painful. I walked away from it.

The purse at F21 was definitely not painful, but I knew deep down that it was an impulse purchase to make up for my MIA CameronD blazer. After 40 days of no shopping, I started to ask myself a series of questions as I walked around the store wearing the purse to justify the purchase.

Q: Where would I wear said new purse?

A: During my upcoming trips to Kelowna, BC and Las Vegas, Nevada of course!

Q: And during what activities would I wear said new purse that my existing goldie-beige Coach purse (à la tax refund 2007) and cream wristlet would not suffice?

A: In the desert of course! I determined that perhaps my Eye Candy and I would take a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon and in which case, I would certainly need a mini-purse that I could wear over my shoulders as my existing Coach purse and wristlet have to be carried over the inside of my wrist as there are no shoulder straps. Clearly my existing purse collection is not practical for rock climbing.

Having successfuly convinced myself of the genuine need for the mini-purse, I waited in line to make my purchase. And upon further reflection, I then realized that the Grand Canyon is a 7 hour drive from Las Vegas and we will likely not go on a spur of the moment hiking trip. And if we did, I would certainly need a backpack to carry bottles of water, food, and supplies… not a mini-purse that barely fits an iPhone, $5 bill, and lipgloss. While the mini-purse is pain-free, it was not worth the $11 hit to my wallet when my other purses would do.

With that realization, I put the mini-purse back on the rack and walked out of the store. Blazer-less and purse-less, but at least my wallet remained $11 heavier.

*Rosie*