What was the first thing you ever bought on eBay?

[Justin]

What was the first thing you ever bought on eBay? For me it was an original brochure for the 1981 DeLorean DMC-12. I won the auction in the fall of 1996 and had to create an eBay account just to bid on the item. It was for sale from an older gentleman who lived in Connecticut. This was before PayPal was widely adopted, so payment instructions were to call the gentleman on the phone first, and then send a check or money order in the mail. I won the auction for $30. It seemed like such a big deal at the time. "What if it's a scam?". Sure enough the brochure arrived about a week later in the mail in minty fresh condition and I was thrilled. Then I realized I could buy hard to find Atari games there too. 23 years later here we are.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Virtual Boy with three games.  I was working then.  I spent way too much for the thing though.  At least the machine had its original box, the games had just the fronts of their boxes which was sort of misled by the pictures.  Wario, Galactic Pinball, Tennis were there.  Fun games but hard on the eyes.

[StormSurge]

Wow, great question!

I've been a member since October 5, 1998.

I'm pretty sure it was some vintage Star Wars figures. I remember losing a bid at the last second & being devastated. I'm pretty sure I sent a message to the seller asking if he had more or knew someone who did, etc.

The site continues to be where any of my limited disposable income goes to die. 💸

[Justin]

4 minutes ago, StormSurge said:

The site continues to be where any of my limited disposable income goes to die. 💸

lmao I can relate!

[TrekMD]

That's a hard question to answer!  I think it was something Atari related.  I decided to see what I could find by typing the work Atari and lo and behold, all this stuff showed up! 

[RickR]

My best guess would be used PC parts.  A video card perhaps.  I remember selling some of my Atari stuff I didn't need anymore.  A 1030 modem, a 1025 printer.  It was amazing at the time that people would want that old crap LOL. 

 

[Kid A]

Digging up an old thread here, but seeing this brought back some memories. 

The 1st thing I bought on eBay were tickets to go see Radiohead in Santa Barbara on 6/30/2001

Those who are familiar with their music, here's the setlist.

Setlist
The National Anthem
Airbag
Morning Bell
Karma Police
Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box
Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was (1 False start)
Talk Show Host
Climbing Up the Walls
No Surprises
Dollars and Cents
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
I Might Be Wrong
Pyramid Song
Paranoid Android
Idioteque
Everything in Its Right Place

Encore:
True Love Waits (Thom acoustic)
Lucky
Pearly*
You and Whose Army?
How to Disappear Completely

Encore 2:
Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young & Crazy Horse cover)
Fake Plastic Trees
 

It was the 1st time I saw Radiohead and it was a life changing experience. I went in just as a super casual fan. Only went because I love going to shows and I went with my brother.

They pretty much became my favorite band pretty much after witnessing this show. It's a show I'll never forget. 

[CrossBow]

This is an easy one for me because it was the reason I joined ebay in the first place. It is the Genesis model 1 va2 console that is still my daily driver Genesis to this day. I joined the bay and bought it more than 20 years ago.

 

[Sabertooth]

If I remember correctly, it was several complete sets of Garbage Pail Kids cards. It was early days ('98) and the seller only accepted money orders or personal check with a seven day wait to clear prior to shipping. How far we have come!

Edited December 20, 2021 by Sabertooth

[- Ω -]

Honestly, I don't remember.  I've bought hundreds of things off Ebay over the years, but now I've pretty much switched 99% of my online purchasing to Amazon.

[Gianna]

If I’m remembering correctly, it was a stereo replacement for my car which lit up different colors. I needed one that had Bluetooth. 

[DegasElite]

If I remember correctly, it was software for my Power Mac G4 at the time. I got Adobe Premiere, but it was only an older upgrade version. It didn't help anyway.