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Get Four
|  | OCTOBER 1, 2004
By Sarah Lacy An Obsessed Bride's eBay Adventure Our reporter's costly quest for a wedding-cake topper demonstrates why the auction site's business model is such a winner O.K., I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but last February, like any bride-to-be, I was reading my fair share of wedding magazines. Out of a sea of ideas only an unemployed woman would contemplate -- like making your own monogrammed soap for favors -- only one idea resonated with me: Getting a vintage wedding-cake topper. My now-husband is Mr. Retro. Our house is filled with crates of records, old kitschy signs, and ashtrays from Vegas hotels popular with the Rat Pack. He got the bug from his parents, longtime antiquers who now do estate sales in Arizona. Every time they visit, they come with boxes of Russell Wright dishes, old barware, or the occasional shag rug. It seemed only fitting to have the happy couple atop our cake be of another era. One of the wedding magazines suggested auction Web site eBay (EBAY ) as prime trolling ground. "Save days picking through antique stores!" the article proclaimed (see BW Online, 10/01/04, "eBay Wins a Convert"). HAD-TO-HAVE ITEM. I doubt the writer of said article had actually ever taken her own advice. If she had, she would have encountered "manhattanmindy" -- a pseudonym for the bidder who was my nemesis for several intense, auction-filled days. True, eBay has a pretty good selection -- certainly better than I saw in my initial forays to antique stores. But all the toppers I liked on eBay, manhattanmindy was bidding on -- I think she was bidding on every topper on eBay. I looked at her history: Dozens and dozens of auction wins. She took pristine toppers, ones with grooms that were missing noses -- anything. As long as it was old and designed to adorn a wedding cake, she wanted it -- and would stop at nothing to get it. She would pay any price -- some of the ones she bought had gone for hundreds of dollars. To make matters worse, I found one I had to have. Both bride and groom had dark hair (harder to find than you can imagine), their faces were intact, and the bride was resting her head tenderly on the groom's shoulder. I called my fiancé, but he was working on a special project and couldn't be bothered. I called his mother. She was just as smitten with the piece as I was. Yes, manhattanmindy was bidding, but no one was seriously bidding against her, so the price was low -- about $15 then. I took the plunge, telling myself I would pay $40 -- and not a penny more. BROKEN COMMANDMENTS. As the tortuous days passed, my threshold got raised time and time again. It became about more than the topper -- it was war with manhattanmindy. "If I can't have it, then I'll make her pay a fortune," I vowed. My now-mother-in-law was just as gung-ho as I was. We spent hours talking about it, and we'd call each other over every price movement. When my now-husband -- who has been an eBay dealer since 1996 -- finally realized what was going on, he was appalled. I'd broken every eBay commandment he held dear. No. 1: Don't buy, only sell. No. 2: Set a limit, and stick to it. No. 3: Don't let it get personal. No. 4: If you really want something, don't bid until five minutes before the auction ends, because if you run to your laptop every five minutes to outbid the leader, it will only jack up the price (see BW Online, 10/01/04, "Don't Be a Bitter Bidder"). Oh, well. PAYING THE PRICE. The auction was ending at noon on Sunday. He insisted that we run errands so I wouldn't do any more damage. I was trying to forget about it when my cell rang. It was his parents. "We're five minutes until the end. How bad do you want it?" they asked. Geoff shook his head no. I said pitifully, "It's up to you...but I really like it." They pulled the trigger. Manahttanmindy was outbid. And it only cost -- well, they wouldn't actually tell us, but I think it was north of $150. Some would say that's an outrageous price to pay for a cake topper -- and they're probably right. I could have found out the final price easily enough by looking on eBay, but I didn't really want to know. SUCKED IN. This might seem like just another tale of a rabid bride-to-be, but I was the most laissez faire of engaged women. I told the florist to do whatever she thought was pretty. I let my caterer use her best judgment. I encouraged the musicians to play what they liked at the ceremony. But I had to have that cake topper. And that's the genius of eBay's business model: It sucks you in and unleashes the competitive beast within. And you can win without smarts, talent, or skill. All you need is money -- and a willingness to spend more than someone else.  Lacy is a BusinessWeek Online reporter in Silicon Valley
BW MALL
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