I blocked a bidder several years ago. She was a collecter of old postcards and photographs, old paper dolls and such. She coud be a real pain in the butt to deal with so she was blocked by several old photo and postcard sellers. She could go from a sweet disposition to a fire breathing dragon in the blink of an eye. So i blocked her as well, but as soon as she found out, she begged and begged and begged me to unblock her because i had so many items that she wanted. She not only messaged me via email, but she had my phone number as well.
I took a chance and unblocked her, and she became one of my best all time repeat buyers. I could count on an average of about $250 per month of spending from her alone.
We actually became friends and chatted almost evey week on the phone. She was in Ireland and had a Skype account, so she would always call me.
She was a retired school teacher, as was my mom. She was a lonely older woman with very little family remaining, and none who were close in proximity to her. Her 'family' was her collections, and her bungalow apartment in Dublin was cluttered and packed with those collections. She accumulated more than 500 old dolls and many boxes of old photos and postcards - many of which she got from myself and several other photo sellers on eBay. I was her favorite seller though. In her eyes, i was the best thing ever on eBay.
She passed away a couple years ago, and there are times i miss the weekly chats we used to have, but here is the kicker:
She named me in her will. She had no children and no other family to leave anything to. She had great affection for her collections, and could not bear the thought of those items so dear to her simply being tossed into the trash. She wanted each of those items to find good new homes - others who might appreciate them as she did. She thought i would be the best one for that job, so she left them to me - all the paper items - not the 500 dolls.
The dolls went to one of her only friends in Dublin - a man who would help her get shopping done, doctor's appointments, etc. He was also the guy who contacted me soon after she passed. I already knew of course, because we were 'friends' on Facebook as well. He was also the guy who packed the box to be sent to me. I know he did not send everything, because the box required would have been the size of a large appliance box. The box sent was not that size, but did contain some very nice stuff. Many of those items have found new homes already, but there are still many to go.
