It's a special sort of talent.

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Each era demands certain skills. My mother knew how to organize her grocery shopping so that she would get the best bargains at each store. Luckily these stores were close enough to each other so that the cost of the gasoline didn't cancel out the bargains. (My father, on the other hand, had a favorite slogan: you're going to be cheated wherever you go, you might as well trade close to home".) The ability to find a bargain is a skill that probably stretches across a wide range of eras, but that takes on different characteristics in each. Finding auction bargains is rapidly becoming an important skill for our time - one that people apparently are very intent on learning, and that some are happy to teach voluntarily.

I've got a friend, an educational professional, who knows how and where to find the best internet auction bargains. She knows what's available and what your chances of finding a good price for what you're looking for are, and she could probably make a more lucrative living selling hints of this sort (maybe on a web site?) that she does from the important work of education.

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Go to: The Boidem goes shopping.