Ebay.

Before we went to Paris we invested in a Maclaren stroller. It was on sale for $99 at Babies R' Us as it was a 2007 model and they were getting in the new 2008's (as if these things were cars!). It was a really cute gray/pink combo and it was light as a feather and super easy to fold up. One afternoon let's just say it had a bit of a run-in with the wagon while I was backing out of the garage. When folded it had a tendency to roll if you tried to stand it up and alas, when it was taken out of the trunk and propped up in the garage, I went to back out and it had slipped into the wagon's path. I had thought I felt something with the back tires and then I knew I had hit something when the front tires got it. I took it inside and the wheels were pretty bent out of shape and the plastic "hubcaps" were all scraped. I unfolded it and it had a bit of a distinct swagger when rolled. I thought that it really wouldn't do for the cobblestones of Paris so a new 2008 model was in our future.

What do you do when you have a stroller that you've rolled over with your car? Sell it on ebay, of course! So, after prying the tires back into shape with a screwdriver I took some pictures, described the condition of the stroller and posted the auction. After 7 days I had a winning bidder at $102.50 (plus $25 shipping...noting that this was more than I initially paid, before I drove over it!) This seemed great! Then I got an email from my winning bidder, asking how much shipping was to French Polynesia. You see, my auction specifically noted that international bidders were to pay actual shipping. My bidder, being a first time ebayer hadn't noticed this until after she won my auction. How much is shipping for a stroller to Tahiti? Approximately $80. Next thing I get a notification from Ebay that my winning bidder is going to send me $10,352.50 via personal check. Okay, I think to myself, that'll cover shipping. I then checked what the current exchange rate is from the currency used in FP to the US Dollar and basically my bidder had failed to make the conversion when noting how much she was sending by check.

Thankfully, a few hours after being notified of the $80 shipping fee my winning bidder agreed that she wanted to cancel the auction. This let me offer the item up to another bidder. The bidder who eventually ended up with the stroller paid $92.00 (yes, that's right a mere $7.00 less than what I originally paid) plus $25 shipping. When I checked my ebay feedback rating the new (rolled over) stroller's owner said: "Great Deal!" Gee, I was thinking the same thing.