I've been looking for an affordable Orkidea vase by Timo Sarpaneva for years...literally years. They're not hard to find, if you don't mind paying $600. I see them at that price on eBay all the time, even for the smaller ones. Then, on March 6, I spotted one with an opening bid of $49 and no reserve.
I checked it several times each day, and no one bid. Finally, two days before the auction was to end, someone finally placed the minimum bid. I was determined to wait it out, even though I was sure the bidding would go wild in the last few minutes. The auction was to end at 9 a.m. last Sunday. I set my alarm clock so I could wake up early enough to be clear-headed and in top bidding form.
When the alarm went off, and I got up, opened my requisite morning Diet Coke, checked my email and blog comments, played a few computer games, talked with a couple of friends on the phone and then went to the store to work...and never gave eBay a thought until my SIL asked me if I had won the vase.
I was heartsick that I had forgotten to bid...and even sicker when I found out that the winning bid was a mere $89.
In case you're not familiar with the design, here's a wonderful example from a fellow blogger, Charlie's Design Diary (open only by invitation, which is why I didn't include a link).
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| Orkidea vases by Timo Sarpaneva charliesdesigndiary.blogspot.com |
And here's the actual one that got away...::sob::
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| ebay.com - fernary |
