Why does everything on eBay smell the same?
I'm not joking, haven't you noticed? Or am I the only one?
Everytime I order something from eBay, I open the parcel and get this same distinct aroma... seriously! Hence my question;
It's this sort of pungent sweet musty smell, like everybody from whom I've brought anything on eBay smokes Turkish or Russian cigarettes and hordes away electronic gadgetry and EE Doc Smith & Sci Fi novels in dusty corners, the treasures finally squeezed into padded Jiffy bags with one last puff of foreign-flavoured nicotine to wish the items luck on their way to the leafy suburbs of green & pleasant Hampshire.
Go on, next time you order something used from eBay, get yourself a noseful and tell me I'm right.
Anyway, I'm going to be nosey now: what was the last thing you ordered off eBay...?
Everytime I order something from eBay, I open the parcel and get this same distinct aroma... seriously! Hence my question;
"why does everything on eBay smell the same?"
It's this sort of pungent sweet musty smell, like everybody from whom I've brought anything on eBay smokes Turkish or Russian cigarettes and hordes away electronic gadgetry and EE Doc Smith & Sci Fi novels in dusty corners, the treasures finally squeezed into padded Jiffy bags with one last puff of foreign-flavoured nicotine to wish the items luck on their way to the leafy suburbs of green & pleasant Hampshire.Go on, next time you order something used from eBay, get yourself a noseful and tell me I'm right.
Anyway, I'm going to be nosey now: what was the last thing you ordered off eBay...?
Blue Skies thinking @ 8/16/2007 08:24:00 AM
18 Comments:
At Thu Aug 16, 05:19:00 PM,
rebekah said…
being someone who does not much fancy being around things that stink, i don't actively sniff all of my mail just in case it might, in fact, smell weird. :) you weird mail sniffing person, you.
that said, i bought two character shaped cake pans (a Rainbow Brite and a Strawberry Shortcake), and a set of three very large square cake pans for making tiered cakes off ebay and recieved them just the other day. so sorry to report i cannot tell you how they smelled upon being opened. I'll keep it in mind to sniff my ebay mail more often :)
At Fri Aug 17, 07:49:00 AM,
Lever said…
Rebekah: Cake tins shouldn't smell of cigarettes and dust... can you imagine how a Marlboro layer cake would taste? :S
That's, in essence, what I'm saying... sniff your mail more often, especially if it's from eBay... you'll know what I mean :)
At Fri Aug 17, 11:42:00 AM,
Mummy/Crit said…
Er. It's been a while since I bought anything off eBay, so i can't remember any smells. Stuff the beloved sent me before he moved here always smelled like his apartment. the last thing I bought off eBay was some Simon & Garfunkel bootleg CDs
At Fri Aug 17, 01:45:00 PM,
Lever said…
Mummy/Crit: Ah, there ya go, Simon & Garfunkel CDs. Cool :) And it's interesting that you recognised the smell of the apartment.
Mind you, everybody must think I'm mad as a box of frogs for posting this. I just got a BRAND NEW boxed boss ds-1 pedal throught the post this morning and it REEKS of cigarette smoke... the box now has an air freshener jammed in it right now to counter the ciggy smell...
At Sat Aug 18, 03:51:00 PM,
restless angel said…
I don't have an EBay acct. Although, I get enough notices from "ebay" stating my "account" is being deleted. The spam folder for them! :)
At Sun Aug 19, 07:52:00 AM,
Lever said…
Restles Angel: Heh, that's as bad as me having to renew my details with "North Fork Bank"... I didn't realise I had an "account" with them, I wonder how much cash I have in it...? :)
At Sun Aug 19, 02:56:00 PM,
Rederick said…
A Sky Digital box to replace my mates 10 year old one!! Before that a mobile phone.
I have no recollection of a specific smell attached to either. Perhaps you have an extremely sensitive sense of smell? :-)
At Sun Aug 19, 08:17:00 PM,
Lever said…
Rederick: Crikey, those are some good goods you've been purchasing there.
And that reminds me... must get rid of my spare satellite dish! Ta ;)
I dunno, but I always seem to get the smoky packages and I'm a non-smoker, though you could be right about the hyper-sensitive olfactory senses...
At Mon Aug 20, 05:35:00 PM,
Brom said…
A DS-1 Great!! Hvae not got one myself, but Boss pedals are always worth having, and because they are virtually indestructable they keep their value.
Hint: To get rid of smells, if you can't wash it, bake it (gently) the raised temperature forces off the smells.
At Mon Aug 20, 05:37:00 PM,
Brom said…
Oh, Last thing I bought off Ebay, a Balck Sabbath CD, and it didn't smell, even to me, another non smoker.
At Mon Aug 20, 09:47:00 PM,
Tawcan said…
I actually haven't bought anything off Ebay yet. (a surprise eh?)
At Tue Aug 21, 08:53:00 AM,
Lever said…
Brom: I've bought 2x DS-1s recently - one for a mate and one for me; both were 20 quid but I kept the brand new (2005) boxed DS-1 for myself ;)
My HM-2 pedal is a 1985 issue so that's still going strong after 22 years, just a shame all the other Japanese era pedals are going for silly money... I need a DD-3 if I can get my hands on one for a realistic price :)
Oh, I shall try baking my box... maybe in the airing cupboard. Cheers for that :)
Hmm, maybe you picked up your Sabbath CD from a smoke-free seller... Hurrah!
Tawcan: Dude, I am really surprised you've not bought on eBay... not even laptop components, cheap console games, effects pedals, SysAdmin books? I know there's a wealth of info on the web but you can't beat a good read of an O'Reilly manual when you're on the... er, train :)
At Fri Aug 24, 05:41:00 AM,
Bulbboy said…
The last thing I bought from ebay was a Goth-y type coat. The owner promised next day delivery but it didn't appear. Postal strikes I thought. 2 emails later and the coat arrived post dated 2 weeks after the auction ended, blonde hairs strewn here and there on it. Don't know what it smells like thought having lost my sense of smell (hopefully it will come back).
Oh, I got a Scotsmen Kick Arse T, too, but you already knew that.
;)
At Sat Aug 25, 07:43:00 AM,
Lever said…
BulbBoy: Ouch! That's late! At least it was just blonde hairs and not dandruff too :o
I saw that shirt... cool shirt, cool move :D
At Sun Aug 26, 01:22:00 AM,
Kat E said…
The last thing I bought were two Japanese painted ferns. So I think I got lucky since they just kind of smelled like the dirt they came in.
At Mon Aug 27, 10:18:00 PM,
narthex said…
Lever, it is supposed to be a tertiary branding element. Sneaky bastards aren't they? I know. I used to work in branding. :p
At Tue Aug 28, 03:52:00 AM,
Lever said…
Kat E: Ah, very nice - you can't beat the smell of good old mother earth :)
Narthex: LMAO you've nailed it dude, they're so damn sneaky... though I'm still not buying ;)
At Mon Sep 03, 08:51:00 AM,
Vicious Summer said…
You're right. Anything from ebay that is not brand new, in the original packaging, smells odd/gross. And you described the smell perfectly. Now please explain to my employees why I think smoking is gross and not allowed if they're handling product that's to be shipped out...And they just think I'm anal...(I am)...
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