Monday, August 27, 2012

Ebay Temptations

Some days the only thing one is capable of doing after a long hard day's work is mindless tea surfing on ebay. I used to do this back in the day when you could browse all pu selection in one breezy sitting but now the field is crowded with all manner of foreign pu-erh vendors- some of them verging on downright bizarre.  Without much effort, I found this 2000 Purple(bud) Shu Brick for a mere $20 which includes shipping from China.

Dare I buy pu-erh from a vendor who also specializes in breast enlargement creams, a Magic Butt-Shaping Cushion as well as dried wild black ants?  Despite such warning signs,  this vendor has a 100% satisfaction rating from 6160 transactions.
(Despite the natural temptation, I recommend readers not to click on this tea vendor's "Breast Enlargement" Category- at least not at work or in front of young children.  It boggles my mind that this vendor has sold 78 bottles of "Must Up" B.E. Cream but only 2 beengs of 1997 Commemorate the Return of Hong Kong Tea)

Even stranger still, this vendor also carries an "intellectually gifted" shu.  As the vendor boasts:
" It is made meticulously by traditional craft chosen in national grade intangible cultural heritage and special blending technology."
I feel bad for most of my shu which weren't endowed with such intellectual gifts.

Can such a vendor actually carry decent tea? Or is this yet another obvious sandpit in the world of internet pu-erh buying?  Dare I waste another perfectly good $20 bill out of sheer curiosity? If things go badly,  I dare not complain to a vendor who sells such novelties.  I think I should still start a coin driven fund to check out such vendors as a public service.

The censor who would not let me use a certain rude but perfect phrase involving nuns yesterday absolutely insisted today that I include this final item. As he said to me, "It's a jungle out there."

2 comments:

  1. Did you buy the tea?

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  2. Not yet but I'm more inclined towards pushing the "Buy It Now Button" after Wilson from the Travelling Teapot e-mailed me this useful bit of info:

    " About the eBay site where u found it strange to see a seller selling a myriad of stuff from butt enhancers to tea. Actually some of these dealers are genuine..... They may live or work in a place where such goods are sold, and she/he takes this opportunity to sell them on eBay. The shop to his left may be selling tea, 2 shops down is a medicinal shop, 3 shops down an undergarment shop. The sellers, if genuine are quite enterprising. I happen to know one of these sellers. Once a seller I knew was selling iPhone stuff together with hernia creams. Hehe"

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