It used to be that people took their old stuff to junkyards and swap meets when they didn’t want it anymore. And resourceful bargain hunters would pick through the goods in search of that diamond in the rough—turning over busted fenders, inspecting used fuel tanks—all in the hopes of finding the item that’s actually worth something. Nowadays, in the era of eBay, the search for value is conducted with a keyboard and high-speed connection; kicking the tires happens by way of written descriptions, digital images and email communications. Of course, the opportunistic at heart relish eBay as the best thing since sliced bread, a massive database of the world’s old stuff, neatly organized and categorized. For everyone else, eBay is the Internet’s junkyard, with shady merchants hiding around every corner.
