eBay

About a month ago, I finally brushed the dust off my old gadgets and decided to get them in tip-top sellable condition for sites like Craigslist and eBay. Although the process may look easy, there is actually a lot of steps you need to follow to make those used cameras and MP3 players look as good as new. And who better to show us exactly how it's done than eBay's gadget and toy director, the fabulous and funny Cat Schwartz! Check out her video below for tips, tricks, and products that will get your gadgets gleaming again!

People are finding more and more ways of expressing themselves. I mean, not everyone can get a book deal or write that screenplay. Rather than be a troll and take out your angst in Internet discussion forums and the comments sections of blogs, you can leave unusual eBay feedback to show the world what a clever and witty person you are. Here are some of my faves, but you can click here to see more.

• POSITIVE: Item shipped quickly, have been having erotic dreams about seller. Thanks!
• POSITIVE: I don't really remember what I ordered. But I've been sitting in the box it came in all day, and it's great!
• NEGATIVE: Despite indication in listing, I could not fit item into any of my body cavities.
• NEGATIVE: Very nice monkey mascot costume, but it's a size 34, not a 63 as advertised.
• NEGATIVE: Though you did nothing wrong, I am giving you this negative feedback to teach you that the universe is arbitrary and unfair.
• NEGATIVE: Buying this Space 1999 Lunchbox did not fill the void in my empty life for as long as I'd hoped.

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I got very nostalgic when I found this month's Bark magazine to have a spread on the old-timey carnival chalkware figurines. My grandmother had a collection of these and I remember looking at them through the glass of an old oak display case. Given away as Midway prizes in the '40s and '50s, you really can't find many of these around anymore (except for Ebay and maybe a few antique shops of course), but I still get a smile on my face looking at the soft colors of the animal trinkets. They are certainly a far cry from the stuffed animal prizes you get at carnivals now!

I've listed a few of my favorites here, and I'm even considering starting a collection of my own! All of my selections were found on Ebay, so if you want to get your hands on one, start bidding now!

Although people are starting to line up In New York City to ensure that they get their hands on the hotly-anticipated new iPhone 3G, the majority of you said you wouldn't stand in line for a gadget. Therefore, I doubt any of you will be signing into eBay to bid on a place in line in San Francisco!

An eager seller is starting the bidding at $5,000, and if you win, he or she will stand in line for you, holding your spot until right before the doors open and you pull cutsies to claim your spot and your new phone. The seller/line-stander will also arrange for a limo to whisk you away after you depart the Apple store.

That five grand is obviously steep, but 90 percent of it will go to the nonprofit organization Farm Sanctuary. Opportunities like this don't come around every day: Save farm animals, lose over 5,000 bucks AND get your iPhone in one fell swoop!

Don't mess with fashion giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

After a two-year trial, a French court ordered eBay to pay up for selling counterfeit items on its online auction site and for selling genuine goods outside LVMH's retail channels. The penalty was a whopping 40 million euros, or $63.2 million at the current exchange rate.

This all came about when prestigious brands including Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci, and Marc Jacobs had complained about the sale of knockoff bags and clothes on eBay.

Pierre Godet, an adviser to LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, said the Paris court's decision was, ''an answer to a particularly serious question, on whether the Internet is a free-for-all for the most hateful, parasitic practices.'' In rebuttal, eBay said that LVMH is trying to crack down on Internet auctions merely because it is uncomfortable with the business model, which tends to cut out the middleman.

Sounds like both parties are still heated, but for now, the courtroom has cooled.

Devon Traboscia, a 42-year-old single mom of two, thought she'd multitask by auctioning off her house and herself as a package deal on eBay and Craigslist. Devon's itching to get married and her four-bedroom Florida home is, apparently, the best thing she has to offer. Intellect? Humor? Charm? Nah. For this real estate agent, square footage sells. Although Devon claims to be "doing it for the real reasons, the right reasons," I'm not sure there's ever any reason to hit up eBay for love — that is, unless this winner is her kind of Prince Charming. (Click here for more on the story and to see a slide show of Devon looking, uh, you'll see . . .)

Uh, just don't do buy it. I doubt I needed to tell you that, since this baby carrot is a whopping $350. Let's get back to the real items, shall we? Like the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast and giant Corn Flakes.

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Although you might lose some of your Firefox extensions when you cross over to Firefox 3 – and trust me, you're gonna want the newest version since it's faster and more secure – you can still download the same sweet extensions that Firefox is known for.

I happen to have a few eBay bids out on some precious Polaroid film, and am watching others before I jump in. With the Firefox eBay companion, I can see the stats on my bids right on my browser — without having to stop what I'm doing to log in. What's cooler is when an item's auction is about to end and I get outbid, a pop-up box will tell me I better pump up my dollar amount before it's over!