A Bargain Hunter's Paradise

I know I must be super late catching on to this trend, but eBay is a god send when it comes to finding great deals on wedding supplies. I had read a few dozen wedding planning books that sung its praises for planning a wedding on a budget, but I had been skeptical. An honest to goodness wedding dress without any flaws for how much? Yeah right! But after scouring local craft fairs for the perfect gifts for my bridesmaids and coming up with nothing that worked, I had to come up with other resources.

Etsy was my next stop, but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. While I would like to say exactly what I am looking for, but because Miss Sox in the City is watching, I have to keep my lips zipped! I am all for supporting crafters in their endeavors, but being on a tight budget and not seeing anything that struck me, I had to dive into the unknown: the world of fast-paced bidding (ok, so it's fast-paced for me when I am using the computer on dial-up at home! Yes, I do live under a large rock...) and Paypal.

Yowza! Was I surprised when I not only found exactly what I wanted, but many of them were still around $0.99! Of course there is shipping involved, but come on! This was awesome! After a few choice words for the speed of dial-up and being outbid, I found four out of four pieces I wanted. Nine hours later, the results were in: I had won three auctions and had been outbid at the last minute on the fourth. I settled on a similar item from Amazon.com for a similar price for the fourth and called it a success. I am hoping my girls will love them (if not, I'll certain take them!).

The only problem I have faced, and currently am facing, is that we have to have our account with PayPal verified. Well, what if I don't want to have my PayPal account hooked up to my bank account? What if that makes me really nervous? What if I absolutely do not want a credit card through them? I have enough bills already! What then, PayPal? What then? Has anyone else faced this dilemma?