The Great Gift Challenge

The final price point for The Great Gift Challenge is $300. (Read more about the details here and previous posts here) This felt like a good price point for a handbag and wow did I have fun searching for handbags on eBay! From Tod's to Rebecca Minkoff to Marc Jacobs and more. I bid on multiple bags and unfortunately many of the ones I bid on went over my price range, but wow -- you can get some great deals for designer bags on eBay. I am going to go to eBay first when I am looking for handbags in the future, you can really save. I ended up finding a new classically-styled lovely Michael Kors bag for $265 which full retails for $428.



With a bit more moolah to spend, I looked at many things such as wallets, key chains, and accessories, but all the music stopped when I surprisingly came across this Niggli Colour Calendar 2010 -- which is difficult to find in the U.S. and even online. A few years ago Black Eiffel guest Karisa Winkel talked about this calendar and it has been on my radar ever since and what do you know --- it was on eBay! What are the chances? I splurged and went a buck or two over the budget, but the designer I am giving this to will absolutely love -- adore it.



It has been such a blast to participate in the Great Gift Challenge, thank you Martha Stewart + eBay. I am happy and even more surprised to see what eBay has to offer. Remember to sign up here by 12/21 for the chance to win a $1000 gift card for eBay -- good luck readers!

Great Gift Challenge

I am elated that eBay and Martha Stewart asked me to be involved in their Great Gift Challenge! Myself along with two other bloggers, Desire to Inspire and Charles & Hudson have been chosen to shop for various gifts on eBay and tell about our experiences. This is a dream come true because I often spend large amounts of time randomly searching different subjects on eBay from vintage stamps to handbags and more. I adore eBay and of course Martha Stewart. Yay!

Throughout the coming four weeks I will be selecting and purchasing four different gifts, one per week at selected price points (shipping is not including in that price). They have given me eBay dollars to shop and as a heads up they are also a paid advertiser on my site. This week the challenge is to find a gift for $25.

The exciting part for you readers in the USA, is that you can enter to win a $1000 gift certificate for eBay. Whoot... whoot! Check out the Great Gift Challenge Sweepstakes website here to enter and for details. Wouldn't winning that gift certificate be the best?! Stay tuned for my detailed search for the perfect $25 gift.

What has been your favorite find on eBay? I'm super curious and would love to hear about it!

The Great Gift Challenge part three

Part three of the Great Gift Challenge is for the $150 price point. (If you are just tuning in, read this previous post.) My sister-in-law has been on the hunt for some lovely leather boots and I feel like this is a very good price point for that. There are oodles of boots to choose from on eBay at great prices. I narrowed it down to a few vintage and pre-loved pairs, but some went well over $150 and a another pair slipped away, drat! I also got to thinking that I don't know the extent of how much others like to wear previously owned boots or shoes? I don't mind myself, but as a gift? What do you think -- thoughts?

I decided to look for other options and I found three lovely items, surprisingly all coming in under $150. First up are the Kenneth Cole studded flats that full retail cost $185 and I scored them for $59, I love how they are rock-n-roll chic. The second item is the gorgeous fashion photography book of Tim Walker's 'Pictures' which retails for $125 but on eBay can be found for $79.50 and lastly the Essie Nail Polish Winter 09 gift set for $9.99 which retails for $17.00. The grand total for these three items was : $148.49 -- (not including shipping) which would normally cost $327 for full retail. Hot diggity ... that is over $175 worth of savings -- eBay you rock.

Read more about the details of the Great Gift Challenge here, and also see my previous finds: part one ($25) and part two ($75). Also remember to enter to win the $1000 eBay gift card giveaway here!

The Great Gift Challenge part 1

For The Great Gift Challenge this week (read previous intro. post here) I decided to find a gift for my sister Becca at the $25 price point. Becca and I are eight years apart but a lot of the time it feels like we are only two. She is a dancer, yoga instructor, she even won an award for 'hip hop dancer of the year' yes, she can really break a move kind of like this clip or this clip. Currently she is living in Texas serving a mission, but she is the type of gal that wants to go to an ashram and study yoga in India when she is done with her eighteen month service. If I had to sum up Becca as a book title, her title would be, "Eat, Pray, Love" -- (at least the good methodical, and wanderlust parts) to give you a tiny glimpse of what she is like. I love her! Becca has bohemian style and likes accessories so I knew I would head straight to this section on eBay.



Here are a few things that I found on eBay that matched her style:

Hobo International Clutch
Leaf Necklace
Hayden Harnett Coin Purse
Pashmina Scarf (on a side note, here is a video of how to tie them here)

After further exploring this week, I came across these two pieces that fit her even better, and I ended up getting them both from the seller Accessory Addiction.



I was happy to find both of these pieces NWT which means 'new with tags' for the eBay lingo learning shoppers. The Anthropologie tree necklace on the left was $14.99 and it has significance for her because she likes tress and also has a blog called, she planted a tree. The gold and pearl Banana Republic earrings which I did a "best offer bid" on were scored for $8.50. The total of both of these pieces was just under the $25 budget coming in at $23.49 excluding shipping. Can't wait to see what I will find next week for the $75 price point, stay tuned. Also, remember to sign up for The Great Gift Challenge $1,000 eBay gift card here. I hope you win.

The Great Gift Challenge part deux

Here is the second purchase for the Great Gift Challenge with eBay and Martha Stewart (read more about the details here). I found this second price point of $75 to be a little tricky but thankfully I found some great options.

First I came across this cute Adidas yoga bag for $54.99 but lost the bid because I was going to pair it with a new yoga mat and I needed it to be a little less expensive to do that.



Next I was thinking about these Frye boots that were gently used aka vintage although you can still get them at other places (retail new for $350) I figured they could be refinished at a great shoe cobbler, but they are already priced at $67 with 6 bids and have quite a bit of time left to go.


I finally decided upon selecting the above Orla Kiely Cosmetic Bag (NWT) as the top photo and I hope that my friend will love it! You can always have another cosmetic bag, right? It was slightly over the $75 budget at $75.60, yet it was nice to find this Orla Kiely bag on eBay for less than their normal going $85-$95 retail prices.

Remember to enter the fantastic Great Gift Challenge for the chance to win $1000 gift card for eBay!