I almost never bid on something if I know someone
else is interested in it. It takes away from my
pleasure in the cel if I know I deprived a friend
of it when they wanted it. Depriving a stranger is
one thing -- that's just business. But a friend? I
can't do it.
That being said, I can't say that I'm aware the
favor has ever been returned. ^_^ I'm often
"sniped" by friends on auctions. I'm on a very
limited budget, so I'm a fairly easy mark, I
suppose. But of course there may be cases where
others backed off a cel because of me and I'm just
not aware of it. ^_^
I do get "cel karma" returned in visible ways,
though -- people email me to let me know of cel
updates I might be interested in, and often people
agree to give me first crack at a cel I like if
they decide to sell it. Then there are the other
tangible rewards of reaching out to others -- I
almost always have a friend to turn to to help me
bid on YJ, or help translate something, or just
give me a kindly ear to listen to my problems.
I guess the bottom line is that I do what I have
to in order to feel good about myself and how I
treat others. And if I get something in return,
great, but that's not the goal. To me, it's not
just about the cels you get, it's also how you got
them.
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The Lizzard |