Expensive tastes.
I was doing a bit of window shopping the other day. That's when you look at things in the shops which you don't plan to buy. What made this different from traditional window shopping was that I was browsing the things for sale on an internet auction site in the USA. It's amazing what people spend their money on in their spare time. Alright, some of these expensive items are for business (for example the helicopter at eighty thousand dollars, reserve not met), but with others I end up thinking 'Where do they get the money for that?'
How about a new chess set? This is a handmade diamond-and-gold set and can be yours for half a million dollars. According to the description, thirty people worked on this for a combined total of four thousand five hundred hours, using nearly ten thousand black and white diamonds. It doesn't say how much the craftsmen were paid, but I bet they are hoping someone buys it.
Are you a fan of model kits? I have made one or two of these before but for some people the hobby takes up most of their free time. Well, someone is selling two hundred and thirty-one model kits for only twenty-five thousand dollars. A bargain! It should keep you busy for a few years (glue not included).
If you have only got eleven thousand dollars to spend, someone is selling all the Star Wars toys and souvenirs they have collected since nineteen seventy-seven (when the first Star Wars film came out). I don't think any of them have been taken out of their boxes, according to the photographs, which of course makes them more valuable. The seller says he spent twenty thousand dollars on the collection over the years so he might lose some money on the deal. Still, at least he'll have more space in his house afterwards!
Speaking of space, do you have room for a full-size F16 fighter jet? If you have, and can spare nearly ten thousand dollars (plus shipping, another six thousand and that's just within the USA), you can have your very own inflatable one! Seriously, this is a real ex-military item. They were used for target practice (it's too expensive to blow up a real jet just to train pilots) and the US air force no longer needs it. Don't forget your bicycle pump.
Now I could start making the old jokes about Americans having more money than sense, but there is one other detail. Nobody has placed a bid on any of these items. Perhaps the sellers are being a bit too optimistic after all. Now, what can I find on Allegro?
Glossary
combined razem
a craftsman rzemieśnik
a kit model do składania
glue klej
inflatable nadmuchiwany
to blow up napompować
a bid oferowana cena
The F16 was inflatable. Unscramble these letters to find four more inflatable things.
rety
gydhin
lastec
wiplol
This thing goes round wheels and gives you a smoother ride. The inflatable part is inside and is called an 'inner tube'.
This is a small boat. Some of the stronger ones can have motors added to them.
You might see one of these at a festival or fairground with a lot of children bouncing up and down on it.
This is a cushion for your head. The inflatable ones are used on long bus or plane journeys.
KEY
tyre
dinghy
castle
pillow
Did you know?
It isn't just models that are made from kits. You can buy kit cars (cars you build yourself). They can be as expensive as a ready-made car but sometimes it is only the instructions that are for sale.
In the UK someone sold his wedding invitation on an internet auction site. He warned buyers that it wasn't going to be very interesting but that 'there will be a free bar'.
A British county council put a bus shelter up for sale on the internet. It had to be moved for an archaeological excavation and none of the local businesses wanted it.