"Who are the people who purchase items on eBay and where do they Live?"

Have you ever wondered why would anyone bid and eventually purchase one of the million items advertised on the online auction site eBay? Who are these people and where do the objects eventually wind up?

John D. Freyer decided one day that he had enough of accumulating all kinds of objects and he was going to sell all of his worldly possessions on the Internet. This required a considerable effort on his part. He wrote a brief description of each object and he photographed them. While in the process of carrying out these tasks, he began to wonder where these objects originated from and what role did they play in his life. As he mentions in his book All My Life For Sale, "I also realized that the act of selling these objects would start to change my life in subtle ways. After I sold my toaster, I stopped eating toast."

However, another thought occurred to Freyer, how would the objects affect someone else's life? Furthermore, where were they going to end up? Consequently, he decided to include a request in the invoice that he sent to the highest bidders asking them to send him an update on the items they purchased. This all led to his receiving personal photographs, stories and other tidbits pertaining to his once owned possessions. He was also invited to visit the new owners of the objects.

Seizing this golden opportunity to travel around the US, he informed all of these people that he was going to jump into his car and take them up on their offers. Amazingly he had received more than one hundred invitations.

All My Life For Sale is an engaging memoir of Freyer's experiences that is filled with wit and complimented with beautiful color illustrations. Perhaps, there is a hidden lesson to be learned from Freyer's adventures, for as he states: "although I hadn't made it to everyone who had invited me to visit, I knew that it was time to stop driving. That it was time to stop looking. I realized that my sale had done far more than just provide me the means and freedom to escape and start over. In fact, I no longer wanted to escape."

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Posted December 1, 2002