Feeding the obsession with eBay Collections

Well, eBay, now you've gone and done it, haven't you? Not content with creating the world's most distracting and potentially most financially crippling website, you've now led us further into temptation by launching what are effectively a series of Real World Dream Barns. eBay calls them 'Collections', and we're delighted to say that PetrolBlog was one of the sites chosen to support the UK launch of these (most welcome) time-wasters.

In reality, these eBay Collections are quite simple. Sat beneath that fateful and oh-so-tempting 'Place Bid' button, you'll now find an 'Add to Collection' link. And these Collections open up an entirely new level of obsessive online window shopping.



What you do with these collections is entirely up to you. But PetrolBlog didn't have too much difficulty creating a series of virtual lock-up garages on the site. Being able to catalogue and categorise the huge levels of temptation lurking on eBay, only serves to feed the - predominately male-led - obsession with lists. Like a record collection presented in alphabetical order, or a library of magazines, catalogued in order of publication.

Apparently you can also create collections of cosmetics, fashion, jewellery and pink teddy bears. We say 'apparently', as we wasn't aware eBay existed for anything other than cars. So this has been an education in itself.

eBay told us to create collections that not only appeal to us, but also to the wider PetrolBlog community. So having spoken to both PetrolBlog readers, naming the collections wasn't hard. And here they are, in all their online glory.

Highlights (if we're allowed to class them as that) include Acceptable in the 80s, which celebrates the best and worst of our favourite decade, only without Bucks Fizz, Limahl and Roland Rat. Then there's 1970s Heroes, which does exactly what it says on the tin, followed by Peugeot Love, Citroën Love and Renault Love, which - as you may have expected - celebrate our love of all things French.



As things stand, the Brave Pills Required collection is proving to be the most popular, perhaps highlighting our love of the lost cause and the thought of a big challenge. Warning, do not take a look at this collection after a few beers on a Friday night.

Curiously, the Petrol-fuelled Culture collection is also attracting a few followers, suggesting that we all love a bit of petroleum-style memorabilia, even if we don't like paying for fuel at the pumps. Either that, or we simply enjoy reminiscing about Green Shield Stamps and when petrol was less than 50p a litre.

The collections will be updated on a weekly basis, perhaps more often, should the opportunity arise. After all, we do spend longer on eBay than any other site. Possibly more time than would be considered healthy. But then, in our view, it's the best place to view classifieds online. Yes, the two words 'buyer beware' have to be taken into consideration, but on eBay, a car can find its own value.

We recently saw a left-hand drive Daihatsu Charade GTti fetch £6,100 on eBay. A huge amount of cash for a very special car, but the market dictated the final price. The seller started the listing at £3,000. So eBay presents a great resource for checking out a car's true, real world value.



To keep an eye on our collections, we've created a handy link on the sidebar, over to your right. We also suggest you take a look at Green Motor's collections, not least because Lem had created a Shatchbacks collection, although sadly it has since been deleted. Probably through a lack of interest!

Create a few collections of your own and drop us a line with the results. We'll even chuck a few Hobnobs in the direction of our favourite collection. Alternatively, just follow PetrolBlog on eBay.  Although we take no responsibility for the trailing blue smoke. Press the air recirculation button.

Oh, and whilst on the subject of eBay, check out our handy guide to buying and selling cars on the online auction site.

This post has been created in partnership with eBay.