[Moose4]

In 2004 my wife and I were at a craft show in Charlotte selling her handmade beadwoven jewelry. Two women covered in Kerry/Edwards paraphernalia—buttons, stickers, what have you—walked up and started browsing. They were polite enough, and didn’t bring politics up to us, and eventually bought a bracelet priced at $19.95. We were as polite to them as we were to any other customer we saw over the four days we were there.

The next week, we made a contribution of precisely $19.95 to the 2004 re-election campaign of George W. Bush.

}:-)4

[Sea Parrot]

Years ago we used to sell what the Wife called my art work. (I will just say I have a certain technical expertise when it comes to working with wood, but am not a artist for sure) Most items were Native American related. It always amazed me that some people would look, look, criticize, criticize, walk off, then later come back and buy several pieces. I got tired of arguing with them the pieces were not laser cut, but were cut by hand on a lowly scroll saw. Craft shows were profitable, but to attend required considerable travel, labor and expense. My sisters kept after me to try eBay and other auction sites. I finally did so and sales took off like I could never have conceived. Living in a small retirement community all shipping was done by USPS and shipping costs averaged 600-700 dollars a month. Here are just a few examples: