h[eBay]: 1950's Male Nude Drawing

As I've expressed, I'm a bit of an eBay aficianado [read: whore]. One of my saved searches on eBay is "vintage male nude." I'm not quite addicted to pre-Stonewall, homo-erotic art, but I am as close as one can get without needing 12 steps.

I saw this drawing the first day it listed, which a blessing and a curse. While it meant that I would have plenty of time to consider the purchase (maybe investigate market value), it also meant I would have to suffer through six days of internal debate. I'm a wicked debater, so this aspect of the purchase is not to be considered lightly.

To be honest, though, this was one of those items that I knew I'd own the second I set my eyes (er, cursor) on it, which is another blessing/curse. That little voice that tells you it's already yours and is deciding where it's going to be hung, is the same one that will overbid when it comes down to the last minutes of the auction.

The solution? eSnipe it!

eSnipe is an online service that places your highest bid on an eBay item in the last seconds of the auction. You pay a nominal amount for "points" and each time eSnipe is used in a winning auction, some of these points are deducted from your balance. eSnipe allows you to set a maximum price that you're willing to pay and enters that final seconds before anyone can "respond" to the highest bid you're willing to make. Obviously, if you're highest bid is not higher than the existing bid when eSnipe places it, you lose.

Also, no one who is bidding on your item during the six days it's posted has a clue that you have an eSnipe bid in the wings. You are able to swoop in and snag it before anyone knows. If you have ethical problems with this, read eBay's and eSnipe's policies on it. They don't mind and neither should you.

So, back to my new drawing [click to see image in larger size].

It was not done by a "listed" artist, but the quality is excellent and it's rare because of it's size, which is "huge," measuring in at 40" x 18", without the frame. I asked the seller to ship the drawing without the frame, significantly reducing shipping costs.