Time Magazine, Dec. 27, 1999
Flea-market aficionados insist that eBay is doing a more abstract kind of damage: it's destroying the pleasures of the offline collectibles world. Al Hoff, author of Thrift Score and collector of "everything but Levolor blinds," says eBay has changed the atmosphere in flea markets and thrift stores. She now comes across entrepreneurs who are trolling the aisles looking for items they can resell for a higher price online. "The code of ethics used to be that you bought things for yourself," she notes. And she objects that eBay's efficiency is making it harder for bargain hunters like herself. A friend recently tried to buy a Pink Floyd eight-track tape on eBay--and watched as it sold for $227. Time was, Hoff says, when you could find eight-track tapes selling for a quarter at thrift shops. "Now everything goes for the highest price anyone in the world is willing to pay for it," she says. Hoff is worried that online auctions may ultimately spell the end of flea markets and thrift shops, and that an important slice of Americana will be lost.