Monday, July 21, 2008


Those Helpful Hannahs!

Those "Helpful Hannahs" are at it again. I thought they had slowed down, but they are back like bad pennies!

Picture this:

You are at an auction and waiting to bid on item that you have previewed for a few days. Just as you are about to raise your card to bid, somebody jumps out of his/her chair and yells, "wait......let me identify this item for you before anyone bids!"

Security would be there in a blink of an eye and that person would be banned from an auction house for life while being escorted off the premises. Every potential bidder would be infuriated and the auctioneer would have to stop that auction due to interference by the "helpful one."

Unfortunately, there is no such security on eBay and other online auctions. As a result, Helpful Hannahs " helpfully identify" Edith Flack Ackley pattern dolls on a regular basis, therefore not allowing an auction to proceed in a normal fashion. Can you spell SLEEPER? They can't.

I an guessing that they really don't bid on dolls since their actions pump up prices. They must have lots of time on their hands for this form of altruism. I have tried to imagine the logic behind the motivation to "help", but I can't. They want to HELP a seller to get a bigger price? Are they on commission?

Why on earth would anyone do such a "helpful" thing for a perfect stranger? Perhaps they cannot afford to bid or buy dolls and want to drive the prices up out of spite? Do they think they are the only people who can ID these dolls? I know there are online lists that are devoted to pointing out dolls on eBay. In the real world, people have to pay for appraisals and IDs....online you can apparently get auction stuff identified DURING an ongoing auction. How quaint!

Several other collectors and I have mulled this over for the last eight years or so but have not reached any other conclusions as of yet except those that I mentioned.

Those lucky sellers! They get he Ackley name added right into those eBay searches we all use....and how lucky for lazy-bone buyers...they don't even have to waste their time looking...like I (stupidly) do!

The above two dolls had this added to the REVISED listing...by the seller:

I have been advised by a very helpful
e-Bayer that these were made from a pattern
by Edith Flack Ackley.

Enjoy the day...and if you have nothing better to do, you could go to online auctions and identify stuff for sellers so they can make more money. You, too, can be a Helpful Hannah!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ahhh! Rearing those empty heads...again. Silence is consent. So those angered by the naughty practices of helpful hannahs should let their voices be heard. Helpful Hannahs..get a real life...bid or be quiet....pretty please.