I love to buy, sell, or trade anything. I was raised trading. My dad, Raymond (Jug) Smith, was one of the best traders I ever knew. It seemed to me like he knew everybody around. He was primarily a dog trader. Mostly beagles, but he probably had at least one of every kind of dog at one time or another.

When I was a kid, I was embarrassed when dad would ask someone in a store if they would take less for something than was on the tag. But, you wouldn't believe how many times they did. I remember going into a furniture store, he and I both carrying shotguns to trade in on some kind of furniture. And they actually traded. I don't know for sure, but he most likely traded beagles for the shotguns.

His mother died when he was a baby, so his older sisters took care of him. He grew up during the depression, so I guess trading was a necessity, not a hobby. In the 1940's, he went to live with one of his older sisters. My cousin once told me he saw my dad leave one day riding a bicycle and carrying a single-shot shotgun. Several hours later, he came home driving a car (a T model, I think), stopped and opened the back door, and took a calf out of where the back seat used to be. He proceeded to turn the calf out in the field, went back to the car and got the seat off the top ot the car where it was tied, and replaced it. He went inside, took a bath and took off to town with the money he got in the trade (or trades, who knows how many trades he made that day).

Thankfully, I don't trade out of necessity. God has blessed me with a good job, but I still have the trading bug. It's in me, and there is nothing I can do about it. I have a basement full of stuff I need to sell, when I get the time. I have an 8N Ford tractor sitting outside I need to sell, when I get the time. I have a cultivator I got when I bought the 8N that I'm presently trading for some laying hens.

My dad died prematurely in 1980, but in his short life he gave me a gift that I will always keep in my heart. My love of trading. And I know, without a doubt, if there is ever another depression, I have the skills to survive. Whether it's hunting wild game, raising my own food in my garden, raising my own animals for meat, or trading for what I need, my dad taught me well. Money can't buy what he taught me. 

Thanks, Dad.

I sell mostly tools at a price that is hard to beat. Usually for much less than you can get the very same item at the "Superstores". I do occasionally sell flowers for my wife. These flowers are of exceptional beauty and quality. Check my other auctions, though, because you can never tell what kind of deal I've run into. If you're looking for something in particular, e-mail me at tjsmith1957@juno.com.I may have what you need, and can probably save you some money. Remember, it doesn't cost anything to ask.

SQUARE TRADE - WHAT A JOKE

As you can see, I recently received a negative on my feedback. That makes only the second one in over 600 transactions. Not too bad, really, but what bothers me is this was left by a guy who really knows how to play the system. Let me explain. I sold an item to him that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, was in perfect condition. I pack my items very well, and on top of that, the way this item was constructed, it would be very, very unlikely that it could have been damaged in shipping. So when he claimed it was damaged when it arrived, I was suspicious, but polite. I asked him to describe the damage, and if he thought it could have possibly been caused by improper handling during the shipping process. I told him I was certain it was in good shape upon packing. He immediately became very aggressive, demanding that I give his money back, including shipping both ways. Now, I might have considered that, except for what happened next. I asked him to present the package to the USPS for inspection, since it was insured. He refused. The next thing  I knew, he had filed a dispute with PayPal, saying the item was "Significantly Not as Described". Well, to make a long story short, he lied to PayPal, they believed him, and I had to give him a full refund, including shipping. So, I got my now broken item back, he got his money back, everything's fine, right? Wrong! He left a negative at the very last possible second. What a coward. By the time I saw it, the time limit had expired for me to leave one for him. Or so he thought. A couple of weeks later, I had purchaed another item and was preparing to leave feedback, when I noticed eBay had changed the "Leave Feedback" page. There was now a search box for previous transactions. I went to My eBay, copied the auction number and put it in the search box. Lo, and behold, there it was! So, I did what most people would do. I neg'd him. That was very satisfying, since I thought it was over and done with forever. Now comes the kicker.  I had been using a Hotmail account for my eBay selling, because I was having a problem with spam.  I didn't want it filling up my regular e-mail account. Along about that time, I had taken a break from selling, so I had no reason to check the Hotmail account. That was a big mistake. A few weeks later, I decided I might ought to check the Hotmail, since you have to log in every so often, or you lose the account. I noticed something about "Dispute Resolution" from something called Square Deal. I had seen the Square Deal logo in ads, but I really didn't know what it was. I opened the most recent one, since they had been e-mailing me for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, when I clicked on the link to answer the dispute, it had already been closed. I immediately contacted eBay and Square Trade, explaining the fact that I rarely checked this e-mail account. (Nothing ever showed up in my eBay messages). They both told me there was nothing they could (or would) do, since I didn't answer the e-mails. The way I see it, feedback is very important, and since they had access to all my contact information, including phone number and mailing address, this was extremely unfair. Square Trade did tell me that I could file a dispute of my own. So, I started one, until I found out they wanted $30 to do so. Nothing but a money racket. I don't know if the crook had to pay the $30 or not, but I hope he did. I give up. The crook won. He got his feedback removed, while mine stayed. It says something about "Feedback Mutually Withdrawn". What a joke. Some people just know how to play the system.

The Pep Boys Fiasco

Recently, I bought a set of tires for my son's S-10 from the PepBoys Chattanooga store. Four for $99, what a deal! Or, so I thought. After paying extra for valve stems, mounting, balancing, etc., it came to about $170. Hmm, not such a good deal, but not too bad. Since I was buying from a nationally known chain and since I have never needed a road hazard warranty, I opted not to buy their overpriced road hazard plan. Hey, we're smart enough to not run over any thing right? After only a few months and about 3,000 miles, a small knot came up on the sidewall. Telling my son that would not be safe, we took it off and used his spare. When we get back down Chattanooga way, we'll take it back and get it made up, I said. How wrong I was! The first thing the man said was "You didn't buy the road hazard warranty." I explained that it wasn't a road hazard problem, it was obviously a factory defect. (The knot has by now grown to fist size. Thank God it was on the outside, where it could be seen.) Then he said the time limit of 90 days was past, and since I didn't buy the road hazard warranty, there was nothing he could do. "On a tire with that few miles?", I said. "Nothing I can do", he said. Well, there's something I can do. I tell everyone I can about this, because I don't want this happening to anyone else. Hopefully, if you are reading this, you are interested in what happened to me. I always try to treat everyone right, and expect the same. Therefore, my advise to you is to NEVER BUY TIRES FROM PEP BOYS, BECAUSE THEY DON'T STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT. Also, when they installed the tires, they told me the back brakes were shot, and needed replacing. I said OK, thanks, but I do that work myself. Not thinking too much about it, and the fact that the truck isn't driven very much (not to mention that the brakes weren't acting up), I chose to not fix them at that time. Well, when we pulled the tire off to put on the spare, lo and behold, the brakes are fine. No problem whatsoever. My only conclusion was that since they didn't soak me for the road hazard warranty, they would use try to use the fear factor and stick me for a brake job I didn't need. This alone should tell you to NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH PEP BOYS.