I "Accidentally" Bought an Xbox 360

I (accidentally) bought an Xbox 360.

And there will be no end to the grief after I've told you the story. I mentioned it to Jenny yesterday and since then it's been all "Ok, careful, don't accidentally buy one of my pieces."

I imagine much the same from you readers.

So I have been in the market for an Xbox 360 since resigning myself to the un-gettable-ness of the Nintendo Wii. The Xbox 360, I figured, isn't so bad, as consolation prizes go.

I shopped online (heaven forbid I set foot in a bricks and mortar installation). The web offers convenience, and, hopefully, less-than-retail pricing. The Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, Target dot-coms, and the rest of the usual suspects were pricing relatively high (retail and up) so I eschewed the chains for craigslist and ebay.

Which is how I ended up accidentally buying an Xbox 360.

I found a few good packages (system! plus HD! plus wireless controller! plus 8 games! only $200!) that weren't really good packages (HD broken! controller needs wire to work! all 8 games are all burnt onto on disc!).

I found some great packages (Premium, extra wireless controller, charger, plus Live Gold membership, plus Gears of War, Perfect Dark Zero, Madden 07, and Burnout Revenge) that were a little out of my price range (bids start at $1,300).

Then I found one I liked. Premium system, plus Perfect Dark Zero, and an extra controller. I placed my max bid with one minute to go in the auction. And I was winning for like thirty seconds.

Then, I was outbid! Someone had swooped in near the closing seconds to up the bid five bucks over my max. I thought to myself "I will not allow him to get away with that."

Figuring that his maximum bid was probably much higher than mine (at least $50 bucks) I decided to punish him. Sure, he might win the auction, but I'm going to re-bid to force him to pay his max. He's not going to steal this system with 8 seconds left by paying $5 more than I was willing to pay.

I was going to push him to his limit. So I upped my bid, wanting to fall just pennies short of his maximum. (Remember, 8 seconds left...)

"Confirm Bid?"

Turns out he hadn't bid as much as I'd figured. My over-bid won the auction. "YOU WON THE ITEM!"

Oops.

Well, it should arrive sometime this week and while I sort-of kinda regret getting it the way I did, instead of waiting for some killer deals after Christmas, I still wind up with an Xbox 360, and that's not at all bad.

-t

P.S. you might try "accidentally" buying one of the t-shirts I put up: here