When I was a child there were high-street stores that sold the myriad of knickknacks that make and personalise a home. Now, years later, many of those stores have been driven out by large franchises and out of town retail parks. Those new superstores carrying the most profitable and popular lines of items, with rarely bought items not stocked.
At the same time global communications and transport and an entrepreneurial spirit have meant more innovations and variations of item being manufacturers around the world.
eBay may have a reputation for a place to buy and sell second-hand goods, but it is also gloriously full of entrepreneurs around the globe eager to sell their products. if you can visualise the thing you need, it is likely you will find it on eBay, pay for it with PayPal and be able to have it delivered to your door in the next week. What’s more in many cases you can find items cheaper than you might at a high-street store. Granted there are fakes and frauds, just as one might find at a town market, but these become easy to recognise with experience.
I believe that eBay is the greatest shop in the world.