With less than one week remaining until Santa Claus jumps into his sleigh to visit the homes of all the good boys and girls, my fellow Chatter Bloggers and I thought it would be fun to see how much it would cost to buy all the items from the Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" –- on eBay!
To add to the fun, I got a bit creative on the Twelve Days of Christmas theme and included my own variations from the traditional list. It will be fun to see how creative you Chatter readers can get with your lists (and price totals) of finding the famous items mentioned in the carol. So, if you have your own version of Twelve Days of Christmas on eBay, post it on this thread on the Chatter Blog discussion board!
And now, without the singing, (too bad, because I have a pretty decent voice, if I do say so myself), here's my take on the price of purchasing The Twelve Days of Christmas on eBay.
On the first day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
A Partridge Family CD in a Pear Tree.
Buy It Now price of the CD (not including shipping): $9.99
Buy It Now price of a Callery Flowering Strong Wooded Bradford Pear Tree (not including shipping): $3.95
(Bummer if you live in California or Hawaii – due to agricultural restrictions, you won’t be able to have the tree shipped there!)
Total so far: $13.94
On the second day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
Price of 2 turtle doves from the Audubon “Holiday Birds” collection: $15.00
Total so far: $28.94
On the third day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Three French Hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
My search for "French hen" resulted in a ton of listings, but this one was definitely among my favorites.
Price of French chef figurine with three French hens: $49.99
Total so far: $78.93
On the fourth day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Four Calling Birds Fairy by Mark Roberts, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Total price of this charming Mark Roberts fairy: $75.50
Total so far: $154.43
On the fifth day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Five Golden Rings. Have you ever wondered why there's such a long pause during this part of the song? Me too! Anyway, we're at five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Price of 5 golden wedding band rings at $84 each = $420.00
Total so far: $574.43
On the sixth day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Six Geese A-Laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. I figured we could just lay these hunting decoys on their sides to depict laying geese. That works, right? 
Price of 6 Avery Greenhead Gear full body goose decoys: $112.50
Total so far: $686.93
On the seventh day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Seven Swans A-Swimming Swan Lake CD. So now we're up to seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Price of a new sealed CD of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake: $8.73
Total so far: $695.66
On the eighth day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Eight Maids A-Milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four
calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in
a pear tree..
Price of 8 Complete portable Milker milking machines with vacuum pumps, at $690.00 each = $5,520.00
Now I realize that the total went up nearly ten-fold by adding these milking machines, but wait until you see how I saved a ton of money on the ninth and tenth days of Christmas!
Total so far: $6215.66
On the ninth and tenth days of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Nine Ladies Dancing & 10 Lords A-Leaping, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four
calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in
a pear tree.
1 Pair of tickets for the Dancing With the Stars Tour in Los Angeles (airfare not included), at $119.00 each = $238.00
See what I mean about the money saved by combining the nine dancing ladies with the ten leaping lords?
Total so far: $6453.66
On the eleventh day of Christmas, My eBay showed to me:
Eleven Pipers Piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four
calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in
a pear tree.
Price of 11 bagpipe learning kits at $145 each: $1595
Total so far: $8048.66
On the twelfth day of Christmas, My eBay showed for me:
Twelve Drummers Drumming, eleven Pipers Piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four
calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in
a pear tree. .
Price of 12 seven-piece drum sets at $329.99 each = $3959.88
Grand Total: $12008.54
So, there you have it. My Twelve Days of Christmas on eBay come in at a whopping $12008.54! And that's not including shipping. At just over a thousand bucks for each line in the carol, this is a tiny bit above my budget! But I’m sure all you smart buyers and sellers out there will be able to beat my total easily.
Just remember to post your own Twelve Days of Christmas on eBay versions on the Chatter blog discussion board, and let's see who comes up with the lowest and highest amounts!
Happy Holidays!
If you ever need a reminder of the inherent goodness of people on eBay, look no further than the Hurricane Buddies on the Clothing, Shoes & Accessories board. With this year's hurricane season being among the most intense in recent years, they've taken it upon themselves to take care of each other.
