eBay, shopping for men

As any woman will tell you, men are rarely enthusiastic about the idea of a Saturday afternoon spent wondering around the shops. True, this is partly because it clashes head on with the football. More fundamentally though, it denies man the use of half his hunter-gatherer skills. Psychologically it's more than 50%; let's face it no man makes much of a fuss about his gathering skills does he? So how do you get a man interested in shopping? eBay, that's how.

eBay has a distinct difference to virtually every other form of shopping, including other internet shopping sites. Something which is fundamentally designed to appeal to the male psyche. It's a competition. It brings back the hunt to resource collection. You can't just waltz into an eBay shop, slap down your cash, pick up your Liberty X t-shirt and walk out. No, no. On eBay you have to find it, stalk it, hunt it, snipe it and win it. So powerful is the competitive aspect, that I reckon there are blokes out there who have paid over 100 quid for series 2 of The Office on DVD just to know that they denied some other bastard it. They won. He lost. And for a man, you can't put a price on that feeling.

Don't assume that this psychological trick will remain solely with eBay. Your local Tescos could soon become a Savannah where wild Kingsmill loaves graze nervously and packs of organic peach yogurts stand like Meercats listening out for any signs of the return of man, the hunter*!

*with his list, basket and loyality card.