andre-dawson is a seasoned eBay veteran who has been a member since December 1998. Today he has earned a stellar reputation as a professional bidder and seller from hundreds upon  hundreds of auctions for nearly 10 years.

History

Hailing from Irvine, California in Orange County by ways of Riverside, andre began his career on eBay after dissatisfaction at the low number of items sold on various auction websites. After trying out several auction sites, including Yahoo! Auctions, andre made his home on eBay where he continued a childhood passion for collecting baseball and basketball sports trading cards. Initially began with the user-name "tj-swann", an ode to a favorite R&B singer known for his appearances with Biz Markie on Cold Chillin' Records. Shortly thereafter he switched to his current handle "andre-dawson", in recognition for his favorite player on his adorded 1990 Chicago Cubs. The 1990 Cubs included a memorable cast of talented all-star players such as Ryne Sandberg, Greg Maddux, Mark Grace, Shawon Dunston, Joe Girardi, and of course Andre Dawson -- the '90 Cubs were also the team of choice whenever playing R.B.I. Baseball III for Nintendo.

eBay

• Seller

You can rest assured that if you will receive the utmost in professionalism when bidding on an item from andre-dawson. As a seller, andre is known to take care of his customers with accurate descriptions, speedy shipments, excellent communication, and overall outstanding customer service. Here are just a few testimonials of what others had to say about their experience with andre:

• Quickest delivery ever and astounding service! Thank you so much! -jenniferfu1
• great seller-- very fast delivery-- good packaging--item arrived perfect- thanks -matts4345
• Brilliant product and cordial businessman! -devinean
• Great item, securely shipped, highly recommend to do business with. -borninvinceable

• Bidder

Andre is the ideal bidder you want purchasing your item. He provides quick payment delivery, generously gives positive feedback, and is a pleasure to deal with.

Notable eBay transactions

• Highest sold items

• 2000-01 Vince Carter Toronto Raptors authentic pro-cut jersey $416.16 (04/30/2004)
• Wayne Cooper game used Denver Nuggets jersey $336.55 (10/02/2002)
• 1991 Philadelphia 76ers game used jersey $372.56 (08/15/2003)
• Bill Walton Mitchell & Ness Portland Trailblazers jersey $207.49 (11/29/2002)

• Highest purchased items

• Nazr Mohammed & Jacques Vaughn Atlanta Hawks game used jerseys $256.00 (11/23/2003)
• Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, and Calgary Flames game used jerseys $219.73 (08/20/2003)
• Bill Walton Mitchell & Ness Portland Trailblazers jersey $206.00 (10/24/2002)

• First purchased items on eBay

• Luis Salazar autographed San Diego Padres baseball card
• 1999 SP Authentic Chirography Corey Koskie baseball card
• Mark Grace autographed 8x10 picture

• First items sold on eBay

• 1967 Topps Willie Stargell baseball card
• Public Enemy's Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black & Naughty By Nature Poverty's Paradise CDs

• Favorite purchased items

• Big Daddy Kane RIAA gold plaque for It's A Big Daddy Thing record
• 1987-88 Darwin Cook Denver Nuggets game used warmup jacket
• 1984-86 Hillsborough High School (Tampa, FL) yearbooks (Gary Sheffield)
• The Swami - "The Swami Scratch" 12-inch single
• Shawon Dunston authentic 1990 Chicago Cubs jersey

Personal

andre has many interests that he partakes in during his spare time. eBay has been a great way for andre to pursue these interests, where he constantly finds rare and one-of-a-kind collectibles.

• California desert history

Andre enjoys studying 20th California desert history, especially the region between Barstow and Needles. His interest has led him to acquire vintage maps, antique books, travel brochures, and old postcards from that region. Whenever he gets the chance, andre enjoys traveling across I-40 and old Route 66 where he vicariously absorbs himself into abandoned and forsaken desert communities. Some of his favorite place names from this region include: National Old Trails Highway, Kelbaker Road, Crucero Road, Barstow, Siberia, Klondike, Lavic, Amboy, Ludlow, Chambless, Cadiz, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs, Siam, Ibis, Hartoum, The Needles, Rice, Vidal Junction, Vidal, and many more interesting locations.

• Sports

As mentioned earlier, andre has been a long-time fan of professional sports -- mostly of the NBA and MLB. Although andre is not well-versed in the current happenings in the world of sports, he rather enjoys sports teams and players from the late 1980's through the mid-1990's. Besides collecting trading cards, andre also has a collection of authentic jerseys (including several game worn memorabilia). andre's favorite NBA team is the Reggie Miller-era Indiana Pacers and the 1990s Atlanta Braves. His favorite players include: Reggie Miller (NBA-Pacers), Ken Norman (NBA-Clippers), Larry Johnson (NBA-Knicks), Ron Harper (NBA-Clippers), Mark Price (NBA-Cavs), Andre Dawson (MLB-Expos/Cubs), Shawon Dunston (MLB-Cubs), David Justice (MLB-Braves), Bip Roberts (MLB-Padres), Gary Sheffield (MLB-Brewers).

• Music

Music is another one of andre's guilty pleasures. His musical tastes are eclectic (and sometimes eccentric) ranging from vocal doo-wop of the 1950's and early 1960's, to R&B and funk of the 1960's and 1970's, to electro dance music of the 1980's, to golden era hip-hop of the late 1980's and early 1990's. Today andre spends more time collecting music than listening to it, arguably one of his most expensive habits (mainly due to the fact that interest from European record collectors have inflated prices). Obscure records and CDs from small California and regional independent hip-hop labels (a particularly keen interests of German hip-hop collectors) is andre's specialty. Today he is working on a documentary about 1980's electro-rap music from Southern California. Andre's favorite albums of all-time include EPMD's Business Never Personal (1992), Nice & Smooth's Ain't a Damn Thing Changed (1991), Blahzay Blahzay's Blah Blah Blah (1995), Da Lench Mob's Guerillas In Tha Mist (1992), Big Daddy Kane's It's A Big Daddy Thing (1989), Prince Paul's Psychoanalysis (What Is It?) (1997), Redhead Kingpin And The FBI's The Album With No Name (1991), Run-DMC's King of Rock (1985), and Wrecks-N-Effect's Wrecks-N-Effect (1989).

• Misc

Other of andre's interests include editing pages on Discogs.com and Wikipedia.org, traveling to off-beat towns, photography, reading, writing, politics, taking adventures, eating at hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and anything nostalgic of the past.