Spirited bidding on anything ‘Canuck’

 

Cup run has spurred flood of interest in team memorabilia, website official says

 

By Evan Duggan, Vancouver Sun

 

June 13, 2011

 

From:http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Spirited+bidding+anything+Canuck/4936154/story.html

 

 Canucks jerseys are among the most popular items sought on Used.ca, an online classified service.

Photograph by:Stuart Davis, PNG, Vancouver Sun

 

 

Despite the Canucks’ temporary reversal of fortune in Boston last week, zeal for the team’s used merchandise has continued to sizzle online.

 

“All the sites across B.C. are just taking off,” said Charlotte Cowley, marketing manager of Used.ca (visit usedcanada.com), an online classified service that started in Vancouver.

 

The reason, she says, is the rising number of Canucks fans and memorabilia collectors eager to get their hands on stuff -anything -plastered with the familiar orca, stick-in-rink, flying “V,” or skate logos set upon the rainbow of Canucks’ colours past.

 

In May of last year there were 100 Canucks-related items posted from across the province on the site, Cowley said. This year there are more than four times that many.

 

Last month there were 550 searches for “anything with the word Canuck in it” in Vancouver alone, and more than 9,000 online shoppers from across the province have browsed that inventory over the last 30 days, Crowley said.

 

“Jerseys are typically the hottest item,” Cowley said, adding that many fans are looking to score tickets.

 

A little boy recently posted some merchandise on the site, she said. “He was trying to give away his two dirt bikes in exchange for [Canucks] tickets.”

 

She said they took the posting down to check if he had his parents’ permission.

 

Another posting by Roger Rivard, of Victoria, displays a professionally framed 2009 Canucks away jersey signed by the entire team.

 

Rivard won it in a draw at a golf tournament and someone offered him $1,200 for it on the spot.

 

“I said ‘No, I’ll take it home and show my wife,'” Rivard said.

 

Now, with Canucks fever taking hold, Rivard -an Oilers fan -is looking to get that $1,200 from a willing buyer online. He’s had no offers yet, so he’s considering lowering the price, he said.

 

Some of the more unusual items include a stylish metal belt buckle imprinted with the stick-in-rink logo. Bids start at $20.

 

Another person is asking $35 for an official never-beenused Canucks dart board and cabinet.

 

“If you love hockey but wish there was more throwing of pointy objects involved, this is for you!” the seller wrote.

 

Also available is a 2000 white Ford sedan -a former police cruiser -emblazoned with “Canucks” and “40” across the side in green and blue. Canucks flags extend from each of its four doors.

 

More than 6,040 browsers have checked out the car posting since it went up on May 3.

 

There’s been “all sorts of crazy stuff” posted, Crowley said.

 

eduggan@vancouversun.com

 

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