Features

The latest thing in protesting seems to be trying to sell something on TradeMe. OUSA tried to sell themselves to make a point about VSM. Design Studies made a brief appearance on the site in April. A school principal in Invercargill even tried to sell the New Zealand curriculum on TradeMe to protest national standards. All of these auctions were taken down on the grounds that these things weren’t actually for sale. Caitlyn O’Fallon set out to investigate what else is for sale online, and along the way, what to do with six kilograms of marshmallows.
 
 
 
THE OBVIOUS.
The internet is a big place, and a substantial chunk of it is devoted to selling stuff. A lot of shops have online outlets. If you’re into electronics, you don’t need to go into Dick Smith, Noel Leeming, and Bond and Bond to find the best price. They (and most other competitors) all have online stores. If you prefer clothes, then your options range right through from Glassons to Kate Sylvester. Woolworths will even deliver your groceries for about ten bucks.
Add to these the sites like TradeMe, the iTunes store, and Mighty Ape, which only trade online, and you really start to see the possibilities. Online shops have lower overheads than ‘real’ shops, so their prices are often much lower. TradeMe is obviously a potential goldmine of cheap stuff. And what’s more, shopping on the internet is fun.
 
THE DANGER.
You know all that. It’s 2010. You also know that shopping at your computer doesn’t feel as real as normal shopping. It’s much easier to get bored and browse online (you can only procrastinate for so long on Facebook) than it is to haul your arse into an actual shop. Instead of handing over cash or swiping a card, all it takes is to enter a few numbers and whatever you want will arrive on

your doorstep a few days later. It feels like getting presents in the mail.
This is why the internet is such a dangerous place to shop. For those of us inclined towards impulsivity, there are just so many opportunities. It is actually possible to be medically diagnosed with ‘compulsive buying disorder’ or, to put it medically, oniomania. Apparently being a shopaholic is not just a joke. It’s probably unsurprising to learn that the majority of sufferers are women – but men are not immune. So, how can you tell if your buying is out of control?
Here are some warning signs:
 
1. Buying things you can’t afford.
2. Impulse buying, often followed by guilt or remorse.
3. Being unable to stop shopping, even if it’s having a negative impact on finances or relationships.
4. Lying about prices or purchases, or hiding things.
5. Thinking about money and shopping gets in the way of daily life.
6. Shopping because you’re lonely, sad, or bored.
7. Buying things and then never using them.
8. Being in debt as a result of shopping.
 
Seriously. It is a problem – people go to the doctor for it. Though not Student Health, it seems, as they cannot recall anyone complaining of oniomania. But that does not mean there is not a problem among students in Dunedin. Students whose parents bought their love with toys and presents when they were younger are more likely to develop a problem when they get older, because of the ongoing sentiment of emotional deprivation they endured as children. The purchase of a toy is substituted for affection. These so-called ‘shopaholics’ are unable to deal with their everyday problems, especially those that alter their self-esteem. Most of the issues in their lives are repressed by buying something.
 
THE MARSHMALLOWS.
Putting that element of competition in there just makes it worse. On TradeMe, bidding is practically a competitive sport. But one site has the compulsive buyer online shopping audience all worked out: 1-day.co.nz.
1-day is a smaller contributor to the internet shopping phenomenon than TradeMe, but the purchases it offers are definitely weirder: 12 bags of cocoa pops or 48 bags of salt and vinegar chips were two examples Critic found students guilty of buying. One student confessed to coming within a few clicks of buying a unicycle.
Basically what happens is that every day, this website displays three deals, offering a massive range of products for cheap. Each deal only lasts for one day, hence the name. A lot of stuff sells within hours or even minutes, and a little status bar keeps you informed of how much is left. The items range from cameras to gym equipment to bulk food – which, of course, is where the marshmallows come into it.
They were cheap. With shipping, it worked out at about $4 per kilo. And a kilo of marshmallows goes a long way. Of course, just because something’s cheap, doesn’t mean it’s worth buying. But that didn’t stop one Critic giving into temptation.
To put six kilograms of marshmallows into perspective, an ordinary bag of marshmallows weighs 180 grams. The marshmallows Critic bought equated to 33 of these bags.
Critic became its own case study in what happens when compulsive buying meets the internet. And what happens is that you get really, really sick of marshmallows.
They started off well. The box of marshmallows was impressively, satisfyingly big. The marshmallows were the good sort, with that soft, sugary, flakey coating and the moist, gooey insides. Hot chocolates were the drink of the moment. Then the baking started. The recipes started out classic. Rice bubble squares, rocky road, and marshmallow brownies. But then they started to get insane.
Candied yams are not quite what they sound like. In North America, yam can mean the vegetable we think it means, or it can mean kumara. In this case, ‘candied yam’ is a side dish made with kumara. From a New Zealand viewpoint, it involves some pretty strange ingredients: brown sugar, cinnamon … and marshmallows.
This caramelized, buttery mush of kumara with a gloopy marshmallow layer and crispy sugary top made a surprisingly palatable dessert. The real puzzle was that it’s not a dessert. This is a side dish to go with your turkey at Thanksgiving.
At the time this went to print, Critic had about four kilos of marshmallows left.
 
THE RECIPES
 
Candied Yams
Yes, this is meant to be a savoury side dish. Other common ingredients are honey, maple syrup, or orange juice.
 
Ingredients:
1kg kumara or fruit
150g butter, melted
100g brown sugar
About half a bag of marshmallows. Specifically, the white half, though I guess raspberry would be interesting
Cinnamon (to taste)
 
Peel the kumara and chop it into bite-sized pieces. Boil for around 10 minutes until soft.
Mix in the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mash the kumara up a bit, but not so much that it’s like mashed potatoes, just so it sticks together instead of being separate chunks. 
Put it into a greased, oven-proof dish and layer the marshmallows on top. Stick it under the grill for about two minutes – keep an eye on it, it goes quickly. When it’s all golden brown and puffy, it’s ready to eat.
A much yummier (but less interesting) version involves putting marshmallows on top of cooked fruit and sticking it under the grill. Two apples and a banana with a decent spoonful of brown sugar and lashings of cinnamon, cooked in the microwave, works really well. The name ‘candied yams’ seems a bit inappropriate here, though.
 
Rice Bubble Squares
These are like a much nicer version of LCM bars.
 
Ingredients:
A bag of marshmallows
A couple of decent spoonfuls of butter
Rice bubbles
 
Melt the butter and marshmallows in the microwave. 
Mix in rice bubbles until it’s the consistency you like – gooier or crunchier. It will probably take about three cups. 
Press into a greased tray (the greased bit is important – marshmallow’s sticky …) and leave to set. Slice into squares once it’s cooled.
 
 
Rocky R

oad
There are a lot of different variations on this recipe out there. The basic idea is marshmallows and chocolate, with various additions. This is a good version.
 
Ingredients
400g dark chocolate melts
250g marshmallows
1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
100g glace cherries or raspberry lollies (like jubes)
1/2 cup desiccated coconut (optional)
 
Line the base and sides of an 18 x 28cm rectangular tin with foil or baking paper.
Melt the chocolate. The easiest way to do it is in the microwave in short bursts, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.
Mix everything into the chocolate and dump it into the tray.
Put the tin in the fridge for 20 minutes to set. 
 
 
WHERE TO SHOP.
TradeMe.co.nz: the ultimate place to shop online. Not only is it possible to buy almost anything on there, but the thrill of an auction makes everything so much more exciting – and more dangerous. It’s too easy to pass all your limits if there’s something you really want.
MightyApe.co.nz: Mighty Ape is more of a straightforward place to buy stuff. It’s probably the best place to go for new games, movies, music, books, and electronics.
1-day.co.nz: this site tends to lead to the sudden realisation that you really really need a cheap digital photo frame/pair of socks/bulk quantity of gummy worms. It’s impulse buying at its most fun. There are three deals per day, each of which only lasts the 24 hours, and often there are limited quantities available.
iTunes store: MP3s are one of the most common impulse purchases, and iTunes is the number one supplier.
thinkgeek.com: the nerdiest online store ever and probably also the most awesome. Products include giant cuddly microbes (ever wanted to give your girlfriend Chlamydia for her birthday?), astronaut ice cream, soundtrack t-shirts (the exact one Raj had on The Big Bang Theory – life is way cooler with theme music), and heaps of other gadgets and cool things.