So items that did survive fetch healthy prices from collectors, a trend that figures to continue.
So items are weighted - i.e. given more importance in the inflation indexes - according to how much we spend on them.
An additional 15 or so items have been promised.
But even so, items from the American bases, in particular food items, have been appearing in bazaars.
A quick scan of the 100 or so items on display reveals a wide range of subjects: religious, mythological, scientific, political, ornamental, recreational.
And there is food: hot food, cold food, Asian food, American regional, international; usually 60 or so items, including, the other day, polenta lasagna, a dubious, gooey concoction.
My own suggested picks are a selection of sitcoms, comedy features and standup, probably because the last five or so items I watched were of the same genre.
For starters, condo-hotel living means hotel living, so items like extra closets and washers and dryers are out of the question.
At Christmas and other peak sales periods like Easter and the summer holidays it adds another 200 or so items to its product list.
The I.R.S. said it had received 400,000 "pieces of correspondence" during the shutdown, and had a million or so items already awaiting attention.
"When buyers search items, they can sort results by price plus postage, so items with free or low postage costs rank higher.
