Yet another one bites the dust!

[Deacon]

Just my two-cents for what it's worth....

Ebay is a marketplace where I'm sure we've all benefited, whether as a buyer or seller. And obviously it's not the perfect maketplace for a number of reasons. But it's probably the best marketplace we in the hobby have. It's perpetual, it's fresh & I check it daily, looking for values, hole fillers & variety. Not only that, but I've been able to make contacts with other collectors and dealers in the hobby....some very nice people at that.

I'm not a proponent of a seller being contacted by a buyer trying to end the auction early but, if the seller goes for it & leaves money on the table, so be it and it's his own fault for not knowing the value (or approximate value) of the item he has to sell & he suffers the loss. I've been pissed on a couple of occasions, believe me. When compared to a flea market or yard sale or show...wouldn't this be like an "early bird" showing up before the event begins trying to beat the crowd & pick up a deal? Or even with the auction house's shill bidding, which I'm sure has been cleaned up recently, but do we know for sure?

Would it improve ebay to go with a Buy it Now / Best Offer format, where the seller sets his BIN price and accepts the best offer? That might hurt some snippers & it might also keep pricing down for sellers, but as we know, Best Offer doesn't mean that, it means the best offer the seller would accept. I recently put in a best offer bid, where I was the only offer, but didn't win.

Oh well, ebay is what it is and people are who they are. More importantly is that after today, there likely won't be any baseball until Friday...which really SUCKS.

[larjoranj]

And this notion of equal chances is bogus anyway. A collector with a fat wallet is always more equal if it goes the distance. Is it fair that a passionate collector of a certain player or team or brand loses out on a glove he's wanted for years to some rich guy who just thinks it's a neat looking glove and is only pocket change to him?

With all due respect, are you serious?

I'm just trying to point out that somebody will be dissatisfied no matter how you conduct ebay and I don't know how to quantify equal or fair to suit everybody.

It's clear I'm in the minority of those posting an opinion. I'll leave it with this: I think the rules of ebay should be followed when on ebay. It is my understanding that until a bid has been entered a seller is free to add a buy it now and is within the rules to do so. It is also my understanding that a buyer can request a seller to add a buy it now, as long as he doesn't try to get around ebays fees. I think interested buyers should bid early which will block rules abiding sellers from adding a buy it now. I don't have an answer for sellers that don't abide by the rules. I think if you see something you like and it has no bids you should feel free to ask them for a price. However, since the majority so far do not agree, I will personally refrain so as not to offend any seller.

[larjoranj]

I'd be interested to know how the forum feels about this: When a seller has a buy it now price that seems out of line and gets no hits for days, would you consider it ok to make a lesser offer? What about an auction with a starting price of 99.00 for what everyone recognizes as a 30.00 glove. Is it fair to email that person and tell them if their glove does not sell you'd be willing to give x amount if they want to relist with buy it now?

[murphusa]

No need to call, write or do anything, an auction is an auction. There are rules set up in advance and you make your decisions based on those rules.

It doesn’t matter what conditions or reserves that are set, you make a choice to participate based on the description, starting price and what you will pay in the end.

If at some time during the auction the rules are changed by the auctioneer/seller then that is bad. No matter what the reason, you have broken a contract with everyone who has already bid on your auction. (This also includes Hunts and others)

If you are hurt by the change, write the sellers ID down and keep away from future auctions.

If it is a description change then find out if you can retract you bid and go back then and relook at you participation

[Rickybulldog]

I still haven't heard anything to sway me the other way. Brett great points and nice pull on Machiavelli. You don't get to use that one everyday!

Totally agree that an auction and a flea market are 2 totally different things. Flea markets are set up for things to be bought and sold and things to be haggled over (if you choose). Auctions are set for a duration of time and involve bidding until a highest bidder is decided (depending on format). Brett your REA and Hunt auction example was wonderful. I’d love to see their reply if I tried that on the Spalding trophy I wanted.


What concerns me now is that if an auction doesn’t have bids for 24hrs (let’s say) it’s game to be asked to change to a buy it now. WHAT? You can’t just watch an item until the last day and then place your bid? If that’s the case, then why have the watch tab on your My Ebay page?. In that line of thinking, am I now supposed to bid the second it comes on and mark my territory so that others stay away or don’t try to change the format? Sorry but auctions that run their course are a marathon not a sprint. Besides most people wait until the end or last day to bid anyway, we all know that.


And the whole unfairness for a collector of meager standing having no chance to some deep pocket collector in an auction I really can’t sympathize with. There has been many times when I had my eye on something that I KNEW would draw tons of interest from the Big Boys. So in order to make a play for it I sacrificed and sold some of my top pieces just to compete. Just my warped outlook on things.

[vintagebrett]

If the person who got the OK MFG Company basketball ended is reading this, please let me know if it's for sale. I was thrilled to see this item come up as I need one for my collection. Disheartened the next day to see it was sold.

[murphusa]

the reason most people with deep pockets have them is because they know how to stretch their money

[murphusa]

Glad you got it... sure you didn't send him the $500 note to scare away potential bidders? Just kidding!

I used to have a Goldsmith Mathewson with the same leather. It's supper soft and extremely porous. It's going to be difficult to clean. You'll likely decide to only dry-clean it (meaning a soft brush with no liquid of any type) after receiving it. If you're able to do more with it, would love to see the results. Even as is, it's pretty nice.

The glove turned out to be pretty nice but I think the $500.00 suggestion came from a friend of the seller. The silver was a recent paint pen addition. Smart that they didn't fill in everything so it showed well on the auction.

Still a nice glove but not a $500.00. More in the same as Brett's

[murphusa]

Last week I was the winning bidder on two items in an auction. I paid the complete invoice within 24 hours including the primium fee plus postage and handling.

the items were a boxed glove and a L/S Cardboard sign

Today I received this

Jim,

Due to the large and awkward size and of your package, and the fact that we have not shipped anything of that size before, the original $18.95 cost of shipping was not enough to cover the costs. The difference that is remaining is $12.00, if you could please send us that amount to our paypal account we will ship your winning bid as soon as possible.


So would you pay it

[Mr. Mitt]

I would never have the balls to even ask a winning bidder to pay more for shipping on miscalculation on my part. That's terrible.

For me, it would depend on how much I really wanted the item(s). If you really want what you won, pay the extra shipping and then nail him on the feedback. If you could care less about what you won, say you're not paying the extra fees. Ultimately, he might realize his stupidity and eat the $12.

[murphusa]

This was through a Sports Auction House and not ebay

[Mr. Mitt]

That's obsurd... HUGE gonads...

If you want the items, pay it. If you could care less, take a stance and make a point, refuse.

[vintagebrett]

Wow! That is kind of crazy. You would think they would have done a better job of estimating the cost since that is part of the job. I've undercharged for shipping many times and eaten the cost - just part of doing business.

[vintagebrett]

If you wanted the Mantle box the first time around it's back up

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

[Mr. Mitt]

This was listed previously by another seller? I didn't see it. Could you provide a link to the original listing, please.