Oh...boy... I know that little CMW vehicle is a bit hard to find... but selling for almost $120 including shipping is hard to believe. Basically there was a bidding war between two very HIGHLY motivated bidders and this is not likely a good basis for market value. The fact the bidding ramped-up at $32.00 is really just a matter of which bidder had the most desire. I'd value the little USPS van at about $30.00 though... due to its appeal and scarcity. I only bought two packages when they came out in 2004... wish I had bought a whole case... but... then they were scarce shortly after release. I wonder what the REA van goes for?
I don't see that as a bidding war. Look at the bids. The one guy just kept biding the price up against nobody. Then stopped and the doofus that won ended up paying a lot. I think that was a classic "Shill bidding".
I'm with you on the "this won't happen again" for the Post Office van. If I thought it would, I would immediately declare one of mine to be surplus! But then again, I suspect there will be many, many, many of these appearing on that Internet Auction Community in the next 1 to 3 days.
I recently had a brand new MT CB&Q boxcar runner pack go up to $81 (I listed it with free shipping) which was very much in excess of what I thought it would go for. It is amazing how many of those sets are now appearing. Andy Tetsu Uma
The flip side to this is I had a car once listed on Ebay that I couldn't give away for $9.99 w/free shipping. It was a Deluxe Innovations smooth side 100 ton Gunderson wood chip car for the Willamette & Pacific. No sooner after I finally sold mine at a swap meet for a louzy $8 (with weathering and a real sawdust chip load added) one went on Ebay for $62! I cant win on Ebay. I always seem to get the people that want a $20 car for $5.
That's a bit shocking... REA van would seem to be a more desireable model for a model railroader to want than the USPS van. But again 'value' is in the eye of the beholder... and if the right beholder isn't bidding against another just as motivated beholder then the item will not sell for its highest possible price. Perhaps the REA van is more readily available than the USPS too. Wasn't there a Sealtest van as well??? About the 'Shill' bidding... I agree that this scheme does occur frequently on ANY type of auction... but... still there has to be at least one seriously interested party to fuel the sale. Obviously someone REALLY wanted the model at any price. The last reasonably (unreasonable) price was $32.00. The apparent 'Shill' c***n nibbled at the bid up to $44.00 and stopped. When a***o upped his bid... then c***n began nibbling again raising the price above the $78.98 a***o had originally established as the high bid. Obviously... once a***o upped his bid on this item... that tipped the 'Shill' that there was a live one on the line. The bidding slowed down because there had to be a point where the 'Shill' was feeling they might end-up winning the item. BTW... there is no way to know for sure if c***n is a 'Shill' or just someone that was originally a serious bidder that decided to make the other guy overpay out of spite. SO... a warning to those bidding on eBay... bid ONCE and don't let the 'Shills' know you're a really motivated buyer for the item. BY THE WAY... for those of you who hate last second 'Snipers'... thats how you keep the 'Shills' away.
Shill bidding? say it ain't so, Joe... might've happened to me once or twice some months ago. (See my recent post "recovering SD80s.") But, biggest issue is to buy wisely and watch one's purse. I'll use your tips, Calzephyr.
Yeah... I've been 'shilled' into overpaying because I 'tipped my hand' and got drawn into a bidding war. Most of the time I stop well short of being the high bidder. Funny thing happens when you've been in bidding war with a 'Shill'... if you pull-out of it and the 'Shill' gets stuck with the item... their will often be an email sent that there was another item available and you can get it for the last bid you put in... Hmmmmm... I say too bad... I suddenly lost interest in the item...
Thats interesting - i have often wondered about false bidding by 'pals'. And funnily enough i dont think, well at least in my experience, that anyone ever responded to 'second chance' - I had offerred several in the past that were just honestly that - a second chance, due to someone didnt pay or had personal issue. I never had anyone helping my stuff along - well that I knew of anyway, and they were always dead ends. When one is a Seller - then one hates that no one bids til the end - Then when one is a Buyer, we , including I, all wait til the end to bid - ah well - and sniping - well - that takes all the human 'challenge' out of those last minute sneaky bids doesnt it.
I just received a second chance offer on a Fox Valley Models CN loco that I suspect the high bidder was shilling. Like someone else said I had lost interest and purchased a DCC unit and Kato UP loco instead. One of the hardest parts of the auction is getting all hyped up in the end.... Funny how you say "my highest bid will be x" but once you get outbid it increases.
the *shilling* and other inflating of prices is why i only purchase on eBay those things that are listed as *buy it now* at a fixed price. too many bidding wars and so often ends up being so much more in cost than what it is worth...so let the supply and demand have its way and what i can afford at a reasonable price will have to do. \
I was selling an N Scale Cornerstone building. Just before the auction ended the high bidder sent me a message that he wanted to withdraw his bid because it was not his scale. Funny thing is, he bid on it 3 times. N Scale was clearly stated in the auction title and again in bold letters in the description. I looked at his feedback from his wins, and they were all HO scale. I canceled the auction with him and sent a "Second chance" offer to the next highest bidder. Haven't heard anything yet. Not holding my breath. If he doesn't accept the second chance, I will relist the item.
I find "Buy it now" to be mostly retail price. No bidding wars for me. I just put in a snipe bid. If I get it good. If I don't, "Oh Well".
Good logic - basicly same here - however there have been some buyitnows which were decent, but they usually involve being online at the right moment. As for bidding - I dont use snipe, but i wait til the end, and give it one shot - if I win - great - if not - ciest-la-vie. (It still is stupid how the adrenaline pumps during that final bid shot though)
You guys likely won't believe me nor care, but.... I was gifted, by my maker, with the ability to quickly scan through large amounts of data and "filter" it faster than many folks (usually ~ 1 ebay page per second). Sounds like BS I know, but everyone's head works differently. I annoy the pi$$ out of people trying to read things alongside me! (not intentionally LOL). Where am I going with this in relatin to N scale? Well..... I browse the N scale category "newest listings" 10+ times a day. I see almost every darn item that gets listed! And I can say, without a doubt, that I have gotten some fantastic deals simply because I was one of the first people to see a good BIN listing. I mull it over a few seconds, but if I want it (regardless of need) and it's a good deal? I just BIN (That's why I am always selling stuff, really- I don't always need what I get, or keep what I want. If I did, there'd be no walls in my place, merely boxes of trains!) I have more examples of "right place right time" buys in my ebay history than I could recall! Don't lose faith in Ebay. There are still good people who conduct honest sales there at fair price, they're just between the lines of reposted dreck. Now, I will tell you one big thing I have realized drives me absolutely nuts, worse than short descriptions or ¤¤¤¤e pictures: Sellers who have an arse-load of parts, who relist said parts every 1-3 days simply to "top-post". I wish I didn't have to sort through all of those same listings every few days, but it's the price I pay! Nothing else in the world of eBaying irks me so. Ramble over.
This link takes you to the general N category. Left side of page are options which break it down further: http://www.ebay.com/sch/N-Scale-/19119/i.html?_armrs=1&_mdo=Toys-Hobbies&_mspp=&_pcats=479%2C220
QFT- quoted for truth. Also, once you select your options (sort by date/US only/etc.) then (be logged in already) click "save search" near the top. Then you can access it any time with "My Ebay" Menu -> "Saved Searches". I would avoid daily update emails (uncheck that box when saving the search). Cheers! Oh, and what about an N scale rehab? "Hi. My name is Brian, and I like trains."
And this is exactly why eBay needs an "ignore list". Which we'll never see. Back to the US Mail van: The apparent losing bidder asked a question (post-auction?) to the seller basically begging for another listing. The seller said sorry, that was the last one. I haven't checked to see whether any more of these have appeared. I checked my stash and I've got two of them... the temptation is strong...
