Ummm... This is a joke, right?

Looking at the bids, it appears it was a bidding war between two guys...now the interesting part is gonna be if the seller ever gets paid.

batjac wrote:This has to be a joke, right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141154340408?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_1572wt_1200

I mean, I know I got mine for a good price at $50 NIB.  But $500?!?  Whoevever bought this shoulda waited.  They come up relatively often on eBay in that condition.

The Flabbergasted Mark

He's done well especially as it didn't have the cardboard sleeve.

 

Christmas money and end of the year estate settlements can give some people the illusion they're rich. Then there are others who actually are.

$500!!!!!  

Like i was saying the question is: Does it actually sell for $500? Not unless the seller actually collects and I doubt it, once the goofy buyer comes out of the ether and realizes what he's done. I used to have to deal with this stuff all the time when I sold on eBay, its still the most lucrative media for selling, but you will get a lot of 'no pays' when your dealing with so many buyers.

I been seeing the TD.020 NIB sell from 125.00 to 175.00 lately, one right now bid to 152.00. Way more than even a year ago.
Still 500$ I don't think the  seller will be paid.

fredvon4 wrote:I guess not a joke... any auction item may end up being significantly over bid

I listed a few (5) hand held radios from the Army I found in a dumpster in 1994. They were only really good as parts and I said so in my listing. I expected around $25 to $45 for the lot.  Damned things got bid up to over $480 in last few hours. I contacted the winning bidder, a fireman from Georgia, and told him that the bid was way out of line with the value of the items and I would gladly accept $100 and free ship them to him. He insisted on paying what he bid.... Crazy world.... conversely I listed a few items once with no reserve and .99 opening bid.... days later not one bid

I mostly list only buy it now items, and mostly I look ONLY for buy it now items

On the other hand this seller has an item I want and will bid on it in a few days if I see no real interest from others

The Fox 36X Mark VI I won this weekend had opening bid of $109... Last ten min I put in a max value to me.... my bid won at the opening bid price as the only bidder...very curious

 hello Fred in Texas , I have also had some strange occancys on the bay at large , I had mentioned it brfore I want go on about it . just saying!  :heater: :heater:

This wasn't really a "bidding war". One guy placed a maximum bid of $499 to make sure he won it. It is risky and he wouldn't have expected it to go that high. He was an experienced bidder and this is a technique often used.

However, a newcomer to Ebay with a score of three??? Very suspicious! I bet the experienced guy is glad he didn't win and was outbid.

Is that number next to the bidders the number of purchases they've made?
How does it affect future bids if you have a no-pay in your buyer's record, can a seller refuse to deal with you if you have bad buyer reps?

Rusty

Looks like a shill...

Phil

I saw this auction and was watching it solely to see if the price would go even higher. Something definitely seems fishy about the whole thing. For $500, you could have a new in box venom.

I bought my NIB Venom for less that that. I only have 2 engines in my collection that cost more than that. My Strato Bug and the Olympic rear drum valve prototype.

I bet the seller doesn't see a dime and it will be relisted in a week or 2.

ian1954 wrote:This wasn't really a "bidding war". One guy placed a maximum bid of $499 to make sure he won it. It is risky and he wouldn't have expected it to go that high. He was an experienced bidder and this is a technique often used.

I have used this tactic before. The tie clip .010 I have from Dan Sitter was won this way......

Can be a real eye opener as you see the price jump in the last second.   

ian1954 wrote:This wasn't really a "bidding war". One guy placed a maximum bid of $499 to make sure he won it. It is risky and he wouldn't have expected it to go that high. He was an experienced bidder and this is a technique often used.

However, a newcomer to Ebay with a score of three??? Very suspicious! I bet the experienced guy is glad he didn't win and was outbid.

All you need is TWO guys doing that! :-)

George

I have used that tactic as well. It's a gamble, but I only throw it in at the last 7sec.

Lately I just bid, walk away and hope for the best. I am much happier for it. So is my wallet!!!

I realize I am coming late to this discussion, but the price for that engine is ridiculous. I am looking at the bid pattern and its very hard to discern what was going on. It appears the winner outbid the first guy at $380, which was well above the value of the engine. The second bidder then put in another bid, and then over time, kept adding bids. It looks like the winner eventually sniped the engine. I can't imagine why anyone would pay $380 for that engine, let alone, $500. You can find them in new condition for less than $100. I guess if you wanted a new box too, you might go to $155, but even still that seems steep. An individual with 3000+ transactions is generally a reseller who would have known the value of the item, so this makes even less sense.

With that said, my observation is that .020s and .010s continue to gain in value, while BWs, GBs, BBs and Texaco engines continue to decline. The exception being one off engines (spook, etc). I believe that is because the .020s and .010s are actually being used AND collected at the same time, while the others are being simply collected. Additionally, nobody is mass producing (or making them at all?) .020s and .010s so you either go with COX or you don't go at all.

The most $ I ever paid for an engine was for a brand new one that was in current production (at the time) being an OS .10FP RC at around $50. It was back in 2001? I have never ran it... it is literally "new in box"... If I were to list it for sale, I wouldn't expect to even get what I paid for it... because; although no longer in production... it is not considered "collectible". Nevertheless... there are people who might want one bad enough to pay a LOT more than it's worth.






"Bidding wars" are nothing new... and often; there is more than meets the eye, when an item sells for a ridiculous amount. What's to stop a team (seller and bidder who know each other) from sucking-in a prospective buyer.. and driving the price through the roof on an item? Nothing... especially if the prospective buyer is willing to spend the money.. and wants the item bad enough. If the seller's buddy-bidder wins the auction.. there is no actual "sale"... and the same item shows up again later.. to be auctioned again at some point.