Regarding latest ebay activity from Japan for rare Campy items, this interest is nothing new. Again, it is just that we are seeing it out in the open. This has been going on for years. Rare auto's and art are almost always sold in an auction environment - and it is simple to see why. The traditional economic model of a competitive market breaks down without perfect information. If an item comes up for sale and there is not reliable history of what well informed people will buy/sell it for, it is impossible to really know what the item should be worth in anything other than an auction enviroment.
Again, the vast bulk of what most of us use, buy, and sell, are items that are relatively speaking quite common - and therefore remain far less costly than most most modern high-end components. A good Italian Super Record equipped bike usually costs far less than many Shimano 105 modern bikes. An NOS campy Super Record group costs about the same as a top-of-the-line 2001 Campy record group. It doesn't seem to far out of wack.
Mike Kone
At 09:51 AM 6/4/01 -0400, Moos, Jerry wrote:
>Sure seems mad to me. I thought that the insane prices paid by Japanese
>collectors were due to their isolation from sources of stuff, and expected
>that as eBay opened up greater availability, they would become less willing
>to pay outrageous prices, as they would come to realize that a similar item
>would be offered on eBay in a few weeks if they didn't get the one offered
>today. This does't seem to have happened. Instead, the Japanese collectors
>are now bidding up Campy stuff as well as the French stuff they have
>traditionally favored. It does seem, though, that all of these excessive
>bids are coming from a very small group of Japanese collectors, almost
>certainly fewer than a dozen, and usually only about a half dozen, who bid
>on all the same eBay items. It almost seems this small group are competing
>to impress one another by paying excessive prices, just as select groups of
>millionaire art collectors delight in outbidding one another for some
>category of expensive artwork.
>
>Hard to predict how long this will continue before "the bubble bursts".
>Perhaps one of the group will encounter financial problems and be forced to
>sell off his collection at much less than he paid, which might restore
>reason to the whole group. Or perhaps changes in Japanese society will
>"empower" Japanese wives to object to some of these expenditures in the way
>American wives would (you can bet my better half would have plenty to say if
>I spent $1,775 on a rear derailleur). Meantime, there seem to be two
>entirely different markets for classic bike stuff - one is the price most of
>us will buy or sell at, the other is a price that could be ten times higher
>if the item happens to be one which strikes the fancy of the Japanese
>collectors. Yet there seems to be no reliable way to predict which items
>they will show an interest in, as they have now departed from their
>Francophile pattern. Personally, I'd rather see the hobby stay affordable
>for everyone than try to get rich selling to kauzo and his colleagues on
>eBay. Don't think I'll be listing my stiff on eBay anytime soon.
>
>Regards,
>
>Jerry Moos
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Huemax@aol.com [mailto:Huemax@aol.com]
>Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 5:27 PM
>To: hayesbikes@nls.net; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>Subject: Re: [CR]Another Ebay auction of interest
>
>
>
>In a message dated 6/1/01 4:58:46 PM, hayesbikes@mail.nls.net writes:
>
><< http://ebay.com/
>
>It is simply MADNESS, I checked BID History, all bidders excpt "record543",
>all others;
>famous Kauzo, taki59, fwig, and evergreenhs2, are Japanese bidders.
>
>We have to put together older collectable parts together and open "PARTS
>SHOP" IN JAPAN, somehow. It will be a succesful business??
>
>Warmest Regards,
>
>KEN TODA, my US dollars is getting weak?, due to lower prime. Now the time
>to sell, from Groomy wet North Carolina.