I buy and sell on ebay regularly, and like most of the respondents in this chain, frequently get surprised at the final sale prices. Overall, I have made a profit; this is how I finance my hobbies. When I sell, I try to present my article as attractively as possible. When I am buying, I look for poorly presented items, or articles that have been mis-categorised, or contain spelling mistakes in the title. Like Earle, I have frequently been outbid on items I would have liked, but, ce la vie! It doesn't matter what is for sale, or where, new or old. It is only worth what someone else will pay for it (or the sellers lowest acceptable price). If you want a perfect example, look at the auto dealers these days! Inventories are way up, and people are repairing their old cars.
Tony Taylor Manchester NH
________________________________ From: earle.young tds.net <earle.young@tds.net> To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Mon, January 18, 2010 8:32:16 PM Subject: Re: [CR] ebay outing: eisentraut touring bike now buying on the cheap
George Allen makes a good point about dealers who seek out goods at lower than fair prices. He wrote: There is a lot of authentic Shaker furniture in my area and I personally know of occurrences where dealers have gone to the homes of elderly people and bought their Shaker furniture for next to nothing.. When they are offered $500 for a chest of drawers they think they've hit the lottery when, in fact, they've been totally scammed.
I agree that scamming gullible people like that is despicable. But when somebody puts something up on eBay, they are saying "Let the market determine the value." I bid what I am willing to pay, and get out-bid a huge proportion of the time. But when I do win an auction, I don't feel bad about it. Selling on eBay is not rocket science. Every category of item has examples of how to do it right. If you do it wrong, it's your loss. I'm only a little sorry if that sounds cold.
Earle Young
Madison, Wisconsin