Puzzling bidder.

[larryh]

Gosh, I don't know, I have wined about his here before and most know it.. But I just watched the Edison etched label of Birds in the Brook with cracks on both sides and chips go for 54.00 and I have a feeling the high bid is way higher yet if someone attempted to top it.. I mean its breathtaking to me.. I was picking up some very nice Etched classical pieces for a few dollars a while back and all of a sudden we have the most amazing bids on some very unimpressive records? I still content it makes the whole scope of the hobby seem out of wack..

I know, quit complaining and out bid them.. No thanks.

[Neophone]

Larry,

I think with E-Bay, especially regarding smaller easily shippable items we are always going to see a wide range of prices paid for the same item. You may well find the same DD in better condition on there next week sell for a buck-fifty. A big part of it is we're simply dealing with a much, much larger marketplace than even the biggest phonograph show. Also it must be noted that a high percentage of that marketplace is composed of buyers/bidders who haven't a good idea of what they are buying, not to mention the psychological factor involved in the whole time based competition action type of system E-Bay utilizes. Who here has never bid higher tan you planned at the last seconds of an auction on an item you really wanted, or worse thrown in an extra bid or two to raise the final price of an item an adversary was bidding on? For the most part if you keep your head and are patient E-Bay can offer some great deals. Yes we have seen some real lulus over the years but on the whole I still think it can be a good marketplace.

Regards,
John

P.S. Let all the big spenders buy the cracked and chipped DDs! Once they're done we'll all step in a get good deals on the good DDs!

[SonnyPhono]

Ebay, and other auctions for that matter, are funny things at times. Like John said, there are many factors that go into the final bidding price of an item on Ebay. I have two schools of thought on this. This can be a negative thing if you are trying to win something that you are interested in, as well as a positive thing if you are the seller. I think there are two major factors here and both are directly associated with the human psychological factor of bidding. First, obviously "bidder's high" is bound to take place in the last few minutes. It's almost inevitable that one will justify one more bid even when setting a limit. If your limit for a record is $15 and with a minute left it is at $15.50, nine out of ten people could probably justify another dollar to try for $16. At that point, Ebay has actually incorporated a very smart business ploy to include the "instant bid" button if the $16 still doesn't take the high bid. In the heat of the moment you are bound to not only click that option once, but in many cases multiple times causing that auction to go from a respectable $15 to say $35. (This would usually occur if there were multiple watchers bidding in the last couple minutes.) That is one reason why I feel bidding can get out of control and is quite frankly occurs from the shear joy of the "victory" so to speak.

This example usually doesn't get too out of hand though for mediocre items. The record you mentioned and others that normally do not hold much value in the market can go for outlandish prices due to the second reason that I feel is the culprit. These items that are almost jokingly overpaid for are the ones that may hold intrinsic value to the buyer, or usually in the high bidding items, buyers. If there are two or more bidding on an item that means a lot to them for one reason or another, anyone could justify spending the extra money on it to aid in the remembrance of a childhood memory or something they are fond of. These are the common items that the right person happens to be looking for on Ebay and price may not be a factor to sway the determination to own it. For instance, I am looking for a copy of "Under the Anheuser Bush" as my father is an engineer for Anheuser Busch. I had a copy and played it for him on my first phonograph and he was very impressed and we really shared a moment as he had helped me all day to restore the phono. That was the first record we listened to and not to sound cheesy, but we shared a memory that I will never forget. That record unfortunately broke in half, and I have been searching since to find another copy to no avail. But, if I was to come across one on Ebay, I would probably bid far higher than even an avid collector who may need it for his collection as the intrinsic value is very high for me. In this case, I completely understand and can justify a common item bidding high in other's eyes.

So that's my two cents. I completely understand your frustration/amusement with the situation but again, I think it boils down to the two simple principals of human psychology I have mentioned here. The only case where these wouldn't apply is when someone is just plain wealthy and money is no object as they buy things left and right without the appreciating that others may have for those items. If that is the case, then hopefully they go bankrupt soon!!

[Discman]

A couple of years ago, I sold some electric dd's to a collector who was trying to acquire a complete set of discs. They ran bids up on Ebay to unbelievable levels and even sent me an email offering to pay whatever I asked for certain titles. I sold this person one record for over $300 and replaced it a few months later for $50. So, as Sonny said, the circumstances at the time can cause prices to skyrocket.
Dave

[gramophoneshane]

Yes, it happens all the time. A few weeks ago, "Rock around the Clock" on the ozzy Festival label was listed here, and sold for around $160.
Now this record is very common out here. I used to have so many copies, I'd give them away with every machine I sold, and even gave one to a dealer friend to help move his machine.
I still have 3 copies!
A few days later, another copy was listed, and it sold for $15.50

It seems to me, that when a fairly common or less popular/collectible record goes for a high price, chances are that someone with the same record sees dollar signs, and lists their copy on ebay a short time after.
I guess there could be many reasons why a poor condition copy would reach such a price- shill bidding, a completest, the artists great grand-daughter etc etc

Keep your eye out on ebay Larry, and I'm sure you'll find a better copy eventually, at a fraction of the price.

[larryh]

Couple things I can relate to here. First, yes at an auction sometimes some very puzzling prices show up and normally, at least at alive farm or home sale, its the relatives bidding against each other. I always liked old Reed Organs and have had several nice ones, usually at fairly cheap prices. Selling them is usually almost hopeless around here. So when I first moved out here and was at a farm sale and the old non working reed organ went for 1,200 I thought maybe it was at last becoming a more valuable item. Another thing, a child's high chair went for over 350.00. On the way home we saw the exact high chair in a shop for less than 35.00. As you mentioned it was the relatives running it though the roof for sentimental reasons.

And Shane, I agree too that the run of high prices has a tendency to cause what we have been seeing lately, people trying to get a couple hundred a piece for common records. They see those closing prices and think there rich..