quote:Originally posted by Camera:
To be frank, you are unfortunate because you are in a limited marketplace - i.e. Few bidders.
This means that there is no substitute for gaining a better knowledge of those bidding against you and what they are willing to pay. It looks to me as if you are "out of touch" with what people are prepared to pay.
This may be for two reasons:
1. Your knowledge of current values is faulty
2. Some bidders are willing to pay unrealistic prices.
It could be either - I want a new car hood for my old car and I don't wont to pay £400 for a new one as I want to sell it shortly. So far I have been outbid every time for people willing to pay nearly £300 for one with a short lifespan (old convertible hoods exposed to the sun lose their "plasticity" as they age, so a four year old one, however good it looks has only a couple of years life left)
Now this is their ignorance not mine - a £400 hood three years old is only worth £200!
So how do you win?
In my case if its £300 on ebay, I'm much better off buying a new one at $400!
In your case appraise the market and if its an antique or rare good, there are venues other than eBay (less publicised local auctions perhaps) where you will get the good cheaper.
Look at shops sellng that good - take off 30% (their margin and taxes) - is that the prevailing eBay price? If so, it is you that is out of line with the market.
In that case, you can still win, but you have to try harder - look for mispellings, wrong categories and in places with a less active marketplace. Sorry Lexie, but my happy hunting ground for cheap old cameras is Australia! Watch for sellers that say "country X only" Write to them and ask permission to bid - that way you are going to be proably the only one from abroad bidding.
So you can see, little to do with Auction Sniper, all to do with your evaluation of the market place.
Use AS? Certainly, it prevents getting into "tit for tat" bidding against the dreaded nibblers! Also if its a rare item, you don't show your rivals that you are interested. I find I am competing with certain German & Japanese buyers with deep wallets so I stay out of the fray by using AS as long as possible. Yes, they may have made a very high proxy bid in some cases, but in many, they relax their guard because they don't see others being interested.
Paul
Paul, I want to thank you for your thoughtful reply to my lament. You seem to be one of the few contributors to this...community(??) who knows what he is talking about and is willing to share it (instead of smart remarks) with the rest of us rookies. I certainly appreciate your advice about getting more informed about the market rates for these sets. I think my main problem in this area is that it is obvious the folks offering these sets know nothing about chess. They buy these sets at estate sales for next to nothing and then offer them on ebay where a lot of suckers are willing to pay grossly inflated prices for them. Often the buyers are ignorant (of chess) toy collectors who buy the sets for no reason except the fact that the set is old and its box is in good shape or that it is made of Bakelite. Then there is me: someone who loves chess and wants the sets for their aesthetic appeal and how well they play on the board. But I am on a limited budget and unwilling to pay such large prices when I know what the seller paid for them originally. So, I guess my main trouble here is that I am a poor academician with a stubborn streak.
Actually, as you suggested, my few major successes have come either from finding important items whose descriptions lack any of the buzz words that would draw the Big Spenders or from being willing to buy sets that are some how flawed (at least to a toy collector). Needless to say, these purchases have been...satisfying. I have also begun to explore the local market. Yesterday I placed an ad in the local Shopper newspaper saying I would be willing to buy old chess sets.
But what I need to do is research this area more. If necessary, accept the high prices if that's the market (and if I want the item bad enough). And pick my battles. One of the good things about the sets I find interesting is that they were all mass-produced. If I miss one, there is always another one out there just waiting to be found in someone's closet.
BTW, I have been a Tolkein fan since the 60's. Long ago I selected your signature quote as my personal motto. I paid a calligrapher to make a copy of it, I framed it, and it is still hanging on the wall of my office as I write this.
Thanx again
Perludum