eBay auction shill?

Codger_64

Codger_64

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I've watched this seller try several times to sell this knife, each time with a starting price that exceeds it's value (top current market price IMHO), $395 plus $15 first class postage shipping.

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It is a complete and correct early Deerslayer c.1964 in the hinge top woodgrained box (and white slip cover) with correct stone (polybag missing), earliest laced waffle impressed composite leather sheath (should have the fiberboard and aluminum insert inside), with papers. No close pictures of the blade to see exact condition or the markings, so we don't know if it is patent pending stamped or etched, or if it is serialized.

This is the second relisting (or third). It hasn't drawn even one bid before now, but this time one bidder has appeared. Bidder has (0) feedback, but 42 bids on 31 items with no wins in the past 30 days.

Now, either I am way out of the loop on current value of this piece, or the bidder has money to burn, or he is shilling for the seller (if he isn't the seller himself). If he is a shill bidder, the seller stands to lose some hefty fees to eBay if he doen't sell the knife to a real bidder prompted by the shill.

Does anyone see or know anything I am missing here? Am I just that far off on my estimation of current market value ($150-200)?
 
Michael,

I don't think you're missing anything, $395 is ridiculously high. In today's market, I would think $150 would be closer to the top end. I'd wager that if it's a shill that placed the bid, and he doesn't get any other takers, the auction will be cancelled before it's allowed to be completed. If not, then whoever's bidding is nuts. I've noticed a lot of WAY overpriced Schrades come up when you do a search under "highest price first", must be selling under the "a sucker born every minute" philosophy. Schrade D'Holders for $750-$1000 ?!?!? C'mon, you can buy an original hand-made one of a kind D'holder for that price!

BTW, can you see that stone becoming dislodged during shipping and sliding over that nice prisitine blade a few hundred times?:eek::grumpy:

Eric
 
Eric, I have seen those stones do that very thing. The display mode of that tray was not how they were originally shipped. Even if the set is shipped in it's packed mode and the knife isn't ground by the shifting stone, often the stone itself is chipped or broken if not padded by it's polybag and additional tissue sheets.

The white cardboard sleeve (meant to protect the box in shipping and against shelf wear, often discarded by the original purchaser if not by the merchant) reads thus:

"For display only 1. Remove knife from sheath 2. Invert blue platform 3. Locate knife,sheath, & stone in inserts provided in platform."
Click to expand...

ETA: stone polybag and shipping tissue appear in a subsequent photo. Set is complete.
 
If a bidder was from europe let's say! With the exchange rate that could bring the knife down to about the relative US figure for this item. Just supposing here!

Russell
 
Even with the exchange rate, they would be paying too many Euros for it in my opinion (remember that old saw about opinions here). If the seller is able to consumate a legit sale for his asking price, more power to him though. I can buy a Randall for that price. In Tennessee currency.
 
Sometimes I scoff at the BIN prices I see people stick on a knife, and then I look at their sales, and see eventually someone buys it in quite a few cases. This one though, is a little crazy. It's a bid on an already built in shill. Anyone have the guts to bump it a bit to see how much the actual bid is? :D

At any rate, it is a good listing to pay attention too, and see if it still gets relisted.
 
In reverse order:
tongueriver said:
Michael, I didn't realize anybody was still taking that Confederate money! :D
Click to expand...

LMAO!!!!!

ea42 said:
Michael,
BTW, can you see that stone becoming dislodged during shipping and sliding over that nice prisitine blade a few hundred times?:eek::grumpy:

Eric
Click to expand...

I shipped a SW 165 in hinged box with stone. Stone wrapped individually and packed outside of the box. When it was shipped to me no such precaution was taken. I got lucky!

Codger_64 said:
If he is a shill bidder, the seller stands to lose some hefty fees to eBay if he doen't sell the knife to a real bidder prompted by the shill.
Click to expand...

If it is a shill and is unsuccessful, the seller and shill can mutually agree not to complete the sale and the final value fee is credited back to the seller. So the only risk is really on the listing fee. But if one is going to shill, you would think they would start the listing at 99 cents, have the shill place a high bid, and then have others eat away at it.

IMHO this is not a shill. The $395 opening bid just doesn't jibe with someone wanting a shill. You use a shill to protect a reserve or to drive the price up once there is competition. This seller has protected his value by setting a high initial bid and therefore does not need a shill. This just doesn't add up to me. So you either have a bidder with money to burn, or a bidder that does not intend to pay.
 
I agree Bridgeman, the seller does not have any activity on sold items that point to a relisting or anyone with 1 or no feedback placing a bid on any other item. I think he figures if even one of these high priced auctions hits, the listing fee is more than absorbed. I've seen some guys list knives for 3 or 4 months.
 
The auction ended and our one bidder won it. He owes the seller $410.00. I'll watch to see if he earns his feedback, or if the knife relists.... again.
 
Well it sold to the only bidder, I guess he really wanted it bad (maybe?). I thought that seller looked familiar, I got my Buffalo Bill Bowie off him a few years ago. He seemed to have a thing for them, said he regretted selling it and sure enough saw him as the winner of another one a short time later (that's when you could still see who the bidders were). Nice enough guy, I guess he's due some congrats on that sale!

Eric

PS- sorry for the redundant post Michael, guess you were posting while I was typing:o:D
might be jumping the gun on the congrats too
 
Codger_64 said:
The auction ended and our one bidder won it. He owes the seller $410.00. I'll watch to see if he earns his feedback, or if the knife relists.... again.
Click to expand...

Auction ended back on the 25th of July, but the buyer still has 0 feedback. Hmmm....:confused:

He hasn't bid on any more items since then either. As Andy would say... "Curious, might curious".
 
Codger_64 said:
Auction ended back on the 25th of July, but the buyer still has 0 feedback. Hmmm....:confused:

He hasn't bid on any more items since then either. As Andy would say... "Curious, might curious".
Click to expand...

Keep looking, see if he gives feedback to the seller too. The selling price alone is curious. Interesting transaction...
 
We all want our knives to go uo in value. If someone dosen't bid a "crazy figure" how is the value going to go up.
Sure new collectors tend to pay more than they should but then another new collector should come along and make the first buyers "Crazy Bid" seem very sane.
In other words... I really think that prices going up is a good thing for us all.

Then again, I could be totally wrong.:jerkit:

Ed:D
 
Well, the bidder still doesn't have any feeback, but he is "not a registered user". So he was either a shill or a deadbeat. This, the 31st item he bid on, was his last before being removed from eBay. The knife didn't sell unless the seller and buyer made an off-eBay deal to avoid fees. Seller has not relisted the knife. Yet.
 
The whole thing was just odd. I was looking to buy a Compaq Armada M700 computer a while back. At the time, the model I wanted was worth $400 or so. They were selling on eBay for $2000. All had the same two bidders, both just pennies apart to send the bid sky high.

The seller of this knife got stiffed.

(Somehow, in my mind, those two stories are related. Just go with it.)
 
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