eBay newbie question -- what happened?

Shepherd Jim

Shepherd Jim

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Mar 21, 2010
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Happy to report that I have not spent all that much time haunting eBay. But then that means I'm not up on all the strategy and shenanigans that people get up to over there.

Scenario: I saw a knife listed on eBay a week or so ago. I watched and there were a few bids and it "sold" at $26.00

Now, I've just seen that SAME knife listed again by the same seller.(?)

So I'm wondering: did the seller buy their own knife under an "assumed" name because the price hadn't gone up enough. Or, maybe there was a reserve. Does eBay make it public when the reserve is not met?

I'm sure there are a two three wrinkles I haven't even thought of.

Jim
 
Dear Shep,
It is quite possible the seller has multiple knives of the same model to sell. He does not want to compete against himself by diluting the market. One at a time. Once one is sold, the next one lists. It is a common practice. Here is an ebay tip for you. Do a search on an item that you want in advanced mode. Click the completed items option, check that box I mean. Scroll all the way down and click search. Now you are looking at what you want to buy, and how much it has been going for lateley. It will gauge whether to buy or not to buy, and for you to set a limit range of what you want. Now, sniping takes on many forms, and to me it is a legit way to auction, and also to try to save money. As the last few minutes of an item tick down, that is where I place my bids. If you try to auction too soon, you will probably get outbid in the end, and you are making the cost of the item go up by competing too early. I have kicked myself for not placing bid on some items when I see that I could possibly have gotten them at a great price, however, you do not know if the winning bidder proxied bids higher than what they won it at. Hope this helps and makes sense to you. Have fun.
 
If it had been a Reserve auction and the bidding didn't reach the reserve price, the auction would be labeled "Reserve Not Met."

Could one of the seller's shills have won the auction? Of course. But since that's against eBay rules, it would be risky to re-list the same item again so soon.

Multiples of the same item for sale? Definitely possible.

Winning bidder weaseled out? Again, definitely possible. When that happens the seller can either re-list the item or offer it to the second-highest bidder; I think that's how it's done.
 
Most likely, as stated above, the seller has multiples of the same thing and doesnt want to compete against himself. I usually wont put an item on ebay if there is same item up there at same time (rarer stuff obviously) It just ruins it for both sellers.
 
I thought about the seller having multiples of the same knife to sell, but it's a used item and the photos are of EXACTLY the same knife = closeups show distinctive scratches on the tang.

I'm tempted to ask the seller what the story is. Would that be considered real bad form, or some kind of insult or something?
 
Ask. I wouldn't consider it bad form at all. Most likely, a buyer backed out, couldn't pay, or wanted international shipping or something a seller couldn't do.
 
May I suggest dumping the Bay's BS in favor of the 'Sales Threads' here at BladeForums.com .. Its a waaaayyyyyyyyy better deal in nearly every instance and your fellow blade brothers & sisters are almost always going to have a much higher integrity level and follow through than the Bay's auction crowd!. After all they are held to a much more stringent standard here!.. Therefore, you can pretty much count on a fine trading experience that you'll be most happy with and it will be a whole lot more satisfactory all things considered.. Not to mention the real good friends you'll make in the process.. :cool: :thumbup:


Take good care & GOD Bless,
Anthony
 
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