People going crazy for Leather Jackets

[schitzo]

I guess a seller would have to enlist his friends, or have several accounts, to do that. I have certainly seen some auctions that seemed a bit dodgy and a few times an auction has sat there untouched until I've bid and then others suddenly jump in.

The seller only needs one friend to fuel a bidding war. I imagine it happens all the time

 

[AviatorBRZ]

I don't think this case was a dishonest sell.
Actually I'm not trying to judge how much people pay for their things either.

What amazed me was the fact that it is a truly example of "freaking out" in the last seconds of an auction.
No one likes to loose, but some times people cross the line between impulse and madness.

But this Eastman case shows how sometimes people can go beyond any logic, and place an impulse bid just to win.

It was RELISTED. [huh]
P.S. I guess that the seller warned the buyer to prevent a return and refund.
P.S.² The flaws in the waistband that I've mentioned, they vanished in the new photos. I guess was the light in the previous photos who made it appears to have paint marks on it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/G1-Jacket-/221544009452

 

[Fanch]

I have no input whatsoever on this particular auction other than to say as a rule of thumb NEVER GET YOURSELF INVOLVED IN A BIDDING WAR ON EBAY! NOT EVER!! The best case scenerio is that something you want will fly under the radar, and you will nail down a bargain, although apparently not in this instance. Always be prepared to walk away, even though it is for something you would love to have. It is rarely, if ever, about need but but invariably about want. My gem of wisdom for the day.

 

[handymike]

Having fairly recently entered into eBay selling, it's amazing how many "buyers" never buy. It's frustrating for a seller to sell and be happy with the price , but never receive payment. Seems there is no recourse (that works) either.

 

[Dinerman]

In my selling experience, sometimes the people who bid these things up high do so without any intention of paying, and then disappear. Very frustrating, and re-lists never sell very well because people jump to rash conclusions about the original auction.

 

[Big J]

No, I don't do bidding wars. If there's a buy it now price, and I like it, I buy.

 

[ykurtz]

As an eBay seller, I think it makes sense to only accept bids from people with a minimal number of bids and/or minimal feedback score, especially for any item that sells for more than $100. Looking at the bidding history for this particular auction, it appears that a '0' feedback bidder bid on the item after a certain point with only a minimal feedback user providing any counterbid. As a seller, seeing that, I would be highly doubtful that the item would really sell. As a buyer, I would be highly suspicious and likely not continue bidding at that point.

 

[Justhandguns]

We've all done that, at one time or another. Just yesterday I bid on something that I have second thoughts about today, although it won't be costing me much.

I guess a seller would have to enlist his friends, or have several accounts, to do that. I have certainly seen some auctions that seemed a bit dodgy and a few times an auction has sat there untouched until I've bid and then others suddenly jump in.

True, I guess we all have done stupid bids before, but not for that amount of money. But a seasoned buyer should just bid for whatever you think is worth. Psychologically, all bidders want to win, that may also explain why when an item stays untouched for quite a long while, and one somebody places a bid, the 'watchers' just all dive in because they probably are seeing the items is their own procession already while they constantly watch it.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Like BigJ I prefer to stick to BIN sales, but sometimes the seller is only accepting an auction so one has to play along. Mind you, a couple times when both auction and BIN have been available my cheapness has taken over and I've rolled the dice with the auction, only to see the price go above the original BIN price... d'oh! Justhandguns, I learned that about myself early, and now look at an item, decide what I would pay, put that in as my auto-bid... if I win great, if not then another will come along. I also purge my "watch" list periodically after taking a hard look at what's in it and culling out stuff that's iffy. One can only hope with a regretted bid that someone will come along and outbid you, but I'm think I'm out of luck with my dumbness yesterday lol

 

[AviatorBRZ]

Exactly, I am a kind of person that if I really like something I will pay for it.
But... when it is an expensive item you'll obviously know what you're buying or at least have an idea of it's value.

The only reason to bidders have gone so far in this auction is if they thought it was an M-422 or M-422A.
Either way, if you know what is an M422 jacket and it's value you will ask details to seller before place a bid.

What was intriguing in this auction is that not only one user commited the same mistake.

The user with (23)feedback placed an Max Bid of 850.22
The first (0)feedback user stopped when it reached 385.22
And in the end of the auction another (0)feedback user appeared and outbidded the user with (23)feedback.

So, both of bidders were willing to pay more than the jacket price in the market.

 

[Worf]

Having fairly recently entered into eBay selling, it's amazing how many "buyers" never buy. It's frustrating for a seller to sell and be happy with the price , but never receive payment. Seems there is no recourse (that works) either.

I, for the life of me, don't understand this!!!! I'm primarily a buyer on the bay, though I've sold in the past. My reputation means a lot to me, if I promise to buy something I pay for it, even if I regret it later. The prevelance of non-payers explains something though. I usually pay within hours of winning a bid, usually much less. Most of my feedback consists of compliments on being a "fast payer". Now I understand if getting stiffed is a everyday occurance. I never knew.

Worf

 

[aswatland]

My guess is that the auction was probably manipulated. This ELC G-1 is not in great shape and clearly the seller wanted a good price for it. I too have known bidders with zero feedback to dramatically push up the price of a jacket and then pull out at the last moment with someone else with a low feedback score out bidding him. In this auction the bidder with zero feedback is either a friend of the seller or a very foolish newby. The other bidder may also have been a plant with the seller hoping a genuine bidder would come in at the last moment. The fact the jacket has now been relisted could support this scenario. I very much doubt it will go as high this time.

 

[Plumbline]

1st rule of Ebay .... bid what you're willing to pay .... a thing is only worth what it's worth. There is no "winning" or "losing" there's just buying or not buying ... so bid what YOU think it's worth TO YOU ( because no-one else really matters).

If I'm interested in what something will fetch or testing the market ... or I just need rid and I'm not really bothered ... I'll sell at auction.

Usually I sell at fixed price for what something is "worth" to me .. i.e. what I am prepared to let it go for. I seldom get "stuck" with stuff it usually goes even if it takes 3 or 4 relists.

Shill bidding ( using a friend or family member to artificially up the price of your stuff) IS ILLEGAL in the UK and USA .... if you see it report it, it's just plain wrong. There are numerous tools to allow people to list things with safeguards against giving it away - fixed price, reserve price, start price, auto offer refusal etc. Otherwise you're being a FRAUD and a I could suggest a CHEAT.

If I win I buy, and with me you bid to buy ..... not kick tyres or haggle on the price !

I've seen some crazy jacket deals over the years ...... I've also bought some absolute bargains ..... by and large I offer fair money ( I'm not a high bidder .. there's no such thing as a keeper in my wardrobe) The highest I've paid for a jacket is £465 ( mint Aero Sheepskin lined Barnstormer .. too heavy but a stunning jacket ... sold it for a £25 loss ) and the lowest £75 for a Connolly Steer Highwayman @ 1982 ( 44" but fitted like a 38" ... sold it to Ken Calder for £160 ish ... ken was a prolific buyer and seller on ebay .... I also boght a Gloverall Duffle Coat from him for £25 ... ). Never paid more than £300 for an original ( G-1 and A-2's only ) and only in the early 00's before the collector market went berserk ... haven't bought an original since 2004 ( too high prices and too much risk).

"Caveat Emptor" amicis meis .. "Caveat Emptor"

 

[Justhandguns]

My guess is that the auction was probably manipulated. This ELC G-1 is not in great shape and clearly the seller wanted a good price for it. I too have known bidders with zero feedback to dramatically push up the price of a jacket and then pull out at the last moment with someone else with a low feedback score out bidding him. In this auction the bidder with zero feedback is either a friend of the seller or a very foolish newby. The other bidder may also have been a plant with the seller hoping a genuine bidder would come in at the last moment. The fact the jacket has now been relisted could support this scenario. I very much doubt it will go as high this time.

Absolutely agree, this one is "fishy". That probably explains why there are so many over-priced listings just trying to lure inexperienced buyers/collectors. Over the years, I have got a few bargains, some from sellers who had absolutely no ideas about the values of the jackets, some from mis-titled or mis-spelled listings. I got a few very nice nylon jackets for absolutely nothing. But it seems to me that it is getting harder and harder to find these gems nowadays, largely because of sellers are getting smarter and there are online tools which do price matching and listings; as for buyers, searching engines for mis-spelled item searches are also available.

 

[kyboots]

I agree with you guys on most everything here. I have sold on Ebay for years. Ebay is totally against the seller despite the importance of having us there. I have known many sellers who have friends place bids on their goods just to manipulate the price. Dishonest but done frequently and it does raise the price. I have been a bidder on select Ky art and frequently lost to a guy in Lexington who has "snipe software". He is a dealer and always gets his piece. It is a pain to deal. I have a large number of very expensive size 12D Lucchese and Tony Lama boots of my own to sell since I moved to a 13D and dread the thought of listing them on Ebay. The feedback 0 bidder is there just to screw you up. No telling what country he is from. If I sell now I attempt to limit to feedback of +10 or more in order to bid. Have not listed recently and this did not help. OH! and I agree with Plumbline you do not WIN on Ebay you are buying!!

 

[Stand By]

I'm not a prolific buyer on eBay, but when I do chase something of interest, I use eSnipe and have been for years. It's a great tool for bidding that prevents that "urge" to go higher than you otherwise may wish to.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with it, it's an online service whereby you can bid on an eBay item automatically - and it's very useful for different time zones when you might be asleep or on vacation or whatever when the auction would be ending.
Once you register, you simply enter in the code number for the listed item and it then appears in your set up box as it appears on eBay (so you know you're looking at the right thing!)- and then you enter your maximum bid. And you're all done. And depending on your second or third thoughts on the item, you can raise or lower or delete your bid in the run up to the close of the auction - something you can't do on eBay.
Then your bid is entered in to the auction a mere 2 seconds or so before the auction closes - and assuming yours is the highest bid, you get it. And if you don't get it because you were out-bid, you can shrug and say "Ah well. That was my limit" without getting caught up in the bidding frenzy.

And if you don't get the item, it costs nothing - but if you do win, they take a mere fraction for the transaction - and you pay by buying a credit (via Paypal) and it's not much at all, so you always have a small "pot" of credits on hand - for when that one item you want suddenly appears, and the cost comes out of that.
Piece of cake.

 

[Stand By]

PS.
And that deal looks decidedly fishy to me. Something not right there at all. It's why I let a pal's wife sell my stuff for me on eBay - she takes 20% and I think that's worth it - I hear her stories of the people she deals with on there - and eBay isn't pro-seller, as kyboots says. It's a headache I can live without and I just prefer to buy and leave the selling to her.

 

[devilish]

I have all but given up on bidding on eBay auctions. I pretty much only BIN. Their is too much manipulating and sniping going on now. Unless it's a really obscure item you pretty much always get sniped out in the last second or the price gets ridiculous. As for paying, I pay immediately. No waiting around, if I can't pay I don't buy.

 

[ProteinNerd]

I have exclusions set on all my eBay sale items that prevents people with less than 10 transactions and anyone with a non-pay strike against their name from bidding or buy it now(ing), this has pretty much stopped the non-genuine "winners".

If you think selling jackets is tough, try selling a gaming console. I tried to sell PS3 a few years ago.....the item was "won" 7 times before someone finally actually paid for it! Most of the replies, when I got them, were from kids who just wanted to see if they could win it.

 

[schitzo]

I think we can all agree that buying and selling here is a much nicer way of doing it.

But if you do need to sell on ebay set a BIN and require immediate payment (or is that mandatory now?) No point inviting offers