[meteorite-list] AD... Time to get back to work

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:37:19 -0400
Message-ID: <e51421550909271137u749e54d6q4f1bbdb3f5d67f1f_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Jim, Doug and List,

eBay is a fickle mistress.

I have heard one well-known dealer describe eBay as "a hell for
sellers and a heaven for buyers."

I've been selling collectibles on eBay for about 10 years - since the
days before PayPal (remember BillPoint?) and the behavior of other
eBay members has always confused me. I try to make sense of the whims
of the market and just when I think I have it figured out, the bidders
(or the sellers) throw me a new curveball.

I concur with Doug's conclusions about watching a cheap BIN item.
There are many reasons behind this phenomena - some financial and some
that are quirky at best.

I have a cheap $10 USB Wi-Fi dongle on watch right now. Why? Well,
it's a little complicated, but here goes - I have a backburner project
right now that involves building a "Wok-Fi" parabolic amplifier to
boost my wireless internet reception. I discovered this need for this
while staying at a rental beach cottage whose promised "high speed
internet connection" was slower than dialup and more sporadic than
Robert Downey Jr. The project requires a few ingredients - a
parabolic dish (or facsimile there-of), a USB Wi-Fi dongle, and a USB
extension cable. I searched the web to find a suitable dongle (hold
your jokes) and found this one on eBay. I am not ready to buy it yet,
because I don't have the other parts rounded up yet. My wife's
birthday (and our wedding anniversary) are both next week, so I am in
a cash pinch at the moment. I put the dongle on watch, so I can go
back and easily find it in a couple of weeks when I am ready to
assemble the amplifier. Why don't I just BIN because it's only $10?
Because, as sad as it sounds, $10 makes a difference to me right now -
money is that tight.

But, I do have to agree that if money is no object, then it makes
little sense to put a BIN item on a watch list. Either use the BIN or
move on to something else. But, who is to say what motivates each
watcher?

Best regards and clear skies,

MikeG






On 9/27/09, Mexicodoug <mexicodoug at aim.com> wrote:
> "I have a question that has puzzled me for some time....... On a cheap
> item, $20- buy it now, why would anyone bother to watch it? "
>
> Hello Jim !
>
> Maybe the IRS.
>
> $20 is more money than 2/3 's of the current eBay prices in the
> collectibles category.
>
> Maybe they debate between (grocery shopping and cooking a romantic home
> cooked steak dinner for two), or (some old rock or 40-kopeck (USD
> $0.01) postage stamp).... so they put it on a watch list so it doesn't
> get lost.
>
> Or maybe long on bids and with a fixed perk budget. Losing other
> auctions, he would pounce on the $20 thingy.
>
> Maybe she is 11 years old and $20 is her week's allowance and she is
> waiting for her "paycheck". Or ditto, retired, fixed income, unemployed.
>
> Do you happen to have several of the same items for $20? Maybe one of
> your competitors thinks $10 has been the standard for whatever the item
> is, and he may be thinking, let's see how quickly Jim sells these at
> $20 !
>
> My money is on the latter,
>
> Kindest wishes,
> Doug
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Strope <nwa482 at comcast.net>
> To: Meteorite Central <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Sun, Sep 27, 2009 11:51 am
> Subject: [meteorite-list] AD... Time to get back to work
>
>
>
> After playing all summer, I find that I must get back to work. So I
> have
> started listing on ebay again. All items so far are buy it now listings
> with
> some of them accepting reasonable offers. Noteable items are a complete
> Portales Valley Stone, nice Esquel slices, complete Millbillillie,
> Gibeon,
> Planetaries etc, Link is below:
>
> http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=catchafallingstar.com
>
> I have a question that has puzzled me for some time....... On a cheap
> item,
> $20- buy it now, why would anyone bother to watch it? It is only $20-
> and not
> an auction where you would want to know where it ended or wanted to bid
> at the
> last minuite? What is the logic behind cluttering your watched item
> list with
> this kind of cheap item?
>
> Good luck to all as I have some exceptional items offered and plan on
> adding
> more in the next few days.
>
> Jim Strope
>
> http://www.catchafallingstar.com/
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-- 
.........................................................
Michael Gilmer (Florida, USA)
Member of the Meteoritical Society.
Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
FaceBook - http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/fine_meteorites_4_sale
Twitter - Twitter - http://twitter.com/GalacticStone
eBay - http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/maypickle
..........................................................

Received on Sun 27 Sep 2009 02:37:19 PM PDT