Annoyed - Rare Pen

[Cryptos]

Ooooh, Eoc is not happy. Spotted a Waterman in a small lot that looked interesting, the other pens less so. Auction (eBay) was starting at $1. A closer inspection of the photos showed that the Waterman pen had a pink nib, so EoC put down a bid. Couple of days later, after a bit of bidding up with other bidders, the listing gets yanked for no given reason beyond "There was an error..." .

 

Ever get the feeling of being nobbled?

 

[Nightly]

Some 'helpful' person probably emailed the seller letting him know about the pink nib, or else just emailed a Buy it Now offer. I'm sorry you missed out.

[Barkingpig]

Perhaps just tell "Oneself" that if you HAD been fortunate to be the highest bidder the pen "just possibly might have been"......... DISAPPOINTING..........upon arrival. AND you could be spending "who knows how much money to perhaps even getting it to writing condition" to realise that disappointment. Not to mention the need to dispose of the other pens in the lot..........Perhaps "someONE" is indeed watching out for "Oneself."

[Pendel]

I know how you feel, EoC, and yet I can also appreciate an existence of a recourse for a seller who finds out that the item is more valuable than previously thought and should be listed/sold at a higher price. All part of the life in the jungle...

 

:-)

[Cryptos]

EoC wasn't expecting to get a sumgai deal, but was perhaps hoping it would have attracted less attention than usual and thus allowed the tiny possibility of acquiring such a nib at more reasonable price than what is usual seen.

 

EoC also doesn't like the lack of transparency. It generates distrust.

[mmg122]

Perhaps just tell "Oneself" that if you HAD been fortunate to be the highest bidder the pen "just possibly might have been"......... DISAPPOINTING..........upon arrival. AND you could be spending "who knows how much money to perhaps even getting it to writing condition" to realise that disappointment. Not to mention the need to dispose of the other pens in the lot..........Perhaps "someONE" is indeed watching out for "Oneself."

 

Shoulda been here, Jack...you could have seen Pepsi shoot out my nose!!

[Keyless Works]

I have had a similar issue with a book. I bought this book THREE times now all from different sellers only to be informed after paying that the book was listed by accident or sold via another channel. It's really annoying.

[Pterodactylus]

I also know this.

 

It seems that there are always whistleblowers which have nothing else to do to tell the seller.

This is really annoying.

To be honest I hate such people.

 

And I think that eBay should not allow to abort a auction for such a reason.

Once started it has to be finished.

 

Once I bid on an auction, it was a 50s Montblanc 146 but the seller knew not what he had.

He thought he had a normal 146.

The auction startet really good......until such a nice guy told the seller what he really had. I don't think that this guy was really interested to get the pen.

Afterwards the description and the pictures were updated and the pen was way out of my range.

As said, I hate such people.

 

 

But one time and only this one time I was really lucky.

In former times I spent quite a lot time scanning eBay auctions.

And I found a pen which was tagged with something like:

Old filler, non functional.

The only picture was more than bad.

But I thought it could be a 50's Montblanc.

It was hard to tell from the picture.

And luckily there was no Whistleblower, there were 1 or 2 other serious bidders which might had the same thoughts.

But based on the information it could be hit or miss.

Never ask for additional information, this will most likely attract the Sharks.

Finally I got the pen, not cheap, but ok.

When I opened the package I found a 50s Montblanc 144 with a fantastic BB nib

I was really happy, otherwise I would never be able to aquire a 50s Montblanc bigger than a 142.

After disassembling the whole pen (there was a lot old ink in it), cleaning and checking everything this pen was again in perfect working condition.

And I had a really nice restauration project to work on, on top of it.

 

But as said such things are really rare, there are a lot people hunting and too many of such damn whistleblowers.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Pterodactylus

[Pterodactylus]

I'd like to add that you should consider such gambles only if you can afford to loose your money.

 

In the case above I paid about 150€ for this pen (+ - 30 I do not remember exactly).

It could also turned out different, ending with a damaged no name pen to put it into the bin.

 

It has to be clearly pointed out, it's gambling.

[Orpilorp]

... and speaking of eBay, a search trick I sometimes use is to deliberately misspell the name. For example, there may be lots of competition for Waterman pens but how many will search for Watermann? At present there are several Watermann pens for sale. Just a suggestion.

 

Orp

[cobalt]

I've given up on Ebay for pens.

 

Sellers seem not to understand that Ebay is a wholesale market, not retail

 

There is both buyer and seller risk and both sides try to avoid this through tactics that in the real world would lead to an investigation of mis-selling.

Sellers who have vandalised the pens on offer.

Sellers who don't know how to focus works in cameras

 

No wonder that Ebay has over 60 million disputes per year.

 

NOTE on sniping as it a common practice annoying to many: research shows that most wins are single last minute bids (i.e. sniped bids). The problem is sniping games the logic of having a hidden highest bid by using the Ebay servers to put in often zero-second bids, to which no one has an opportunity to counter-bid. Had a real-time bidder known about the sniped bid they would have raised the bid. It is the timed bidding/clock that is the problem as even in a real-world timed auction, last minute bidding would still have people calling out at the last second.

 

A more radical approach, used in some tendering auctions, is to take the second highest bid. Now that puts the cat amongst the pigeons and eliminates the advantage of sniping. Second-highest bids may be better reflections of wholesale price and may return better higher prices to sellers by avoiding the finality of sniped bids.

[shawndp]

@ Cobalt - I never read anywhere that Ebay is a wholesale marketplace?

 

I work through auctions to make a substantial part of my income and even at a wholesale auction there isn't a rule saying we can not sell for over retail. The market will pay what demand requires it to - so, as long as there is one person willing to pay the asking price, it is never "too expensive"

 

This puts you in one of two positions 1) put in a high opening bid for 85 to 90% of what you think it is worth and that will scare off the bottom-feeders looking to steal an item 2) open lines of communication with the seller - there's nothing like saying "I really want this, how much are you looking to sell for". In our case here, this is likely what has happened and the seller sold the pen directly.

 

@EOC - I'm sorry you didn't get the pen... I say this as one who has lost auction items (cars) on multiple occasions, only to find a better one a few weeks later (usually). Keep hunting!

[Cryptos]

Oh, EoC stumbled upon the listing by accident. It seemed like an opportunity to get in on the action for something a bit special. The chances of EoC seeing something like this again are probably close to zero.

[Pterodactylus]

Even we drift away from EoCs initial topic.

 

I see no sense in bidding in an auction before the last hour or even the last minutes. It will only increase the overal price (and it increases the chance that you are tempted to go over your personal limit, as you really really want that piece).

In addition many bids too early attracts also sharks, the best what can happen is that nobody bids until the very end.

 

I never used a sniper tool by myself, but I always tried to start bidding in the last one or two minutes.

I was also annoyed by sniper tool bidders which places bids in the last second, but that is how it is.

 

Nevertheless I think that's the way to go, bid at the last moments (minutes, automatic or manual)

I see it as a game, if you get it it's nice, if not there is always a next auction.

[Orpilorp]

I've never understood the concern over sniping. I determine what the item is worth to me & what my budget will allow, place that amount as my maximum bid, then I wait until the auction is ended. If I win, great. If someone else wins, good for them; they thought the item was worth more & could afford to pay more. I won't get an ulcer worrying about being sniped. There will be other items just as rare, just as cool.

 

Orp

[Mastiff]

I've never understood the concern over sniping. I determine what the item is worth to me & what my budget will allow, place that amount as my maximum bid, then I wait until the auction is ended. If I win, great. If someone else wins, good for them; they thought the item was worth more & could afford to pay more. I won't get an ulcer worrying about being sniped. There will be other items just as rare, just as cool.

 

Orp

I agree with this, but I don't like competitive auctions in general, unless they have the best offer option or a fixed price.

[Pterodactylus]

I agree with this, but I don't like competitive auctions in general, unless they have the best offer option or a fixed price.

I see it the other way around, I'm not interested in best offer / fixed price offers or auctions with higher starting prices (Regarding used things)

 

IMO on eBay all is about trying to make a bargain, it's a good example of a free market, the demand determines the price.

I like that.

 

And in many cases these goods are sold for more than they are realistically really worth, because most of us have the hunter genes inside, the competition mindset, the "must have" feelings. (And it's hard to withstand these temptions)

.....which is good for the sellers

Edited October 24, 2015 by Pterodactylus

[Cryptos]

Although the seller seems to be a generalist they have also gone to the trouble to take close-up nib shots. It seems unlikely then that they know nothing about pens.

[Pterodactylus]

is the listing, for those who may want to comment on whether EoC had seen something interesting.

 

Although the seller seems to be a generalist they have also gone to the trouble to take close-up nib shots. It seems unlikely then that they know nothing about pens.

Definitely interesting.

I would not have posted the link here, as it might show up again.

You know you are surrounded here by addicted pen sharks.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Pterodactylus

[Cryptos]

Indeed, but bag and cat have parted ways, and EoC cannot compete with even the poorest of pen collectors. So...