Vintage Waterman Music Nib!

[wspohn]

My guess is the winning "bidder" was a dummy account that bid up the item to see how high a real bidder would go. Then the seller lists the same item on a different account with different pictures for a higher price but a Best Offer in hopes of getting roughly the same or more than the "fake" auction closed at. My wife worked for Paypal for quite some time and this was a scheme that went around and still goes around. Technically it's not illegal if your "dummy" account wins the bid but I think it is against their policy to drive it up and then "lose" the auction after driving up the price. I believe they called it "ghosting".

 

What often happens is that shortly after the end of the auction, the second highest bidder gets a second chance offer from the seller, telling them the high bidder defaulted and they can have it for their last bid.

 

There was a seller in Thailand that used to do that with pens. I intentionally ended up second highest bidder about 3 times and then declined the second chance offer just to jerk them around. They stopped doing it to me and I actually bought a pen or two from them. That was back in the days when you could see who the other bidders were.

[ThegreatandpowerfullR]

The pictures from both accounts have the same backgrounds and both have those hands so probably the same person.

[Polanova]

… but if the seller bought the pen himself via a different account, wouldn`t he still have to pay Ebay the 9% (in this case almost 150 $)?

[ThegreatandpowerfullR]

… but if the seller bought the pen himself via a different account, wouldn`t he still have to pay Ebay the 9% (in this case almost 150 $)?

Can't you default on a bid if you are buying or refuse to sell something if you are selling?

[AZBennett]

More than likely the "original selling account" cancelled the auction after it ended. This can be done easily and with a few email clicks it is as if the first auction didn't even happen. I had this happen recently where the seller contacted me and asked me to agree to cancelling the auction as she had a family emergency and wouldn't be able to process the pen shipment in the specified time. I naively agreed, thinking she would hold true to her word and offer to sell me the pen at the winning bid when her emergency ended. A week later the same pen from the same seller was relisted with a BIN of 70 dollars, I had won the pen at 12 plus 3.50 for shipping. Because I agreed to cancel the auction after it ended I didn't have any recourse and just let it go. So my guess is they just canceled the auction and have now reopened it under a different account. The bidding up the auction and then having the top seller "default" is what is now against Ebay policy. According to my wife they now do investigations on auctions where the top bidder defaults out to ensure there isn't any fraud. But for an auction such as this one they just see it as a seller initiated cancellation and let it go. The tell tale giveaway on this one is the completely cut-and-paste item listing and description. Made me LOL when I saw it this morning.

[Left FPN]

Account 2 is definitely a ladies account and there are those hands again holding ladies sun glasses. It also has mom in the handle.

 

It will probably get no bids or yet more cranks.

Edited February 23, 2015 by Force

[GClef]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Gibberish/0223150552a-1.jpg

[GClef]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Gibberish/0223150606-1.jpg

[Left FPN]

You could make an offer

[ThegreatandpowerfullR]

I messaged the seller and she said

"Hi,

I listed this as a favor because someone opened an account to bid on this pen (0 feedback) and decided not to pay OR respond the seller was unable to relist due to limits on his account...so...Here it is for sale on my site. If you have any questions about the pen itself please let me know and I would be happy to answer them them.

Thanks,

Rose"

So maybe they are not the same person and are just friends who share places to take pictures and props.

[GClef]

I messaged the seller and she said

"Hi,

I listed this as a favor because someone opened an account to bid on this pen (0 feedback) and decided not to pay OR respond the seller was unable to relist due to limits on his account...so...Here it is for sale on my site. If you have any questions about the pen itself please let me know and I would be happy to answer them them.

Thanks,

Rose"

So maybe they are not the same person and are just friends who share places to take pictures and props.

So, now he's gonna sit on something he's hoping to get 25X what he thought it was actually worth.

How about we have this contest: "GUESS-HOW-LONG-THE-LISTING-RUNS!"

[GClef]

You could make an offer

Alright...

 

Okay, Mr/Ms eBay seller with the $1600 BIN vintage Waterman with a music nib, I'll give you $200 for that pen--take it or leave it.

[Left FPN]

Alright...

 

Okay, Mr/Ms eBay seller with the $1600 BIN vintage Waterman with a music nib, I'll give you $200 for that pen--take it or leave it.

I have already offerd $205

[GClef]

I have already offerd $205

Why you little...

*sigh*

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Gibberish/0223150656-1.jpg

[Left FPN]

I will stick with my....

 

[OakIris]

Well, it is too bad that all of these shenanigans have to go on.

 

The folks that would want the pen and nib with the intention of actually using them have been priced out of the running. At least, I don't imagine that very many "real" fountain pen users would be willing to pay a $1400 or so premium over what the pen is actually worth. If mhphoto's writing sample from his Waterman pen with music nib is indicative of how this pen/nib might write, one of us has definitely missed out!

 

Holly

[Cepasaccus]

If the other bidding account has a guy behind it, who is really so interested in this nib, then maybe he will offer something near the 1700 USD. Then it might vanish soon. Otherwise it might float around ebay like the founten pen lot for roughly 130000 USD from a German seller with astronomical prices.

 

Cepasaccus

[GClef]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Gibberish/0223151450-1.jpg

[OakIris]

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/Gibberish/0223151450-1.jpg

Noooooooo, GClef! Please don't keep items like this a secret (unless of course you want them for yourself. )

 

You had no idea this auction would turn out to be such a mess, and I very much doubt that someone here saw your thread and thought, "Hey, just the thing for me to spend this spare $1700 I have in my pocket." This could have been a wonderful pen for someone, if the seller hadn't apparently gotten greedy and orchestrated this fiasco!

 

Holly

[mirosc]

Actually, GClef, I'm grateful that you showed us this auction. Even when we were not bidding, we still saw a lovely pen and had some nice entertaining moments watching this auction. Please continue with such threads - I'm sure that many of us had at least some happy moments with it!