hyee_auctions, how do they do it?

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Posted By: Randall Adams

This is a $10 item at best http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260257025804&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

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Posted By: Ejm1

Looks like the winning bidder has won many items from that seller in the past, check his bid history. Maybe it's a close friend?

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Posted By: brock

I like some of their Lou Gehrig wire photos but i know they shill bid in their auctions so im just going to pass on the photos.

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Posted By: Rob D.

You know, on that punchboard, if it sold for $75 or $100, I'd be suspicious. But when it brings just an incredibly stupid price like that, I'm inclined to believe the sale is legit.

Of course, that could be the genius of it.

(I was the high bidder on an item tonight from hyee for less than $60, about what it's worth, I figure. My snipe was way higher, and I was holding my breath that I'd be maxed out. I don't know if I was more happy or relieved that I got it at the price I did.)

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Posted By: Jimmy

I bid on a lot of their items, one of the better eBayers in the hobby. They get some really nice items. They just seem to get good money for everything, I lost out on a few auctions tonight, can be hard to win

Jimmy

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

And this baseball punch board sold for $13.

http://tinyurl.com/6c8nf2

I have still not seen any proof of shill bidding. I admit his auctions seem to go for far more than most people get for some of the same type of items, but where's the proof?

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Posted By: Aaron M.

Dan, no proof to offer, but alot of suspcion. I don't bid on Yee's auctions because I strongly suspect there is shill bidding (especially with E-Bay's new rules). And in the event these auction results are legitimate, I would offer the rationale to stay away because the prices are exceedingly higher than if you were to buy the same items elsewhere.

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Posted By: Mark

I am suspicious as well. As a test, I recently placed a couple of bids on some wirephotos that had not seen any action for a while. Keep in mind, this is after 11:00 Pacific time / 2:00 AM EDT...

So I became high bidder on both pieces (with quite a bit of cushion between the current bid and my ceiling bid amount). Then, within a few minutes, I received Outbid notices for both. Somebody out there actually topped my bids instantly (at this time of night, no less). These were not snipes either... the items don't close until tomorrow night.

It's almost as if my bids triggered some automated response to raise the bid. This struck me as very odd. These items weren't getting much action, and normally any outbids would occur much further out (if at all...)

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Posted By: larry

edited due to anonymity

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Posted By: D. Bergin

It's possible the smaller carton is rarer then the larger one you have, or the collectors who bid on it already have it.

Also, if you started it at $200 you pretty much deflate any chance of a bidding war happening. He also has a pretty high bidder base to begin with because of the large number of items he regularly offers on Ebay.

I don't know if Yee shills or not but because he got a higher price then you on an item has absolutely no bearing on whether or not there is shilling going on.

Personally, I deal in boxing memorabilia and I wouldn't think either carton would go for anywhere near that amount. I just saw a Cassius Clay pin sell for 4 times more then it should on a Yee auction. That doesn't mean he's a cheat, it may just mean he has uninformed or overzealous bidders.

Unless you see him relist the same items over and over again after getting winning bids on them I don't see the issue.

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Posted By: larry

edited due to anonymity

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Posted By: D. Bergin

I don't think you read my response very well. I don't know Henry Yee from a hole in the wall, never mind related to him.

I'm not the only one in this thread who didn't accuse him of shilling. You need to have more proof then his item sold for more then yours to throw around accusations like that about anybody IMO.

He may very well be a shiller. I don't know and I don't pretend to know.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Larry, you need to post your last name on your posts if you want to continue with your accusations. Nothing personal it's forum policy in controversial threads. Especially if you want to throw around baseless accusations. Thanks.

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Posted By: leon

We are in agreement.....
Larry- you need to put your full name out here or by this evening your posts will be edited out.....nothing personal...it's the rules....best regards

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

without issue. I do not avidly collect much of the type of stuff he offers, so I am not in the know as to where prices should be. As for counterfeits, I too wonder where he gets so many first generation or original photos, but have nothing to go on as to authenticity. Maybe David or others really into photos could comment on that, but the markings on the backs of these items look genuine.

I do find Mark's post disturbing. Placing bids late in the night on slow moving items only to have them outbid shortly thereafter is at least curious. Of course, ebay bidders are notified by email when they've been outbid, so it's possible the underbidders were at their computers at that time of night, but what advantage would there be in immediately topping Marks's bids, when so much time remained and the more prevalent practice is to snipe at or near the end?

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Posted By: Mark

Todd...

It seemed very odd to me as well. I checked, and it was indeed the same person who quickly outbid me late at night on both pieces. This could well have been legit, but really seems to go against the normal bidding patterns that so many of us are now accustomed to on Ebay. Perhaps I'm just overly sensitive to this particular case, because of all the awareness and allegations these threads have generated.

I do not want to make any accusations of Hyee. I have won over a dozen items from him in the past, and all are authentic, and as described. His wirephotos cannot have been forged, as they are obviously vintage, and have proper original stamping on the reverse.

It is just the sheer number of bids (and prices realized) that seem so far out of line, compared to other Ebay auctions. I guess that by nature, many of us tend to wonder why...

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Posted By: larry

edited due to anonymity

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

You did too make an accusation. You stated half of his items are fake (counterfeit). Now stand up like a man and put your full name next to that accusation or your posts will be deleted.

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Posted By: leon

As I said put your name out here or you are going to have your posts deleted...you said:

"thats what an open forum is for"

this is open but not to anonymous posts...it's open to folks who stand up like a man and say what they want to...

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Posted By: Chris Nerat

I have talked with Henry... From what I remember I think he said he owns none of the pieces and they are all consignments... I would be interested to see if you allows the consignors to bid on their items...

What is your guys' take on that theory??

chris

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Posted By: D. Bergin

Good question Chris. The way ebay is set up, he might not even know unless he's sending the items back to the consignors if they don't reach the prices they want. He'd also be taking a hit on the ebay fees if he's sending stuff back to consignors.

I did take the time to go search back through the last several hundred auctions of his that closed. You see a few items that go way over what they should but just as many going under what they should and plenty going for what they should have. When you list as many items as he does and the material is halfway decent, which it is, there is going to be some surprises and some bidding wars going on. It's just the nature of auctions.

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Posted By: Chris Nerat

He also has a big client list that I am sure he mass emails to let them know when his auctions hit the bay and are closing.

He also has some of the greatest original photos on ebay as well..

I am not sticking up for him, but I will say that some of the prices are possible and it is possible that his consignors are shilling.

It's also possible that nobody is shilling. Not sure. I am sure that I got outbid on the three photos I bid on and I thought I had some hefty bids on them. Photos are an interesting animal, as I have wrote about in feature articles in SCD... You never know what they will end up selling for.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I have received emails and postcards from him telling of forthcoming auctions. I'm sure his client list is huge.

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Posted By: leon

I sat next to him one night, 2-3 yrs ago, all the way through a nice Mastro Dinner. He and his girlfriend were at our table. He's a nice gentleman. We need to remember that he co-wrote a book on photography with Marshall Fogel a few years ago. I would guess Henry's client list is very large....at least as large as a big auction house. I think he's not only friendly with the Mastro guys but also several other auction houses... Ok, all that being said....several years ago he did in fact embellish a few items on ebay that were over the top in desctiption. Scott Forest called him out on it.....It wasn't pretty..It can probably be found in our search engine...I have no idea if he plays games with auctions or not....If I had to guess I would say he doesn't. regards

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Posted By: jeffdrum

I receive e-mail notices from him usually when he launches his large groups. I have bought photos from him in the past. I don't seem to remember overpaying. All that being said, I have not bid in awhile.

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Posted By: Rawn Hill

My take is that if I ever do decide to sell anything, I'm getting in touch with hyee auctions.

Rawn

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Posted By: Mark

Consignors bidding on their own pieces may just be the answer to the high # of bids and high prices realized.

If that's the case, Henry is probably not even aware of it, or able to monitor it. Ebay consignments carry a few complexities that major catalogue Auctions can safeguard against. Just a possibility...

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

baseball bat pencils and pens and he routinely has many of them in his auctions. I did a search of the current closed lots and he had about 10 or so sets of quill pens/pencils and they were all over the board. Some went for more than they should, some went for less and some were right on. Wish I'd seen them because I would have bid on a couple of them. I did receive, like my buddy Jeff Drum, an email from Henry that he had a number of auctions coming up. I've won stuff in the past, for what, at the time, I considered good prices. I wouldn't say he's shilling for sure but the consistently high prices make you wonder. He definitely has some of the best photos on the net though..........

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Posted By: larry

edited due to anonymity.

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Posted By: John Ross

I have a friend and long-time collector who had tabulated bidders who consistently bid on great numbers of items in Yee's auctions back when eBay lited all bidder IDs, and he found a dozen or so such bidders (who seldom won items). Make of this whay you want....

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Posted By: Doug Goodman

Hi have bid on lots of his auctions, probably hundreds, but I seldom win. In his present auction, I have won 2 items and have been out bid in 70 to 80. All of the items I have won over the years have been as described, often better looking than I expected. For what it's worth, Doug

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I didn't bid on anything in this round, but I put a watch on about 10 items and none of them so far look to have any kind of funny business. All of the winners are legit bidders who bid and win auctions from other sellers.

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Posted By: larry

edited: Larry, you've been warned. Stay out of this thread unless you want to put your full name out there.

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Posted By: barrysloate

This Larry is a troll. He should be banned.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I'm locking this thread and Larry's other thread until Leon can take the appropriate action.