Quote:
Originally Posted by steve B
It's all about reputation and promoting the auction to the right people.
Sothebys and I could sell the exact same Item. Guess who would get the higher price? Of course they would, wether the auction was on Ebay or in the New York office.
On a smaller scale, but a perfect example there's this personal experience.
A friend of mine sells 16mm films. Lots of them. And he sells almost nothing else. He has built a reputation for accuracy in descriptions. Films fade or get worn. Many sellers underestimate how bad something is. He's a very conservative grader.
At one point I was helping him sell some inexpensive films. I sell a wide range of stuff when I'm active, cards, bike parts, small antiques... One film was a short story, and in fantastic condition. Barely used, on mylar film with an emulsion that's not prone to fading. I put a good description, and a picture.
No takers at $25- what we both thought was a good price. Then no takers at $10. I gave it back to him after 3 tries since I didn't think it should go for a price lower than that. The can and reel would sell for $4-5.
He listed it as a buy it now at $25 using my description.
It sold in less than 12 hours.
So there's a case from Ebay with the exact same item and one seller gets at least 2.5x what another could get. And he does little to no promotion of his auctions.
Steve B
PS if anyone collects films and has a want list just let me know and I'll pass it along. But you probably know him already.
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I am finally getting back to this thread. I want to make it perfectly clear that I was not in anyway saying that I though Henry was shill bidding.
In the above post Steve says exactly what I was thinking. Thanks.
HOWEVER, I would like to point out is that it really is easy to shill in Henry's auctions. I believe that he takes consignments. If that is the case, what is to stop the consignor from having another eBay user bump up the price. Henry would not even know it.