Back in Action on eBay (Uh-Oh)
I decided to bid on that signed copy of Sonny Rollins With the Modern Jazz Quartet, Prestige 7029. There was something about it that appealed to me. I think the fact that there was a story behind it and the inscription from Sonny was typical, humble, understated Sonny; “Thanks for listening.” Plus, my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, so what the hell. It has really been a long time since I bid on a jazz record on eBay. The last time I did so, I was still using Bid Nip sniping software, and it really didn’t work so well anymore. Never seemed to get the bids in on time, or just didn’t get them in at all. I figured I would check it out yesterday, but the link to their web site wasn’t even working. So, I called my friend Dan since he remains active on eBay and asked for advice.
Basically, Dan said he’s had it with sniping software. In his humble opinion, it doesn’t work so well anymore and cannot be relied upon if there is anything that you really want. I’m curious if any of you buyers out there have had a similar experience and/or if there is a particular sniping solution that you would recommend. In any case, since the auction was closing at 8:24 p.m. my time, it would be no problem for me to be on line live so I could place a bid manually.
The next question was, how much to bid. The start price was $449. When I first wrote the post yesterday there were no bidders, but by the afternoon there was one bid at the start price. Perhaps if I had known I was going want to bid on the record/autograph, I wouldn’t have written about it, but by now it was too late. With just a single bidder and only 10 people watching the record, I figured I might be able to get it for $600 or so, which would have been acceptable to me. So Dan and I strategized. What would I be comfortable paying, and what would be over the limit?
I came down to about $750. Wouldn’t really want to pay more than that for a record signed to a guy named Morrie, but would feel OK paying that much as a birthday present to myself. So we came up with a number a little higher than that, lucky sevens: $777.77. I set the alarm on my iPad for 8:15 so I wouldn’t forget and by 8:17 I was sitting at the computer watching the countdown. There were no other bidders, just the one at $449, and still only 10 watchers. There was no action as the countdown continued. Four minutes, three minutes, two minutes, one minute. Still no action. I was feeling pretty confident, to be honest. I put in the bid and with 10 seconds left, I clicked “place bid.”
A few seconds later the answer arrived. I had been outbid. The initial bidder with the $449 bid had put in a reserve that was higher than my $777.77. The record/autograph sold for $787.77. As Dan said after the auction closed, I should get a commission for putting an extra $300 in the seller’s pocket. I don’t think there were any other bidders and, of course, I have no idea what the winning bidder’s top bid would have been.
In any case, I have no problems losing out on the record and I hope the winning bidder gets a lot of joy out of owning it. It was kind of exciting getting into the action again and not doing it with sniping software. Sitting at the computer, watching the action, waiting for the results. I can see how easily I could get hooked on doing this more frequently. Not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing or just a thing. I’ll keep you posted if/when it happens again.
that’s how I have always bid. it works okay. but I don’t have the money to be constantly sniping anyway. it keeps me honest about what I really want.
I’ve had good luck with gixen.
I must admit eBay is dwindling as far as interest goes; rarely do I see anything I want up there anymore. Discogs is better but most of the good stuff is at top, top price and overseas shipping isn’t really reliable right now. So it goes…
I think discogs is killing the record market. Ridiculous prices, no action. Then again, selling on ebay is much less profitable than it used to be. I’m glad I acquired my collection during the good ebay years.
Out of curiosity, if eBay is dwindling, are the sellers moving elsewhere? Or is the market just drying up?
Capitalism is a double edged sword, which side are you on ? Records are not immune. But there is light at the end of the tunnel especially today …be well everyone.
“But there is light at the end of the tunnel especially today..”
Amen Art
eBay is a nightmare as a seller these days IMO, and the fees are ridiculous. I don’t sell records on there anymore, too many disappointing low end results. As a buyer I’m rarely satisfied with the grading. Discogs is mostly fine, both as a buyer and seller but some folks pricing schemes are definitely outrageous and unfortunately drive prices up.
I think a lot of buyers are sellers are moving to more of a direct sales model, especially in light of the pandemic. We moved our weekly drops and sales to Instagram and an email list, I’ve seen a lot of other shops open websites. The beauty of it is maintaining some of that direct connection with people, developing a reciprocal trust and rapport between customer and shop. We saved thousands of dollars in fees by doing this and in turn we are always able to ask an honest and fair price for every item, as well as pay better rates when we buy. Additionally there have been zero problems/complaints, none of the kooky/shady buyers/partial refund grifters that you sometimes encounter particularly on eBay.
There is no doubt that ebay strongly favors the buyer, especially when it comes to disputes. I don’t blame you for moving to Instagram.
For me there is nothing like the excitement and satisfaction of an auction. Even if I paid too much for a particular item, I come away thinking that at least one other person in the world values the record as I do.
Without recent auction prices serving as a baseline, it becomes difficult to know what a record is really worth. Without strong ebay offerings, I fear that interest will weaken over time.
I have enjoyed my share of success using sniping software. My program of choice is Esnipe. I put in what I want to pay and go about my business. Overall I have come out slightly ahead of FMV. A few over graded LPs, offset by bargains. Most LPs were fairly graded in my opinion. Ebay offers a single world wide platform, and allows for an easy exchange of info between seller and prospective buyer. Pictures help. Discogs is a menagerie. Hard to ask questions, hard to make offers, no pictures and so on. I am aware of instagram and other social platforms, but which is best, which is to be avoided ? Sorry don’t have time to find the answer.
I sense the astronomical prices are being paid by dealers who will flip them. Maybe not 100% of the occurrences, but I suspect a significant number.
I’ve had good luck buying on the steve hoffman forum. The forum has a buy/sell section.