Wow!!!

[sp9107]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EARLY-1949-N...item2a21b076bc

[dufffader]

Saw it this morning when the price was still at $9.99. Would have been great to just place a bid for $100 and be happy for a few minutes I was the highest bidder. Went up to $2000 a few minutes later. :-)

[Contarama]

If I could buy it I would use it!

[digitalintrigue]

The listing fee is less if the entry bid is less. On something like this, with no reserve, it doesn't matter where it starts. I'm always curious about why people bid with 6 days and 23 hour left.

[Contarama]

This one will be interesting. Note how they inserted it primetime middle of the week. Is it worth 5 grand?

[Contarama]

Bid is now at 3K...do I hear 5K? 6 days to go Ladies and Gentlemen!

[Vickko]

$5K? Don't these go for $10K to $15K?

[dufffader]

I'd be surprised if it went for around $5k.
The best part is at the end of the description where the seller said "The camera made (may!) need some cleaning and or servicing"!!!!!

[funkydog]

It's in better condition than the one a HK dealer is asking $29,700 for.
You guys can have this one. I'm holding out for a Nikon M (just kidding).

[kokoshawnuff]

I'm not so sure the seller really knew what he had until he saw that bids in the thousands of dollars where coming in

[ChrisN]

$5600 with 6d 16h to go!

[maitani]

although I got pretty deep into the Nikon rangefinder thing, I'll never dish out that kind of money for anything older than a S2. from the usability point of view, I can see no interest in them (beside just collecting), where I can understand if somebody dishes that kind of money for a superb condition SP ord even an original black paint S2, which is a stellar 'user' cam too with great viewfinders.
but here, even my open minded understanding, quits.

[Pherdinand]

obviously it's a fake.

[funkydog]

Shill bidders typically have zero or low two digit feedback. Bidding high early just gives shills the opportunity to walk the bid up to just below your maximum bid amount.

These bidders look like heavy hitters but I bet they're comfortable bidding 4 digits because they know the end bid will reach over 5 digits. Unless the seller is totally clueless over what he has in his hands; no one reasonably expects the seller to conclude the transaction if bidders somehow colluded and held their breath, never bidding higher than 5000 on this. I've a hunch that the winning bidder comes out of left field, never bids till the last moment.

Btw, do sellers still mention "Bid early, Bid often" in their listings?

[digitalintrigue]

Originally Posted by Highway 61

Shill bidding by sellers affiliates/friends/family members/sellers using another nick, most of the time

Early low bids have no affect on the final price, though. These are the bids I was referring to...Such bids don't really do anything to boost the ultimate price (i.e., shilling doesn't occur in the first few hours.)

[digitalintrigue]

Originally Posted by funkydog

I've a hunch that the winning bidder comes out of left field, never bids till the last moment.

This is generally the winning strategy, which is why it's always fun to see a slew of bidders in the first hour. Auctions are never won with 6 days 23 hours to go.

[I Love Film]

Originally Posted by photomoof

I have not researched the number - but why such an outrageously low starting price?

It has been proven time after time that when an auction is started at a low price, like 99 cents, it ends up much higher than an auction started at a high price near the market value.

Many feel it is the lemming effect. If people see many other people bidding, they get excited and it validates their higher bids.

There are also "dreamers", like the second post on this thread. They like to put in bids that they know won't win, but they help drive the price up. This is typical on Rolex auctions too, for example.

Wishful thinkers who think maybe this time they will win a lowball bid. Like people who buy Powerball tickets also get in on it.

Setting a minimal opening bid is a good strategy.

PS: Just read the post above mine. Absolutely correct. Last minute snipers always win and it is the only way to bid correctly.

[digitalintrigue]

Yes, I have done tests with identical items, one starting at 0.99 and the other starting at a higher entry bid. More often than not, the 0.99 auction will attract more bidders, and more bids, and reach a higher price. People will see an item with 1 bid and an identical item with 20 bids, and think the later is more desirable. On a desirable item with good photos, there is no risk. It's not like your vintage Nikon will only get one bid for 99 cents. eBay has far too many people perusing auctions for that to ever happen.

[digitalintrigue]

I put up a Luftwaffe Barnack at 99c once and it went into the stratosphere.

In fact, nearly all my auctions for desirable items I start at 99c, even those that will end up in the 5k range. Only the obscure stuff that I don't want to sell for 99c do I put up with higher entry bids...like tripod heads and such.

[sp9107]

if you don't have a ebay store, you get 100 free listings per month, if you have a store a 9.99 listing cost 50 cents, with the store there is a discount on the final price, without the store and free shipping final value of a $10,000 auction is $250 with a premium store the cost is $222 if your a top rated premium store it cost $177. he does have a store and there is a 14 day return policy,

[dufffader]

Originally Posted by digitalintrigue

Yes, I have done tests with identical items, one starting at 0.99 and the other starting at a higher entry bid. More often than not, the 0.99 auction will attract more bidders, and more bids, and reach a higher price. People will see an item with 1 bid and an identical item with 20 bids, and think the later is more desirable. On a desirable item with good photos, there is no risk. It's not like your vintage Nikon will only get one bid for 99 cents. eBay has far too many people perusing auctions for that to ever happen.

Theoretically I would expect if you have a desirable item with a value up in the skies like a Nikon I, a desperate collector would lock in a bid for lets say 30k$ when he/she knows that market price would be somewhere around 20k$, and the first person to lock in that high price in the first day would have first dips. Theoretically because almost always there's a new bidder at the last 15 seconds. But this auction would be fun to watch.

[thompsonks]

Is it true that the rash of late bids comes in part from folks with software that tries to insert the last bid?

[hollandphotos]

That's right. I always place my bid with 5 seconds left. You can use software but its not required.

[I Love Film]

There is no sense or logic to bidding anything before the last few seconds.

In effect, all you are doing by bidding early is driving the price up in numerous ways and "bidding against yourself". You are not "locking in" anything, this is a delusion.

Sniping is the only intelligent strategy for the eBay auction model. It is almost comical to watch two inexperienced bidders trying to "stay on top" with dozens of tiny incremental bids.

PS: It's "first dibs", not "first dips".

Originally Posted by dufffader

Theoretically I would expect if you have a desirable item with a value up in the skies like a Nikon I, a desperate collector would lock in a bid for lets say 30k$ when he/she knows that market price would be somewhere around 20k$, and the first person to lock in that high price in the first day would have first dips. Theoretically because almost always there's a new bidder at the last 15 seconds. But this auction would be fun to watch.

[digitalintrigue]

Originally Posted by dufffader

Theoretically I would expect if you have a desirable item with a value up in the skies like a Nikon I, a desperate collector would lock in a bid for lets say 30k$ when he/she knows that market price would be somewhere around 20k$, and the first person to lock in that high price in the first day would have first dips. Theoretically because almost always there's a new bidder at the last 15 seconds. But this auction would be fun to watch.

I'm not really following this 'theory.'

If someone actually bid $30k early on, expecting to eventually pay $20k, they might be surprised at the ultimate price if people bid it up right at the end with auction fever. I have seen it happen...I've sold a few items for 2x the going rate just because someone had a high bid in place, and the other person kept increasing their bid like crazy...

It's nuts. At the same time my auction was getting 2x the going rate, there were other equivalent items on 'buy it now' for half the price...

A savvy bidder will put in say $22k at the last second, and hope to win it at $20k, for example, but knowing there is some risk it could be as high as $22k, or they might not win it at all if someone already has a higher bid in place, or someone else snipes at the end.