Bidding on your own auction

RCMcKenzie · #1 12-30-2012, 11:12 PM

Guys,

Probstein is one of a handful of dealers that list at no reserve. I have one purchase from him and it was a very rare n172 at under $200. Insane.

I list at no reserve, but I don't sell baseball cards for a living. I do it for fun and don't care if I make or lose money on an ebay lot.

When I first saw baseball cards on ebay in 1998 almost all sales were $1 and no reserve. I remember uncatalogued T214's going for 89 bucks.

This guy sold a PSA 2 1914 Meyers for under $100 the other day. His auctions are bad? Others good. C'mon.

In Texas, what you guys are calling egregious and nefarious shilling is known as an accepted, legal practice to getting an item to a reserve below market value.

You guys keep it up and no-one will sell on ebay at no reserve except for people like me who don't care what the cards sell for.

glchen · #2 12-31-2012, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Guys,

Probstein is one of a handful of dealers that list at no reserve. I have one purchase from him and it was a very rare n172 at under $200. Insane.

I list at no reserve, but I don't sell baseball cards for a living. I do it for fun and don't care if I make or lose money on an ebay lot.

When I first saw baseball cards on ebay in 1998 almost all sales were $1 and no reserve. I remember uncatalogued T214's going for 89 bucks.

This guy sold a PSA 2 1914 Meyers for under $100 the other day. His auctions are bad? Others good. C'mon.

In Texas, what you guys are calling egregious and nefarious shilling is known as an accepted, legal practice to getting an item to a reserve below market value.

You guys keep it up and no-one will sell on ebay at no reserve except for people like me who don't care what the cards sell for.

As a seller on ebay, I've hit record low prices selling cards that start at 99 cents w/ no reserve. (33 Goudey 92 Gehrig SGC 40/3 for $550, T206 Mathewson PSA 4 for $450, 33 Sport Kings Cobb PSA 3 for $300, and more where those came from.) I personally think it's nuts for the average seller to start auctions at 99 cents these days, so I never do that anymore unless I just want to get rid of the card and am willing to take whatever loss comes my way. However, I also think shilling is wrong, and it's obviously going on in the case listed in this thread. Rick Probstein runs a lot of auctions. There's no way he could keep track of it if some of his consignors wanted to shill their own items. However, once someone points out to him that it's happening, he should come down hard to them by ending the listings, outing the consignor, and banning those folks from consigning w/ him again.

BTW, if you want ebay to get rid of BINs and go back to regular auctions, mail ebay and tell them to implement the following 3 things: (1) raise BIN fees to 5% of the BIN price, with the max length of BINs still at one month, (2) remove all promotions relating to free insertion fees for listings, (3) remove insertion fees for any auction listing that starts at 99 cents or less. There would be a huge outcry among sellers, including myself, but I think if ebay did this, you'd see a lot more regular auctions again and less BINs.

JollyElm · #3 12-31-2012, 04:29 AM

If it walks like a shill and quacks like a shill, it's a shill. Freakin' ridiculous!!!

T206DK · #4 12-31-2012, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Guys,

Probstein is one of a handful of dealers that list at no reserve. I have one purchase from him and it was a very rare n172 at under $200. Insane.

I list at no reserve, but I don't sell baseball cards for a living. I do it for fun and don't care if I make or lose money on an ebay lot.

When I first saw baseball cards on ebay in 1998 almost all sales were $1 and no reserve. I remember uncatalogued T214's going for 89 bucks.

This guy sold a PSA 2 1914 Meyers for under $100 the other day. His auctions are bad? Others good. C'mon.

In Texas, what you guys are calling egregious and nefarious shilling is known as an accepted, legal practice to getting an item to a reserve below market value.

You guys keep it up and no-one will sell on ebay at no reserve except for people like me who don't care what the cards sell for.

So if we demand honesty from card sellers then you are saying the baseball card market will dry up and blow away basically....okay - good riddance then. I have other hobbies.
I will remember not to bid on any auctions originating from Texas if this is the "accepted practice" down there. Why bother with an auction, just state your price and se what happens. Baseball cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them please remember they have no real value. I can't trade a t206 for my dinner tonight or go to Krogers and buy milk and eggs with some old T207's I don't want anymore. In order to be able to turn over these precious cards there has to be an interest in them. If people keep getting ripped off and keep hearing and reading about rip off artists on Ebay in in auction houses there will be no interest in collecting cards. I know I have curtailed my buyng and refuse to bid on ebay with certain sellers because of suspicious activity I have observed

Leon · #5 12-31-2012, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T206DK

So if we demand honesty from card sellers then you are saying the baseball card market will dry up and blow away basically....okay - good riddance then. I have other hobbies.
I will remember not to bid on any auctions originating from Texas if this is the "accepted practice" down there. Why bother with an auction, just state your price and se what happens. Baseball cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them please remember they have no real value. I can't trade a t206 for my dinner tonight or go to Krogers and buy milk and eggs with some old T207's I don't want anymore. In order to be able to turn over these precious cards there has to be an interest in them. If people keep getting ripped off and keep hearing and reading about rip off artists on Ebay in in auction houses there will be no interest in collecting cards. I know I have curtailed my buyng and refuse to bid on ebay with certain sellers because of suspicious activity I have observed

That's kind of a new twist, condemning a whole state for one person's thoughts. For the record I am in no way condoning shilling or the ignoring of shilling. Its fraud and it's ethically wrong too. It certainly looks like the seller needs to be asking questions and possibly booting some consignors.

and a nice video on shilling....R rated for language

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqJew...layer_embedded

.

ullmandds · #6 12-31-2012, 09:54 AM

nice video...pretty f'in funny...the accent definitely increases it's comedic value!!!!

Runscott · #7 12-31-2012, 11:40 AM

I think it's great that people on drugs can make videos. Very funny.

familytoad · #8 12-31-2012, 02:14 PM

Geez, I actually laughed out loud during that video! A true LOL is much rarer than the typed out trio of letters...

Cookies are good.
Shilling sux.

I only bid on 3-4 different sellers on ebay. That's because I have had sucessful transactions with them, and i created a saved search for those dealers. I typically only look through their offerings, not the whole ebay enterprise. I am not a seller. Sure that limits what I see and probably keeps my glasses colored in rose.

This leads me to several disjointed conclusions:

EBAY ain't what it used to be. You may not find as many "steals" as in the older days.

Sellers hate steals almost as much as buyers like them.

Every time I bid higher than a shiller , or any other under bidder, I win.

Shilling sux.

We should embrace ebay turning into strictly marketplace-based. Eventually, high BIN prices for *every* listing will slow the ebay income machine enough where they will be forced to make some adjustments. Ebay never appears to be afraid to change. Hit 'em in the wallet, you'll see quick change.

In the meantime, we card collectors have plenty of other outlets to buy cards.
Even sellers have a big network of selling outlets.
Who needs eBay?

I spelled e-bay 5 different ways.
Ebay still sux.

Happy New Year!!

steve B · #9 12-31-2012, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T206DK

So if we demand honesty from card sellers then you are saying the baseball card market will dry up and blow away basically....okay - good riddance then. I have other hobbies.
I will remember not to bid on any auctions originating from Texas if this is the "accepted practice" down there. Why bother with an auction, just state your price and se what happens. Baseball cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them please remember they have no real value. I can't trade a t206 for my dinner tonight or go to Krogers and buy milk and eggs with some old T207's I don't want anymore. In order to be able to turn over these precious cards there has to be an interest in them. If people keep getting ripped off and keep hearing and reading about rip off artists on Ebay in in auction houses there will be no interest in collecting cards. I know I have curtailed my buyng and refuse to bid on ebay with certain sellers because of suspicious activity I have observed

Come by the bicycle shop I work for. I'll take T206s and T207s as payment. Probably a bunch of other cards as well.

Steve B

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