RadioBanter - View Single Post - Hallicrafters sx-9

January 25th 05, 12:24 PM

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:22:55 UTC, wrote:

However, if you had bid, say $800 max for that mint SX-115 and nobody
else bid it past $500, the shill bidder (your "gottahaveit1998" friend)
will drive up the price for you. A radio you could have gotten for
$500 now might cost you $700 because of the shill bidder.

Anyone who deals like this is dishonest and should be *permanantly*
banned from eBay. Again, I do *not* know that gottahaveit1998 was
shilling for radiomart.

73 John W3JN

I've written about my strategy and it covers more cases than that.

Part of it is knowing the product, the market, my desires, and
knowing what I will pay from the beginning. As I own an SX-101A and
a 75S-1, I'm not especially interested in an SX-115, mint or
otherwise. Why is an SX-115 $5,000 (or more) and a 75S-1 is
$250-300?

Using your example, I would "know" that the right price is $500

($500 is not the right price for an SX-115 but lets go with your
numbers and your example.)

If I really, really wanted that one, I would bid $687.

Scenario 1 - The shill comes along, jacks up the price 630, 650,
670, 690, figuring that like most people, I've got a proxy at 700,
and even number or 701, just over an even number. But no. I'm
sitting on 687 and -bing- he's got it.

Scenario 1a - The shill is waiting for me to have second thoughs,
"I'm not letting this one get away. I want it." hours pass, days,
the auction closes, too bad shill. I set my price. You can pay
eBay's commission.

Scenario 2 - We try again. This time the shill thinks he knows my
limit. Well, if I see a similar radio coming around a 2nd time, I
figure that there is a 3rd and a 4th. I got time. I got money. I
can wait. This time, I don't bid $687, this time I proxy bid $538.
Same thing happens, he edges up on me and -bing- he's got it again
and is paying a 2nd commision to eBay.

Scenario 3 - The shill opens. He sits on a $1.00 opening. I'm
still interested in the radio. I bid a fair price but lower
than before because I now believe that there are dozens of these
radios. I don't know I've been bidding on the same one but each
time it shows up, I drop my estimate of the price. Now I open with
$467. The bid goes up to $2.00

What does the shill do? How far can he ease the price up before
he's paying a 3rd commission to eBay?

I don't expect to "steal" a radio. I expect to pay a fair price.
If I get it for a little less, that's great. If I really want the
radio, I'll pay a little more than "market". How much more? That's
the question. Each time the shill guesses wrong, he pays a
commission to eBay.

He can't run the price up too high on me. Although I'm bidding $467
when everyone else is bidding $3, $9, $15.25. When they're caught up
in a bidding war and going $550, $580, I've dropped out at $467.

Finally, I like the nym "gottahaveit". It scares me off. I suppose
he chose it thinking that it would stimulate competition but I
respond differently. If you gotta-have-it, well, you can have it.

There're no guarentees.

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