Hi Jim, Doug and List, eBay is a fickle mistress.
I have heard one well-known dealer describe eBay as "a hell for sellers and a heaven for buyers." I've been selling collectibles on eBay for about 10 years - since the days before PayPal (remember BillPoint?) and the behavior of other eBay members has always confused me. I try to make sense of the whims of the market and just when I think I have it figured out, the bidders (or the sellers) throw me a new curveball. I concur with Doug's conclusions about watching a cheap BIN item. There are many reasons behind this phenomena - some financial and some that are quirky at best. I have a cheap $10 USB Wi-Fi dongle on watch right now. Why? Well, it's a little complicated, but here goes - I have a backburner project right now that involves building a "Wok-Fi" parabolic amplifier to boost my wireless internet reception. I discovered this need for this while staying at a rental beach cottage whose promised "high speed internet connection" was slower than dialup and more sporadic than Robert Downey Jr. The project requires a few ingredients - a parabolic dish (or facsimile there-of), a USB Wi-Fi dongle, and a USB extension cable. I searched the web to find a suitable dongle (hold your jokes) and found this one on eBay. I am not ready to buy it yet, because I don't have the other parts rounded up yet. My wife's birthday (and our wedding anniversary) are both next week, so I am in a cash pinch at the moment. I put the dongle on watch, so I can go back and easily find it in a couple of weeks when I am ready to assemble the amplifier. Why don't I just BIN because it's only $10? Because, as sad as it sounds, $10 makes a difference to me right now - money is that tight. But, I do have to agree that if money is no object, then it makes little sense to put a BIN item on a watch list. Either use the BIN or move on to something else. But, who is to say what motivates each watcher? Best regards and clear skies, MikeG On 9/27/09, Mexicodoug <mexicod...@aim.com> wrote: > "I have a question that has puzzled me for some time....... On a cheap > item, $20- buy it now, why would anyone bother to watch it? " > > Hello Jim ! > > Maybe the IRS. > > $20 is more money than 2/3 's of the current eBay prices in the > collectibles category. > > Maybe they debate between (grocery shopping and cooking a romantic home > cooked steak dinner for two), or (some old rock or 40-kopeck (USD > $0.01) postage stamp).... so they put it on a watch list so it doesn't > get lost. > > Or maybe long on bids and with a fixed perk budget. Losing other > auctions, he would pounce on the $20 thingy. > > Maybe she is 11 years old and $20 is her week's allowance and she is > waiting for her "paycheck". Or ditto, retired, fixed income, unemployed. > > Do you happen to have several of the same items for $20? Maybe one of > your competitors thinks $10 has been the standard for whatever the item > is, and he may be thinking, let's see how quickly Jim sells these at > $20 ! > > My money is on the latter, > > Kindest wishes, > Doug > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jim Strope <nwa...@comcast.net> > To: Meteorite Central <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com> > Sent: Sun, Sep 27, 2009 11:51 am > Subject: [meteorite-list] AD... Time to get back to work > > > > After playing all summer, I find that I must get back to work. So I > have > started listing on ebay again. All items so far are buy it now listings > with > some of them accepting reasonable offers. Noteable items are a complete > Portales Valley Stone, nice Esquel slices, complete Millbillillie, > Gibeon, > Planetaries etc, Link is below: > > http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=catchafallingstar.com > > I have a question that has puzzled me for some time....... On a cheap > item, > $20- buy it now, why would anyone bother to watch it? It is only $20- > and not > an auction where you would want to know where it ended or wanted to bid > at the > last minuite? What is the logic behind cluttering your watched item > list with > this kind of cheap item? > > Good luck to all as I have some exceptional items offered and plan on > adding > more in the next few days. > > Jim Strope > > http://www.catchafallingstar.com/ > ______________________________________________ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > ______________________________________________ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > -- ......................................................... Michael Gilmer (Florida, USA) Member of the Meteoritical Society. 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