Crazy prices on eBay that make me frustrated.

eggtimer rocketry
Onebadhawk
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les said:
How does one explain this auction??

Used, damaged, Starlight - Sold for how much?

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Here's one possible explanation that I've heard from multiple sources, hard to say if it's true in this case, or in any case, but we all know that money laundering is a thing:

"Lets say Bill has a customer who wants to buy something illegal such as drugs, stolen property or weapons but Bill needs a way to get the money cleanly into a bank. Bill simply sets up a fake listing on eBay for what looks like a real transaction but sets the price so high that a normal buyer is not even going to consider purchasing it. Bill sends a link to the item to his customer who purchases it, Bill ships a box of rocks or an empty box to the buyer and the money flows through eBay and into Bills account. Bill will then meet up with the buyer and deliver the drugs, stolen property or weapons.

Everybody is happy, Bill has his money cleanly in the bank, the buyer has their item and eBay gets its fees and nobody knows the transaction took place as one of a million items that are sold on eBay every week. It's easy to be a grain of sand on a beach and pull off the illegal operation in such a large online marketplace. Constantly switching accounts and banks it makes Bill difficult to catch. "

I've also read they could be bot accounts that buy but cancel the transaction just to get attention for the seller, a form of advertising I guess. Hard to say, other than by asking the seller, and likely they won't be too forthcoming.

I'm sure there are many possible explanations, nearly all of which are shady.


Tony

PS: original source for that quote: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/High-amount-sold-for-vintage-items/td-p/32083470
 
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Zeus-cat said:
Where I used to work they would occasionally auction off old tools like battery powered drills. I went to watch once and two guys got into a bidding war over something. It was something common that they could go down the street and buy at Wal-Mart, but neither one wanted to lose. The price was soon more than a brand new one, but they kept bidding. People were openly laughing at them, but they kept bidding. Eventually common sense prevailed for one of them and he quit bidding. Some people HATE to lose.
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What's really fun is to be the guy who backs off... and watch how much the sucker now has to pay for something so trivial. It's a delicate game, but it's fun when it works.
 
manixFan said:
It's kind of like free shipping – I can sell you a kit for $50 with free shipping, or the same kit for $40 with $8.95 in shipping. Guess which one most folks will buy? Based on many conversations with online sellers, many buyers seem incapable of seeing past the 'free shipping' label and doing a little math in their head. The most common complaint I heard from sellers was that if a competitor was selling the same item with free shipping for a higher price, they wanted free shipping 'as a price match', even though the total price was lower from the start. It was enough to make me lose faith in the math skills of most consumers in this country!
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Ever hear why A&W stopped selling their 1/3 pounder hamburgers? Yup, you guessed it... People would buy a smaller 1/4 pounder (for a larger price) and think that they were getting such a deal.

1692699235044.png
 
K'Tesh said:
Ever hear why A&W stopped selling their 1/3 pounder hamburgers? Yup, you guessed it... People would buy a smaller 1/4 pounder (for a larger price) and think that they were getting such a deal.

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Well, there are apparently a lot of people that don't understand how markets work either.
 
I once bought a custom intake manifold from Canada on ebay, the minimum bid was a dollar, which is what I got it for. Price included free shipping.......
 
I love it when a seller has multiples of the same rare kits... And then sells them off one at a time... The first few go for premium prices as guys get themselves into a frenzy trying and score one... Then after they get theirs (draining their wallets in the process), I come in and scoop the last one for a fraction of the price because they all now can't afford to buy it.
 
K'Tesh said:
I love it when a seller has multiples of the same rare kits... And then sells them off one at a time... The first few go for premium prices as guys get themselves into a frenzy trying and score one... Then after they get theirs (draining their wallets in the process), I come in and scoop the last one for a fraction of the price because they all now can't afford to buy it.
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This is an example of a seller that understood the market and strategized correctly. And a patient buyer that waited until the market came to him.
 
I try to remember, if I see an item on Fleabay or Amazon being sold by a business that's in the business of selling that item specifically, to go find the manufacturer's own web site and find out the price to buy direct. It's often usefully less.

I've also gotten some sweet deals. Like when an item had been floating around $150 for well over a year, buying two for $75 shipped for the pair because I was fast enough when following up on my automated search.
 
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I absolutely refuse to pay anything over the amount that it would cost me to clone something. The MDRM is a good example. I can pieces together the parts for around $80 with the exception of the decals which I personally would prefer vinyl anyways.

I recently put together parts for Estes Phoenix clone. I'm $28 into parts complete with close out vinyl from Stickershock. I've seen kits on eBay in the $195 range. You have got to be insane!
 
ljwilley said:
A mega der red max is out of production and sort of rare, but it is NOT 350 bucks! You can still buy the tube AND nose from Estes and the fins and motor mount from rocketry works. You can make a scratch build MDRM for less than $100. When I first saw this they had it priced a 500 bucks. At least they lowered the price a little.

Look at this!
Overpriced MDR
afadeev said:
Ever paid attention to the stock market?
;)

Then there is whole thing about gambling and going to Vegas...



Primitive, or motivated?
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LoL,,

Try & Buy one if they aren’t rare!!!

LoFnL!!!
Look at the price of cigarettes!

Mine, New in Package Just sold for $1 more than a company selling fakes for $119 + shipping.

Sold it for $120. Because I seen what those pipe dreamers were charging.

I’ve seen a few fakes, FAKE IS NOT THE SAME,,,

From nose cone to decals on fins.

But you know what?
The guy is Completely stoked he’s getting a real one!

That’s is a Difference in Knowing I guess.

Ya can’t get away with driving a pinto with a Porsche hubcap and call it a Porsche.
You can try, Usually, It’s Obvious....
LoL,,
✌️😎

My $.02!!!
 
Also,
In my mind,,,
A guy would be nuts paying $100 for a couple of cardboard tubes, little bits of wood, little nylon. In a kit of stuff that couldn’t possibly cost more than $10!

Reality is Real. Isn’t it?

LoL,
✌️😎
 
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ljwilley said:
Yes, I understand that, but as a rocketeer myself if I was him I would sell it for a reasonable price. Even if I could get someone to buy it for that price, I wouldn't feel good about knowing that I kind of tricked someone into thinking it was worth that much.
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But your not him.....
He's not a rocketeer, but preferred racketeering.
 
LipRipr said:
Bingo!

“It’s all in the Eye of the Beholder!!!”

✌️😎
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That’s exactly why I sold my kit for $1 more than a fake.
I felt like I was ripping off you guys!!!
LoL!!!!

Hopefully the guy doesn’t turn around now and resale it on me on Flebay!!!’
LoL!!!
✌️😳
 
Report the sale to eBay or move along. Getting upset and raising heck on the forum only raises your blood pressure. There is nothing you can do to change it unless you act.

I reported a guy on Monday selling an M motor on eBay - it was offline in 2 hours.
 
There is a guy selling a lot of ceceroni 6 grain reloads on ebay. 3 of them are G150's, which are high power. Anyone could by these on ebay, not only high power certified people- should I report this?
 
ljwilley said:
There is a guy selling a lot of ceceroni 6 grain reloads on ebay. 3 of them are G150's, which are high power. Anyone could by these on ebay, not only high power certified people- should I report this?
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Yes.
 
lakeroadster said:
Is that a problem? As long as the seller asks if the buyer is "certified", and the seller follows all ATF shipping requirements?
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It requires HAZMAT shipping, and he was not doing that. We do not need these violates attached to our hobby. That being said, I report and let it go. eBay thanked me.
 
cwbullet said:
It requires HAZMAT shipping, and he was not doing that. We do not need these violates attached to our hobby. That being said, I report and let it go. eBay thanked me.
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And the seller could do that... not sure how you knew he wasn't... but I guess it's worth having Ebay check to ensure that.
 
For the one I just reported, he wasn't specifying that anyone had to be certified, and wasn't going to use hazmat shipping either.
 

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