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alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,245
Alaska
I've sold 10 tins or so now. All buyers paid, even the international ones, and the tinbids label process is fantastic. I will say, expect it to take a few days at least to receive your labels for the international sales, as tinbids has to complete all the customs work, and they will ask you to ship those in plain boxes. So far so good for my experience.

No experience as a buyer, as the prices are often insane.

If you end up selling something that will likely fetch a high price (or any Esoterica at all) EXPECT the buyer to be international.
 

scloyd

Lifer
May 23, 2018
5,941
12,036
I sold five, four paid and the only international buyer (Iran) never paid. It's a really simple process and the 12.5% commission seems fair. I've bid on a few tins and haven't won any...crazy prices.
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,341
Florida - Space Coast
I have now used Tin Bids three times. On the three auctions I won the following was my experience. One seller canceled since he had 'Lost the tin of 1990s Gold Block' which probably means he didn't like the price it realized and thought he could do better elsewhere. On the other two winning bids all I can say is people have a fascinating definition of what constitutes a sealed tin. One tin had certainly been opened a decade ago or more as the lid fell off as I opened the packaging and about 20% of the tin had been previously consumed. The latest purchase was described as a 'Sealed rare tin' which again the lid was loose, the paper ruffles in the tin had been previously opened and the card insert was jammed in the wrong position with the contents dried out. I have gifted both these tins to a friend who engages in the 'resurrection' business. The lack of candor by some sellers on that site will make me think twice about buying on that venue again. I think the owners are decent and upstanding and since the amount involved were both under $100 I will not make a fuss but if I do buy I will stick to more recent tins.
I’ve notice many ppl have zero idea of the age of the tons they are selling by design or what i don’t know. Some have been esoterica bags that they claimed they bought “at least 7 years ago” yet they were fresh date codes. As they say buyer be ware.
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,341
Florida - Space Coast
I believe they have no means to ensure that. So it's like the bigger "famous auction site", just more specialized.
The buyer's risks are the same.
Agreed plenty of posts here about some of the quality or lack of it being sold as pristine or even sealed.

My favorite will always be “I bought this bag seven or eight years ago” and you look at the date on the bag and it’s from two years ago, Jesus people!
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,341
Florida - Space Coast
I have now used Tin Bids three times. On the three auctions I won the following was my experience. One seller canceled since he had 'Lost the tin of 1990s Gold Block' which probably means he didn't like the price it realized and thought he could do better elsewhere. On the other two winning bids all I can say is people have a fascinating definition of what constitutes a sealed tin. One tin had certainly been opened a decade ago or more as the lid fell off as I opened the packaging and about 20% of the tin had been previously consumed. The latest purchase was described as a 'Sealed rare tin' which again the lid was loose, the paper ruffles in the tin had been previously opened and the card insert was jammed in the wrong position with the contents dried out. I have gifted both these tins to a friend who engages in the 'resurrection' business. The lack of candor by some sellers on that site will make me think twice about buying on that venue again. I think the owners are decent and upstanding and since the amount involved were both under $100 I will not make a fuss but if I do buy I will stick to more recent tins.
Looks like they might have updated the FAQ or i just read over it too quickly before but I would hope that people would report shitty sellers, you can get a refund and they get flagged. It takes a community or something like that to police these places

Am I able to get a refund on an item?

As per our terms and conditions, all sales are final. The exception to this rule would be if the item was grossly misrepresented by the seller and not as described. Buyers have 3 days after delivery confirmation, to accept an item they have purchased. After that period, the sale is considered final.

The item I received was not as described, what should I do?

If your item was delivered to you and was not as described, i.e. “sealed tin” and it was not sealed, you should contact us within 3 days of receipt of the item. If it is determined that your claim is valid, we will ask you to return the item to us for a refund and we will contact the seller of the item for resolution.

Also if someone doesn't pay they get flagged and risk suspension or deletion of account and since they go by Pay Pal unless they have multiple PP accounts they won't be back.
 

beefeater33

Lifer
Apr 14, 2014
4,063
6,119
Central Ohio
Just noticed on the last few sales I had with them, that my Paypal deposits seemed a bit short.
Turns out they changed the consignment fee to %15.5.
I have no problem with this, but a notification of the change would have been nice. A blast email wouldn't have been too much trouble............
 

Terry Lennox

Can't Leave
Aug 11, 2021
379
2,129
Southern California
I think it great that TinBids is providing this service for buyers and sellers and I wish them well. It certainly is a good price check on market demand for certain blends. However, for me I will be sticking with Steve Fallon (Pipe Stud) and the selling forum here on this site as places to sell my stuff. It's just familiar and easy. But to each their own.
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,341
Florida - Space Coast
It's another useful metric for gauging potential aftermarket value. I see that a number of really high valuations, $750 for an 8oz bag of 2011 Stonehaven, and other lofty evaluations have garnered no takers as they approach timing out. Proves the old adage about investing, pigs get slaughtered.
I happen to thing those posts do more harm for the site and selling community than good. This is note eBay with 1 million sellers so one person putting up ridiculous priced tobacco just makes the site look like that’s what’s there and ppl will be less likely to either look through the other few posts and will most likely not come back in the future. Only takes a couple idiots to eff everything up for the rest of us.
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,341
Florida - Space Coast
Still waiting for my auction winner to pay, having all of his info was east enough to Zillow him, ok chief take time out of your busy day in your 2.7 million dollar cali home to pay your $300. While Zillow isn’t always that accurate it isn’t off by that much so my post stands 😂
 
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Reactions: scloyd

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,625
44,843
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
A question about bidding: Suppose I'm the high bid at $100 and the runner up bids $50. What do I end up paying?
The amount of the winning bid is always related to the next highest bid by a certain percentage or dollar amount. For example, at $50, the increment is $5. You could place a maximum bid of $100, and if the next highest bid is $50, you pay $55 of that $100 you offered. The only time a maximum is entirely used is when the next highest bid falls within that increment amount. The higher the price, the larger the incremental amount.
 

pauls456

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 19, 2020
239
478
60
Tucson, Arizona
BTW, I looked at the Tinbids site and could find nothing about their incremental bidding policy. Either I missed it, or they need to add it.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,625
44,843
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
That's the fairest way. I've seen 'auctions' where you pay every dollar of what you bid. Those should be avoided. Thanks.
With live auctions, where there's only a minute or two and a gavel to close it, what you bid is what you pay. Others include paddles that can be held aloft to indicate an incremental bid. But a verbal spoken bid is always the amount that will be paid. Don't say it if you don't mean it.