Someone Who Can Decipher Bidding Patterns Please Explain This

[georged]

$902 for an excellent condition but otherwise-nothing-special LB?! 8O
I've been collecting LBs for a long time. That specimen would normally bring $330-350.
38 bids seems like an unusually high number. Does the pattern tell a story? :?:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXCELLENT-1959-DUNHILL-BRUYERE-LB-LARGE-BILLIARD-English-Estate-Pipe-SUPER-CLEAN-/401364137377?hash=item5d732ab5a1:g:ZEcAAOSwidlZZYal

 

[philobeddoe]

Maybe it's the same buyer who paid $810.00 for an Old Antiquari Castello 55.

 

[hobie1dog]

Someone with more money than sense with Ebay Fever

 

[jaytex1969]

A nice seller's presentation goes a long way towards maximizing sales.
So does two or three boneheads with more dollars than sense getting caught up in a bidding war.
I've done it. (on a smaller scale) Paid more that I intended while frothing at the mouth in the last minute of an auction.
I've also walked away from very good deals over a stubborn five bucks. Depends on the day and the wallet.

 

[buckaroo]

2 nitwits battling it out. The seller won.

 

[cosmicbobo]

I can actually answer this. The last two bids were in the ozone. Someone put a high bid on figuring the next highest bid would be reasonable, but he wanted not to be outbid. The person who bid last and near end of auction did the same thing, not knowing there was a 900$ bid there. He found out as soon as he bid.
And example: Years ago when you could see who was bidding against you I bid up a set of photos to around a hundred. Not to want to be outdone the last day I put a 200$ insurance bid, thinking I would not pay much more than what the bid already was. Within the last five seconds I was outbid by YahooLady. So, the price up until her bid was still a hundred. She was a last minute hawk and went for it. While I could not afford to bid more as I was bidding on other items. I looked at my list of money I could possibly spend and items she was bidding on. ZERO. She only bid at the last minute, so she was never more than one bid out of pocket. A friend told me she probably wet herself when she saw what she paid and would never bid on an item I was bidding on again. He was right.
So, the pipe was only 400$ and two less than savvy people paid the supreme price for having to have it.

 

[craiginthecorn]

I have found it very useful to use a bidding service which places your bid on the closing seconds. There are two benefits. First, you don't bid up the price while others can irrationally outbid me. Second, I avoid getting sucked into the bidding frenzy. I lose more auctions now, but when I do win, it's generally a good deal

 

[Chasing Embers]

Often, if you find a pipe that has just been put up for auction, you can contact the seller with a reasonable offer, and get a good deal. Sometimes though, greed takes over, and the seller wants to see how much they can squeeze from a bidding war.

 

[fishnbanjo]

There are several thoughts that come to mind, one an all out bidding possibly to fill a specific hole in a collection, just a plain bidding war, a loaded auction with shills or we'll never know.

banjo

 

[dmcmtk]

Two people looking for a birth year pipe with very high last minute limit bids. In other words, set your limit at what you are only really willing to pay... :wink:

 

[bigpond]

Winning bidders history shows an extraordinary number of bids on auctions from this one seller.
30-Day Summary

Total bids: 670

Items bid on: 23

Bid activity (%) with this seller: 94%

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I've never been very active on eBay so I don't have a deft understanding on the ins and outs of how it works..
Is it possible the winning bidder here and the seller could be in cahoots or the same person altogether?

 

[mawnansmiff]

"I have found it very useful to use a bidding service which places your bid on the closing seconds"
Craig, what I don't understand about these here auto bidding services is what if several folks are doing the very same thing on an auction...who decides who wins the auction?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[sablebrush52]

Hi George,
Ya gotta love eBay, It continues to educate and delight. eBay may also be our best proof yet that intelligent life does not exist on earth.
Bid history tells the tale. The bidder known as s***r, with 151 completed auctions to his credit, is eager to obtain this 1959 Dunhill and starts bidding early. As the other bidders jump in, s***r repeatedly outbids them. No one is going to take his precious away from him! Never mind what the cost is! s***r will have his precious!
That is, until he shows up, that bastard, d***6, showing up hours before closing to challenge s***r for the hand of the Dunhill. In a fit of desperation, s***r falls upon that long honored and sure win strategy of the ultra high maximum bid, the bid so high that no one would be stoopid enough to come close to it. NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN GAINING MY PRECIOUS!!!
d***6, casual cad that he is, a force of chaos, lies in wait. He will have that Dunhill, like no Dunhill has been had in history. He will snatch the Dunhill from that hapless lout, s***r, pathetic addict that he is, and will bring home the Dunhill to his mancave and have his way with her. To achieve his goal, d***6 relies on another proven eBay method, the stratospheric last second snipe. d****6 will place a bid so high, so outrageous, so mindless, that no one, no one, CERTAINLY NOT THAT PLODDER S***R, will win that pipe! And so, with seconds left on the clock, d***6, his right hand busy in his lap, fires off this stoopidly high bid.
And, loses to THAT PLODDER, s***r.
It is a tale as old as the hills and as vast as the wine dark sea, repeated over and over again in the eBay universe.
Chance favors Chance.

 

[sablebrush52]

There is one, and only one, way to ensure getting a reasonable deal on eBay. Never, never, never, bid more than an item is worth based on market prices. It's that simple.
You can cogitate all you want about how and when to place your bid(s) but that's about style, not about substance.

 

[saintpeter]

There is one, and only one, way to ensure getting a reasonable deal on eBay. Never, never, never, bid more than an item is worth based on market prices. It's that simple.

And if followed you will never have to say the eBay prayer. "Oh please, Lord...let someone out bid me at the last moment..."

 

[jpmcwjr]

Winning bidders history shows an extraordinary number of bids on auctions from this one seller.
30-Day Summary

Total bids: 670

Items bid on: 23

Bid activity (%) with this seller: 94%

Does this alone indicate foul play?

 

[georged]

Chance favors Chance.

I see what you did there. :clap:
The funny part of your scenario, Jesse (and the similar ones suggested by others) is how everybody EXCEPT the "mine is bigger than yours" bidders understand the minefield they're playing on.
Wait a minute... these are the same sort of guys who like to drink flaming shots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6aSQnRYWE
...and show the world their powerful cars, aren't they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x74Py60wSnc
Never mind... :rofl:

 

[sablebrush52]

Does this alone indicate foul play?

Do you mean, is Chance using a shill to drive up prices? It's always possible, though Chance has a good reputation in the community.
How about idiot obsessive bidder? I've certainly seen plenty of those around. Besides, what would be the point of having a shill win? No money coming home to papa.

 

[bluegrasspipe]

eBay may also be our best proof yet that intelligent life does not exist on earth.

Unfortunate but quite possibly true.. :rofl: And there always is a sniper laying in wait for your precious..