Ebay Hats: Victories, Defeats, Gripes & Items of Interest

[mayserwegener]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260609479256
I didn't win this one. Apparently they wore other styles in Bad Homburg.

I saw this one too. I tried to contact them to see if they ever find original Möckel Homburgs but never heard back.

Wow - only $20 per hat!

German eBay usually has a good number of old Zylinderhut at good prices. The problem is shipping charges and the wait.

 

[mayserwegener]

Steve...I don't believe a word you're saying! :whip: :kick:

Great score!! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Mario, I did say "kinda". Thanks! I am really looking forward to its arrival.

 

[gtdean48]

me too, which is why I stopped bidding when I did.

A work of Art for under $250 shipped? If it is a style & size to your liking, that is a heck of a deal. [huh]

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Just in case we needed proof that so-called "reserve" auctions just really suck,... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190401007155&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT,...this could have sold,..and possibly for over 200$.:eusa_doh:

 

[m000m000]

I really dislike reserves myself. If you want a certain minimum price for something you should just set the starting bid to that and go from there. I realize that this discourages bidding per the "low starting bids generate interest in the manner of hopefully scoring a deal" -rule, but at least in my case a reserve is much worse, because I have no way of knowing where the seller's asking price lands on the scale of "lower than expected" to "unrealistic", which is much more frustrating and annoying.

 

[jeffconnors]

Speaking of ebay dislikes, check out the question section of this auction....asking to BIN an non-BIN auction is just not cricket..especially at hat that is as unpredictable as this one...I wish people would not do that.. especially if the seller does not specialize in hat selling.....
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Mens-Fe...tu=UCC&otn=15&ps=63&clkid=8009898465353579376

 

[Tango Yankee]

I really dislike reserves myself. If you want a certain minimum price for something you should just set the starting bid to that and go from there. I realize that this discourages bidding per the "low starting bids generate interest in the manner of hopefully scoring a deal" -rule, but at least in my case a reserve is much worse, because I have no way of knowing where the seller's asking price lands on the scale of "lower than expected" to "unrealistic", which is much more frustrating and annoying.

It is a kind of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for the seller. Here the seller had a very nice vintage hat in a larger size. He or she believes it to be worth a bit, but is aware of the vagarities of eBay where one week a hat like this will sell for hundreds of dollars, the next is lucky to break $50. It may be a case where the seller actually paid a high price for it and is now trying to at least get their money back. We also know from observation that a high starting price (even when a reasonable price for the object at hand) will discourage buyers who are hoping for a deal. All of these things may contribute to the desire for setting a reserve price.

On the other hand, as we see here a too-high reserve also inhibits bidding after a while. If the reserve is too high (and who knows where that invisible line is--what's too high?) bidding will taper off as in this case.

It all depends upon who is looking to buy an item and how much it's worth it to them. If someone of that hat size had been looking for an OR in good condition, that BIN price would have been worth it.

I could go on about the use of a BIN, and the annoyance I have about those who post a BIN with a Make Offer button but then reject any and all offers, but I just realized I'm sitting here analyzing eBay when I should be writing a paper regarding building a network for students to use in a school and applying my analyzing to that.

Regards,
Tom

 

[rlk]

I think its a Hückel?

http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:FR:1123#ht_501wt_1139

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Speaking of ebay dislikes, check out the question section of this auction....asking to BIN an non-BIN auction is just not cricket..especially at hat that is as unpredictable as this one...I wish people would not do that.. especially if the seller does not specialize in hat selling.....
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Mens-Fe...tu=UCC&otn=15&ps=63&clkid=8009898465353579376

Let the seller beware,...

 

[rlk]

I saw this one too. I tried to contact them to see if they ever find original Möckel Homburgs but never heard back.



German eBay usually has a good number of old Zylinderhut at good prices. The problem is shipping charges and the wait.

I might have gone for them if I knew the sizes.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Just in case we needed proof that so-called "reserve" auctions just really suck,... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190401007155&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT,...this could have sold,..and possibly for over 200$.:eusa_doh:

usually it's a guessing game. The worst is when the reserve is something like 10 bucks lower than the BIN! lol

 

[mayserwegener]

I think its a Hückel?

http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:FR:1123#ht_501wt_1139

That would be very cool! :eusa_clap The velour felt appears to be in good condition. My Hückel Sigma was a some what similar situation and I ended up with an amazing hat after restore.

 

[BanjoMerlin]

I don't have a problem with reserves but I don't use a sniping program so I know right away whether my bid met the reserve or not. If your bid doesn't meet the reserve when you place your bid you are not on the hook for that item. If the seller lowers the reserve to below whatever the current high bid is, ebay automatically lowers the high bid to just below the reserve. I need to know how much money I could have to come up with if I win all the auctions I have bids on so that works fine for me.

If I'm selling, and for whatever reason I decide to use a reserve, I always put what the reserve is in the auction text so the snipers know if they should even bother. It is good to get lots of people looking at your auction (ebay keeps track of that stuff for the "best match" listings) so starting with a low opening bid is good - but sometimes I just can't afford to take the risk.

I think an unreasonable Buy It Now inhibits more bidders than a reserve. I got a $150 hat for $40 a couple months ago because there was a $175 BIN staring everybody in the face. The BIN used to go away with the first bid but not anymore...

A starting bid that is too high will encourage people to not even bother looking at your listing so that is also a problem.

 

[Lefty]

I don't have a problem with reserves but I don't use a sniping program so I know right away whether my bid met the reserve or not. If your bid doesn't meet the reserve when you place your bid you are not on the hook for that item.

Is this true? I was under the impression that someone else still had to bid in order to bump your current bid up to the point where it would meet the reserve.
For example, if the starting bid is $1, and the reserve is $200, I thought that even if I put out the first bid, for $300, that my bid would not meet the reserve, because the current bid would be only $1. It would take someone else bidding $199 (or whatever amount the bid increment was), to bump my bid up to the reserve.

 

[carouselvic]

Your first bid would meet the reserve right away.

 

[rlk]

Italians of ? sizes

http://cgi.ebay.it/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:IT:1123#ht_500wt_1154

 

[jimmy the lid]

Your first bid would meet the reserve right away.

That's correct.

 

[Tango Yankee]

I don't have a problem with reserves but I don't use a sniping program so I know right away whether my bid met the reserve or not.

It depends upon how you use your sniper. As for myself, I usually decide on the maximum price I'd be willing to pay for the item (taking into account shipping charges, of course) and set that as my maximum bid amount. If the reserve hasn't been met when my sniper goes off, and my maximum bid doesn't meet or exceed the reserve, then they want more than I'm willing to pay anyway. Keeps me from getting into a bidding frenzy at the end.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Tango Yankee]

Your first bid would meet the reserve right away.

To expand on this a bit...

It's only if your bid does not meet the reserve that it automatically stops at the next increment above the previous bid. From that point on yes, your bid will be increased automatically to outbid subsequent bids until your maximum is reached.

But if your first bid exceeds the reserve then it will show your first bid as being the reserve price. After that it will continue bumping up your bid as subsequent bidders bid higher than what's showing as the current bid, until your maximum is reached.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[blixa00]

A Vintage topper from Henry Heath LTD purveyors to the king...and a magician's hat as well so if I ever need to pull a rabbit out of my hat on short notice I'll be set! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220616125381&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_527wt_1137 Now I will look just like my avatar!!lol
The sharp eyed amongst you shall note that it was purchased with BIN and yes I asked the seller after another of his items that I was watching (a Dobbs topper) was sold for a BIN price! I personally ALWAYS ask if the seller has a BIN price in mind not so much because I am looking for bargains but because I have had so many items sold out from underneath me (for less than I would have bid or did already have bids in on) simply because I DIDN'T ask first!! So some may feel that it "isn't cricket" to ask the question but after doing this for years I feel it IS fair to ASK the seller because if you don't ask, someone else surely will! It is disappointing to lose the item for less than you were willing to pay simply because you didn't ask the question first and I am sure it has happened to more that a few of my FL brothers and sisters!