RadioBanter - View Single Post

Telamon · October 28th 06, 03:30 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

In article .com,
wrote:

D Peter Maus wrote:
wrote:
D Peter Maus wrote:
dxAce wrote:
wrote:

mike maghakian wrote:
a used sony 6800 just went for over $800 on ebay, even though the
past few
have sold for less than $400. there was nothing special about it !
Wow, thanks for posting that link. Now that is truly astounding. How
can Ebay allow such bidding to happen in a public place. Collectors
should not be allowed to perpetrate that kind of bidding action and
run
up the price. It's just terrible to think that Ebay actually allowed
the final bidder to pay more for the radio than the next-to-the-last
bidder.
And when Mike Maghakian bids, the auction should end right then and
there. After
all, the radio can't possibly be worth more than what he is willing to
pay,
right?

Shame on eBay.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Mike comes by some of his skepticism honestly, though. One of the
groups he was involved in was a rather close group of Grundig
collectors, some of whom put radios up for time to time. And other
members would bid up the price to see to it that legitimate bidders paid
their maximum bid. I left the group because of it.

That group, as I understand it, is no longer in existence, but
watching that kind or activity definitely leaves a bad taste, even for
legitimate auctions that reach stratospheric prices. Add to it the noise
of Radio-Mart and others who prey on novices to the hobby with their
deceptive practices, and....well, you get a pretty jaded view of not
only e-Bay but some sellers here on the newsgroup.

The real problem with e-Bay is that it tends to attract a very large
group of individuals, some with deep resources, with interest in any
given product, creating the potential for a bidding war with absurd
outcomes. Whereas a local brick and mortar auction draws from a limited
pool of interested individuals, most of whom may not be interested in
any given product. Prices remain reasonable. Values can be had.

By its nature, e-Bay favors the seller, and the house...the very
reasons e-Bay exists. No one should be surprised at the nonsense that
occurs there. Unfortunately, it's popularity makes it the prime location
for the sale of products that we're all interested in. And few of us can
outbid Joe Walsh, or any like him, if he should decide he really wants
something.

Thom Monaghan entered the collector car market and virtually
singlehandedly drove most legitimate collectors out of the market by
driving up prices. Though that's not really likely to happen with SW
radios, a lot of formerly affordable rigs have been priced out of reach
by speculators and the antics of Radio-Mart and his kind.

Mike's disdain for these goofs is easily understood.

What is a "realistic" price for a good...any good at a given point in
time. From your comments it must not be the market or auction price.

Well, now, that's a really good question. Auction prices are not the
same as market prices. And rarely ever have been. Auction prices have
always represented extremes. I've gotten prices at brick and mortar
auctions of $1 for 4 vintage TRF's, each with a 'market' price of near
$200. The same rigs in similar condition have brought twice that and
more on e-Bay.

A well attended auction of real or personal property such as Ebay or a
brick and mortar auction will bring together a number of buyers and
sellers. They interact to establish sales prices that will certainly
vary for a lot of reasons but they represent a range of market prices
for the goods in question. The stock market is another example of an
auction that works reasonably well.

That's an interesting observation. Please explain how Ebay conducts a
"real" auction.

I've known antique shop owners who set the prices of their own
products at peak e-Bay prices. Such products tend not to move well at
brick and mortar stores. Then, again, it's not uncommon for an e-Bay
seller to turn loose of a usually high ticket item because of the way
the item was presented.

As with buyers who hope to buy a radio at pre-internet prices, such
sellers do not understand that Ebay brings both sides together and they
interact to establish a final price for one item that is realistic at
that point. That price will likely not hold tomorrow for a variety of
reasons including buyer interest, condition of the new items and number
of sellers with the same item.

What you are calling the final price is the market price, which is the
price agreed on.

A realistic price for a sw radio is rarely an auction price. Market
price will prevail, because it's usually stable. And not subject to the
wide variations found at auction. But, personally, I don't think market
price is often that realistic. I'm not likely to spend large dollars on
sentiment, and the performance of vintage rigs would be easily exceeded
by common-as-crabgrass low end pieces for fractions of the price.

It would seem to me that a realistic price is the one that aligns the
expectations of buyers and sellers and allows a deal to be completed.
An unrealistic price would be one where the seller or the buyer hopes
prices will stay fixed and they will be able to deal at yesterday's
price.

The seller posts the ask price.
The buyer posts the bid price.
If the transaction "happens" it "occurs" at the "market price."
If the transaction "occurs" one of two things or both must "happen":
1. The seller comes down in price.
2. The buyer goes up in price.

At the auction, the seller has stated that he will sell to the highest
bid price usually above some minimum stated price.

I"ve spent $100 for higher end Hallicrafters rigs, but that's
unusual. And it's after I've beaten the seller back from something absurd.

Realistic price? In my room, that's usually something close to the
price I'd pay for the same performance in a pocket portable.

New radios are a different matter.

Ask, bid and market price is well-established concepts. The argument
seems to revolve around what is an actual market in SW radios. If EBay
is the place that most (the clear majority) of SW radios are sold, then
I would argue that the EBay auction sold price is the market price. If
more radios were sold in other venues then it would not be.

The situation as I see it is, EBay is a virtual market not a real one
where a virtual radio is being sold by a virtual seller and I would be
competing against other virtual buyers so I would have to have "faith"
that the radio is as described and the other bidders are real and
serious about acquiring the radio. This is a very tenuous situation and
nothing is properly established as far as I am concerned on EBay much
of the time. Moreover, I perceive the used SW radio market as small
where a few sellers and buyers can have a big influence on prices. Like
Steve Marten said "Let's (all) get small."

--
Telamon
Ventura, California