ebay Prices: I occasionally look on ebay to see what cameras and lenses are selling for. I just saw a D3100 that has been bid up to $500! Others are selling for $200 or less. I can't...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I occasionally look on ebay to see what cameras and lenses are selling for. I just saw a D3100 that has been bid up to $500! Others are selling for $200 or less. I can't understand this. There is no description by the seller, and it is for just the body - no lenses.

The auction ends tomorrow evening, so I'll keep an eye on it.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

A dummy seller bidding on it themselves to hopefully pump up the bids on the other 20 they have for sale?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

lighthouse wrote:

A dummy seller bidding on it themselves to hopefully pump up the bids on the other 20 they have for sale?

Could be.

EDIT: He has nothing else for sale - at least under the same name.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

jerryc41 wrote:

Could be.

EDIT: He has nothing else for sale - at least under the same name.

Yep, totally unconnected, stand alone. nudge nudge wink wink

Isn't that how you would expect them to do it?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

lighthouse wrote:

Yep, totally unconnected, stand alone. nudge nudge wink wink

Isn't that how you would expect them to do it?

If I had an item for sale, I would want to sell it. If he pushed the price to $500 so as not to sell it... Well, not something I would do.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

jerryc41 wrote:

If I had an item for sale, I would want to sell it. If he pushed the price to $500 so as not to sell it... Well, not something I would do.

You misunderstand me Jerry.
Of course this is all cynical conjecture but imagine this.

Camera A typically sells for $300.
Joe Bloggs has a container load to sell.
He creates a new account in the name of John Doe ,advertises Camera A and bids for it himself up to $500 and wins the bid. He pays the money to John Doe via paypal and pays ebay $10 commission.
Because of genuine buyers seeing this $500 sale they temporarily bid the price of Camera A to between $330 and $350 for the next 100 sales and Joe Bloggs has an extra $4000 in his bank account.

Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.

jerryc41 wrote:

I occasionally look on ebay to see what cameras and lenses are selling for. I just saw a D3100 that has been bid up to $500! Others are selling for $200 or less. I can't understand this. There is no description by the seller, and it is for just the body - no lenses.

The auction ends tomorrow evening, so I'll keep an eye on it.

I have known several who sold on ebay and most had some one else bidding at the end to push the price to what they wanted. I have been ask to bid on some things, but refused. I have unsuccessfully tried to buy several things on ebay and at the end of time there is always a flurry of bidding to run the price up. I found that most of the time you can buy from one the big stores cheaper and with more warranty than you can on Ebay.
Just my experience. I bought one lens on ebay by making and offer and negotiating price. It had at out come like MT Shooter describe. Just my thoughts.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

lighthouse wrote:

You misunderstand me Jerry. br Of course this is a... (show quote)

Just one question: where can I get a container load of cameras to sell? That sound like a great plan. :D

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

jerryc41 wrote:

Just one question: where can I get a container load of cameras to sell? That sound like a great plan. :D

On Ebay? ;-)

Graham

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Graham Smith wrote:

On Ebay? ;-)

Graham

Ah, of course!

John Lawrence

jerryc41 wrote:

I occasionally look on ebay to see what cameras and lenses are selling for. I just saw a D3100 that has been bid up to $500! Others are selling for $200 or less. I can't understand this. There is no description by the seller, and it is for just the body - no lenses.

The auction ends tomorrow evening, so I'll keep an eye on it.

There's no such thing as just browsing out of curiosity, Jerry. It's what you tell your wife just before you buy something. Been there, done that.

John

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

eBay is like any other auction it only takes two fools to run up a bid to the ridiculous. I have bought and sold on eBay since they started and have been lucky enough to have two fools bid on a few of my items. I have also been one of the fools a couple of times. The way I bid is decide the top amount I would bid on anything and then make that bid in the last twenty sec. eBay will only jump your bid by the jump amount. So if you bid $30 on an item and the last highest bed was $11 it will make your bid $12. - Dave

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

wilsondl2 wrote:

eBay is like any other auction it only takes two f... (show quote)

This went from, I think $222 to $500 in one bid.

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&rt=nc&item=300995640321

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

jerryc41 wrote:

This went from, I think $222 to $500 in one bid.

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&rt=nc&item=300995640321

Actually, that is quite explainable. Buyer A makes a bid on an item currently selling at $221. He knows he will not be able to keep close tabs on the auction, so he enters his maximum bid, the most he is willing to pay. In this scenario, $499. His bid showing will only appear as $222, last bid plus minimum jump. Any interim bids below $499 will automatically be trumped by the $499 bid being held in the background. Buyer B enters the picture. Like A, he enters a maximum bid, only his is $500. EBay would automatically jump the selling price to $500, $1 more than the current maximum bid on record.

Wabbit Loc: Arizona Desert

jerryc41 wrote:

I occasionally look on ebay to see what cameras and lenses are selling for. I just saw a D3100 that has been bid up to $500! Others are selling for $200 or less. I can't understand this. There is no description by the seller, and it is for just the body - no lenses.

The auction ends tomorrow evening, so I'll keep an eye on it.

Hey Doc ..... dat's me ..... but if it ain't got the diamonds on the shutter button and 14k gold trim around the monitor I ain't gonna pay for it .....