What Are They Thinking?

[Jim Koepke]

With a bit of pain in my jaws from major dental work a little time has been spent looking at ebay.

There are very few things that would get me to loosen the purse strings and this sure isn't one of them. Item #112760884703 is what looks to be your typical Stanley #45. Missing is the critical screw for locking the adjustable fence. Why did people remove these from the plane? So many are missing that it seems there must have been a reason to take it off, but it may elude tool historians until the end of time. In my case this screw is often loosened for adjustments. It also is loosened for the times the fence is flipped upside down. The guide rods on the adjustable fence are not centered vertically. For use on top of a bench, flipping the fence adds a little extra clearance.

That is not really what is odd about this. The seller has over 900 positive feedbacks and selling on ebay since 1999. This is what makes me wonder why he isn't offering free shipping (it comes up as $88.58 for me) when he is asking $825 Buy It Now?

Is this a trap for someone to make a best offer?

It has been years since anything of mine was sold on ebay. Most of the time my items would be researched to at least see asked or realized for similar items.

Looking at other items from this seller it appears he doesn't like inexpensive items.

Maybe in the future when out rust hunting it would be good to have a smart phone with a good browser to get a better feel of what is around and what it might bring if it is to be resold.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I would really have to be in a fever to buy something on Ebay.

I have in the past and never had bad experience.

I think some of these Ebay listings are actually guys operating a business. It is interesting to go see what's being offered from time to time.

[Daniel O'Connell]

Almost makes me wonder if I should just post all of the random planes I have sitting around that I bought for $5 at a flea market for $200 and see if someone bites on one.

But I think I'd feel far too wretched about it to actually do so.

[John C Cox]

With a bit of pain in my jaws from major dental work a little time has been spent looking at ebay.

There are very few things that would get me to loosen the purse strings and this sure isn't one of them. Item #112760884703 is what looks to be your typical Stanley #45. Missing is the critical screw for locking the adjustable fence. Why did people remove these from the plane? So many are missing that it seems there must have been a reason to take it off, but it may elude tool historians until the end of time. In my case this screw is often loosened for adjustments. It also is loosened for the times the fence is flipped upside down. The guide rods on the adjustable fence are not centered vertically. For use on top of a bench, flipping the fence adds a little extra clearance.

That is not really what is odd about this. The seller has over 900 positive feedbacks and selling on ebay since 1999. This is what makes me wonder why he isn't offering free shipping (it comes up as $88.58 for me) when he is asking $825 Buy It Now?

Is this a trap for someone to make a best offer?

It has been years since anything of mine was sold on ebay. Most of the time my items would be researched to at least see asked or realized for similar items.

Looking at other items from this seller it appears he doesn't like inexpensive items.

Maybe in the future when out rust hunting it would be good to have a smart phone with a good browser to get a better feel of what is around and what it might bring if it is to be resold.

jtk

A few points. Ebay calculates shipping costs now - not the seller...

On the price - who knows... Apparently the seller thinks they know something about the unit that makes it "worth" what appears to be a completely exorbitant price. Maybe they have a good reason... Maybe they got taken and are looking for "The Bigger Fool"....

A story about this.... Once upon a time - I found a particular thing in a store I frequented... It's price was far above what I considered "normal" for it's condition..... I knew the owner and asked him about it.....

Turns out that it was a complete oddball made in the days before the US got into WWII... The factory was co-opted to make war material through the war. When the war ended - they resumed production - but the models were "modernized" and the units were not the same.... It turned out that there were perhaps 30 units made that year and this was one... It was a bona-fide collectible and was actually being sold at a very good price for it's actual condition even though one made 1 year prior in the same condition would bring perhaps 1/3 the price... And I brought it home.. No regrets - it's a fine unit...

The moral is we have no idea... The seller could be fishing or they could really have something.... Don't know...

[Simon MacGowen]

Based on his eBay store, it seems he is selling a lot of other vintage or antique items most (all?) of which are not tools. So my guess is that he sells vintage goods (with or without a physical store) and is not a tool collector and hence his knowledge of Stanley 45 is limited, including its market prices.

Another sign is that he includes a "Best Offer" option, suggesting he isn't sure if he can find anyone willing to take his "Buy it Now" price.

Simon

[Matt Lau]

What a start! I was trolling ebay last night to try and avoid thinking of a PITA denture patient.

In terms of jaw pain, feel free to PM me for advice on pain reduction protocols. I won't discuss here due to HIPAA

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I have just a very limited experience with eBay (actually with their local subsidiary in Brazil).

One of the experiences I had when purchasing some stuff to my daughter, the seller insisted I mark the item as "delivered" in the site before he actually send it! It was completely crazy his argumentation to justify that stupid demand (actually he wanted to protect himself from buyer's remorse). Another one simply delayed six weeks the promised delivery... I did not lost money and received my stuff in both cases but for me it looked something is wrong there. I do not mess with these kind of people.

I have several friends living in the US with a mixed experience with eBay - but it looks there is a number of cases similar to my own one even at the US where it is supposed the thing was something more serious.

Bottom line is I do not want to use eBay or their subsidiaries worldwide.

[Simon MacGowen]

I have just a very limited experience with eBay (actually with their local subsidiary in Brazil).

One of the experiences I had when purchasing some stuff to my daughter, the seller insisted I mark the item as "delivered" in the site before he actually send it! It was completely crazy his argumentation to justify that stupid demand (actually he wanted to protect himself from buyer's remorse). Another one simply delayed six weeks the promised delivery... I did not lost money and received my stuff in both cases but for me it looked something is wrong there. I do not mess with these kind of people.

I have several friends living in the US with a mixed experience with eBay - but it looks there is a number of cases similar to my own one even at the US where it is supposed the thing was something more serious.

Bottom line is I do not want to use eBay or their subsidiaries worldwide.

the seller insisted I mark the item as "delivered" - Seriously? How could you do that? By leaving a feedback before you even received the item?

I have been an eBayer close to Day 1 it became popular and have never come across a seller making such demands. Report it to eBay if I were you, because the seller was asking you to lie.

I don't know anything about the sub. sites you mentioned but eBay.com is 100% safe to shop. I have three eBay accounts with over 1,000 feedback together and not ever once I lost anything. Missed deliveries were either refunded or resent. One time a seller changed his item description AFTER I made a bid and eventually I won. I refused to honor my bid because the change was considered material by me. He left a negative feedback on me. I reported the whole thing to eBay which removed the negative feedback from my record after reviewing the case.

Simon

[Jim Koepke]

Only a few of my ebay deals were less than my expectations. My tendency was to chalk it up to the school of hard knocks. Some of them could have been reversed, but the trouble was beyond the cost for me at the time.

ebay has changed over time. It used to be any one cleaning out their garage or storage unit could monetize items they no longer wanted.

Now it is set up for dedicated dealers. Some who still do it the old way of hitting yard sales to make money on ebay.

jtk

[Simon MacGowen]

ebay has changed over time.
jtk

Indeed. Now, if as a buyer, you have any issues with your order, you simply contact the seller and within 48 (or 72?) business hours, the seller has to get back to you. If not or if you aren't happy with the response, eBay can come in right away and help you.

eBay seems to have bent over for the buyers (due to Amazon competition?) and the old days of it playing a passive role when there were issues between a buyer and a seller were long over.

Simon

[Jim Koepke]

The moral is we have no idea... The seller could be fishing or they could really have something.... Don't know...

This reminds me of the often heard story of the gentleman selling apples during the depression. His display sign read, "Apples, $1,000,000 each." A passing businessman said, "you are not going to sell many apples at that price." The reply was, "I only have to sell one."

jtk

[steven c newman]

Until the seller gets the bill for ebay's Seller Fees.......Biggest reason I quit selling things on the bay.....10-20% from the final price went to ebay.

[Simon MacGowen]

Until the seller gets the bill for ebay's Seller Fees.......Biggest reason I quit selling things on the bay.....10-20% from the final price went to ebay.

Wonder how do the fees compare to Amazon's these days?

I used to sell things on eBay (more than a decade ago, hence three eBay accounts) and I set the sales prices taking into account shipping cost, eBay fees and packaging costs.

Simon

[Noah Magnuson]

I have had mixed experiences with ebay. I have had sellers cancel the item when the bid wasn't up to what they wanted and a few other slimy things. Also, if you ever get a "second chance" offer right away, it is very likely the seller has two accounts and misjudged his fake bidding war and wound up the high bidder. There are some shady people on there. I know one at work who sells antique timepieces and has no shame bragging about his schemes.

My only real issue was with a seller who apparently copied the whole listing for a Langdon miter box w/saw from a prior listing but neglected to remove the "w/saw" part. When it didn't show up with the saw, he said I should have known from the described weight that the saw wasn't included. The listing literally described the saw measurements etc. I couldn't believe he was arguing that it was my fault and offered no concessions. Even when I found the original listing he copied, he wouldn't admit it. It wasn't worth my hassle, and it was a reasonable deal anyway, but I told him I had no choice but to leave negative feedback about the description.

As the the crazy prices, I have seen a plain-Jane Disston D-8 for $400+ with nothing in the description indicating other than "Rare! Rare! etc." $100 for saw handles and all kinds of other pipe dreams. Many of those listings were recycled month after month for years with no takers. I don't do much on there any more, but occasionally sell a something that I have rehabbed or no longer need.